The Logical Deduction of Chinese Traditional Political Philosophy 981164375X, 9789811643750

Citation preview

Shiwei Zhang

The Logical Deduction of Chinese Traditional Political Philosophy

The Logical Deduction of Chinese Traditional Political Philosophy

Shiwei Zhang

The Logical Deduction of Chinese Traditional Political Philosophy

Shiwei Zhang School of Politics and Public Administration, Northwest University of Political Science and Law, Xi’an, China Translated by Wu Lihuan Shanghai, China Chad Austin Meyers Cleveland, USA

Wang Huashu Beijing, China Frank P. Saunders Jr University of Hong Kong Hong Kong, China

Funded by the Chinese Fund for the Humanities and Social Science ISBN 978-981-16-4375-0 ISBN 978-981-16-4376-7 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-4376-7 Jointly published with Tianjin People’s Publishing House Co., Ltd The print edition is not for sale in China (Mainland). Customers from China (Mainland) please order the print book from: Tianjin People’s Publishing House Co., Ltd. Translation from the Chinese language edition:《中国传统哲学的逻辑演绎》by Huashu Wang, et al., © Tianjin People’s Publishing House Co., Ltd. 2016. Published by Tianjin People’s Publishing House Co., Ltd. All Rights Reserved. © Tianjin People’s Publishing House 2022 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publishers, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publishers, the authors, and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publishers nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publishers remain neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. The registered company address is: 152 Beach Road, #21-01/04 Gateway East, Singapore 189721, Singapore

Contents

Part I 1

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Reflections on the Methodology of the Study of Traditional Chinese Political Philosophy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 The Study of Traditional Chinese Political Philosophy Is Based on Interpreting National Commonalities in Politics . . . . . . . . . 3 The Internal Logic of Traditional Chinese Political Philosophy . . . . 4 The Basic Problems of Traditional Chinese Political Philosophy and the Classification of Its Propositions . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Historical Interpretation of the Logic of Traditional Chinese Political Philosophy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

3 5 22 31 47 64 90

2

Germination and Embryonic Form: Yin Shang and Western Zhou’s Political and Philosophical Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95 1 The Initial Maturity of Xia and Shang Political Power and Political Thinking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 2 The Intellectual Genealogy of “Leading the People to Serve the God” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106 3 The Normality of Political Thoughts in Shang and Zhou Dynasty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114 Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124

3

Contention of a Hundred Schools of Thought: The Convergence of the Multiple Perspectives and Purpose of the Pre-Qin Philosophers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127 1 The People-Oriented Political Thought of Confucianism and Mohism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129 2 Daoism, Legalism, and the Political Thought of Man-Made and Natural Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152

v

vi

Contents

3 The Preliminary Integration of the School of Eclectics of the Pre-Qin into Political Thought . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168 Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182 4

5

The Discourse on the Natural and Human Spheres of Being: The Reorganization of Concepts and the Systematization of Political Thought in the Two Han Dynasties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 The Canonization of Confucian Political Thought and Political Thought Becoming Classics Scholarship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 The Making and Meaning of Dong Zhongshu’s Political Thought of Greater Unity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Critical Political Thought in the Two Han Dynasties . . . . . . . . . . . . . References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Substance of Personality: Humanity’s Awakening and the Sculpting of the Ideal Personality in Politics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 The Political Ontology of the Obscurism Thinkers and the Political Sculpting of Personality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 The Sinosization of Buddhism and Its Significance in Political Philosophy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 The Political Critique of the Wei, Jin, Northern and Southern Dynasties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

183 185 203 223 244 245 246 265 280 289

Part II 6

7

Role Paradigms: The Value of Putting People First and Reflection on the Roles of Ruler and Minister . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Reflections on Political Roles by the Sui and Early Tang Rulers . . . . 2 The Resuscitation of Topics in Political Philosophy During the Middle and Late Tang Dynasty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Political Critique in the Tang and the Five Dynasties . . . . . . . . . . . . . References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Ethical Constitution: Confucian Rationalism’s Consistent Linking of Constitution and Personality in the Two Song Dynasties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 The Rise of Song Dynasty Scholarship and the Political Thought of “The Three Masters” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 The Political Philosophy of Northern Song Neo-Confucian Rationalism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 The Deepening and Officializing of the Political Philosophy of the Southern Song and Yuan Dynasties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

293 294 314 335 351

353 355 384 404 421

Contents

8

9

Utilitarian Confucianism: The Appeal of “Kingliness Without” from the Perspective of the Barbarians (Yi), and the Chinese (Xia) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Utilitarianism in the Northern Song Dynasty with Political Reform as the Central Topic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 The Southern Song Utilitarianism, the Political Philosophy of Confucianism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 The Political Thought “from Xia to Yi” in the Period of Liao, Xia, Jin and Yuan Dynasties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . People-Oriented Perspective and Yi Xia: Political Anxiety and Political Concepts in the Ming Dynasty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Nationality in the Early Ming Dynasty and People-Oriented Thinking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 The Political Thought of Making the Society Prosperous and the People Settle Down of the Reformers of the Ming Dynasty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 The Perfection and Alienation of Confucian Political Philosophy in the Middle and Late Ming Dynasty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

10 Criticism and Statecraft: Extreme Heights, and the Wane of Traditional Political Philosophy in the Early and Middle Qing Dynasty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Political Criticism and System Reconstruction in the Early Qing Dynasty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Neo-Confucian’s Statecraft by Li in the Early and Middle Qing Dynasty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Political Criticism and Statecraft Thought in the Qian-Jia-Dao Period . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Some Problems in the Modern Transformation of Chinese Traditional Political Philosophy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

vii

425 426 449 464 481 483 484

508 523 542

543 545 565 579 594 619

Postscript . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 621

Part I

Chapter 1

Introduction

In 2004, China People’s University Press published my book The Limits of Minben— The New Theory of Huang Zongxi’s Political Thought. This book’s views on minben 民本1 thought have attracted the attention of scholars at home and abroad, with many researchers in favor of the idea of “the limit of minben thought” and some critical of it. In fact, from the time of Liang Qichao and Sun Yat-sen, Huang Zongxi’s minben thought began to be “intentionally” “misunderstood” as “democratic thought”. If this “intentional” “misunderstanding” is a historical “misunderstanding”, it does constitute a realistic starting point for modern democracy to take root in China. It also shows that there are identical and resonant parts in the mind. “Minzhu” (民主, contemporary Chinese word which corresponds to democracy)2 is a term that is constantly changing in meaning and its semantic changes in modern times are sufficient to illustrate the connection between minben and democracy. In terms of meaning and reference, the distance between “democracy” and “minben” in Chinese is much smaller than the term “democracy” in the West, that is to say, “minzhu,” as people refer to it in China, can’t be equated with the Western concept of “democracy”. In terms of the complex relationship between China and the West, it is not so much to say that the concept of ‘minzhu’ in modern Chinese is the result of the ‘traveling’ of the Western ideas of ‘republic’ and ‘democracy’ in China, as it is to say that it is the inevitable outcome of the erotic adventure between the two. The expression ‘erotic adventure’ is the best trope to express the relationship between Western democracy and China’s 1

Editor’s note: due to the historical and cultural particularities of this concept it has been left in Chinese. Translating it as ‘political humanism’ would conflate the idea with particular Western concepts, ignoring its unique Chinese elements, and “politics oriented for the sake of the people” is simply too clumsy of a translation. In general, it can be understood to mean that the system of governance should be oriented around serving the people rather than the sovereign or ruling class, and if pushed to do so, perhaps the most convenient rendering would be “people-first politics”. 2 Editor’s note: As is recognized by the author, the concept of democracy in contemporary China is very different than how it is understood in the West. Thus, minzhu will be used when discussing the contemporary Chinese understanding of democracy, and democracy will be used when discussing the Western conception. Renbo [1]. © Tianjin People’s Publishing House 2022 S. Zhang, The Logical Deduction of Chinese Traditional Political Philosophy, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-4376-7_1

3

4

1 Introduction

‘minzhu’: “they met briefly and said goodbye in a hurry.”3 If Professor Wang Renbo’s research conclusions are reliable, then can we say that the so-called ‘democracy’ of those who mistake Huang Zongxi’s ideas for democratic ideas actually refers more to minben than to democracy? The professional scholars who research and understand the details of “democracy” in the West emphasize “by the people”, therefore, they refuse to accept that the “of the people” and “for the people” represented by Huang Zongxi as democratic thought to be so, and refuse to give Huang Zongxi the appellation of “democratic enlightenment thinker.”4 Although Xiao Gongquan and Sa Mengwu have elaborated on Huang Zongxi’s minben political thoughts, it is still not enough to convince the opposition. Mr. Li Cunshan strongly urged that Huang Zongxi should be understood as a democratic enlightenment thinker, the basis of his argument being almost entirely “making a deliberate misinterpretation out of context” of Ming Yi Dai Fang Lu, and The Limits of Minben—The New Theory of Huang Zongxi’s Political Thoughts is resolutely opposed to such a method of argumentation and even more opposed to the conclusion of Huang Zongxi being labeled a “democratic enlightenment thinker.” After the publication of my book The Limit of Minben—The New Theory of Huang Zongxi’s Political Thoughts, Mr. Li Cunshan wrote many articles to criticize the views in the book. I rarely respond to his criticism. There are many reasons for this, but the main reason may be that I have not found a suitable research method that can fully convince the opposition. The problems of modern China are intertwined with the ancient and modern China and the West. Imply comparing things from a one-to-one perspective, research methods with search similarities in thought and disregarding the differences in thought of course are problematic, just as are research methods that search out differences in thought and disregard similarities. For both the problem comes down to the conclusions being one-sided. However, the problems which emerge from comparison can only be reasonably explained through further comparison. So does one make further comparisons? This is a problem. After several years of thinking, I am determined to do two things in preparation: The first is to work hard to holistically grasp traditional Chinese political thought and avoid having my view of what is important overshadowed by trivial details. The so-called holistic grasp implies paying attention to the common parts of social and political consciousness and grasping the general political view of traditional Chinese political thought from the perspective of identicality, intercommunication, and complementarity. The second is to try to understand the details of the exhibition and popularization of modern democratic thought through more in-depth comparative analysis and modern social science analytical methods, and thereby summarize the necessary conditions for modern democracy, sort out the cultural order of modern democratic communication, and, from a wider historical perspective, show the historical development of modern democracy from special cases to general cases. From the perspective of the process of modern democracy, it is a unique case which has only appeared once in history. From the perspective of its spread, modern democracy has increasingly become a common 3 4

Renbo [1]. Mengwu [2], p. 17, 419, Gongquan [3], p. 548.

1 Introduction

5

practice in the world. The logical Interpretation of Traditional Chinese Political Philosophy is a preparatory work for the first aspect. I hope this is a good start for a discussion that will be conducive to advancing the topic of democracy in China, and I also hope that the people who discuss the relationship between traditional Chinese minben and Democracy can seriously treat the views I have described below.

1 Reflections on the Methodology of the Study of Traditional Chinese Political Philosophy The study of Traditional Chinese political philosophy began with Liang Qichao’s The History of Political Thought in the Pre-Qin Dynasty and the work The History of Chinese Political Thought by Xiao Gongquan and Sa Mengwu also includes the study of political philosophy, but those were just preliminary advancements, not delving in too deeply. During the period from the early 1950s to the end of the 1970s, when political science was unfortunately terminated, the study of Chinese political philosophy lost its independent academic status and significance. The theory of social formation within philosophy of history primarily used the method of class analysis to select political and ideological issues that reflect the nature of class and historical trends in thought, among which are political philosophy issues, such as the theory of human nature and the politically ideal country.5 After the “reform and opening up” (gaige kaifang 改革开放) political initiative, with the restoration and initial development of the political discipline, Traditional Chinese political philosophy has gradually been put back on the research agenda. Focusing on issues related to traditional Chinese political philosophy, the use of various research methods has produced academic results with different opinions. In the past 30 years, the study of traditional Chinese political philosophy has always been unable to avoid discussion of social hot issues, among them in particular, issues which are relevant to the relationship between traditional Chinese culture and modernization. Therefore, the study of traditional Chinese political philosophy has been mixed with various discussions about the relationship between Chinese tradition and modernization and the research methods primarily include the research methods of philosophy of culture, philosophy of history, philosophy, and history. Different research methods revolve around the modern value and significance of traditional political philosophy thereby creating a difference in value orientation and research purposes and, because of these differences, creating a more intense academic debate. In practice this promotes the study of traditional Chinese political philosophy, and it can even be said that many of the research results of traditional Chinese political philosophy are produced in this debate. Judging from the application of research methods of the various disciplines in the study of traditional Chinese political philosophy mentioned above, the existing research results generally revolve around two basic mentalities which rely on different disciplinary methods and manifest as several basic research paradigms. The first 5

See Wailu [4–6].

6

1 Introduction

research mentality pays more attention to the universal characteristics of traditional Chinese political philosophy and either uses the abstract analytical methods of philosophy, focuses on the excavation of traditional political and philosophical foundations of modern politics, demonstrates some of the necessary supports from traditional political concepts necessary for the Chinese version of modern politics, makes every effort to demonstrate that the traditional Chinese political philosophy has the inherent possibility of turning to modern political philosophy, or includes a prototype of some modern political philosophy. The second research mentality pays more attention to the particular characteristics of Traditional Chinese political philosophy and, from the perspective of the interaction between thought and society, uses historical analytical methods focusing on analyzing its historical specific connotations and the social impact. Special attention is paid to analyzing the original meaning of political concepts and categories in traditional thought, that is, they sort out the original ideas through interpretation of the original concepts and categories. The first research mentality tends to abstractly study and inherit the universal content of traditional Chinese political philosophy. The results of this research often suggest that one has unearthed a general political concept that can be linked to modern democratic concepts, even believing that the traditional Chinese political concept can develop naturally with its own concept of modern democracy. Of course, there are also extreme views that traditional Chinese political concepts are fully applicable to modern times. The second research mentality tends to treat the specific content of traditional political philosophy in a historical way, the results of which suggest that the traditional Chinese political concept has no tendency toward modern democracy in terms of its historical content, in its history there is no correlation with modern democracy, and in the real political life there are still many negative effects that block the development of democracy. This section is the first part of the introduction to the entire study, which primarily includes three aspects: an academic review, methodological reflection, and an introduction to the logical framework of research results. The literature review introduces and reflects on the research paths, paradigms, and methods of traditional Chinese political philosophy in the academic field. On the basis of rethinking the above research paradigms, the methodological reflection section further introduces the research method of the conceptual history of Isaiah Berlin and tries to introduce the research method of conceptual history into the field of traditional Chinese political philosophy research. The introduction of the logical framework of the research results mainly introduces the specific methods and brief logical construction of the research. (1)

Path and Features: The paradigm of the study of Traditional Chinese political philosophy

Most works within the study of the history of Chinese political thought as a discipline, its research content also including political philosophy, do not have independent political philosophy sections and systematic research cannot naturally begin. Xu Datong and Xie Qingkui’s The History of Ancient Chinese Political Thought published in the

1 Reflections on the Methodology of the Study …

7

beginning of 1981 does not exceed the level of General History of Chinese Thought by Hou Waijun in term of engagement at the level of political philosophy as he did not specifically discuss the topic of political philosophy. Moreover, in its extension of political thought, it is not as good as the General History of Chinese Thought as the main theoretical content of his concern is the theory of class and state in history.6 Works on the history of Chinese philosophy sometimes include sections on political thought, but the philosophical perspective is also in general contains a political element. The political philosophy content elaborated often concerns the theory of human nature, the ideal country, and the theory of Heaven-or-Nature (tianlun 天 论),7 but the research still lacks a systematic approach.8 Professor Liu Zehua put forward the study of Chinese political philosophy earlier in the article “Preliminary Study on the Objects and Methods of the Study of the History of Chinese Political Thought”, pointing out the connotations and extension of the traditional Chinese political philosophy. However, it was not until Professor Liu Zehua published Traditional Chinese Political Philosophy and Social Integration and Chinese Royalism in 2000, that we had an attempt to create a systematic study of Traditional Chinese political philosophy. Wang Yinshu published China’s Political Philosophy: The Strategy of Governing the Country from the Top Ten Famous Thinkers in 1989, which was 6

Datong and Qingkui [7], p. 2. Translator’s note: The term tian 天, commonly rendered as “Heaven,” is not to be confused with Heaven in the Christian sense. Although it is closer in meaning to the term “the heavens,” the translator opts for the rendering “Heaven-or-Nature.” The “or” signifies the equivalence operator in the same sense that Spinoza uses it in the term “Deus sive Natura,” that is “God-or-Nature.” This rendering should not suggest, however, that Heaven-or-Nature is like Spinoza’s concept of God-or-Nature: Spinoza’s use of the latter expresses a radical break from Christian theology’s insistence on the paternal personalization of God as Almighty Father. Most Confucians, on the contrary, indeed use the former to signify an absolute cosmic authority, who willfully rules over all natural phenomena and who paternalistically invests His son, the emperor (the son of Heaven), with authority over the realm on the condition of filial behavior, but again, this paternalistic Heaven is not God the Father in the Christian sense; the latter is immaterial and supernatural; the former refers to the entire cosmos, i.e. the patterned movements of heavenly bodies and all material events in the sky and on earth, as behaving by the will of a paternally personified being, so rendering tian 天 simply as Heaven misleadingly suggests both a Judeo Christian transcendence and a separation from Earth both of which tian 天 simply does not imply. Furthermore, tian 天 is genetically related to xing 性 (human nature and the natural tendencies of other beings) in terms of conceptual relations at the philosophical level, which makes the additional sense of “Nature” a necessary supplement for the reader’s philosophical comprehension. The equivalence usage is also perfect in the Daoist context, albeit in another way. Since the Daoists and some Confucians deny tian 天 of all willful intentions, purposeful efforts and human-like personality traits, the English term “Nature” is the most suitable rendering, but just using the term Nature also fails to show that the Daoists were often critically using the term in counterpoint to the paternalistic Confucian conception of tian 天 as authority figure and it could also annoy readers by making them confuse it with the other Daoist concept of the natural, that is ziran 自然, what-is-natural, i.e. natural development without coercive action. Since the term tian 天 by itself expresses both the Confucian and Daoist senses of the term running in counterpoint to one another throughout the history of Chinese thought, with Confucian sense emphasizing “Heaven” and the Daoist sense bending toward “Nature,” the rendering “Heaven-or-Nature” provides overall greater consistency in the long run for all the reasons mentioned above. 8 See Shuping [8, 9]. 7

8

1 Introduction

perhaps the first monograph in the academic field with the title of “Chinese Political Philosophy.” There is little difference, however, between this content and the general history of political thought as there is a lack of special discussion on various particular aspects of Chinese political philosophy and its discussion style is quite close to the popular Chinese political and ideological history. Mr. Zhou Guiqi published the book Traditional Chinese Political Philosophy, which for the first time put in the context of general theory the mandate of heaven, study of Confucian classics, the theory of Great Unification, the theory of three cardinal guides, the five constant virtues, minben theory, the theory of the rule of virtue, Constant change theory, etc. This directed the research of Chinese political philosophy, however, it was not able to systematically discuss Chinese political philosophy as a system, therefore categories and judgements were not sufficiently exposed and it was not possible to elaborate on the purpose and the main concepts of Chinese political philosophy or the necessary connection between judgments. At present, domestic scholars have three basic paradigms for the study of Traditional Chinese political philosophy. The first is that the researchers of traditional Chinese philosophy have entered the study of political philosophy from the study of general philosophy, paying more attention to the interpretation and deduction of concepts and categories, basing it on the ideological framework of historical materialism, and preliminary analysis of concepts, categories, and propositions of political significance in Traditional Chinese philosophy, with its main representative being Professor Zhou Guizhen. Professor Zhou Guizhen’s Traditional Chinese Political Philosophy tries to explain the main categories or propositions of Traditional Chinese political philosophy from the perspective of the interpretation of categories and propositions. Professor Zhou Guizhen put forward three basic views: Confucianism is the backbone of Traditional Chinese philosophy, political philosophy is the center of Confucianism, and minben is the center of Chinese political philosophy.9 From the conclusion of Professor Zhou, he did not deal with the concept of political philosophy or the objects and methods of research, and even if it is descriptive, it only listed or compared the political content of traditional philosophy. He has not returned to the ideological scene to explore facts of the mind, nor has he focused on systematic analysis of major concepts, categories, propositions, judgments, and reasoning. although the conclusion lacks the rigorous discipline and meticulousness of the requirements of the political philosophy, it still has important reference value as a research paradigm. The second basic research paradigm is to combine the problems of modernization within Chinese society, providing a historical philosophy of certain categories in Traditional Chinese political philosophy, mainly from the perspective of national cultural self-esteem and the universal law of historical development. Its main representative is, amongst others, Li Cunshan. Li Cunshan and others mainly focused on the exploration of the traditional Chinese political philosophy through the discussion of the relationship between minben thought and democracy. It is intended to seek the internal basis or source of Chinese political democracy, and focus on seeking 9

Guidian [10], pp. 11–24.

1 Reflections on the Methodology of the Study …

9

the democratic thought or the bud of democratic thought in ancient China. Zhang Dainian pointed out in Huang Lizhou and Ancient Chinese Democratic Thoughts that: China has had no democratic system since the Shang Dynasty, however, there are still democratic ideas in the academic history and history of thought. In the history of Chinese thought, when it comes to democracy, which has a typical meaning, it must be Huang Lizhou….China has had the seeds of democratic thought in the pre-Qin period.10

Li Cunshan insisted that Huang Zongxi’s thought, in the absence of any democratic institutional resources, was “the start of the movement from minben towards democracy,” writing “Huang Zongxi not only took the traditional minben thought to the extreme, but also took a new step from the traditional minben thinking….this step officially started from minben to the beginning of democracy.” “The conclusion of Mr. Li Cunshan has at least two basic one-sided elements. The first is that the materials for studying Huang Zongxi’s political thought are all from the booklet Ming Yi Dai Fang lu, and he only chose the materials that support his perspective. His research model was “My Six Notation to Classics” and he did not focus on the original ideological issues of Huang Zongxi and others, did not touch upon the programmatic, or guiding concept of Huang Zongxi’s political thought, giving more attention to the comparison with Western enlightenment thinkers of the same time, or giving sufficient consideration to the so-called influence of Huang Zongxi’s thoughts on the thought Liang Qichao and others regarding their acceptance of democracy. Thus, it is unfounded to believe that minben must be able to break free of monarchy and move toward democracy, ignoring the difficult twists and turns of the process of generating Chinese democratic thought. The second is the lack of necessary understanding of the mechanisms of occurrence and dissemination of modern democracy. He disregards the long history of the concept of democracy, not explaining why ancient Greece and Rome were democratic and why China has been focused around minben. He also believes that democracy can develop from minben, and never thinks of asking the question of from whence ancient Greek and Roman democracy developed. If Western democracy does not develop from any concept, why does China’s democracy need to develop from the minben concept? Furthermore, how can democracy be developed out of minben? What concept did modern democracy developed in the UK develop from? Is it also developed from minben? In addition, this type of thinking is based on treating democracy as something which can be formed naturally at a certain stage by any nation and thus determining that China’s democracy can also emerge at a certain stage through the efforts of thinkers without any resources of democratic thought and institutions, thereby believing that minben can naturally break through the bondage of monarchy and move toward democracy.11 This conclusion is nothing more than a logical inference known as the theory of five types of social formations from a philosophy of history, it does not have evidence from social science in an empirical scientific sense. Although it seems that the material is quite rich, the issues 10 11

Dainian [11], p. 1. Cunshan [12], pp. 112–129.

10

1 Introduction

it cares about are not ancient. It is inevitable to force the thinker to answer the questions of the researcher. As for the relative neglect of constructive speech caused by only focusing on critical speech, the study of traditional political philosophy has not touched on the core or programmatic concepts in traditional political thought, rather, it only becomes entangled in slogans or critical indignations. The third paradigm is that the researchers of traditional Chinese political thought have gradually derived the study of political philosophy from the study of political thought, focusing on the sociological or historical interpretations of the concepts, categories, propositions, and judgments of traditional Chinese political philosophy. Its main representative is Professor Liu Zehua. Mr. Liu Zehua inherited the research tradition of Xiao Gongquan’s combination of history and political science, breaking through the rigid class politics model in the political outlook, thus making it possible to “take the view of political science and use the method of history.”12 He conducted a social analysis of the main concepts and categories of Traditional Chinese political philosophy and also describes the logically necessary connections between the main concepts, revealing the universal social influence of important political judgments.13 The focus on programmatic concepts brings this analysis closer to the way political philosophy explores issues, making it thus possible to draw conclusions that are both historically realistic and politically philosophical. There are three main paradigms for foreign scholars studying Traditional Chinese political philosophy: The first is the historical philosophical study of the Japanese scholar Yuzo Mizoguchi, who focuses on the modern meaning of Traditional Chinese thought since the late Ming Dynasty, regarding the modernization of Chinese thought or society as an intrinsic continuation of the main components of traditional society. His research style and purpose are close to that of Li Cunshan, the aim being to seek the internal basis of East Asian modernization. He believes that Li Zhi is an important transitional figure from the traditional to the modern period in the history of Chinese thought, combining the evolution thinkers’ issues and viewpoints, describing the development of modern thought in China as a process of affirming human desires, and finding a thread of development in the modern thought, from Li Zhi to Sun Yatsen. Combining the local autonomy advocated by the anti-authoritarian thinkers since the Ming and Qing dynasties, it is concluded that modern China can be endogenous in the course of its civilization, instead of being seen as the result of Western civilization coming east, in other words, there is no need to follow the trend of the modern West.14 The second paradigm is the study of Chinese political philosophy of Taiwan, Hong Kong, and overseas New Confucianism, mainly represented by Mou Zongsan and Tu Weiming. They take the modern transformation of Confucian traditional political philosophy as the theme and, exploring the modern significance of traditional Confucian political philosophy, try to graft Confucian traditional political philosophy onto Western political philosophy, putting forward the theories of “go back to the origin and develop new elements” (fanben kaixin, 返本开新) and “new outer 12

Gongquan [3], p. 1. See Zehua [13, 14]. 14 See Mizoguchi [15]. 13

1 Reflections on the Methodology of the Study …

11

kingliness” (xin waiwang 新外王). This has important reference value for exploring how Traditional Chinese political philosophy can renew its vitality.15 Du Weiming and others strongly advocate modern democracy and oppose traditional autocratic politics, and because there is indeed an element of Confucianism that serves the autocratic monarchy, while inheriting Confucianism we must also inherit the critical “May Fourth” spirit of Confucianism. It is only in this way that we can discover the common part of Confucianism which is compatible with modern democracy, this common part being at the level of religious ethics. Du Weiming believes that Confucianism at the level of religious ethics has a universality that transcends history, not only can it become the ethical foundation of modern Chinese democracy, but also ensure a Chinese nature in democratic politics. It also has important implications for other civilizations, such as Western civilization, to resolve ethical crises.16 The new Confucianism movement overseas and in Hong Kong and Taiwan faces the problem of the relationship between democratic politics after the successful implantation of democracy and Eastern ethics. It focuses on finding a way in which Chinese Confucian ethics can be integrated with democratic politics, and to explore, explain, and demonstrate the universal significance of Confucian ethics from an aspect that is conducive to democratic politics. The question of whether the two are compatible is far simpler than the question of their relationship in an academic sense. It is also possible to use the abstract method of logical analysis, abstracting the concepts of universal values from Confucian ethics, because after all, China cannot be completely westernized, especially on a religious level. If the religious level in Confucian ethics is indeed logically compatible with democratic politics, conceptually linking the two logically is not completely unhelpful to society, at least in the case of making democratic systems which have already been established contain more of the local populations national culture. The third paradigm is overseas sinologists in the United States and Western Europe, including some Chinese scholars who take modernization as the main issue and explore the negative influence of Traditional Chinese politics and political philosophy in China’s modernization process. Its main representative is Joseph R. Levinson, amongst others. Levinson noticed that the formation of traditional political culture was influenced by Confucianism, Daoism, and Legalism, however, he denied that traditional political concepts such as Confucianism can successfully produce modern political ideas.17 The study of Chinese political philosophy at home and abroad is very different in terms of research interest and purpose, as are the research methods used and the value biases reflected. Although each style of research is internally confirms its own necessity and correctness, however, the conclusions reached by each of them are quite different, even to the point that it becomes difficult to communicate across research methods. The reason is that the research methods and value orientations are different, especially in the context of how democracy occurs in China and dealing with the 15

See Zongsan [16], pp. 176–180. Weiming [17], pp. 240–249. 17 Levenson [18], pp. 141–144. 16

12

1 Introduction

relationship between minben and democracy, and method and value orientation have a decisive influence on the formation of conclusions. In the absence of democratic practice and without the resources of democratic thought, the process of how China’s democratic thinking began to form independently is a rather critical issue. Textual research and abstract reasoning from thought to thought is difficult to draw realistic conclusions, especially when we trace the evolution of the concept of “democracy” in modern China in the whole process. It is only possible to draw convincing conclusions on the relationship between minben and democracy.18 In addition, the researchers’ concerns are different. The two sides do not have much disagreement on the nature of Chinese monarchical traditional political culture, which is also quite close to the critique and opposition to traditional political culture, but one side is concerned with the historical problems of how democracy occurs in China. In order to further confirm the conditions of the development of the concept of democracy in China, based on a feudalism which opposes reality, the other side is concerned with the issue of how China is democratically based on its opposition to feudalism, focusing on the basis of local ideas that are democracy rooted in China, exploring universal content of traditional political culture that can be integrated with democracy, and actively seeking the contribution of Chinese thought. From the current situation of domestic Chinese political philosophy research, paying attention to the relationship between minben and democracy, the problem of how to generate the formation of democracy has an overwhelming advantage in research. Overseas research may concentrate on the adaptation of traditional political concepts in modern times, for example, New Confucianism, or more concerned about how Chinese political concepts overcome the influence of traditional ideas in dealing with Western challenges and form a modern political concept. The relationship between minben and democracy has become the central issue in the study of traditional Chinese political philosophy. The solution to this central issue must be based on the political program of clearing up concrete implications of the core concepts in traditional minben thinking and their mutual logical relationship. That is, to have logical cleansing of the programmatic concept of Traditional Chinese political philosophy, grasping the common framework of the traditional Chinese political thinking has become the key to the study of Traditional Chinese political philosophy. In fact, the word “minzhu” was originally in the Confucian vocabulary, its basic meaning being “the master of the people.” However, in the context of the convergence of Chinese and Western cultures in modern times, the meaning of “minzhu” has gradually evolved into a “people-are-master.” If you do not consider the historical context of a specific vocabulary and do not sort out the semantic changes of the same noun in different historical contexts, we cannot accurately understand the basic meaning of the core vocabulary of traditional Chinese politics and the national ideology constructed from it.

18

Renbo [1].

1 Reflections on the Methodology of the Study …

(2)

13

Method of the History of Ideas: from the History of Political Thought to the History of Political Ideas

As a research method, history of ideas has been introduced into the Chinese academic community and has formed a certain impact. Cao Zhiqiang pointed out in the article “What is the history of ideas”: The history of ideas traces the origin, development, evolution and mutual influence of various human concepts, the difference between it and the history of philosophy lies in that the history of philosophy focuses on topics such as the purpose of life, the development of general ideas, good and evil. The history of ideas focuses on the changing course of thinking about such ideas….the mission of the history of ideas is to describe the ideological hypothesis of a particular historical period, explain their variation in successive eras….human history is the history of the conceptual model that takes the lead. Conceptual models, like material factors and historical changes, can shape and influence people’s actions, consciousness, politics, morality, and thoughts, as well as aesthetic attitudes. Within any human civilization, its most distinctive lifestyle and cultural products are mirror images of its unique conception. To understand the characteristics of a civilization, it is necessary to distinguish its dominant concept model in the framework of history.19

Regarding the research method of the history of ideas, Cao Zhiqiang expounded the developmental history of the research on the history of ideas. He believes that Isaiah Berlin “is more explicit about his research methods than his predecessors.” Isaiah Berlin’s research method of the history of ideas is summarized as “Collinwood’s theory of inward repetition and Popper’s fusion of situational analysis.”20 Berlin elsewhere writes: Some effort to enter imaginatively into the minds and outlooks of the thinkers of the thoughts is indispensable, an effort at Einfühlung (empathy) is unavoidable, however precarious and difficult and uncertain. When I was working on Marx, I tried to understand what it was like to be Karl Marx in Berlin, in Paris, in Brussels, in London, and to think in terms of his concepts, categories, his German words.21

He further adds, “How did their ideas come about? At what specific time, in a particular place, and in society?”, “You must ask yourself what is bothering them, and what makes them self-torture for these problems?” and “How do their theories and works mature in their minds?”22 Roger Hauser also pointed out that the history of ideas “is highly likely to present to its practitioners a broader and more diverse requirement than any other discipline, or at least some more specific, often painful, requirements.” When we criticize concepts: The sharp logical skills of conceptual analysis required in the criticism of ideas, the rich stores of assimilated learning, the vast powers of sympathetic, reconstructive imagination akin to those of the creative artist–the capacity to’enter into’ and understand from’inside’

19

Zhiqiang [19]. Zhiqiang [20]. 21 Quoted from Berlin, Jahanbegloo [21]. 22 Zhiqiang [20]. 20

14

1 Introduction forms of life wholly different from his own –and the almost magical power of intuitive divination.23

Isaiah Berlin’s study of the history of ideas has the significance of demonstrating methods. The research method based on the study of the history of ideas is to some extent the most important method of the study of the history of ideas. Isaiah Berlin’s important work on the study of political concepts Against the Current not only perfected the existing research methods of the history of ideas, moreover, the method of research on the history of ideas is introduced into the field of political thought research, which has caused a major change in the research methods of political thought. The study of the history of ideas mainly focuses on the common basic concepts of the times or regions, that is, the basic concepts and categories of architectural experience and the patterns and perspectives of the world in which they are constructed. Roger Hauser points out in the Preface of Against the Current: “The adequacy of our fundamental presuppositions—how much of our experience they include, how much they leave out, how much they illuminate and how much obscure—should be of central concern to both philosophers and historians of ideas.”24 He adds “the history of ideas, because it attempts (among other things)to trace the birth and development of some of the ruling concepts of a civilization or culture through long periods of mental change, and to reconstruct the image men have of themselves and their activities in a given age and culture.”25 In the same work he summarizes the central objects of the history of ideas as: the all-pervading, ruling, formative concepts and categories peculiar to a culture or period –or indeed a literary school or a political movement, an artistic genius or a seminal thinker, in so far as these have been the first to raise issues and advance ideas which have passed into the common outlook of subsequent generations. What the history of ideas is able to offer as a branch of philosophy, and as a relatively new source of genuine knowledge and enlightenment, is insight into the origins of, and literally world-transforming shifts in, the basic conceptual patterns in terms of which we understand ourselves and acquire our identity as human beings. These underlying, ubiquitous presuppositions, precisely because they are of a high degree of generality and themselves serve as the means whereby we order a very large part –the human part –of our experience, have usually remained submerged and unexamined: the task of the historian of ideas is to try to get outside them, to make them the objects of reflection and systematic study….where they can be openly criticized and evaluated.26

The method of research on the history of ideas has been effectively applied in the study of political thoughts abroad. Isaiah Berlin’s research on the political thoughts has become a model of the study of the history of ideas. The conclusion that the study of political thought through the method of the history of ideas has had a major social impact, and it has led to a broader study of the history of ideas. In 1969, Quentin Skinner published the article “Implications and Understanding in the History of Ideas.” Many inspiring and important insights have been put forward 23

Berlin [22], pp. 5–6. Quoted from Hardy, Berlin [23]. 25 ibid. 26 Berlin [22], pp. 13–14. 24

1 Reflections on the Methodology of the Study …

15

on the application of the method of the history of ideas in the study of political thought. “The task of historian of ideas should be to study and interpret classic texts. The value of writing this history is: Classic texts on moral, political, religious, and other types of thoughts contain a ‘whole-tested wisdom’ in the form of a ‘universal concept’. In this way, we can expect to benefit directly from the study of ‘timeless ingredients’ that have a lasting relevance. This further shows us: The best way to get close to those texts is to focus on what each author says about a certain ‘basic concept’ and ‘eternal issues’ in moral, political, religious, and social life. That is to say, when reading classic texts, we must be prepared to treat it as ‘it seems to be from a contemporary person’. The most fundamental is such a research path: Focus only on their arguments, and examine what they told us on those eternal issues.”27 He reminds researchers that “the first thing to note is that the meaning of the terminology we use to express our ideas sometimes changes over time, this makes the description of the author’s remarks about a certain idea misleading about the meaning of the text.”28 The foundation for the application of the history of ideas lies in the understanding that a text or thought can only be understood by examining and analyzing its historical context, and in this context, the author’s questions always have a specific historical relevance and meaning. The analysis method of Quentin Skinner’s The Foundation of Modern Political Thought is a typical method of the history of ideas. “I have tried not to concentrate so exclusively on the leading theorists, and have focused instead on the more general social and intellectual matrix out of which their works arose”. “I begin by discussing what I judge to be the most relevant characteristics of the societies in and for which they originally wrote”. “For I take it that political life itself sets the main problems for the political theorist, causing a certain range of issues to appear problematic, and a corresponding range of questions to become the leading subjects of debate”. He also stressed the need to “to consider the intellectual context in which the major texts were conceived—the context of earlier writings and inherited assumptions about political society, and of more ephemeral contemporary contributions to social and political thought”. “For it is evident that the nature and limits of the normative vocabulary available at any given time will also help to determine the ways in which particular questions come to be singles out and discussed.”29 The Foundation of Modern Political Thought focuses on the occurrence, evolution, and formation of modern political concepts (such as the state), and the method for the history of ideas is used in an exemplary way in this regard. “I hope to indicate something of the process by which the modern concept of the State came to be formed”. “I begin in the late thirteen century, and carry the story down to the end of the sixteenth, because it was during this period, I shall seek to show, that the main elements of a recognizably modern concept of the State were gradually acquired”, “the decisive shift was made from the idea of the ruler ‘maintaining his state’—where this simply meant upholding his own position—to the idea that there is a separate legal and constitutional order, that of the State, which the ruler has a 27

Quoted from Peng [24]. Ibid. 29 Skinner [25], pp. 3–4. 28

16

1 Introduction

duty to maintain”. “The power of the State, not that of the ruler, came to be envisaged as the basis of government. And this in turn enabled the State to be conceptualized in distinctively modern terms—as the sole source of law and legitimate force within its own territory, and as the sole appropriate object of its citizens’ allegiances”.30 The method of research on the history of ideas has actually begun to take hold in the study of Chinese political thought, however there is no consciousness regarding method. Compared with the paradigm of political thought that focuses on macro narratives and through comparative qualitative research, Mr. Liu Zehua’s research on Chinese political thought is closer to the research method of the history of ideas. He “considers from induction, all the materials are sorted out from the’female parent’ (muben 母本). Moreover, both the interpretation and the application are based on the integrity of the ‘female parent’. I gave myself ‘legislation’, never grab a sentence or two, leaving the ‘female parent’ system, deriving and deducing the political concepts or theories of modernity.”31 Starting from such a “female parent”, researchers will be more concerned with the questions that thinkers ask themselves, will pay more attention to the specific answers that thinkers give to questions that they are eager to answer, and will minimize the importance of the answer of the thinker’s question we want to ask. Therefore, in the data compilation of the history of political thought, the issues discussed by thinkers are investigated, and then we similarities or discrepancies of points that thinkers show in questions and answers. In the study of Chinese political thought, Mr. Liu Zehua uses the ruling theory elaborated by the philosophers of the past as the main object of his analysis and research, restores the ideological facts as a premise, sorts out the theories for outstanding thinkers from different eras and different schools, cleans up the main questions and answers, and analyzes the textual meaning of the programmatic concept. “The Theory of Humble Subjects”, “The Political and Cultural Significance of the Name of the Monarch”, “The Political and Cultural Significance of Emperor’s Honorific Title”, “Kings and Saints Divided into Two and Two is Made One”, “Kings and Daoism are Divided into Two and Two is Made One”, “Respect to Monarch Being the Highest and his Ministers Being Low”, “The Framework of Traditional Chinese Ideology and Culture—an analysis of the memorial to the throne of Han Yu and Liu Zongyuan”, “Harmony between Man and Nature and Royalism” etc., are the representative articles of Mr. Liu Zehua, who uses the history of ideas to return to the ideological scene and analyzes the representative articles of traditional Chinese programmatic political concepts. Although Mr. Liu Zehua did not explicitly propose a method of research on the history of ideas, but the paradigm of its research is based on ideas, paying attention to the original problem put forward from the concept’s environment to the concept, trying to show that the original meaning of the concept itself is in line with the basic spirit of the research method of the history of ideas. Mr. Liu Zehua concentrates on social science analysis of concepts and through this grasps the specific meaning of concepts and propositions by their role and influence in actual social life. This is the research method of the history of ideas with which I agree. 30 31

Ibid., p. 2. Zehua [2], p. 2.

1 Reflections on the Methodology of the Study …

17

As opposed to traditional history of thought concerned which emerges out of the researcher’s environment, knowledge background, and various problems, the research method of the history of ideas takes as its object of research the environment, knowledge background, and various problems, and thus manifests three main characteristics. Firstly, the study of the history of ideas highlights the original meaning of the ideological facts and adopts research methods of returning to the scene, restores the social environment, topics, and questions raised by the thinker, systematically describes the thoughts of the thinkers, restores the thinker’s ideological logic, and tries to rid itself of the disruption of the research object. Secondly, the object of concern in the study of the history of ideas is a more general programmatic concept. These objects of study have not evolved through a long period of history and are still the basic presuppositions that people generally accept about people, society, and the world, and while these presuppositions may not have changed, the connotation of ideas is significantly different with different schools of thought at any time, and historically explaining the meaning behind the change of ideas is an important path to understand social change. Therefore, the study of the history of ideas can avoid the limitations of the study of the history of thought from concept to concept. Thirdly, the study of the history of ideas focuses on linking ideas to society and considering them, but it is not a simple reflection of theory. Rather, objectively analyzing the content of the concept from the perspective of the problems raised when objectively thinking about society and the conditions provided in thinking about it, emphasizing the fundamental constraints of social conditions on concepts. Concepts will not actively solve problems that the society does not pursue, and changes in the meaning of ideas will not deviate from the decisive influence of the original knowledge discourse. (3)

The Logic of Ideas: The Overall Perspective of Traditional Chinese Political Philosophy

The application of the method of research on the history of ideas has turned the attention of the study of traditional Chinese political philosophy into a political concept with universal influence. What the history of ideas “analyzed and revealed……but of the often implicit, deeply embedded, formative ideas, concepts and categories– some of which are more provisional and open to historical change than could have seemed possible before the last half of the eighteenth century–by means of which we order and interpret a major part of our experience, above all in the peculiarly human spheres of moral, aesthetic, and political activity, and in so doing enlarge both our self-knowledge and our sense of the cope of our creative liberty.”32 As part of the history pursuit for the realization of oneself, every era is carried out under the guidance of certain concepts, therefore, every era has a large number of universal concepts that provide people with the ultimate purpose and universal form of social activities. The presupposed political concept of an era is always directed at specific fundamental political issues and is generally the absolute answer to a fundamental political issue. These are used to provide an eternal and effective absolute solution 32

Berlin [22], pp. 6–7.

18

1 Introduction

to a fundamental political problem and to provide a universal basis for social order and personal mentality that conform to the law. This presupposed political concept is generally a programmatic concept of ideology and culture in a certain historical stage. “Any form of ideology and culture has a set of programmatic concepts to express and support….those positive programmatic concepts focus on truth, goodness and beauty.”33 The programmatic concept in ideology and culture is essentially the premise of the orderly arrangement of everything according to law and purpose, it can neither be confirmed in experience nor falsified in experience, and must only be given priority in experience, that is, the programmatic concept is the fundamental presupposition of the order of the ontology of all things in the world, the combination of the law and the purpose of the ontological order requires that the presupposition of the programmatic concept must be a full judgment of the world. The programmatic concept has two basic political functions, the first is that the universal presupposition of the programmatic concept provides an inevitable ontological order for the political world and confirm the general form of the ontological order. The second is that programmatic concepts are always standing in a position that is conducive to political authority, providing inevitable reasons for political authority and its control of society, become an important theoretical resource on which political control is realized. Mr. He Zhaowu suggested in understanding the history of human creation “we may wish to agree with the duality of history, that is, as a natural person, human history is subject to natural and inevitable laws, but as a free and self-disciplined person, he is the master of his own history, and he decides his own orientation by himself.…as the subject of freedom, man is self-regulating.” Furthermore, “the whole process of human history runs through the purpose of humans. There is nothing in human history that has no purpose…People’s activities together are thought-provoking and purposeful, thought-provoking planned actions to achieve a goal.…The purpose is the human factor in history, and without this factor, the object itself will not create history…People strive to achieve human goals through means of things…The pursuit of the master of history is the best combination of things (science and technology as a means) and human values (purpose).” “All human values… are not, it can’t be derived from science. They are beliefs and ideals, not objective facts and rules.……and therefore to understand history, we need something that goes beyond science: value, purpose, ideal, belief. They are not within the scope of scientific evidence, it is something that science cannot prove or falsify, but it is something that is indispensable in one’s life and the history of mankind. We need them as much as we need science.”34 Politics as an effective means for human beings to create history to achieve their goals, the development track and trend are fundamentally restricted by human activities in all ages of different cultural backgrounds, that is, how humans think and position themselves, politics will strive to achieve a certain purpose, the basic presuppositions of people in a certain era fundamentally determine the nature, form, trends and tasks of politics. The application of the study method of the history 33 34

Zehua [27], p. 265. Zhaowu [28], pp. 3–20.

1 Reflections on the Methodology of the Study …

19

of ideas in political thought, that is, focus on the basic presuppositions about social purposes, and on the universal purpose of an era in a certain cultural context, they are usually conceptual consensuses in the form of inevitability concepts, propositions and judgments.35 The application of the research method of the history of ideas in Traditional Chinese political philosophy is actually to analyze the certain universal connotations contained in the consensus of ideas in traditional times and outline the objective logical connection between its internal components, organize the presuppositions about the purpose of people that are popular among thinkers according to the logical thinking generally accepted by thinkers, deduce the influence of the concept of presupposed purpose, determine the main logical stages, main forms and objective results of political phenomena, etc. The inevitability of value judgment in Traditional Chinese thought and culture is the presupposition of the purpose of social existence. Although most are absolute value judgments without preconditions, which is suitable for longer historical periods, their logical meaning and their logical relationships are highly stable over a long period of time. The logical meaning of revealing the value judgments have become an important task in the study of traditional Chinese political philosophy. The method of research in the history of ideas focuses more on the inevitability of the emergence of the value judgments in Traditional Chinese thought culture, which affirms the important role of ideas in the generation and maintenance of social ontological order and believes that a stable political order is built on the basis of ontological social order conforming to the purpose and the regular pattern. Ontological social order is rooted in a set of logically self-consistent inevitable value judgments. A logically self-consistent value judgment is the premise and final destination of all political judgments and the pursuit of the politically ideal country. “The role of society as an organic whole is mainly the concept. It is precisely the concept of inevitability that provides the logical basis for the continued existence of society.…the inevitability of the concept not only makes people generally believe in the natural legitimacy of the society in which they live, it will extend the value and meaning of life from the inevitability of the concept, and to produce a universal standard of behavior through the constraints of ideas.” Moreover, “a harmonious society in reality has a set of inevitable concepts,these ideas have become some self-evident absolute truth or transcendental proposition because they have thoroughly solved many fundamental problems of human being.”36 Purpose presupposes expressing a value proposition that usually manifests inevitably, and the change of meaning of value proposition is the transformation of value thinking. The fundamental change of the inevitability of value concept as the presupposed purpose is the sign of major changes in political thought, which can be used as the basic standard for measuring the era’s attributes of political thought. As for the role of political philosophy, “the essence, topic, main theme and development trend of political thought depend on the political philosophy among them, it consists of a series of inevitable categories and propositions, for the political society, it sets the inevitable political purpose that 35 36

See Shiwei [29], p. 4. Shiwei [30].

20

1 Introduction

people must pursue the universal political model of relationships with ontological meaning, which is the skeleton and soul of political thought;……”37 Propositions regarding inevitability, as the conceptual basis of social existence, have effects on individuals, society, and politics, and “on the one hand, they provide people with the basic criteria for measuring social fairness, while on the other hand, it gives hope to everyone. The most important thing is that these concepts not only give people full confidence in the history of their ancestors and, moreover it has obtained the reason for persistence and pursuit of justice. Justice is also presented to individuals through these concepts of inevitability.” “Any mature society has a set of such inevitable concepts to systematically express value judgments, expound the basic morals of society, and propose the basic moral principles of society, thus forming some form of historical conclusion.” The inevitability of value judgment “has established a set of absolute principles of right and wrong in theory and practice, and thus logically deduces a state of society and people.” In modern times, the natural meta-rules of human individual and group behavior in Western political theory are rooted in a set of logically self-consistent inevitable values. This set of value judgments shows that the ontological social order is the natural state and the natural law, politics and the group are the carriers of the ontological social order. They are rooted in the ontological order, and also reflect and return to the ontological order, and must endeavor to maintain and consolidate the natural obligation of the ontological social order. “The logical combination of a set of logical self-consistent inevitable value judgments is not only the starting point, basis, and standard for people and politics, but also the purpose destination of people and politics.”38 If there is no real breakthrough in the judgment of Traditional Chinese political concepts, there will be no real modern political ideas. The traditional Chinese ethics is both a presupposition of purpose and a social ontological order, when the purpose of the ethical code encounters severe challenges, the ontological order of the traditional society and its auxiliary monarchy also encounter a deep crisis of identity. “The traditional Chinese propositions of the three cardinal guides and the five constant virtues as specified in feudal society were destroyed in modern times, which has caused China to lose the necessary political proposition to integrate society. China has also produced many fundamental perplexities in its fundamental concepts, and has had to make difficult choices in various kinds of doctrines. Choice within modern China is both a choice of value proposition and a political choice, it relies on the persuasive power of theory to gain faith and to support the corresponding political system through theoretical persuasion, and the political system in turn tries to maintain concept of value.”39 Starting from Mr. Sun Yat-sen, the construction of China’s modern political ideology attempts to establish a completely new value judgment on the basis of inheriting tradition in the form of political propositions. There are inherent logical connections between the concepts and categories of Traditional Chinese ideology and culture. Combing their logical connections can 37

Shiwei [29], p. 20. Shiwei [30]. 39 Ibid. 38

1 Reflections on the Methodology of the Study …

21

comprehensively understand the traditional ideological and cultural system and its main features. Mr. Zhang Liwen has made a good attempt to sort out the logical relationships between the concepts and categories of Traditional Chinese ideology and culture, and has achieved positive research results. He published The Study of Zhu Xi Thought in 1981, which rethought the research method of the history of Chinese philosophy. Very early on he proposed that Chinese philosophy research should focus on the analysis of the inherent logical structure of the philosophy system. The study of the history of Chinese philosophy “for nearly three decades, the philosopher’s thoughts have been habitually studied in terms of their natural views, epistemology, methodology, ethics, and historical views, conducting a ‘segmentation’ study, “this is the basis of research work, it is absolutely necessary, and it has achieved results, but staying at this level is not enough.” He goes on to write “the various aspects of the philosopher’s philosophical system and its basic categories are closely related and thus constitute a whole. Conducting a ‘segmentation’ study often lacks sufficient attention within the logic of the entire philosophical system, only by revealing in depth the internal logical structure or connection of a certain philosophical system can we truly reflect the true face of the philosophical system.”40 In the On the logical structure of Chinese Philosophy, Mr. Zhang Liwen systematically analyzed the logical structure of Traditional Chinese philosophy, and illustratively used the research method of the internal logical structure of the system of analytic philosophy, and put forward a lot of academically valuable viewpoints. He affirmed that the theoretical thinking system of the nation, the era, or the philosopher has certain internal logic, that is, there is an inevitable logical connection between the categories. “A national ideology, philosophical theoretical thinking, a trend of thought in an era or a philosopher’s theoretical thinking system, is expressed by a number of concepts (categories), and is composed of logical sequences or combinations of many interrelated and interacting categories.”41 Mr. Zhang Liwen advocates that the internal logic structure of the philosophical system should be analyzed from the actual analysis of meaning of philosophical thoughts, focusing on the analysis of meaning of the facts of thought. “It is not based on readily available principles and theories, nor does it inherit the divisions of the West, nor does it take Chinese philosophy to conform to the principles and theories of ready-made by mechanically applying others’ experience, but starting from the actual situation of Chinese philosophy, trying to sort out and summarize the principles, theories, laws, and methods inherent in Chinese philosophy.” Regarding its structure he writes “the logic structure theory of Chinese philosophy explores the inner world of Chinese philosophy, from the perspective of the combination of Traditional Chinese philosophy in certain social, economic, political, cultural, and thinking structures and the history of human cognition and development, exploring the evolution and development of its logical structure, revealing the horizontal and vertical relationship of Chinese philosophical categories, making the study of the philosophical category not stay static, but

40 41

Liwen [31], p. 5. Liwen [32], p. 11.

22

1 Introduction

searching for it in the dynamics. This analysis of the logical structure of the philosophical category rooted in the soil of Chinese philosophy can reproduce the concrete form of the logical structure of the category in the thinking, thus further revealing the structure of Chinese philosophical logic.”42 Furthermore, “the so-called logical structure of Chinese philosophy refers to the logical development of Chinese philosophical categories and the intrinsic connection between the various categories. It is a relatively stable logical theoretical form constructed by Chinese philosophy in the context of certain social, economic, and political structures of thought.”43 Like the Chinese philosophy studied by Mr. Zhang Liwen, traditional Chinese political philosophy is of course a system of thought consisting of concepts and categories. The whole also has a logical development of categories and internal relations between the various categories, and there is also a logical theoretical form which is relatively stable in the traditional era. This determines that the study of traditional Chinese political philosophy can also use logical analysis methods that focus on the analysis of thought facts and the logical links between concepts and categories, carrying out a logical interpretation of Traditional Chinese political philosophy, re-presenting the inherent logic of Traditional Chinese political philosophy as a framework of holistic thinking and its evolutionary process.

2 The Study of Traditional Chinese Political Philosophy Is Based on Interpreting National Commonalities in Politics Although the study of political philosophy has experienced nearly 30 years of development in China, its research objects, research methods, and research purposes are still widely debated. Personally, I think that political philosophy is a subject area with fixed research objects. This subject area is not clearly defined by interdisciplinary relationships, but there are three basic features that can be referenced, which are political philosophy discusses the eternal question of no fixed answer or solution, the concepts formed by it are all programmatic fundamental concepts, categories, propositions, and judgments, and the conclusions of the disciplines are basically inevitable.44 Although the issues discussed in political philosophy basically belong to the fundamental, basic, and principle issues that must be answered by the existence and development of the political community, however, the emergence and development of political philosophy can only be based on specific political traditions, and must still have a distinct personality determined by political traditions. In a given political tradition, major issues such as the basic form and value orientation of political life always require a universal basis for ontology, value theory, and methodology, the study which can give the above questions on the basis of inevitable propositions is a study of political philosophy. Although the study of political philosophy can be 42

Ibid., pp. 1–2. Ibid. [32], p. 5. 44 Shiwei [33]. 43

2 The Study of Traditional Chinese Political …

23

different, carefully studying the profound political philosophy of the classic thinkers and showing many principled political ideas and these principled political ideas were proposed and demonstrated by individual thinkers, however, because the history of political philosophy seems to be the process of producing a classic principled political thought, its impact is very far-reaching, and its research significance is self-evident. Political philosophical research can also directly seek common ground. By analyzing epidemic concepts or public concepts, we can find the fundamental common factors that constrain and influence people’s political thinking. So far, the history of Chinese political thought has emphasized the particularity of thought concerning research, but researchers have also noticed the connection and inter-connectivity between thoughts. Xiao Gongquan has noticed the differences in the same and the same in difference in the political ideas of different schools. “In the late years of Zhou Dynasty and Qin and Han Dynasties, the following two phenomena often appeared. First, the name of schools of thought remained the same as before while the content of thought was different. Second, there were different branches in one faction and many factions were mixed.”45 Liu Zehua paid more attention to the similarities and communication between the ancient philosophers in terms of political topics and viewpoints. He not only expounds the relationship between the contending of a hundred schools of thought and the development of monarchy, moreover, the basic concepts shared by different schools, such as heaven, Dao, and the sage are analyzed. It is concluded that the basic purpose of Traditional Chinese political thought is the conclusion of royalism.46 But there is a lack of methodological analysis of this research path, this section focuses on the method of reflection on the path of seeking common research in Traditional Chinese political philosophy. It also tries to clearly define the research object of Traditional Chinese political philosophy logically deduced from the perspective of topic, and reasonably locates the purpose and significance of Traditional Chinese political philosophy research. (1)

The Study of Traditional Chinese Political Philosophy Focusing on the Interpretation of National Commonality

The study of traditional Chinese political philosophy is essentially a study of history containing a sequence of studies of the history of political thought. The study of the history of political philosophy is based on the fact that political thought has both universality and particularity, and it can have different paths or paradigms for seeking differences and seeking common ground. In the same political tradition there are unique aspects between different political thoughts and there is a common basis for communication. On the one hand, people’s political feelings and political understanding inevitably has individuality and particularity corresponding to the particular era, nation, and economic classes, while on the other hand there are some common basic characteristics between different political feelings and political understanding. This is the generality and universality of political thought. Any political thought attempts to resolve certain political contradictions, which creates its unique nature, 45 46

Gongquan [34], p. 5. Zehua [13], p. 114, pp. 383–448.

24

1 Introduction

regular patterns, and specific functions. In addition, the contradiction it has to solve occurs in political society, always involving its general social nature. Therefore, political thought always has the two forms of unique and general natures, regular patterns, and functions. The disciplinary nature of the history of political thought determines that it must balance the particularity and generality of political thought. The history of political thought must scrutinize political feelings and political understandings of various forms within human history, reveal its essence, function, basic regular patterns, and distinguish various political feelings from political understandings. Simultaneously, the history of political thought must also bear in mind the similar, connected, and complementary nature and characteristics of various political feelings and political understandings which are historically linked to provide an overall framework that reflects the general nature of political thought in a certain stage. Political philosophical thought can come from the particularity of political thought or from the universality of political thought, the former is often to propose and demonstrate a universally inevitable principled understanding, while the latter is often to outline a generally effective thinking framework. The study of the history of political philosophy generally focuses on revealing the individualized ideas of a political philosopher, focusing on revealing its special nature, regular patterns, and specific functions, while researchers have not done enough work on the general nature of the political philosophy contained within it. This is not conducive to the study of specific political philosophy because any specific political philosophy only makes sense reflected in the commonality of political philosophy. It is not particularly beneficial to grasp the major issues reflected in political philosophy. Major political issues always appear in the thought of different thinkers of the same era or in major thinkers of different eras. In fact, the problems in political philosophy are always old problems in the history of political thought which appear to have no ultimate solution. The particularity of political philosophy demonstrates its specific connotation of thought, and this is the basic aspect that must be paid attention to in the study of political philosophy, and is also the more comprehensive aspect of political philosophy research. However, the purpose of political philosophy research is not purely to dissect forms of thought, but always attempts to find insights or methods that can be transplanted and used. Any insight or method that can be transplanted and used must have a certain degree of generality.47 In addition, the possibility of political philosophy research is also based on this general nature, which is objective. Thus, the reference objects or thinking tools used in our study of political philosophy must also have a general nature as only the scale of general nature can measure the general nature of objective things. While the study of Chinese political philosophy certainly needs to understand the special meaning of each specific political philosophy, it is also necessary to understand the general meaning and common essence of various political philosophical thoughts. Only in this way can we understand the holistic, fundamental characteristics and basic regular patterns of Chinese political philosophy as much as possible while understanding various specific political philosophical ideas. 47

Shiwei [35], pp. 2–3.

2 The Study of Traditional Chinese Political …

25

Studying traditional Chinese political philosophy, one must be aware of the transcendence of traditional political philosophy relative to the political thought of a certain school. One must focus on the common factors that have a common influence among the various factions and the connection between the various schools of thought, avoid the use of a single school to refer to or cover over traditional Chinese political philosophy. Traditional Chinese political philosophy is not merely Confucian political philosophy or Daoist political philosophy, and it is equally wrongheaded to separate the ideological connections of various factions to find Chinese humanism in a single Confucian school, or eagerly compare Chinese and Western thought, equating Daoist thoughts with Western traditional liberalism. Whether it is the Confucian personality theory as a New Confucian view of the spirit of democracy, or the Daoist non-action as a new Daoist view of liberalism, while they may reflect the fact that there is indeed a compatibility between the traditional Chinese thought and the spirit of democracy and liberalism, as far as the truth is concerned, there often exists a large gap. Because it ignores the similar, resonant, and complementary elements between different factions of traditional Chinese thought, the conclusions obtained often seem plausible but are actually quite different from the reality of the thoughts themselves. If the researchers separate the similarities of traditions and interrelatedness of the content of thought of contemporary thinkers, distinguishing different classes, eras, and different political trends, then the conclusions obtained will be more deviated from the intellectual facts. Some researchers have emphasized the similarities of culturally isolated thinkers of the same era when studying the thoughts of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, and too many neglect the similarities, resonance, and complementary nature of different thinkers in the same era under the same cultural tradition, “ignoring the commonality of the times that thinkers have shown when talking about specific issues,”48 ignoring the sharing of guiding concepts between thinkers, interpreting some of these thinkers as democratic enlightenment thinkers, and interpreting other thinkers as authoritarian. “The commonality of the specific ideas of the thinkers of the same era, no matter how different, is always the most basic.”49 The study of political philosophy only focuses on the similar, resonant, and complementary aspects in different schools of thought in order to truly get the conclusion that is both practical and enlightening. (2)

The Study of Traditional Chinese Political Philosophy as a Concern for Programmatic Political Concepts

Mr. Liu Zehua is a scholar who has been involved in Traditional Chinese political philosophy for the past 30 years. In the early 1980s, he proposed that research in Chinese political thought should be a part of political philosophy, that is to say, he thinks the philosophical content of political thought is universal.50 The influence of the pre-Qin philosophers on the history of Chinese political thought mainly comes from its philosophical political thought, i.e. political philosophy. Political 48

Shiwei [29], p. 4. Ibid. 50 Zehua [36]. 49

26

1 Introduction

ideas that have a general impact in traditional Chinese society tend to revolve around certain themes, and this theme is the royalism that Professor Liu Zehua mentions. The most obvious evidence for this is that political ideas with universal influence are often programmatic, or guiding, concepts of Traditional Chinese thought and culture. These programmatic concepts generally exist within the phenomenon of the imperealization of the monopoly of the emperor.51 Judging from the historical investigation of political concepts, the rationality, inevitability, and effectiveness of a monarchy’s autocratic politics are the eternal basic issues of traditional Chinese political concepts. The political ideas of thinkers, political commentators, and politicians at various stages of each school can be said to be different forms of monarchical theory.52 The consistency of the traditional Chinese political theme reflects the universal influence of the concept of political philosophy, moreover, the universal influence of political ideas still occurs in interconnection. Looking at the development of traditional Chinese political concepts for two thousand years, we find that the general influence of political ideas is mainly manifested in the monotony of topics or issues. The question of the rationality, inevitability, and effectiveness of the autocratic monarchy is a basic political issue of common concern of all political and ideological factions in China, and is also the most basic theoretical consensus among the political ideas of various factions. Despite various political disputes in different genres of traditional Chinese political thought, however, they are surprisingly consistent in their political goals and basic forms, each side believing that social politics must also adopt the form of monarchy. During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the contention between a hundred schools of thought went through a process of development, which is natural when conditions are ripe for fierce debates regarding the achievements of monarchist autocratic political thought. Of course, there are various kinds of interventions in political power, yet the commonality between the political thought of various factions is the most fundamental reason why a hundred schools of thought led to the political and ideological achievements of monarchy. The commonality between these various political ideas is actually the commonality of basic political issues and basic political views. Since all factions are using methods that they believe to be effective to justify the rationality, necessity, and effectiveness of monarchical autocracy, it is no wonder that all schools of thought in contention eventually lead to the political and ideological achievements of autocratic monarchy. Although Chinese political thought has been bumpy, its political and ideological theme had retained the original ideological topic of monarchy and authoritarianism before it accepted civil rights.53 The monotony and lack of changing topics or issues shows that there is an inseparable organic connection between traditional Chinese political concepts, and the political concept of organic connection itself has a certain degree of universality. Of course, traditional Chinese political concepts do not all have obvious universality, therefore, it is impossible for them to become a research object of political 51

Zehua [37], p. 372. See Zehua [13], p. 114. 53 Zehua [13], pp. 114–128. 52

2 The Study of Traditional Chinese Political …

27

philosophy. In fact, only those programmatic or fundamental concepts have universality, and thus they can become the research objects of political philosophy. That is to say, as a research object of political philosophy, it has the characteristics of politics and philosophy, a politically prominent philosophical concept, or a philosophical prominent political concept. In short, “any form of ideology and culture has a set of programmatic concepts which express and support it, and China’s traditional thought and culture is no exception. Those positive programmatic concepts focus on truth, goodness and beauty.……the programmatic concept is the condensation and concentration of the spirit of thought and culture, or thought and culture is guided by a programmatic concept.”54 The programmatic concept is functionally expressed in the culture and thought as outlined above and are almost ubiquitous in thought and culture. The lack of such a concept will lead to the collapse of the framework of thought and culture, which will affect people’s normal thinking. The lack of some programmatic concepts can make thinking activities difficult in certain areas. The most representative concept is dao (道), and dao in Traditional Chinese thought and culture is omnipresent. Therefore, such ideas have become common ideas or necessary concepts for people to think about political issues, although the specific meanings people use when they use them can vary widely. On the one hand, because different schools and thinkers have different interpretations of common concepts, thus when they are using common concepts, thinking about different styles and focuses, different conclusions can be drawn and ideas and conclusions rich in thinking and personality can be drawn. On the other hand, although people can explain public concepts differently, the public concept itself determines that there is a close connection or similarities and resonance between different interpretations. Thus, using different perspectives, or focusing on the same problem, taking different perspective, expressing the same political tendency, or reflect the consistency of thinking methods, when thinkers use a common concept, they also objectively express the commonality between them. The same concept, especially the same programmatic concept, is a fundamental constraint even to a heretical thinker. In this sense, the programmatic concept not only reflects the commonality of the times, but also reflects the commonality of the nation, and of course reflects the commonality of the schools of thought. The epochal changes of Traditional Chinese political philosophy are reflected in the major replacement of the programmatic concept. When the programmatic concept has not been replaced, the specific content and political inclination of political philosophy can only be traditional, but not modern.55 It is worth noting that the highly philosophical concept of universal influence as an object of political philosophy research, it is a must-have concept for most thinkers in traditional times to think about political issues. It is also a concept that is rich in meaning and difficult to determine. It can be said that everyone wants to explain and everyone has an explanation. The study of political philosophy must focus on the specific meaning of these concepts in the works of specific political philosophers, but more attention should be paid to the importance of using these concepts together 54 55

Zehua [37], pp. 372–378. Shiwei [29], p. 20.

28

1 Introduction

by different thinkers, and through similar and different comparisons of the different meanings of the same concept. Focusing on the same point can reveal the fundamental constraints of the same concept on the formation of different thinkers, while focusing on different points can analyze the supporting role of programmatic public concepts to specific ideological systems, explain the dependence of individualized ideas on programmatic concepts, and highlight the fundamental constraints of programmatic concepts on individualized ideas. The programmatic concepts embody and generalizes the universality of politics and provides necessary support for the political life, such as value theory, ontology and methodology. In a given era, as long as the universal meaning interpretation in the form of the inevitable proposition embodied in the programmatic concept is maintained as usual, the differences between the thinkers are not epoch-making.56 (3)

The Study of Traditional Chinese Political Philosophy as a Focus on the Similarity between Schools of Thought

The way in which political philosophy reflects national commonality is also manifested in the logical relationship between different schools. From the perspective of the development of thought, there may be three different kinds of logical relationships between different schools of thought. Firstly, differences that ultimately determines whether a new school of thought can be formed, the reason for why many schools of thought are formed in history being that they each have their own unique logic of thought. Secondly, a certain genre differentiates itself from other genres, which determines the difference between the different schools of thought. Schools with logically derived relations tend to share some basic concepts, which in turn lead to a closer value orientation of their ideas. Thirdly, the content expressed by different genres is logically related, and this relationship indicates that the ideological propositions given by different genres are often carried out around a common theme. Thus there are differences in focus, perspective, and method, but because of these differences, some form of academic division of labor has been formed. Traditional Chinese political philosophy not only has a long history, but also a large number of schools of thought, but the above three logical relationships are obviously suitable for different genres of different eras, that is, there is a logical connection between different schools of thought in Traditional Chinese political philosophy. This kind of communication also embodies the national commonality of politics. In the study of the miscellaneous thoughts in the History of Political Thought in the Pre-qin Dynasty, Mr. Liu Zehua discussed the interpersonality of the various ideas by describing the relationship between the miscellaneous school and other schools. The characteristics of Lv Shi Chun Qiu are characterized as miscellaneous existence, miscellaneous selection, and miscellaneous communication. “Miscellaneous existence mean that Lu Buwei did not attempt to cancel any school and didn’t want to use one school to eat or melt other schools. He adopted an inclusive policy for all kinds of theories.……The miscellaneous selections means that Lv Buwei has a selection for each faction. Lu Bu Wei did not select the extreme thinkers of all factions….Miscellaneous communication 56

Ibid., p. 4.

2 The Study of Traditional Chinese Political …

29

does not mean that all schools of thought are connected by one school, but that all the contents of miscellaneous existence and miscellaneous selection are connected with the rule of the king, or that all schools of thought are connected by the needs of the king.”57 Lv Shi Chun Qiu visually demonstrates the logical intercommunication between the different political and ideological factions of the pre-qin Dynasty by the Miscellaneous existence, Miscellaneous selection, and Miscellaneous communication of the various schools of thought. In the article “Contention of a hundred schools of thought in Warring States Period, and the Development of Royalism”, through sorting out the issues, topics, and viewpoints discussed by the ancient philosophers, Mr. Liu Zehua further clarifies the clues of the ancient philosophers and kingship, drawing the conclusion that the ancient philosophers are connected with monarchy.58 Chinese political thought is an organic whole composed of political ideas of various factions, therefore, we must bid farewell to the practice of summarizing the basic characteristics of Chinese political thought with a certain political thought. It is necessary to carry out an analysis of the logical position of the political thoughts of various factions in Chinese political thought, then determine the composition of Chinese political thought. The various factions in Chinese political thought are the inevitable outcome of the rise of the Chinese political tradition from the spontaneous stage to the conscious stage, they are an induction from experience and theoretical abstraction of different aspects, different levels, different perspectives, and different emphases of the Chinese political tradition. Therefore, there is a dialectical relationship between the political thoughts of various factions, which is the unity of opposites. On the one hand, there are obvious differences between political thoughts, and some even manifest themselves as fierce conflicts, while on the other hand, different political ideas originate from the same political tradition itself, and they determine similar, resonant, and complementary aspects. It is worth noting that the political thoughts of various factions, whether in theoretical building or in social practice, are not evenly divided, but it shows a certain imbalance, and some political and ideological factions have made a splash in the theoretical circle, even to the extent which is popular in society, and some political and ideological factions can only be lonely, even many political ideas have to be quietly produced, and was buried in obscurity.59 At the same time, the political ideas of various factions reflect the differences in aspects and methods of Chinese political tradition, there is also a great disparity in their logical position and historical status in the organic whole of Chinese political thought. Confucianism, which reflects the ontology and ultimate concern of Chinese political tradition, has always been the backbone of Chinese political thought, legalists who provide ruling methods, strategies, and institutions, and daoists and the yin-yang school who provide philosophical foundations for political ontology and political value theory are always an important part of Chinese political thought. The political influence of foreign civilizations such as Buddhist philosophy also constitutes an essential part of Chinese political thought. The formation of the various 57

Zehua [26], p, 447. Zehua [13], pp. 114–128. 59 Kaimo, Shiwei [38]. 58

30

1 Introduction

schools within Chinese political thought can be said to have always maintained the main position of Confucianism, while at the same time tolerate the participation of non-Confucian political thought. Frequent interaction and intertwined fusion of Confucianism and other schools of thought broadens the ideological foundation of Confucian value ideals and enlarges its influence, while it also subtly causes great change in Confucianism time after time. We have summarized the composition of the Chinese political thoughts as “Confucianism is the main force with pluralistic participation”. This is another representation of the logical relationship between the various schools of thought. The so-called “pluralistic participation” has two meanings: the first one refers to the many non-Confucian political thoughts that have always played an important role in the organic whole of Chinese political thought. Among them the Daoist, Legalist, and the Yin-Yang schools occupy a very important position in Confucianism.60 The second is the developmental process of Confucian political thought as representing the organic unity of maintaining the backbone of thought and absorbing pluralistic political thoughts. While Confucianism maintains its main ideological character, it also has several characteristics assimilated from other schools of thought. The diversified political thoughts have also undergone “Confucianization” in the process of coexisting with and integrating into Confucianism, which has some classic features of Confucianism. Not only did the Confucianization of non-Confucian Chinese schools of thought occur, among them the Confucianization of Legalism being quite typical,61 but foreign culture, notably Buddhism, had gradually become more Confucianistic.62 The diversification of Confucian political thought and the Confucianization of the plurality of political thought are two aspects of the developmental process of Chinese political thought. The interaction between them has made the Chinese political tradition continue to move from the spontaneous stage to the conscious stage, the process of consciously Confucianizing traditional Chinese politics has been deepened and sublimated again and again. Compared with other schools, Confucian political thought pays more attention to the systematic, basic, principled, and idealistic aspects of political tradition. It is better at thinking about the ontology and value theory of Chinese political society from the positive perspective of construction than other schools. Many of the ideas of Confucian political thought are closely related to the ontology of Chinese political tradition. The political thoughts of Daoism, Legalism, and other ideological factions are far from the sort of broad coverage of Chinese political traditions that Confucian political thought provides. They are better at doing a very unique theoretical analysis of Chinese political tradition from a certain perspective. Its contribution may be mainly the development of philosophical methodology in political thought, such as with Daoism, or there may also be greater contributions in the rationality of political tools, such as with Legalism, but they contribute less to the creation of political ontology than Confucianism. As for the political criticism of Daoism, there is a lack of positive rational factors, which cannot be compared with 60

Zehou [39]. Tongzu [40], pp. 328–346. 62 Zehou [41], p. 116. 61

2 The Study of Traditional Chinese Political …

31

the positive and constructive criticism of Confucianism. Although Confucianism is dominant, however, its development is inseparable from the necessary supplements of other schools of thought, and the key is that Confucianism and other schools are complementary in their minds as a result of interconnecting.

3 The Internal Logic of Traditional Chinese Political Philosophy The different factions in the history of Chinese political thought are undoubtedly from the same political tradition. This political tradition was basically shaped in the late Shang Dynasty. The most concise generalization is “I, the one man” (yu yiren 予一人).63 This traditionally political thought genre has relationships of similarity, resonance, and complementarity and is actually the internal consistency of Traditional Chinese political thought. The consistency between a political tradition and the political thought which is produced by it is also evidenced within the Western tradition as well. When Tang Shiqi defined the research object of Western political thought, he pointed out: “Western political thought refers mainly to the political thought of Western Europe and North America, because in this region, from the historical process of human politics, people’s thinking about politics shows some kind of completely recognizable consistency and inheritance, which makes a clear difference with the understanding of politics in other regions of the world. constitute a relatively complete system of thought.”64 The consistency between the various factions of Traditional Chinese political thought has attracted the attention of domestic researchers and the use of political philosophical research methods has made the internal consistency of Traditional Chinese political thoughts the focus of attention. Mr. Liu Zehua’s research on Traditional Chinese political thought is concerned about the consistency between different factions,65 focusing on the relationships of similarity, resonance, and complimentarity between each faction’s political thought,66 it also is concerned with the extreme stability of mainstream political thought, and deeply studies the prevalent political concept in society,67 using “royalism” to generalize the internal consistency of Traditional Chinese political thought and the basic spirit embodied in it.68 The trend of the political thoughts of the preQin philosophers in the late Warring States to the early Qin and Han Dynasties also received attention from academic circles. The pre-Qin philosophers went from the Lv Shi Chun Qiu and Huai Nan Zi to Dong Zhongshu’s development of thought. It is summarized as a process of unity of thought, and the result of the unity of thought 63

Zehua [42], pp. 1–2. Shiqi [43], p. 1. 65 Zehua [44], p. 10. 66 Zehua [45], pp. 637–655. 67 Zehua [46], pp. 51–103. 68 Zehua [46], p. 3. 64

32

1 Introduction

is the cosmological view regarding the interaction between heaven and mankind in the Han Dynasty.69 The consistency of Traditional Chinese political thought is reflected in its political philosophy, whether it crosses over historical periods or crosses over schools of thought, or it creates similar, resonant, and complementary ideas with other schools of thought in its creation of theory, or long-standing political topics, even the division and integration of political philosophies in important viewpoints are important manifestations of internal consistency in political philosophy. It is believed that the content of Traditional Chinese political philosophy not only has a certain level of consistency, but also that the consistency maintains long-term stability in a logical form. This is crucial for the stability of political thinking, system of political thoughts and even political practice. For without lasting stability of a fundamental proposition, there would be no lasting stability in the political system, and the best way to destabilize the lasting stability of a political system would be to undermine the stability of the fundamental proposition as its important premise.70 The basic political form of Traditional Chinese society has remained for more than 2000 years, one of its mysteries is that the axis of political thought is fairly stable. In order to reveal the secret of the long-term stability of political thought, and to understand the root cause of the long term continuation of Traditional Chinese society,71 this article intends to state the internal logic of Traditional Chinese political philosophy from the following three aspects. (1)

An Outline of the Logical Relationship between Public Concepts

Human political society will always face political problems. Some of these political problems seem to be ubiquitous fixtures in various political issues, and they do not seem to ever be really solved. Humanity has to face up to the old problems that have been encountered countless times, and it seems that human society has no capacity to solve such problems. What is irritating is that human society simply cannot avoid these issues. When we look back on the history of human political thought we find that the political thought of the same civilization often repeats some old views that their predecessors have already repeatedly elaborated on, and it is difficult to understand how people who repeat their predecessors’ opinions are truly the masters of their own thought. The history of political thought is like a frail old man. It lacks creative passion and courage and can only ramble about the past, but our political thinkers 69

Zehou [39], pp. 136–176. Shiwei [47]. 71 There have always been many opinions on the reasons for the long continuance of feudal society in China. Mr. He Zhaowu even thought that the problem was a false question in historical research (see Zhaowu [48], pp. 319–328). The scholar who is obsessed over this problem insists it is the result of the intrusion of nomadic people, the inferior level of feudalization in Chinese society (Chang [49]) or traditional Chinese society formed a super stable structure (Guantao [50]). In Authoritarian Power and Chinese Society, Mr. Liu Zehua shows the important influence of monarchy in the long-term continuation of Chinese feudal society (Zehua [42]). I agree with Mr. Liu Zehua’s basic judgment, but think that the conclusion still fails to show the real decisive reason for the long-term continuation of traditional society. 70

3 The Internal Logic of Traditional Chinese Political Philosophy

33

neither lack creative passion nor lack the courage to create. We can only assume that the political opinions that political thinkers repeatedly question refer to the general, basic, and general problems that cannot be disregarded in human political society, or it can be said that they are eternal problems that political society must face. Political philosophy is a subject which specializes in the concepts, propositions, and judgments of common problems, basic problems, general problems, and eternal problems of human political society.72 Political philosophy uses the analytic method of philosophy, and the analytic method of philosophy is essentially an abstract analytic method of revealing the ultimate essence of the objective world. “When philosophers abstract all things that are perceptual and specific to the ultimate essence of abstract generalization, the object of philosophy appears.”73 This means that political philosophy requires the ultimate abstraction of political phenomena, thus forming a fundamental understanding of politics and expressing it in the form of public concepts. The idea of public concepts implies that they get to the ultimate nature of the world, and many public concepts have corresponding logical relations because they all involve the ultimate nature of the world. The programmatic concepts in a mature system of thought and cultural is basically a public concept that involves the ultimate nature of the world, and therefore is also a concept within political philosophy. Traditional Chinese political philosophy is composed of these public concepts. Public concepts are derived from the perspective of the ideas of different eras and different factions. In terms of its status in thought and culture, it can be called a programmatic concept. The programmatic and publicization of concepts is comprised of two observational dimensions with increasingly rich conceptual meanings. Programmatic means that the implications and connotations of the concept leads to its own rising status in the culture of thought. Its meaning is mainly expressed as the gradual change from concrete to abstract. Publicization refers to the generalized developmental trend of the concept’s connotation while it is continuously abstracted, increasingly becoming a common concept across interdisciplinary eras. The emergence of public concepts can be traced back to the beginning of the history of writing, and it is constantly enriched by thinkers. The connotation of public concepts becomes more and more enriched with the change of time, and the number of public concepts increases, thus constantly recreating the logical relationship between public concepts and the resulting world schema. The world schema traces the general view of a mature culture of thought regarding the state of existence of the world. It is the ultimate abstraction of the world achieved in terms of form and its area of concern is the elements, relationships, connections, order, etc. in the human world as object as well as the situation as it ought to be. The ultimate abstraction with which philosophy regards the focuses on abstraction of substance, which results in the branch that answers the essence of the world. It also focuses on abstraction of form, which is the branch that answers the form of the world’s essence. The former constitutes the world essence theory, the latter constitutes the world schema theory.74 72

Shiwei [33]. Jindian [51]. 74 Shiwei [29], pp. 27–30. 73

34

1 Introduction

As far as the dimension of the public concept is concerned, it focuses on the nature of the world, and can also focus on the pattern of the world. In comparison, the number of public concepts that discuss world schemas is much larger than the number of public concepts used to explore the nature of the world. The earliest form of public concept is the sacred thing in the myths of primitive religion, whose formation mainly depends on imagination. The intellectual connection of public concepts is expressed as the myth of the system, and “they attempt, in a crude way, to account for things, using the traditional mythology as the basis of their speculations”, its most typical and more mature representative is the theogony of the pre-philosophy era in ancient Greece. “The theogonies and cosmogonies represent an advance over the mythologies; they are an attempt to rationalize the mythical world and to explain the origin of the beings supposed to govern occurrences in nature and events in the life of man”.75 This is also true of the earliest public concepts in China. The people in the Yin Shang dynasty “led the people to serve the gods” and regarded “Emperor” or “God” as the supreme god with absolute authority and as that which governs all natural phenomena and everything in the world.76 The public concepts in Traditional Chinese political philosophy use a relatively primitive political vocabulary from Shang and Zhou dynasties such as heaven, emperor, virtue and also Buddhist terms such as karma which were translated from foreign traditions. Most of this vocabulary, however, come from ancient political legends and theoretical creations of the pre-Qin philosophers. These theoretical creations of the pre-Qin philosophers were not born out of nothing, but relied on ancient political legends. Xiao Gongquan pointed out: “The pre-Qin period is the creative period, …… the pre-Qin philosophers all have theory which originates in ancient culture,their doctrines are not entirely created by their own theories, but inherited a certain content from the ancient cultural resources, theories that are not created without ground. They are not entirely caused by their own thought and the name of creator is doubtful. Let us explain it to you:Creators are not a sheer fabrication out of nothing. People in the spring and Autumn period had political life, so can there be no political concept? Ancient books, such as the book of poetry, contain the will of heaven being oriented towards minben and the theory of rites, music, and military punishment, which were adopted by various schools of thought before the Qin Dynasty becoming became the gist of Chinese political thought. Because of this and words from the past, the original system was weak and its meaning was relatively simple. It must be supervised and managed by great master before the Qin Dynasty, which was then composed in a structured form, whose far-reaching accumulated wisdom become the theory of a school.”77 Buddhism is from abroad, from the reception of Buddhism and Metaphysics in the Wei and Jin Dynasties, during the Sui and Tang Dynasties Chinese Buddhist sects appeared and were also influenced by Confucian political culture and gradually Sinicized. Many concepts, categories and propositions of Neo-Confucianism in Song

75

Thilly [52], pp. 6–7. Zehua [45], pp. 2–3. 77 Gongquan [3], pp. 4–5. 76

3 The Internal Logic of Traditional Chinese Political Philosophy

35

and Ming Dynasties originated from the ideological achievements of Chinese-style Buddhism in the Sui and Tang Dynasties. The public concepts in Chinese political thought, that is, the programmatic concepts, were mostly formed in the pre-Qin period, but in the pre-Qin stage, they belonged to various schools of thought, created a school, or were used for a certain genre. Seen from the source of public concepts, different schools have developed different public concepts. This reflects the unique observational perspective and the analytical method of abstracting the ultimate essence of the world as object. The iconic public concepts of Confucian ethics-centered political thought are benevolence and ritual propriety. Legalists focus on effectiveness and contribute to utilitarian political thought with its iconic public concept being law, political trickery, and power. Daoist’s political thought centered law derived from nature, its landmark public concept being dao and nature. Mozi’s political thought was based around universal love and identifying with one’s superior and its iconic public concepts were the will of heaven and promoting unity of will and thought. Although the iconic public concepts developed by the pre-Qin philosophers are very different, they all consider the study of political philosophy with intention toward the ultimate abstraction of political phenomena from a certain aspect. This has led to the development of a very strong system of thought for each school. Although the differences between the pre-Qin philosopher’ public concepts are very large, so much so that the various factions have fought fiercely around the choice of public concepts and the order of status, there is still a logical close connection between the pre-Qin philosophers and their respective public concepts. There is similarity, resonance, and complementarity in terms of topics, tendencies, and opinions. Different symbolic concepts are the result of the ultimate abstract generalization of the essence of the world by thinkers, but they all relate to the practice of the king’s salvation. and running a country, thus becoming an important supporting concept of monarchical politics. “Pre-Qin philosophers often present multiple directions and multiple lines of thought regarding many problems, and a problem often has several different opinions. On the question of absolute monarchy, there are hundreds of streams returning to the sea.”78 During the late Warring States period, the thoughts of the philosophers have interacted in the process of contending, and public concepts also began to cross the barriers of the schools. On the one hand, the programmatic concepts created by a certain genre was used as a programmatic concept by other schools of thought, and it became more and more public, while on the other hand, the logical connection between the programmatic concepts created by various schools grew and miscellaneous ideas that connected hundreds of thoughts appeared. The Lv Shi Chun Qiu is an eclectic mix of thoughts and ancient philosophers, and “this book integrates Confucianism, Mohism, the Logicians and legalists. The body of the country has these, and there is nothing the king cannot bring into order,”79 “say everything in the world,”80 “the monarchy governs the country and needs to apply the theories of various schools,” “each school 78

Zehua [45], p. 655. Qian [46], (“Biography of lü buwei”). 80 Ibid. 79

36

1 Introduction

has its own purpose and cannot be neglected,” “look down from a height, seeing the content of the various factions in favor of the monarchy,” “like a bee in hundreds of flowers, pick up all flowers,”“standing on a hundred schools, using the standard that is good for rule to go through hundreds of schools.”81 These quotes not only highlight the theme of the times when many of the programmatic concepts created by the philosophers had been publicized, it also visually demonstrates the inherent logical connection between many public concepts. After the choice and succession of the Han Dynasty, the public concepts created by the pre-Qin philosophers had mostly become the public concepts in the Traditional Chinese knowledge system, while the new public concepts after Han Dynasty mostly served the public concepts of the pre-Qin philosophers. Their function only prolongs the logic chain of the public concepts and strengthens the persuasive power of the theoretical system. If the study of political philosophy in China can look for many public concepts formed in the past and sketch out the logical links between them, the world schema that runs through China’s thousands of years of history will be presented in detail in front of people and will intuitively present the ontological order of the Traditional Chinese political philosophy. This ontological order is one of the important manifestations of the internal logic of traditional political philosophy. (2)

The Relationship Between Schools of Thought and the Logic Embodied in Their Thought

As an organic whole, Chinese political philosophy contains many schools of theoretical creation and it is difficult to be summed up as a certain faction of political philosophy. However, the elements of Chinese political philosophy are not equal to each other, but show an obvious primary and secondary structure. that is to say, the logical position of various political ideas in the organic whole of Chinese political thought has a primary and secondary point. This distinction, on the one hand, indicates that the theoretical creation of the pre-Qin philosophers and the significance of political practice are obviously different, and the method and object of thought determines the historical position of the intellectual achievement. It shows that the political philosophy of the philosophers is the ultimate abstraction of the political tradition, in which case the difference between them is only the difference of division of labor. When Chinese political philosophy is integrated into the general political thinking which affects the nation, the political thoughts of the pre-Qin philosophers are preserved in some way and become an important part of the traditional political philosophy. According to the statistics of, Book of Han, Yi Wen Zhi, in the Warring States period there were nearly a hundred kinds of works, so it’s not an exaggeration to use a hundred schools to describe the school of thought at that time. Due to the influence of class, stratum, mode of thinking, personal character, value orientation, etc., the pre-Qin philosophers caused differences in the ways, methods, and angles of their observation and thinking about political phenomena. They highlighted some aspects or links of the Chinese political tradition and formed a conceptual system with obvious characteristics of the school. However, the political issues which they 81

Zehua [55], p. 593.

3 The Internal Logic of Traditional Chinese Political Philosophy

37

expounded are unbalanced in their position and function within traditional Chinese political thought, so the political thoughts of each school also show a certain imbalance. The political thoughts of Confucianism, Mohism, Daoism, Legalisms, and the Yin-Yang school are the mainstream of the political thoughts of the philosophers. Together they form the basic framework of traditional Chinese political thought and the political thoughts of other factions can only be tributaries, acting as the wing of Traditional Chinese political thought.82 Xiao Gongquan believes that the mainstream intellectual factions among the philosophers are “only Confucianism, Mohism, Daoism, and Legalism” and that “these four are not special. Each of them has ideas which they invented and they are self-contained. This can represent the main political and intelectual attitudes of the late Zhou Dynasty.……in terms of the content of the four ideas, each of them is independent, each has its own creation, which is enough to open up the patriarchal style and will be followed by academic genre.”83 “Philosophers of all schools are basically political philosophies of social theory”,84 Confucianism, Mohism, Daoism and Legalisms are the four most influential factions,some important concepts which have far-reaching influence have been created, among which Confucianism has decisive influence. Li Zehou believes that the reason for the outstanding status of Confucianism is: “The strong strength and long-term continuation of the legacy of clan, patriarchal clan system, and blood relations”, “The Chinese Neolithic Age, based on agriculture, probably lasted very long, the organizational structure of Clan society developed very fully and firmly, the civilization was developed very early on this foundation, the ties of blood relatives are very stable and powerful”, “It has influenced and determined the characteristics of Chinese society and its ideology to a great extent”, and he adds “Confucianism did play a major role in the formation of Chinese cultural psychological structure.”85 “Han culture is different from the culture of other nationalities, Chinese people are different from foreigners, Chinese art is different from other art, and its thoughts should still be traced back to the preQin Confucianism.……Confucius’s historical position in shaping China’s national character and culture-psychological structure is a historical fact that is hard to deny.……Confucius’s acquisition of this historical status is inseparable from his use of the spirit of rationalism to reinterpret the ancient primitive culture—— ‘rites and music’.86 “Although the historical position and the important degree of the pre-Qin philosophers’ political thought are different, however, Confucianism, Daoism, Legalism, and Mohism all have unique perspectives and excellent theoretical creations, thus, in the development of Traditional Chinese political philosophy, they have undertaken different divisions of labor, made unique contributions, and occupied a certain logical position in the framework of Traditional Chinese political philosophy. 82

Kaimo, Shiwei [38]. Gongquan [53], pp. 13–18. 84 Zehou [54], p. 91. 85 Ibid., pp. 297–298. 86 Zehou [41], pp. 49–50. 83

38

1 Introduction

The difference of perspective, research method, intellectual content, and position intuitively presents the position of the ancient philosophers in the logical frame of Traditional Chinese political philosophy. In the thoughts of Confucianism, Mohism, Daoism, and Legalism, Confucianism’s “benevolence” and “ritual propriety” are equally important. Explaining “rites” with “benevolence”, “ritual propriety “ contains “Benevolence”, “it was under the conditions of the clan system and kinship collapsed at that time that Confucius extracted this kinship and historical tradition into an ideological conscious claim. This is a clear political explanation of the nature of the supernatant, its social structure and its kinship and hierarchy free it from the historical limitations of a particular clan society and emphasize its universal and lasting social significance and function.”87 Confucianism, which focuses on the social ontological order and value support, gives hope to everyone equally and gives people an ideal state of “inside benevolence and outside courtesy”. It is not accidental that it becomes the backbone of traditional Chinese political philosophy. Daoism pays attention to the universal origins and rules of the world, emphasis is placed on the concepts of “Daoism” and “Nature” which developed empirical dialectical thought, providing a methodology in political philosophy and showing a certain political critical spirit. “The Lao-Zhuang school as a supplement to Confucianism and the opposite side, complement each other in shaping the Chinese world view, outlook on life, cultural and psychological structure, artistic ideals, and aesthetic interests, together with Confucianism, played a decisive role.”88 Human beings are born out of nature, they need both the support of a universal worldview and the support of methodologies, and they also need a series of philosophical terms that describe the state of the world’s ontology. Daoism has become a necessary supplement to Confucianism by providing the world outlook, methodology, and critical consciousness. Legalists apply the naturalistic method and category of Daoism to personnel, created the intellectual path of observing personnel from their natural attributes of human beings, not only conceives people as social individuals who are good at calculating interests, moreover, it also seeks to establish social relations on the basis of humanity being such that people seek to draw on advantages and avoid disadvantages. Political relations and institutions are also the same, and the specific instrumental rationality of the monarchy’s autocratic politics was developed and advocacy of selflessness, respecting the emperor, respecting elite talents, and stressing on benefits were also necessary supplements to Confucianism. The Mohist school is between Confucianism and Legalism. “The content of the Confucianism and Mohism thoughts has a fundamental match.” “Han people use Confucianism and Mohism together, and the two thoughts are mixed up.” Mohist universal love and respecting the virtuous are in harmony with the Confucian benevolence and respecting the virtuous.89 The Mohist’s advocacy of manual labor, identifying with the superior, and advocacy of unity of will and thought are close to the legalist tradition, however, it is self-contained with the combination of universal love, denouncing aggressive warfare, the will of heaven, on ghosts, economizing 87

Zehou [54], pp. 22–23. Zehou [41], p. 53. 89 Gongquan [34], p. 175. 88

3 The Internal Logic of Traditional Chinese Political Philosophy

39

expenditures, simplicity in funerals, and respecting the virtuous, and thus became an important school of thought in the pre-Qin Dynasty. Others schools, such as the Logicians, the Yin-Yang School, etc. are approaching Daoist theory of nature in terms of methodology. The focus of this problem is close to the humanism of Confucianism and Mohism, but it also has an important impact in certain areas of thought, thus it became an important school of thought in the pre-Qin philosophers. The political philosophy of the pre-Qin dynasties really formed a logically unified organic whole in the Han Dynasty, and after the official confirmation and become the Orthodox political ideology of the society, formed a more complete logic system of Chinese political philosophy. The trend of the integrated development of the thought of the ancient philosophers appeared in the late Warring States period. Every school is a miscellaneous school or there is a conflation of factions, the most typical phenomenon being that each genre seemed to have been a mixture of the ancient philosophers. The Confucian Yi Chuan shows the philosophers of the Confucian school,90 the Huang Di Si Jing of Daoism shows the philosophers of the Daoist school,91 the Lv Shi Chun Qiu has become a representative of the miscellaneous schools of the various philosophers.92 The systematization of Chinese political thought during the Han Dynasty, on the one hand, it confirmed that the core issue of Chinese political philosophy is the relationship between heaven and man. The most basic way of thinking of exploring the relationship between heaven and human is the thinking method of heaven-human induction. The thinkers of the Han Dynasty always used the thought method of heaven-human induction in positive or negative way and it affirms the dominant position of Confucianism in Chinese political ideology, establishes the authoritative position of the Confucian classics of thought, and guarantees the dominant or decisive role of Confucianism in the process of social development and socialization of members in China. The increasingly conscious process of Chinese social politics is the process of Confucianism constantly transforming Chinese society and confucianizing Chinese society. This is the process of the complete establishment of basic Confucian political principles in the whole society, that is to say, society had become increasingly Confucian, and even the law of the Legalists had not been spared.93 The same thoughts of Confucianism among the ancient philosophers are obscured by Confucianism, the ability to supplement Confucianism is absorbed by Confucianism, and Confucianism consolidates the original logical framework of Traditional Chinese political philosophy in the form of classics, the most important representative being Dong Zhongshu. The most important representative is Dong’s Chun Qiu Fan Lu. “In the countermeasures and Chunqiu fan Lu, Dong Zhongshu used Gong Yang Chun Qiu as the backbone, and by integrating the thoughts of Yin-Yang family, Huang Lao and Legalism, a new teleological system based on the interaction between heaven and mankind was established. Instead of Huang Lao, it became the official 90

Zehou [56], pp. 107–135. Chunfeng [57], pp. 18–48. 92 Zehua [45], pp. 590–613. 93 Tongzu [58], pp. 328–346. 91

40

1 Introduction

philosophical thought of the Han Dynasty and fulfilled the historical task put forward by Emperor Wudi’s countermeasure.”94 “Dong Zhongshu’s contribution lies in his most specific arrangement of the basic theories of Confucianism (the benevolence and justice of Confucius and Mencius, etc.) and the five elements of cosmology of the yin- yang family that have been popular since the Warring States Period. Thus, the Confucian Lunar New Political Program has a systematic cosmic schema as the cornerstone,……completed the requirements of the era integrating each family with Confucianism to construct a system from the beginning of the Lv Shi Chun Qiu twelve dynasties.95 Dong Zhongshu’s thought showed the basic logical structure of Traditional Chinese political philosophy in a comparatively compact way. Dong Zhongshu’s theory contains the thought components of the pre-Qin philosophers, and almost every point of view has the origin of the philosophers. There seems to be few new theories, and the new “only lies in the fact that he has made all these into a system”.96 But since it makes up a system, the political thought of pre-Qin philosophers has gained new meaning in this system. Taking “Heaven” as an example, Dong Zhongshu’s “Heaven” insists on Mohist school’s “the Will of Heaven” and “On ghosts”, but he makes “Heaven” ethical and natural. “In the system of Dong Zhongshu, ‘Heaven’ is both theological, natural, and moral”, “and three kinds of ‘ heaven’ can be unified.” “Natural Heaven “belongs to “Moral Heaven”, the “Moral Heaven” belongs to the “Divine Heaven”.97 “Personal heaven (the will of heaven, the intention of heaven) is dependent on the natural heaven (Yin-Yang, the four seasons, the five elements) to present themselves. The former (the personal heaven) comes from religion, the latter from science (Confucian astronomy). The former has mystical dominance, willpower, and purpose, while the latter is mechanical or semi mechanical. The former depends on the latter, which means that people’s obedience to ‘the Will of Heaven’ and ‘heaven’s will’ should be the adaptation of the mechanical order of Yin-Yang, the four seasons and the five elements. Heaven’s will power and dominant role here is in harmony with the objective laws (Yin-Yang, the four seasons, the five elements).”98 The logical relationship between the intellectual components and their interrelations among the various schools of thought has become closer because of the influence of the whole system at the same time. The thought of the pre-Qin philosophers really got the theoretical form of “mixing in one”. This theoretically unified thought is Dong Zhongshu’s thought and, for the first time, it systematically explained many questions about the universe, ancient and modern, providing a theoretical explanation for the possible answers to people’s possible questions. On this basis, “the three cardinal guides and the five constant virtues” are extracted, providing a stylized paradigm for imperial administration which shows the logical connection between the political thoughts of the pre-Qin philosophers in a more formal and logical form. For the first time in a more formalized, logical 94

Chunfeng [59], p. 142. Zehou [39], pp. 146–147. 96 Ibid., p. 155. 97 Chunfeng [59], p. 151. 98 Zehou [39], p. 146. 95

3 The Internal Logic of Traditional Chinese Political Philosophy

41

framework, traditional Chinese political philosophy is briefly presented, in reference especially in the basic conclusions of political philosophy. There are some basic understandings in the political thought in the Han Dynasty, which contains the following content: Confucian classics gradually established its authority with academic thinkers which is evidenced by there having been a Confucian classic worship in the whole society. The emperor as the Son of Heaven was considered a real sage in the political world, and the political ideal of the sage king, which has been pursued for a long time, had been realized. People from all walks of life and all levels of society had embarked on a certain sense of a political god-building movement, ancient history had been simplified into a symbolic authoritative political system. Heaven, the Son of heaven, ordinary people, and natural phenomena established a systematic link through the anomaly of natural phenomena. Heaven carries out necessary supervision and rewards and punishments for the Son of heaven. The heaven-human induction is as accurate and timely as “shadow follows form,” and the ideological content of Confucianism is more authoritative through processing of the theory of heaven- human induction. If the division of schools of political thought in pre-Qin period is mainly based on the discussion of different aspects and different levels of Chinese politics, the resulting ideas and conclusions always have local characteristics, then political thought in the Han Dynasty tried to grasp all aspects of Chinese politics from the whole, trying to make a deep and systematic explanation to the basis of Chinese politics and its logical form and inevitable mission. Only after the systematic period of Han Dynasty, Chinese political thought was able to show the inherent logic of Chinese political tradition more completely. The political thought of the Han Dynasty established the dominant position of Confucianism in the whole logic system of Chinese political thought, and even the secularization of Chinese political thought must lead to the Confucianist elements of Chinese society to some extent. The real development of Chinese political thought is always accompanied by the Confucianism of Chinese society, and the spread of heresy or barbarism almost always coincide with the provocation of Confucianism in Chinese society. The systematized political philosophy that took shape during the Han Dynasty enjoyed indomitable stability and its ethical propositions about the ontological order of society established on the basis of Confucian thought tenaciously survived for over two thousand years, and yet its overall logic refuses to die. New problems and new challenges will always squeeze new ideas into the original overall framework and will even seed the expansion of the original framework, which will thereby continue to seed the development of political philosophy, but no matter how the framework of thought changes, the main pillars of the frame will never experience radical change, so it will always maintain the condition of theory serving the three cardinal guides and five constant virtues as specified in feudal society.99 According to this model, Buddhist thought was absorbed by Confucianism and the result was traditional political philosophy’s more advanced stage of development as the ethical code’s socio-ontological order found the support of ever more ingenious arguments. Since the pre-existing paradigm of new thought squeezing into the framework of 99

Zehou [39], pp. 170–176.

42

1 Introduction

thought was presupposed, the entry of new ideas at the traditional stage could hardly entertain any possibilities of breaking the basic framework of traditional political philosophy, and this henceforth led to the long-term continuation of traditional political philosophy, and the long-term continuation of traditional political philosophy fundamentally affected the rhythm and trends of social development, thereby making the long-term continuation of the traditional society inevitable. Why is traditional Chinese society so long-lasting that it cannot achieve the breakthrough into modern society? Jin Guantao and others observe an ultra-stable structure belonging to the traditional Chinese era through applying the method of system theory, specifically mentioning the important role of Confucianism with respect to repairing the traditional social system. Liu Zehua uses the analytical methods of history and political sociology to demonstrate the existence of a monarchism in traditional China controlling every facet of society. It was precisely that monarchism which secured the longterm continuation of Traditional Chinese society. In fact, the long-term continuity of traditional Chinese society can be reasonably explained through the long-term stability of political ideas, that is the long-term stability of political ideas maintained and repaired the tradition of a seemingly eternal order. (3)

The Thematic Stability of Thought and its Accumulating Content

Since the end of the Shang Dynasty, political reasoning in traditional China focused on the topic of monarchical despotism. It concentrated on elucidating the political discourse of “I the one man,” whose theme was the integration of Heaven-orNature and the kingdom into one. After undergoing the profound growth of political reasoning through the pre-Qin philosophers, traditional political reasoning in the Han Dynasty once again achieved integrated development and formed the theory of Heaven-or-Nature and humanity represented by the thought of Dong Zhongshu, whose theme remained the integration of Heaven-or-Nature and the kingdom into one. After the Han Dynasty, the ontological order of traditional Chinese political philosophy did not change radically and the theme of political thought always remained the integration of Heaven-or-Nature and the kingdom into one. If we comprehensively examine the traditional political philosophy of China, the core problem was actually the integration of Heaven-or-Nature and humanity in general but the integration of Heaven-or-Nature and the king was a particular manifestation of it. Xiao Gongquan points out that in Dong Zhongshu, “the theory of the relationship between Heaven-or-Nature and humanity is actually that of Heaven-or-Nature’s relationship to the monarch”100 and Liu Zehua furthermore points out that the integration of Heaven-or-Nature and humanity in the Han Dynasty was the integration of Heaven-or-Nature and the monarch,101 but the integration of Heaven-or-Nature and the king or monarch was merely a necessary tool for the more universal integration of Heaven-or-Nature and humanity, which could not be achieved without first integrating Heaven-or-Nature and the king into one and the universal integration of Heaven-or-Nature and humanity marks the true completion of human society. With 100 101

Guangquan [53], p. 275. Zehua [46], p. 275.

3 The Internal Logic of Traditional Chinese Political Philosophy

43

only bodily flesh and no wisdom of mind, human being cannot count as human according to the Chinese tradition. Only having wisdom of mind is the essential specification of human being qua human. Every human being’s wisdom of mind originates from Heaven-or-Nature. It is the realization of the will of Heaven-orNature in the individual human being, which is the case for everyone. All human beings become truly human solely on condition of acquiring and realizing the will of Heaven-or-Nature. Everyone is essentially required to and moreover has the potential possibility of uniting with Heaven-or-Nature, dao and wisdom. In the traditional culture of thought, the realization of humanity is a long and daunting journey, on the path of which the role of the king is crucial. This is so because the king king was the first and earliest human being in the world to acquire the will of Heaven-orNature, the first one to achieve the complete unification of Heaven-or-Nature, dao and wisdom. He is not only the starting point of the human dao in the world, but also the necessary medium for other human beings to realize themselves. All other human beings can become truly human solely through the king. The universal unification of Heaven-or-Nature, dao, wisdom and humanity is only possible through the unification of Heaven-or-Nature, dao, wisdom and the king, which is the necessary pathway to the unification of Heaven-or-Nature, dao, wisdom and humanity. The latter is the purpose of achieving former. The unification of Heaven-or-Nature and humanity presents traditional Chinese society’s fundamental understanding of the human essence and the essential specifications of the human being. As extensions of the human essence, “the three cardinal guides and six disciplines” became the norms of essential social relations in the traditional era, while the five constant virtues universally possessed by everyone—being humane, acting righteously, observing ritual propriety, being wise and acting trustworthy—manifested the intrinsic essence of “Heaven-or-Nature being in humanity.” The unification of Heaven-or-Nature and humanity in the Han Dynasty not only shaped the essential social order of traditional Chinese society, but also shaped the intrinsic moral specifications corresponding to the essential social order. Hence, the two Han dynasties generated the conclusion that Heaven-or-Nature and humanity integrate into one and predominantly shaped humanity’s essential norms, which not only unfolded as the essential social order of hierarchy on the outside, but also as the eternal moral qualifications of the human being from being humane and acting righteously to observing ritual propriety, being wise and acting trustworthy. The theory of Heaven-or-Nature and humanity in the Han Dynasty paid great attention to the formal arrangement of the world and constructed a world schema of all things arising from each other and overcoming each other through a simple systematic connecting of all beings in the universe. This world schema of all things producing and overcoming each other regulated the necessary relationships between each of the various elements in the world, but the maintenance of the relationships depended upon mystical teleology. As the supreme God with moral will and personal spirit, Heaven (tian 天) harnessed the regularities of natural materials to show his divine will. Natural beings and human beings were equally without exception the means through which Heaven manifested his will. Everything in the world constituted a system controlled by the “grand ruler of the gods” and all elements in the system and

44

1 Introduction

their expressions equally manifested Heaven’s aims, but according to Wang Chong’s analysis, “Heaven and Earth combine material energies, and all creatures are born spontaneously from it just as husband and wife combine material energies and the child is born spontaneously from it. The life of all creatures mixes kinds of blood. Aware of hunger and aware of cold, they observe that the five grains are edible, then select and ingest them. Observing that silk and hemp may be worn, they then select and clothe [themselves in] them. Some argue the assumption that Heaven-orNature created the five grains to satisfy human beings and created silk and hemp to clothe human beings. These are followers of the school claiming Heaven-or-Nature makes farmers and spinsters for the sake of human beings, which does not conform with what is natural, so their principle is suspect, and cannot be followed.”102 The system composed of the world’s elements could be explained entirely from the nonteleological perspective of claiming all emerges from Nature and the teleological explanation from the perspective of Heaven controlling the system began to collapse. Not only the hierarchical order of Heaven-or-Nature and humanity began finding explanations from the perspective of Nature, the relationship between one human and another did too. In the eyes of Wang Chong, Dong Zhongshu’s concern of affective reciprocity between Heaven-or-Nature and humanity simply amounts to “virtue and vice, right and wrong tending to run into one another.”103 Wang Chong not only holds that all beings and all becomings in the world are connected by dint of “tending to run into one another” and happen contingently as encounters, but also holds that the status and fate of each and every thing is dependent upon the matter-energy that each and everything acquires by chance. If the matter-energy that something contingently possesses by chance forever determines its necessary and stable specifications and no longer depends on the control of some supreme god outside of itself, human being can no longer alter his or her fate by means of positively acting to affect Heaven-or-Nature in the form of affective reciprocity between Heaven-or-Nature and humanity. This is to say, life and death, longevity and premature death, wealth and poverty, nobility and low circumstances are forever and inalterably decided by the matter-energy given to one contingently by birth. “From kings and dukes to common people, from sages and worthy scholars to inferior idiots, any classification of title or attribution of blood depends on fate … Thus, if nobility is fated, one reaches it naturally from lowly birth by oneself, and if lowly circumstance is fated, one will fall precipitously by oneself from a position of wealth.”104 Once the explanation given to things by Heaven-or-Nature’s relationship to humanity loses the teleological coloring, not only the necessity of politics as collective activity ceases to exist, the moral effort of humanity perfecting itself also loses all power to prove itself theoretically. The individuals making up society remain forever in an order or state of contingent becoming without either the necessity or possibility of improving themselves. Political relationships have neither positive meaning for other social relationships nor positive influence upon them. The ultimate result of understanding 102

Chong [60], (54.1). Chong [60], (10.4). 104 Ibid., (3.1). 103

3 The Internal Logic of Traditional Chinese Political Philosophy

45

Heaven-or-Nature’s relationship to humanity purely from the side of Nature was the total deconstruction of the normal social and ethical order of human society. Wei-Jin era obscurism followed Wang Chong’s naturalist perspective and applied Daoist theory to support the universal form of the world and the ideal character of society. Revolving around the relationships between Nature and civilism, it went deep into theoretical analysis, contrasting human being’s natural disposition, human desires and artistic talent with the Confucian ethical principles of the three cardinal guides and five constant virtues. Sometimes, Wei-Jin obscurism championed the intuitive feeling of human affects and desires, positing “what is natural” as the original disposition of the human being and posing Confucian civilism as the suffocation of human nature, while advocating on behalf of “transcending civilism and following what is natural.”105 Sometimes, it asserted that “civilism comes from what is natural” in the attempt to make rationalized arguments for civilism from the perspective of what is natural, in which case it demonstrated the ideal personality of “being rooted in non-being or non-possessiveness” while looking for appropriate models of governance.106 At other times, it flatly equated civilism with what is natural, championing civilism as natural for human beings and advocating the naturalness of human beings embracing civilism. It thusly derived a theory of “individualization” to some degree commensurable with Wang Chong’s fatalistic viewpoint.107 In contrast to Wang Chong, Wei-Jin obscurism highlights the theme of human awakening.108 Not only did human activity require universal values and reasons at the metaphysical level, these values and reasons also needed to be contained in the individual members of society rather than being formed by external control as in Dong Zhongshu’s system. Religious thought was an indispensable intellectual instrument of great importance after the individual members of society led to the awakening of humanity. This is because man-made religion constructed an enormous, systematic logical world, which gave logical explanations both meticulous and rational to everything in the world. It thereby considers human being as universally capable of striving for and realizing his or her eternal and substantial being. An ordinary human being cannot be divorced from the universal necessity of the objectively existing world. One may realize in oneself through one’s own effort the universal and necessary objectivity in oneself and thereby realize the greatest value of one’s own being. While religion directs human being toward his or her ultimate value, it must also make detailed philosophical investigations into the objective world and logically construct an ordered and orderly theoretical world. It must undertake a rigorous logical re-organization of the world’s complex diversity and establish precise and clear logical relationships between things. It must establish the essence of each and everything’s respective manifestation of the world’s universal necessity and build up some greater bridge between the temporary body of the world and its

105

Zehou [54], pp. 177–218. Zehua [61], pp. 458–483. 107 Chunfeng [62], p. 516. 108 Zehou [63], pp. 85–95. 106

46

1 Introduction

universal essence, while providing the guidance of methods and paths for human being to realize his or her own essence. The traditional Chinese system of gods lacks the rigorous logical reasoning of religious thought and the strict spirit of equality a true religion possesses. The traditional “Heaven” or “Ruler” aside from telling people to obey the unequal order of ritual propriety, did not give people any other form of equality.109 The traditional Chinese gods amounted to fathers and brothers of the people, not the supreme god of all life forms found in true religion.110 In the Wei-Jin era, people universally indicated lack of understanding with respect to the rigorous order of the world and the source of order in the world. They were even suspicious of it. Faced with the clear unfairness of life spans, fortunes, wealth and social rank, they expressed extreme indignance. The sacred order of human society had lost the prerequisite of values, or rather, the presupposed values of the sacred order became groundless. Wei-Jin obscurism dismantled the relationships between Heaven-or-Nature and humanity, and in the meantime, it attempted to make convincing ontological arguments for the prerequisite values of the world order. By reasonably explaining differences of life span and disparities of fortune, wealth and rank, Wei-Jin obscurism established a certain scope of equality between people. Due to the defect of lacking the thought and methodology of true ontology, Wei-Jin obscurism ultimately still returned to the old beaten path of tradition, telling people that they could not possibly enjoy any other aspect of equality aside from equally contenting themselves with the current state of affairs and replacing rational demonstrations of the world in-itself with the argument that being is rational. Wei-Jin obscurism was already impotent with respect to solving the problems of its time and after two hundred years of migrating into Chinese lands, Buddhism won a great opportunity to spread and develop its own religious thought. Chinese society henceforth acquired the ontology and methodology the authoritative political order required through studying Buddhist theory. Buddhism’s theory of causation along with its ontology and methodology supplemented the inadequacies of Confucianism as Buddhism developed the cultivation method and ontological ground for social individuals to once again realize their essential state. Buddhism developed a system of channels and methods through which human beings could realize their own value by means of active practices and opened the great gateway to the ideal state of mind. This made the unification of Heaven-or-Nature and humanity become the unification of ideal thought and actual practice, the unification of the original constitution and practical effort, the unification of values and facts and the unification of laws and ends through the cultivation of sound human character. Many of Song-Ming neo-Confucian rationalism’s important propositions were transplanted directly from Buddhism. Without the greater development of Buddhism since the Wei and Jin, the Northern and Southern dynasties would not have taken place. and the Sui and Tang periods, the birth of Song and Ming dynasty neo-Confucian rationalism. Confucian culture is not the natural enemy of axiological or social crises. She herself

109 110

Zehua [64], pp. 239–256. Chinese [65], p. 241.

3 The Internal Logic of Traditional Chinese Political Philosophy

47

will face a profound crisis with respect to axiology and ontology as well and this crisis will inevitably shape up into a corresponding social crisis. Song and Ming dynasty neo-Confucian rationalism was the complete form of traditional Chinese culture. It integrated and developed Confucianism, Buddhism and Daoism. Among the three, Confucianism and Buddhism were the dominant influences. Confucianism provided a series of universal treatments of ideal human life, ideal society and ideal political order, while Buddhism provided the ontological and methodological supports that were required to realize the ideals. The integration of the two perfectly resolved many deconstructive difficulties that had existed since Wang Chong during the Han dynasty. The birth and growth of Song-Ming neo-Confucian rationalism was in essence the process of Confucian values and ideals absorbing Buddhist ontology and methodology. Differences in absorption of Buddhist ontology and methodology gave shape to the major schools of neo-Confucian rationalism during the Song and Ming dynasties, but the different schools of neo-Confucian rationalism were but meticulous demonstrations of the procedure and method of how the unification of Heaven-or-Nature and humanity continuously championed by Confucianism was to be universally realized concretely in every human being based on different ontological accounts and applying different methodologies. Every link and facet of the human world without exception became a component part of the unification of Heaven-or-Nature and humanity. Everything necessarily had to serve the unification of Heaven-or-Nature and humanity. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, the Confucian theory of unifying Heaven-or-Nature and humanity became rich, full and rational in terms of content and it solidified the eternal and unchanging heavenly status of the ethical code of three cardinal guides and five constant virtues, “what changes not are the three cardinal guides and five constant virtues, brightly shining like the sun and stars lighting up the world.”111

4 The Basic Problems of Traditional Chinese Political Philosophy and the Classification of Its Propositions There are roughly two types of ways in which humans think about political problems, philosophical and scientific. The former mainly considers the political field’s fundamental presuppositions or questions of principle and thus its answers are not by nature accumulating and advancing.112 The latter mainly considers the technical problems of empirical improvements, reforms and changes that may be carefully thought out. Its answers are by nature accumulating and advancing. In terms of the scientific level of political thought, its problems are always accompanied by concrete empirical problems, which always find final solutions, once and for all, sooner or later. In terms of the philosophical level of political thought, its problems have a certain transcendence 111 112

Chinese [66], p. 81. Zhaowu [67], p. 26.

48

1 Introduction

with respect to the empirical sphere and never have fixed solutions.113 Although political philosophy does not have fixed ultimate solutions, it does revolve around a small number of problems and unfolds its exploration around the theme of human being, forming the basic problems of political philosophy through consecutive investigations. Considering the explorations of the great masters of political philosophy from past to present and from China to the West, like the question of how to handle the relationship between politics and human beings with respect to positive activity, the basic problem of political philosophy concerns how politics serves which people to attain what end, which, when summarized with the vocabulary of traditional Chinese political philosophy, is the problem of “accomplishing humanity” (chengren 成人). If the question of how to handle the relationship between politics and human beings with respect to negative passivity, political philosophy will derive viewpoints of doubt or denial with some advocating prudence when exercising political roles and some flatly denying the positive effect of politics upon human beings. Anarchistic viewpoints are thus deduced. Traditional Chinese political philosophy contains many political propositions, which collectively shaped the intellectual ground upon which traditional society was founded and through which its super-stable being was achieved. The supportive propositions of traditional Chinese society are mostly political propositions and the universal commonality of human beings as well as the eternal order of society are both rooted in political propositions.114 The ultimate questions of Western society are religious propositions. Not only the value, meaning and purpose of human beings require the support of religious propositions, but politics as human being’s instrument also requires the standards provided by religious propositions to make appraisals and evaluations. The ultimate propositions of traditional Chinese society are political propositions. The value, meaning and purpose of human beings and politics as their means all require the standards provided by political propositions to make appraisals and evaluations. Whether or not political propositions are convertible with or fall under religious propositions determines whether or not political propositions have fundamental, decisive significance in society and determines whether or not the mainstream social ideology positively views political propositions and the important effect of politics in making human beings human. Although there is no shortage of skeptical or anarchistic thinkers in traditional Chinese political philosophy, thinkers holding positive attitudes toward politics are the mainstay on the whole, and moreover, ethnic political thoughts hold positive opinions about politics overall and highly affirm the decisive role of political propositions and politics in the process of making humanity “accomplish humanity.” The subject matter and problematic themes of traditional Chinese political philosophy clearly represent the intrinsically necessary connections between political philosophy and super-stable society.

113 114

Shiwei [35], p. 43. Shiwei [30].

4 The Basic Problems of Traditional Chinese Political Philosophy …

(1)

49

“Accomplishing Humanity” from the Perspective of Traditional Chinese Political Philosophy

Traditional Chinese metaphysical values are rooted in politics. Propositions about values were ordinarily political propositions, “In China since the Spring and Autumn period and Warring States period, academics flourished quickly, and the so-called “speakers of the hundred schools of thought” were all destined to politics.115 Among them, the most fundamental propositions about values were all propositions of political philosophy, “Chinese thought on values did not take religious form, but rather took political form, that is all propositions about values upon which Chinese political society established and solidified itself were political propositions.”116 What Chinese tradition called the standards of human being were political attributes. Of course, the main themes of traditional Chinese political philosophy also went far beyond the issue of power itself. Through focusing on the elucidation of propositions about how human beings become human, it constructed an original order with ontological significance, which abstractly speaking, was the cohering pattern of Heaven-or-Nature (tian li 天理). While the political philosophy of the ancient Greco-Roman tradition mostly focused on power and viewed politics as the instrument through which the good of the population was realized, the political philosophy of the Chinese tradition not only saw politics as the instrument through which the collective good of the population was realized, but also saw politics as the necessary instrument through which the perfection of individuals was realized and thereby had more characteristics of fusing politics with ethical principles, or rather we should say, traditional Chinese moral problems and political problems generally fused into one and could not clearly demarcate a solely moral or religious world above politics like the West did. Traditional Confucian political philosophy was centered on ethics,117 and the lead status of ethics in Chinese political philosophy clearly shows the Chinese ethnic characteristic of fusing ethics and politics fusing well. Aristotle presented the split opposition of politics and ethics in the traditional Western horizon by distinguishing political discourse and ethical discourse from the perspective of the collective good and the individual good, while Confucius’s assertion that “political governance is rectification” presented the particularity of unifying politics and ethics in the Chinese tradition. Although the ancient traditions of the West and China both underscore the positive significance of politics for human populations, only China considered politics to be the means of manifesting ethics and constrained the pathway through which human beings become human to politics. Ethics provides the purpose of politics and politics realizes the purpose of ethics. Speaking of ethics with respect to substantial content and with respect to the way they are realized, ethics is politics. Thus, what the Chinese tradition calls “accomplishing humanity” is but a typical problem of politics and religion or politics and philosophy. It is not a purely philosophical or religious problem. 115

Zehua [68], p. 5. Shiwei [30]. 117 Zehua [45], p. 128. 116

50

1 Introduction

The essence of human being qua human is indeed reason in the ethical sense, and this reason was equally affirmed as the good nature or the highest good of human beings in both ancient traditions East and West. Both the religious factor in the Western tradition and the philosophical factor in the Chinese tradition emphasized the importance of the highest good in terms of the key aspect of human beings qua human. Both of them insisted on the necessary meaning of realizing some degree of the highest good. What we are referring to as the realization of some degree of the highest good is namely the bottom line required for the normal existence and healthy development of human society. It is indispensable and the form in which it is realized or the way through which it is realized must be politics, because only politics can provide the realization of this highest good with the minimum of enforcement. The ancient Western tradition and modern liberalism likewise do not deny the goodness of politics. It is just that they also affirm the existence of many other ways and means outside of politics that may realize the highest good at the same time. Moreover, they also affirm that as long as we do not touch the bottom line of perfection necessary for society, the perfection realized by non-political means also cannot be judged by political standards, namely it possesses relative independence. Since ancient times, China thus positively affirmed the attribute of political perfection and handed the jurisdiction over the appraisal, judgment and estimation of the degree to which perfection was realized entirely to politics, thereby subordinating the realization of perfection through non-political ways or in non-political forms to the political domain. It therefore elevated politics to the one and only authoritative force capable of judging whether or not someone was human and even made any future problems of morals and ethics transform into purely political problems. Human beings are only truly human when they attain moral perfection and the process of attaining moral perfection is thus a process of “accomplishing humanity.” What we call “accomplishing humanity” actually means attaining moral perfection and becoming “a sage,” “the sage is the constituting substance of traditional Chinese culture.”118 The destination of Western saints is Heaven in the afterworld. The destination of Chinese sages was the lawfulness and purposefulness of this world. The destination of Western saints is religious and the destination of the Chinese sage was political. Western politics are axiologically rooted in religious propositions and substantively depend on religion, but although Chinese politics were also founded on religious propositions, these religious propositions took the form of political propositions and thereby resulted in the submission of religious power essentially to the political domain. Subordinated to political power, religion both held the separation of the monarch and dao and realized the unification of the monarch and dao.119 Traditional Chinese society maintained the metaphysical force of ethics, insisting on the relative separateness of dao and the monarch, but with respect to the means, manner and authority responsible for dao’s realization, the role of the monarch not only was not eliminated. On the contrary, the monarch was placed in the most critical and necessary position and the power of monopoly over realizing communication with Heaven-or-Nature was approved 118 119

Hua and Jing [69], p. 236. Zehua [13], p. 400.

4 The Basic Problems of Traditional Chinese Political Philosophy …

51

for the monarch. The ruler, the king or the emperor all held a monopoly over the political command of religious powers. Monarchical despotism was both a moral despotism and a political despotism and the authority of the monarch came from the depth to which his virtuous nature grasped Heaven-or-Nature and from the legitimate violence of his monopolistic control.120 The effect of religious power being swallowed by political power was “accomplishing humanity” becoming a highly politicized teleological discourse and holding status of exceptional importance in traditional political philosophy. Humanity in traditional Chinese political mythology is both a creature deriving from Heavenor-Nature and a creation of political leadership. Political leadership’s creation of humanity both manifested as Nüwa’s creation of humankind in the myths of high antiquity and as the emperor’s power to ask Heaven-or-Nature to extend anyone’s life as in the Book of Documents, “Pan Geng.” In this sense, “accomplishing humanity” was the final cause that politics of necessity required. If all human beings were ready-made “complete human beings,” politics would be totally unnecessary, and if “accomplishing humanity” were fundamentally impossible for the common human being, politics would likewise be totally unnecessary by dint of having no helpful effect upon “accomplishing humanity.” At the same time, accomplishing humanity was also the condition of possibility of politics. If there was no ready-made “complete human beings,” not only would the members of human society lack a real starting point for universally “accomplishing humanity,” politics would also lack a logical starting point and generate a crisis of legitimacy.121 Since accomplishing humanity is the fundamental purpose of politics, politics is nothing more than the means or medium of “accomplishing humanity.” “Accomplishing humanity” as the final cause of politics secures decisive influence over politics, especially with respect to values rationality, and value rationality produced all-around important impacts on political form and process, which thereby made “accomplishing humanity” become the important standard for judging the entirety of the political process, that is right and wrong, good and evil in politics had to be judged and evaluated by the standard of “accomplishing humanity.” In addition, the purpose of “accomplishing humanity” was also prescribing the immediate goals of political governance, that is political governance had to have the direct goal of facilitating commoners along the path of acquiring the basic features of “complete human beings.” Such goals were all all subordinated to that of “accomplishing humanity” with respect to their purposive destiny. They all existed symbolically to make human beings human, and thus, considering the reality of their form and the basic means of their realization, these goals all have immediate political value and belong to the basic political order. Thus, they also amount to goals whose realization the political order must focus on realizing. Politics pursue the fundamental end of “accomplishing humanity” (chengren 成人) and “accomplished

120 121

See Shiwei [29], p. 161. See Shiwei [29], pp. 173–174.

52

1 Introduction

human beings” (chengren 成人) in turn fundamentally constrain, influence, determine and evaluate politics.122 Thus, “accomplishing humanity” forms the political tradition and basic feature unique to the Chinese tradition. The ethically “complete human being” can only realize him or herself by means of politics. Yu Yingshi calls this way of realizing the human being’s ethical value by means of politics “immanent transcendence” as distinct from the Western “transcendence of the beyond” which involves striving to liberate the soul in the afterworld beyond human reality.123 Li Zehou calls this Chinese world schema of unifying politics and ethics the “one world” schema and calls that Western world schema according to which politics and ethics respectively maintain their independent values and forms that of “two worlds.”124 The former is the world schema of true unification between politics and religion, which may directly transform the superiority of ethical principle into strength of political power. The more humanity is enriched and satisfied the greater superiority the ethical principle possesses, and the greater the superiority an ethical principle possesses the stronger power it possesses in politics. The latter can at the very most give shape to an alliance between religion and politics and cannot secure the unification of religion and politics. Here, ethical superiority cannot naturally produce of itself strong political power and the production of strong political power possesses its own theoretical logic independent of ethical principles. What makes one human is the perfection of one’s ethical principle and “accomplishing humanity” points to nothing but becoming an ethically perfect human being. The ethically perfect human being possesses no political superiority in the traditional Western context, in which political power cannot derive from ethical superiority, but the traditional Chinese context could not be any more different. In the traditional Chinese context, ethical superiority can naturally transform into political superiority and political superiority also needs to originate from ethical superiority. Any individual member of traditional Chinese society was the product of the unification of politics and ethics. The highness or lowness of any member’s political status indicated the highness or lowness of his or her ethical character. It marked the disparity between the real individual and “the accomplished human being.” The person of the highest political status was the first “accomplished human being” in the world. The lower one’s political status, the further said individual was from the standard of “the accomplished human being.” Measured against the ethically “accomplished human being” as the standard of political measurement, the measurement of social individuals with The term chengren 成人, dates back to Confucius’s doctrine of accomplishing oneself (chengji 成己) and accomplishing humanity (chengren 成人), that is refining oneself and bringing about the refinement of other human beings, but today it refers to “adults” or “mature human beings.” Since the verb cheng 成, which means everything from becoming and maturing to accomplishing and completing, does not by itself indicate whether the process it expresses is completed or not, the author switches throughout this passage from referring to the incomplete process and the complete product of accomplishing humanity. Here, the English language can only switch from “accomplishing humanity” to “accomplished human beings” to convey the full range of the author’s meaning in using this term. 123 Hua and Jing [69], pp. 12–13. 124 Zehou [70], pp. 153–155. 122

4 The Basic Problems of Traditional Chinese Political Philosophy …

53

different political status yielded unequal values, that is those of higher political status yielded greater value and those of lower political status yielded less value. Assuming the value of the emperor as the real political starting point was measured to equal 1, the many people whose political status was lower than the emperor’s would be measured to have value less than 1. Even if a commoner’s value changed as he or she approached “the accomplished human being,” he or she could only infinitely approach the value of 1 but could never equal 1. The many aside from the one monarch could never succeed in reaching the end of the process of “accomplishing humanity” and could never become purely a sage on equal par with the monarch.125 The king acted as the first servant of Heaven-or-Nature, dao and sagacity. He was the first social individual in the human world who realized “perfection” as well as the first social individual whose “self” had been emptied or evaporated by the perfect good.” In some sense, the emperor was the first “accomplished human being” whose self had been totally “eaten up” by the highest good. Everyone had the essential demand and latent possibility of “becoming a sage” who unified Heaven-or-Nature and dao, “everyone may be [the mythical sage-kings] Yao and Shun.” The process of the individual realizing complete sagehood was a long difficult psychological journey. This process insists on one “becoming a sage, a worthy scholar, a humane person, a great person, an accomplished human being, a superior master…… the model of morality through self-cultivation and total refinement,” and hence “realize him or herself as far as possible, and in the persistent pursuit of fully exercising his or her own subjective activity, concentrate all social virtues in oneself, and thereby ascend to being a superhuman.”126 Only the sage-king “concentrating the vital spirit of the realm in himself” could “reach the highest good” relying solely on method of moral cultivation, while the majority of society’s members only secured “accomplished humanity” through the “king’s” cultivation and reaching of the highest good. “Accomplishing humanity” henceforth transformed from an ethical problem into a purely political one and even rose to become the core problem of Chinese political philosophy due to its extreme importance among political problems. “Accomplishing humanity” in the traditional age of China was both everyone’s unavoidable moral obligation and the entirety of what made everyone human. No one was an exception. The only exceptions were seen as beasts. At the same time, accomplishing humanity was not a problem that society’s members could freely grasp. It was rather a problem of already mastered by “forerunners” on the road to “accomplishing humanity.” It demanded society’s members to universally and unconditionally follow the forerunners on the path of accomplishing humanity. The seamless fusion of politics and morals inevitably led to a sacred autocracy supported by a domineering morality. (2)

Politics from the Perspective of Traditional Chinese Political Philosophy

In traditional Chinese discourse, there are many basic problems, programmatic concepts, and principled propositions around the occurrence of politics and its mode of action. Many propositions form a complete system that is relatively closed in 125 126

Shiwei [71]. Zehua [45], pp. 616–617.

54

1 Introduction

theory. The concept of this system and the elements of its proposition are rooted in the political tradition of monarchism. Through the pre-Qin philosophers, it was theoretically generalized. In the two Han dynasties, the framework was basically formed. Through the suspicion and argumentation of the Wei, Jin, Southern, and Northern Dynasties, from the Sui and Tang Dynasties to the Song Dynasty, unprecedented theoretical persuasion was obtained. The final theoretical form is the Neo-Confucianism of the Song and Ming Dynasties. The so-called Song and Ming philosophies here are understood in a broad sense, including all the Confucianism since the Northern Song Dynasty. It advocates the Confucian “moral life”,127 gradually developing into the metaphysical unity of heaven and man, and distinguishing it from the Han and Tang Dynasties. “In the Song Dynasty, the trend of Confucianism gradually formed. This academic trend of thinking with Cheng and Zhu’s learning has promoted Confucianism from the Han and Tang Dynasty to political philosophical cognition, which marks the completion of the philosophical transformation of traditional Chinese political thought… Neo-Confucianism is essentially a politically philosophical Confucian trend of thought.”128 In fact, Neo-Confucianism did not add much ontological propositions with political value, and there were not even many judgments about political relations. It is only to repair and decorate the original ontology propositions, enhance its theoretical persuasiveness, and find convenient and reliable methods to unblock the ontology world and the experience world. The answer to the political necessity, possibility, process, form, purpose, etc. of Neo-Confucianism has formed some programmatic concepts and the final solution of the principled proposition. Although there are different schools within Neo-Confucianism, and each school and even all thinkers have distinctive ideas, the meaning of the programmatic concept and the interpretation of the principled proposition have not been divided. Although it seems that there are deep contradictions when they are discussing the issue of regulating the flow of vital energy and removing obstruction to it, and they appear simply incomprehensible, in fact, they still have fundamental consensus on regulating the flow of vital energy and removing obstruction to it… Neo-Confucianism mostly admits that the world is composed of the ‘qi’ of the physical shell and the ‘ration’ that symbolizes the inevitable order and the destination. ‘Qi’ is the only physical entity that forms everything in the universe, and ‘ration’ is the name of the world’s inevitable order and value.129

The development of Traditional Chinese political philosophy reached the stage of Neo-Confucianism and entered a stable state of long-term equilibrium. Not only has the internal ideological logic been fully developed, but also the meaning of its proposition has reached the limit of its philosophy.130 From the consensus of many political and ideological scholars of Neo-Confucianism, politics in the perspective of traditional Chinese political philosophy probably contain the following aspects. The mystery and religion of Heaven are the first prerequisites for politics. Although the heavens in traditional Chinese political philosophy discourse have 127

Zehua [73], p. 1. Zehua [74], p. 409. 129 Shiwei [29], pp. 32–33. 130 Shiwei [29], p. 17. 128

4 The Basic Problems of Traditional Chinese Political Philosophy …

55

multiple meanings,131 Heaven “has always been mysterious and religious, which is mainly manifested in the fact that Heaven is the highest creator and master of will.”132 Most of the thinkers of the Song and Ming Dynasties believed that things between heaven and earth must have an origin, have a good purpose, and must have a general dominating armed with benevolence. Some thinkers have discussed “Wu Ji and Tai Ji” from the perspective of the world. In fact, it does not deny that there is a master of everything in the world. Zhu Xi in theory traces the origin of the world to Taiji, but he also recognized the “biological” function of the day.133 He also believes that the world must have a master.134 From Zhu Xi to Huang Zongxi, everyone recognizes that there is Li and qi in the world, and both exist together and are indispensable. There is neither “qi without li”, nor “li without qi. In comparison, “li” has a fundamental nature. Huang Zongxi believes that heaven, heart, nature, qi, and li are the names of existence from different sides. There is only one existence in the universe from the “floating and sinking” that people can generally perceive. There is only qi between heaven and earth. From the perspective of the world’s changes in everything, “lifting and sinking”, there is only li in the universe. From the cause of good and evil in all things in heaven and earth, there is a master of perfection between heaven and earth. This master is called the heaven, or is called “the God of heaven”, who controls the gasification epidemic between heaven and earth, and generates different ethical qualities, which is the essence of perfection, or a mixture of rudeness. The sages only have the essence of perfection. Others are made up of a mixture of fine and coarse gas. Because only the fine nature with heavenly principle is the nature, only the sages have pure humanity. They are real people. Others can only exist as unfinished persons due to the crudeness of their own endowments. The person is either a saint or does not become a saint. On the surface, it is caused by the “everything is different” of gasification epidemic, but in essence it is the result of the arrangement of “God”. It is like creating a different ethical color in order to create everything and to highlight the value of human beings. In order to bring the best of the world to the sage who produces a purely natural carrier, there must be a large number of common men and women with rude gas. The ethical heaven of mysterious religion, on the one hand, requires everyone to be good, and become a sage with only fine nature. On the other hand, in order to create a purely good sage, a large number of unfinished people have been created.135 “God” can only create a purely good sage, and cannot make all people between heaven and earth sages. Although he also knows that people’s good deeds are not annihilated, they are only temporarily obscured by their own crudeness. However, he can only “give order” to the emperor, giving him the responsibility of raising and educating the people on behalf of the heaven. As the lord of “accepted by the heaven”, the emperor’s task of raising and educating the people is the so-called politics of Chinese tradition. Political construction is on the 131

Zehua [13], p. 384. Hanshu, Biography of Dong Zhongshu. 133 Zhu Ziyu Class, The Book of Zhang Zi (Volume 98). 134 Zhu Ziyu Class, Li Qi (Volume 1). 135 Shiwei [29] pp. 32–65. 132

56

1 Introduction

extension line of the unity of heaven and king, the ethical purpose is to achieve the “unity of Heaven and Man”. This purpose has an overriding nature. Politics in the perspective of traditional Chinese political philosophy, while demanding Caesar’s means, is not limited to Caesar’s goal, but to complete the non-secular Christ’s goal by Caesar’s means. From the basic model of political relations, it is quite reasonable for some scholars to define Traditional Chinese politics as royalism. Not only the basic task of Traditional Chinese political philosophy as a political stipulation is the inequality of monarchism that is seniors and juniors, gentle and simple, but also its own content is also full of inequality. The inequality of monarchism is not only the focus and core of the history of ideas. It also runs through all social life, and on this basis, it constructs a power system in which the monarchs are centralized.136 Although traditional Chinese political philosophy recognizes human equality in the ontological sense, such as Mencius’s so-called “Everyone can be Yao and Shun, ancient sages”, this is only a theoretical possibility. The significance is to point each society’s individuals to the direction of progress. It only makes sense if society does not need politics at all. If society naturally forms the inequality that politics aspires to, politics simply does not have to happen and it cannot happen. Everyone can be Yao and Shun, or ancient sages. The relationship between social individuals has been in line with the rules of heaven, and each of them has reached the state of Yao and Shun of “adults.” Of course, at this time, the basic social relations still carry out the principle of inequality, which is the fundamental requirement and basic prescriptiveness of the ritual as a heavenly rank. The pre-Qin philosophers regarded “ritual” as the essence of human beings. Aside from the Confucians, even the legalists, Taoists, and Mohists also recognize the importance of “rites” to people. It not only recognizes the value of the “ritual” in the governance of the monarchy, but also affirms that it is the foundation of the normal order of society and the social manifestation of the human body.137 First of all, “ritual” is a necessary condition for “adults.” “The parrot can speak, not away from the birds.” “If a person is rude, although he can speak, is it also the heart of animals?”138 Secondly, “the essence of ritual is to maintain the level.” “The spiritual essence of ritual is to‘divide’.” “The division is the subject and purpose of ritual. Benevolence, harmony, moderation, and courtliness are the supplement and cementing agent of “division.” “The division of rites is absolute; it is rude to be indiscriminate.”139 From the very beginning, the politics in the perspective of traditional Chinese political philosophy has carried out the spirit of seniors and juniors, gentle and simple of royalism, repeatedly repeating the moral and political dictatorship of the Supreme Lord to the despicable, forming a supreme and noble person who is dominated by political power and possesses a despicable person, and a despicable person is completely subordinate to the political relationship of the Supreme to the noble. The theoretical proposition of Traditional Chinese political 136

Zehua [13] p. 2. Zehua and Lanzhong [75] pp. 128–134. 138 Book of Rites, “Qu Li” Part 1. 139 Zehua and Lanzhong [75], pp. 136–139. 137

4 The Basic Problems of Traditional Chinese Political Philosophy …

57

philosophy, for example, “Tianzi” or “the lord” “accepted by the heaven”, “cultivating the people”, etc, is not only completely in line with the political proverbs and proverbs widely spread with the ancients, such as “every land under heaven belongs to the emperor, everyone who lives on the earth is a subject of the emperor”, “all over the world (referring to the whole of China, Qin Shihuang destroyed six states), are the land of the emperor”, etc. in spirit, but it is also completely consistent in meaning, and it is also closely related to the ancient Chinese political facts. “Since China had written records, that is, there is one of the most prominent interest groups. This is the interest group centered on the king-noble family, and later developed into the emperor-aristocratic and bureaucratic group.” “The members of this group are constantly changing, and their structure is very stable. It is this group that controls society.”140 Thus, in terms of the mode of political relations and the way in which power operates, the monarchy’s centralized politics essentially becomes the full conquest of the monarch.141 Although the traditional Chinese political philosophy recognizes the “sage” and rule by one person” “accepted by the heavens”, it insisted that “the sage” and “rule by one person” are “for the world” rather than for “one person.” Shenzi · Weide pointed out: The Son of Heaven was set up for China, instead of setting up China for the Son of Heaven This pursuit of the public value of the world is the basic content of traditional Chinese political philosophy, from the legendary Yellow Emperor to the Emperor Yongzheng of the Qing Dynasty, from political theorists to political practitioners, all promote the public on the level of political value and suppress or even eliminate privacy.142

The thinkers of the late Ming and early Qing dynasties also emphasized that “The whole world as one community”. Huang Zongxi pointed out in the historical interpretation of the origin of the monarch. After the beginning of human society, people are selfish and self-interested. No one is doing something that is good for the public in society. No one removes things that are harmful to the public. There are some who do not benefit from their own profit, but make the world’s people benefit; not be harmful to one’s own harm, but make the people of the world lift the harm.143

The monarch must not only be self-serving but selfless, and there is a responsibility to make all beings unselfish. Huang Zongxi’s so-called public is the justice of heaven, and the so-called private is the private desire of human beings, being public and selfless is to “preserve the justice of heaven and eliminate human desire.” The justice of heaven is the decisive factor of human being. The inherent justice of heaven is not a kind of knowledge, but a kind of practical character or nature, which must be expressed in the form of life. The essence of human existence and the dignity and meaning of life must and must be embodied as a practical paradigm of life. 140

Zehua [13], p. 2. Zehua et al. [76], pp. 24–60. 142 Zehua [77], pp. 246–250. 143 Huang Zongxi, “Ming Yi Dai Fang lu”, “Yuan Jun”. 141

58

1 Introduction

This paradigm of life is the concrete manifestation of ‘Tianli’ (heavenly principle). In human beings, it is the inherent nature of man himself.144 In traditional Chinese society, “everyone can be Yao and Shun, ancient sages”, which actually requires everyone to follow the example of sages, without self, without desire, without selfishness. “Morality has eaten ‘people’.” “There is only one social body with morality as the axis.” “The three cardinal guides and the five constant virtues are loaded in the body.”145 Everyone’s natural state is the four cardinal virtues: humanity, justice, propriety, and wisdom. The justice of heaven of the purely good, everyone’s natural, ideal, eternal state is always in a bloody battle with our own the private desires. Politics is a bloody battle between a few sages on behalf of ‘heaven’ and everyone’s ‘human desire’. The starting point of the political order is precisely the ‘justice’ of the sage, not the ‘private’ of the ‘mortal’. “The interests of the demand of the ‘mortal’ are excluded from the scope of the starting point of the political order.”146 The justice of heaven originates from the Supreme master of the universe–God or heaven, who can make the universe gather in one person and form a holy prince. This process is a process in which the Holy King is “accepted by the heaven”, and “cultivating” the people on behalf of the heaven. It is also the beginning of the “adult” that God’s will and the justice of heaven are gradually popularized by the sages. Politics in the perspective of traditional Chinese philosophy is nothing but a tool for God to realize its good will, and the mortal beings are not the object of the sage. The so-called education is the unity of the sacred king to undertake, spread, and popularize “the justice of heaven”, and to reject, suppress, and ban the “the private desire.” All this is just to maintain the “rites” of seniors and juniors, gentle, and simple. Those that are in line with the “ritual” align with “the justice of heaven”, and those in the violation of “rite” are aligned with “the private desire.” The above argument can be summarized into three sentences. That is, politics in the perspective of traditional Chinese political philosophy has three basic characteristics: First, the politics derived from the mystery, religion and ethics of Heaven have ethical attributes, which are expressed as “the unity of heaven and man”. Second, the political structure derived from the celestial ritual has a monarchical dictatorship that concentrates on one person, and the Son of Heaven is “instructed by the heavens”. Third, the king is the tool of heaven; politics is the tool of ethics; and the people become the object of politics. These characteristics directly determine that the starting point and the end point of traditional Chinese politics are “the justice of heaven”, and its basic task is “advocating the Public and Inhibiting the privacy”. (3)

The Propositional Perspective and Classification of Traditional Chinese Political Philosophy

Traditional Chinese political philosophy is completely different from Western political philosophy in terms of ways of thinking, methods of reasoning, concepts, propositions, etc. It reflects a unique national perspective. Unlike the speculative rationality 144

Shiwei [29], p. 47. Zehua [78]. 146 Morgan [79], p. 154. 145

4 The Basic Problems of Traditional Chinese Political Philosophy …

59

of Western logical reasoning, China’s propositional reasoning reflects practical rationality. Li Zehou once discussed the practical and rational characteristics of traditional Chinese thinking in Confucius Reevaluation as follows: So-called ‘practice (practical) reason’… is to use a calm, realistic, reasonable attitude to explain and treat things and traditions… To guide, satisfy, and moderate lust with reason… is to strike some kind of balance in the pursuit of humanity and personality… This rationality has the characteristic of attaching great importance to reality and practicality… pay attention to practicality, despise speculation, attach importance to personnel, despise ghosts and gods, and be good at coordinating groups… It finally became an unconscious collective archetypal phenomenon of the Han nationality, which constituted a national cultural-psychological structure.147

As for the categories of ancient Chinese philosophy (yin and yang, the five elements, Qi, Tao, God, Reason and Mind)… most of its characteristics are functional concepts rather than substantive concepts, and Chinese philosophy attaches importance to the nature, function, function, and relationship of things, rather than the elements and entities that make up things…. The original concept of opposition in China, such as day and night, sun and moon, men and women, etc., is probably summarized in the final stage as the yin and yang category. However, yin and yang have never achieved… abstract character. Yin and yang have always maintained a rather realistic, concrete experience of reality and experience, and have not been completely abstracted into purely speculative logic.148 “Yin and Yang as a philosophical category, like the ‘Five elements’, are neither purely abstract speculative symbols, nor specific entities (substance) or elements. They are generalized functions or forces that represent a specific essence that oppose each other and complement each other.”149 The practical rationality of Chinese tradition “does not develop in the purely speculative direction of deep abstraction, analysis, and reasoning, nor does it develop in the direction of pure empiricism of observation, induction, and experiment, but expands horizontally, opening up to the mutual relationship between things and the overall direction of connection.” And “the structure has a functional trend.”150 It organizes many different things in one system according to the proximity or similarity of functions. It attempts to generalize them from the height of practical rationality. The high level of practical rationality summarizes them. The transcendental a priori body is mixed in the emotional psychology. Thus the universal moral rationality does not leave sensibility but transcends the sensibility. It is both a priori ontology and an empirical phenomenon… The transcendental moral ontology can communicate directly with feelings, physiology, body and life, thus it seems to be

147

Zehou [54], pp. 33–37. Zehou [54], p. 162. 149 Zehou [54], p. 162. 150 Zehou [54], p. 164. 148

60

1 Introduction

emotional or sensible in nature. This is the early ethical manifestation of the characteristics of Chinese philosophy, such as “the identity of ontology and methodology” and “unity of Heaven and Man.”151 Li Zehou’s practical and rational formulation is a good summary of the characteristics of traditional Chinese ways of thinking and methods, and the practical rational expression in political philosophy has formed a specific problem perspective, which emphasizes political thinking and concepts, proposition proposed, reasoning, etc. It is necessary to revolve around the political needs of social governance. Concepts, propositions, and their reasoning must not only be the whole process of political governance, but also the key or key points of each stage. It is the use of the principle of yin and yang or the Five Elements to refine and sublimate in political governance. Its essence is the inevitable setting of the necessary functions such as the mysterious premise and the state of experience that must be chosen in political governance. The traditional Chinese practical and rational way of thinking determines the traditional political philosophy corresponding to it. It can only be functional conceptual proposal and developing the theoretic system from the perspective of propositional deduction. Judging from the actual functional needs of traditional monarchy, traditional political philosophy mainly considers two levels of problems. The first level of the problem can be summed up as the ultimate concern problem, which focuses on the “adult”, providing an ontological sense of order. From the ontological point of view, traditional Chinese political philosophy not only sets the legal format of each individual society, but also specifies the relationship pattern of different social individuals, and thus breeds the order, organization and system in the sense of methodology. “The whole universe is a paradigm existence. That is, it can only have a form of existence that is consistent with the law.” “Everything in heaven and earth also has a form of existence that is consistent with the law. That is, people, animals, plants, tiles, etc., each have their own nature. Of course, each has its own paradigm of standard existence.”152 The “essence of the whole world” in the traditional Chinese discourse system is different from Plato’s other world, which is composed of abstract universals or ideas of specific things. It’s just “the distribution of matter in the world’s overall law and the order and organization of things.” “The essence of man is in the present, the natural order, in the joys and sorrows.” Man realizes its essence, and there is no general abstraction or common form of pleasure, anger, sorrow, and sadness, but rather, to “specifically relate to a certain social role.” Sovereign and subject, father and son, husband and wife have their own style of pleasure, anger, sorrow and gladness. The conjunction of the state of each character’s pleasure, anger, sorrow, and gladness is the only legitimate state in which human society embodies its best law and purpose.153 The second level of the problem is to answer the question of how experience politics appears and how it works. The topic in this regard is concentrated in the “five independences” of the emperor. That is, “the world is monopolized, the

151

Zehou [54], p. 49. Shiwei [29], p. 148. 153 Shiwei [29], p. 151. 152

4 The Basic Problems of Traditional Chinese Political Philosophy …

61

status is unique, and the position is unique. There is a monopoly of power, and arbitrary decision.”154 These two levels of issues have overall organic significance. The first level of the issue is fundamentally decisive. This is not only because the second level of problems is derived from it, but also because it is a long-term accumulation of more universal factors in social existence. Compared with the second level of the issue, it has more obvious ontological attributes. It fully demonstrates the social existence form that people think is justified. Traditional Chinese political philosophy has quite a lot of content to discuss this level of content, thus formed the ontological part of Traditional Chinese political philosophy. Although the political philosophy in the ontological sense has an important premise, its final completion must wait until the rise of Neo-Confucianism. Previously, the way in which the political order was justified was more in the form of the original theory. It contains more political theology or mythology. Although the second level of the issue reflects instrumental rationality, it also has a long history and rich content. Many of the original and ontological issues have important instrumental rational values, and they are mostly paving the way for instrumental rationality, extending or developing a tool rational proposition with formal meaning from itself. The propositional nature provided by instrumental rationality is to make the implementers of the ontological proposition occupy all the ways, methods, and approaches in a monopolistic fashion provided by instrumental rationality. When these two levels of propositions are combined into a complete political philosophy, they have to do two things. On the one hand, they make all the original theories, the concepts of ontology, and propositions into a sociological framework of knowledge that caused the emperor to monopolize the programmatic concept and core propositions.155 On the other hand, it is important to make the concept of instrumental rationality, the proposition, etc, derived from or belong to the original theory. The ontology, concept, and the proposition logically lead to Heaven to which everything is subordinate to as the source in a certain format and program. The political manifestation is that everything in human society is subordinate to the king or emperor who is destined. The logical structure of traditional Chinese political philosophy is composed of numerous programmatic concepts and propositions. The programmatic concept and the way of thinking of the formation of propositions is also practical rationality. This has led to the formation of programmatic concepts and propositions that are inseparable from the core issue of traditional Chinese politics—the unity of Heaven and Man.156 The logical order of the programmatic concept and the propositional arrangement cannot be echoed by the gradual realization of the unity of heaven and man. From the key links of the realization of unity of Heaven and Man, the programmatic concepts and propositions of Traditional Chinese political philosophy can be roughly divided into eight categories: (a) Political Originalism. Such concepts and propositions are very early in origin and have wide influence. Their task is to demonstrate the origin of politics and its source of power, and its scope of action often 154

Zehua [77], p. 158. Zehua [13], p. 265. 156 Peiyuan [72]. 155

62

1 Introduction

goes beyond politics. It is actually a final interpretation of materialism or idealism about everything. From the perspective of traditional Chinese political philosophy, the original concept of materialism is qi, and its proposition is the fatalism and contingency. Originalism has the concept of idealism in heaven, God, etc. The propositions are that the heaven has produced men; God dominates everything; and everything is accepted by Heaven. Comparing the two, the concept and proposition of idealism is the dominant position in traditional Chinese political philosophy. (b) Political Essentialism. The essence is a thing is the inherent necessity of being a thing of the first thing. The concept of essentialism and the proposition are to determine the inherent necessity of all things (including politics). The essentialism of the Chinese tradition is to define the existence style of all things in line with the law and purpose. On the one hand, it defines the essence of everything as a reflection of God’s will. On the other hand, it politicizes the realization of God’s will on people. That is, the political essence of human beings is a formatted behavioral paradigm. Whether it is the political essence of materialism or the political essence of idealism, in the perspective of traditional Chinese political philosophy, the essence of human beings is defined as the “benevolence” and “ritual” in line with the law and purpose, both of them are just heaven and man. (c) Political Ontology. The ontology involved in Traditional Chinese philosophical discourse is mainly a humanistic category, which refers to the human subject’s essential attribute (benevolence) and its perceptible form of expression (such as selflessness). The ontology of man is the opposite of effort. However, usually, the effort is the medium or means to reach the ontology. The ontology does not repel the effort. In fact, only constant effort can continue to maintain the ontology. When there is omission in effort, the ontology will not be pure. This is what Huang Zongxi called “the time is the ontology”, which is the embodiment of the above meaning. “Ming Ti Da Yong” shows that the purity of the inner noumenon will naturally make the external behavior conform to the law and the purpose. (d) Political formalism. The formal presupposition of all things in the world is both an external manifestation of its essence and a concrete medium that reflects the universal connection of all things. The formal concepts and propositions in traditional Chinese philosophical discourse also emphasize the prescriptive form of the individual forms of things. This form constitutes the behavioral paradigm of the individual. It also emphasizes the inevitable universal connections method or criterion between different things, which is mainly embodied in the “ritual” between different things. Whether it is the form of individual things, or the universal connection method between things, the essence of the two is nothing but yin and yang or the Five Elements. Yin and yang embody the universal connections of seniors and juniors, gentle and simple, or the relationships that rule between things. The five elements are a sign of the functional chain that produces one another and also overcome one another in a fixed sequence in the world. (e) Political teleology. Traditional Chinese political philosophy is based on teleology. This is not only because the traditional Chinese world view has a universal color of teleology, stressing that the fundamental purpose of the world is the highest good, but also stressing more that the fundamental purpose of man is the highest good, and the purpose of politics attached to the purpose of man is also the highest good. Because all the theoretical problems

4 The Basic Problems of Traditional Chinese Political Philosophy …

63

in the traditional Chinese perspective end up in the ethical issue of teleology, the solution of the ethical problems of teleology can only rely on politics in the final analysis. This makes politics a basic means of achieving ethical ends, and politics not only uses the highest good to measure everything, but also uses the highest good to measure itself. (f) Political Theory of Epigenesis. How does monarchy politics come to the world? What is its starting point? How do we construct a system or chain of power in the human world? The political origins and problems of this kind are not only fully expressed in the traditional Chinese political philosophy, but also the theoretical persuasiveness is quite strong. The most typical and complete political theory of epigenesis comes from Huang Zongxi. He believes that “the universe gathers in one person” under the control of “God”. We should make it only get pure fine nature and no crudeness. “One person” is the emperor or the ruler who is appointed and accepted by Heaven. “The ruler is accepted by the heaven”, and has the full power of “representing the heavens” and “cultivating” the people. All the things a king strives to do in his life should be for the sake of the world. Due to a lack of energy, he has to set up the “official” of the “separated monarch” to guide the people to the highest good under the leadership of the “ruler”.157 (g) Political morality. Because traditional Chinese politics is an ethical-oriented monarchy politics, political and moral issues have an extremely important position in traditional Chinese political and philosophical discourse. The purpose of the highest good of politics must resort to moral means. Therefore, the coercion of politics on people must reach the field of morality, ask people how morally they must be, and have a series of specific moral paradigm requirements. This moral paradigm has become an uncompromising political ethic because it cannot be separated from political coercion. The moral issue in the Chinese tradition is first and foremost a political issue. Then it is an ethical issue, and its core content is inseparable from seniors and juniors, gentle and simple between the characters. The moral content of the Supreme Lord to the despicable is “benevolence”. The moral content of the despicable to the Supreme Lord is to “be obedient”. Among them, “being obedient” has a dominant type. Therefore, the traditional Chinese female virtues have been summarized as “the three obediences and the four virtues.” In fact, “the three obediences and the four virtues” can be a more general summary of the traditional Chinese morality. (h) Political methodology. Politics needs to resort to violence, but not entirely dependent on violence. Even when relying on violence, politics always has choices of ways, methods, and approaches, in order to actively and effectively influence and act on the object of control, especially in monarchy politics. Traditional Chinese politics, in theory, it is the rule of the monarch, and its political methods include having the spirit of independent thinking (Gui Du), Shang Yi, the rule by man, punishment and morality, which are expressed as specific methods of domination or control. These are also expressed as a structural, procedural institutional arrangement of power. It also manifests itself as the guiding ideology or principle of domination.

157

Shiwei [24], pp. 171–198.

64

1 Introduction

5 Historical Interpretation of the Logic of Traditional Chinese Political Philosophy Although traditional Chinese political philosophy has its own unique logical system, it cannot be analyzed by a certain thinker or a certain faction political thought at one time. Because from the point of view of concepts, the intrinsic logic that embodies individual ideas, without exception, has gradually developed in the course of history. The logical formation process of traditional Chinese political philosophy is synchronized with the development of Chinese political history. On the one hand, each era has developed unique concepts and theories under the encouragement and inspiration of specific ideological issues. On the other hand, different eras are obviously different in terms of concepts and theoretical judgments. However, there is a clear relationship between criticism and inheritance. Foreign concepts are also gradually mainstreamed into the concept of criticism and counter-criticism. Therefore, from a historical point of view, it is a meaningful question to sort out the main concepts of Traditional Chinese political philosophy, and how the logic between ideas gradually forms its ideological logic and then solidifies it into a basic way of thinking. By circumventing the historical perspective, we can’t accurately interpret the basic concepts of traditional political philosophy, and we cannot accurately interpret the main content of the basic concepts. From the perspective of the appearance of the concept, traditional Chinese political philosophy has indeed left many concepts of universal significance, but the history of thought has confirmed that the concepts corresponding to these ideas are not only immutable. However, there are quite different interpretations or statements even in the same era. This creates a realistic difficulty for scholars who advocate abstract inheritance. In many creative ideas, why is one or some of them creating the so-called universal concept, while the interpretation of the same concept by other thinkers does not create a universal concept? Why are some ideas not universally accepted at the beginning of the thoughts, but gradually become a universal concept in the historical development of thoughts? In the process, is the original idea put forward by the thinker enriched with something? The development of ideas is a process of conceptual logic deduction from the concept and the logical relationship between them, and from the change in concept connotation (ie, concept), it is also a process of conceptual history deduction. The two processes are combined into one. The logical interpretation of traditional Chinese political philosophy is actually the historical development of the concept and the historical process of the construction of logical relationships between them, among them, there are changes in the concept brought about by the change of the ideological background. That is, the concept content of the same concept is actually advancing with the times, and there is also a growing degree of logical linkage between ideas. Judging from the logical interpretation of traditional Chinese political philosophy, the change of conceptual background has a very prominent role. The background of the concept has two main aspects: The first is the social and historical environment, which mainly refers to the various stages of development of traditional Chinese society. Each stage means a specific political situation and special

5 Historical Interpretation of the Logic …

65

political issues, ideas, and their logical connections are carried out in the context of thinking and solving specific political issues. The second is the world outlook and methodology at different times. The world outlook and methodology are the basic philosophical premise for people to think about problems and construct ideas from a general perspective. Different world outlooks and methodologies often lead to different perspectives on the interpretation of concepts. The conceptual content of concepts is therefore very different. The same concept is often given different meanings in different historical environments. The difference in concept meaning is constrained in the possible space of a concept. Of course, the environment also causes changes in the status of each other between concepts, and the logic of traditional Chinese political philosophy continues in this process, making its own political reasoning system more and more perfect to form a complete and nearly closed political philosophy system. At the core of it are the moral obligations and preachings which Han Confucianism initiates. The moral obligations and preachings which Han Confucianism initiates not only gave the conclusion of the world from the conclusion, and determine the political relationship between people. It also spans different historical stages because it reflects the essence of the Chinese patriarchal society. It has been fixed almost eternally and has become the eternal formal norm of the people of the traditional Chinese era. (1)

The Stages of the Logical Deduction of Traditional Chinese Political Philosophy

Traditional Chinese political philosophy, in terms of its evolution, moves toward a complete thinking and ideology, which ultimately forms a political philosophy system that reflects the fundamental political attributes and ideals of the nation. Therefore, in a sense, the development of Traditional Chinese political thought is to conceive and develop unique national characteristics of the political philosophy system. This system is fundamentally a conscious reflection of China’s political tradition, and in turn promotes the increasingly conscious development of China’s political tradition. From an anthropological point of view, the formation of some kind of political tradition has a long history. At least since the late Neolithic era, some form of political tradition has prevailed in human social life. We can assert based on strong evidence that all tribes of mankind have had a monastic society before barbaric society. As we know that there have been barbaric societies before civil society. “On the road to human progress, inventions and discoveries are endless. Behave as a sign of the various stages of progress in the same order.” “Various social systems, which are closely related to the eternal needs of humankind”, “also become a sign of progress.” “Humans are generally organized in clan, and tribe in the later stages of the uncivilized stage and throughout the barbaric stage.” “In the entire ancient world, these organizations were popular everywhere and spread across continents.” “The structure of these organizations, the interrelationships that exist as part of a series of organisms, and the rights, privileges, and obligations of clan members, clan, and tribe members are examples of the development of political ideas in human thought.” “All the major systems of mankind originated in the ignorant society, developed in

66

1 Introduction

the barbaric society, and matured in the civilized society.”158 “Chinese prehistoric culture has a more long-lasting and splendid history than previously known.” “Nearly 8,000 years ago, Chinese civilization had begun to dawn.”159 From the analysis of the types of human civilization in anthropology, a mature writing system is usually a clear sign of the type of civilization. The earliest mature text discovered in China so far is the oracle bone in the middle and late Yin Shang. The era of the oracle bones’ creation and reflection has been an era in which the earliest traditions were initially formed. In addition, a political tradition is always accompanied by a certain literature and classics, and rely on a certain literature and classics to explain and explain politics. The most important political classics of Chinese tradition is the Odes, Documents, and so on, while the era of reliable literature published in the Odes and Documents can be traced back to the Shangwang Pan Geng of Yin Shang. The above analysis shows that China’s political tradition has been initially formed in the middle and late Yin shang. “The monarchy of autocracy can be described as a long-standing affair in China.” Strictly speaking, it does not start from the Qin and Han Dynasties. “As early as the Shang and Zhou Dynasties in the period of the formation of the country, the monarchs had a very high authority.” “From the very beginning of civilization the ancient Chinese state machine has embarked on a road of autocratic monarchy.”160 Corresponding to the monarchy in practice, theoretical consciousness is the birth and growth of monarchy authoritarianism. The theme of traditional Chinese political theory is monarchy authoritarianism. Traditional Chinese monarchy is different from tyrant politics in European political traditions from its historical performance. However, it emphasizes the exclusive status and function of rule by one person in which “one person rules the world.” Therefore, the traditional Chinese monarchy of authoritarianism and humanism are not only contradictory, but also complement each other.161 It is not democracy, but the autocratic monarchy, which is accompanied by Confucianism’s “humanism”. Traditional Chinese humanism and humanitarianism only emphasize the practical rationality of facing life, in order to “explain and treat things and traditions with a calm, realistic and reasonable attitude.” He “uses rationality to guide, satisfy, control desire” and “achieve a certain balance in the pursuit of humanity and personality.” “Rational spirit” or “rational state” in which everything is measured and dealt with in a practical balance of reason.162

Chinese philosophy and culture generally lack strict forms of reasoning and abstract theoretical exploration. Rather, they prefer to appreciate and be satisfied with the overall fuzzy thinking and intuitive grasp of the whole, to pursue and obtain some non-logical non-pure speculative non-formal analysis of the truth and understanding.163 The focus of Traditional Chinese practical rationality is ethical, and 158

Zehou [80], p. 1. Zehou [41], p. 53. 160 Zehua [42], pp. 1–2. 161 Zehua [46], p. 285. 162 Zhun [81], pp. 29–30. 163 Zhun [81], p. 305. 159

5 Historical Interpretation of the Logic …

67

the guarantee of ethics needs to breed political problems. The two are often closely linked. On the one hand, ethics is the fundamental and soul of politics. On the other hand, politics is the guarantee and performance of ethics. However, in any case, the traditional Chinese practical rationality explores the ethical and political issues in a practical and rational “integral grasp.” The result is also to pursue “specific and practical.” The characteristics of this way of thinking run through the development process of traditional Chinese political theory, and thus become more and more consolidated. Traditional Chinese political philosophy began to appear in the concept, category, and so on, but before the concept, category, and so on began to appear, it has been basically determined by a certain political tradition of the fundamental attribute and the basic trend. “As the city-state system is both a Greek tradition and an irresistible trend of Greek political thought, it is an existing premise of Greek political science. There is no political science without the city-state system.”164 Traditional Chinese political philosophy is based on the centralized politics of post-Yuan. The Chinese political tradition has laid a foundation for a unified system before the political concept officially emerged. “From the time of history, there is a supreme political authority above them appointed by God in China. In the Zhou Dynasty, it was Zhou’s emperor. In the Yin Dynasty, it was sometimes called the Emperor’s Yin Dynasty. In the Xia Dynasty, it was called the “post-yuan”. In the Xia Dynasty, ‘the rulers’ states relative to country is called the “post-group”.165 When the traditional Chinese political concept began to take shape, the further development of the political tradition has required certain aspects or links in the political tradition to obtain conscious theoretical forms. The specific form of the theoretical form depends on the practical and rational way of thinking that has been formed. Through the intuitive overall grasp of the political tradition, separation of the most important specific practical norms of behavior has become the main content of the beginning of Traditional Chinese political philosophy. There are two basic aspects to the groundbreaking work at this stage: First, the systematic organization of the original culture. It must, “establish rules for ceremonies and compose appropriate music for different occasions.” “The original etiquette with the sacrifice of the gods (ancestors) as the core was transformed, which should be systematized and expanded into a set of customary laws and regulations governing early slavery.”166 “Ceremonies and music” actually provides specific specifications for people’s behavior. Social development here not only demonstrates institutional self-consciousness, but also provides an opportunity to play, constrain, and regulate individual initiative. The second is to consciously refine the political concept and consciously grasp the most important and most critical links, aspects, or contents. “From the book Shangshu Pangeng, ‘de’ is an important political and moral concept.” The main meaning of “so-called ‘de’” is “to obey the destiny, to

164

Sabine [82], p. 6. Sabine [82], p. 9. 166 Zhun [81], p. 10. 165

68

1 Introduction

obey the old king”, “credit old people”, “work hard”, etc. ‘De’ is a moral requirement for the king, and the concept of political ethics had been invented first.167 In fact, it is precisely the importance of the monarchy in the Chinese political tradition. This fully demonstrates that the Chinese political tradition is governed by the rule of virtue, it also typically embodies the moral attributes of traditional Chinese politics. From the middle and late period of Yin Shang to the Warring States period, traditional Chinese political philosophy mainly came at the stage of inventing concepts, categories, propositions, etc. The generation of concepts, categories, propositions, etc., as usual, embodied the perspective of practical rationality. In the world of experience of life, we select and extract relevant content, intuitively and functionally grasp it, and isolate related concepts, categories and propositions. “This kind of practical rationality that is directly related to the reality of life does not develop in the purely speculative direction of deep abstraction, analysis, and reasoning, nor does it develop in the direction of pure empiricism of observation, induction, and experiment. Instead, it is spread out horizontally, opening up to the overall relationship between things.” “From function to structure, according to the closeness or similarity of functions, many different things are organized in a systematic form in an attempt to grasp them comprehensively from the height of practical rationality.”168 The ancient philosophers’ thinking methods, modes, and perspectives for inventing concepts, categories, and propositions cannot transcend the shackles of national practical reason. From the perspective of experience and function, they invented different concepts, categories and propositions such as perspectives, methods, positions, attitudes, etc. realizing the theoretical consciousness of different aspects and links of Chinese political tradition. However, the theory of each faction is independent of each other, and thus there are contentions of a hundred schools of thought that do not govern, but include each other in theory. The Qin and Han Dynasties were the period of ideological integration of Traditional Chinese political philosophy. In the pre-Qin period, the thinkers of various factions conducted in-depth explorations of the ancient and modern worlds, and in it to find solutions to real political problems and their reasons, each of them expresses unique political views with specific concepts, categories, propositions, etc., creating the necessary materials for the integration of thoughts in the Qin and Han Dynasties. The integration of thoughts of the Qin and Han is to carry out the transformation and reorganization of the concepts, categories, and propositions of the system under the macroscopic view of the universe formed the most important ontological order about political life. The so-called ontological order refers to the absolute determination of the fundamental social and political relations and forms that contain the necessary, inevitable and nature. The concepts, categories, and propositions contained in them are inevitable, and all accidental concepts, categories, and propositions are excluded. Although the ontological order of political life is the focus and purpose of thinkers, in view of the inevitability of the attribute requirements, the judgment must be the full name judgment. In this way, when the thinker constructs the ontological order, 167 168

Zehua [45], p. 12. Zhun [81], 164.

5 Historical Interpretation of the Logic …

69

he must fully consider the problem from the level of universe, ancient and modern. Therefore, only by establishing an ontological order that explains all the things of universe, ancient and modern, can we construct a political ontological order. It not only reflects the fundamental requirements of a certain social life form for politics, but also expresses the basic knowledge base of political construction. Alternatively, there is the belief premise of the stable existence of a certain political form. In a sense, the seriousness and sanctity required by the political order must be based on some form of inevitable judgment, while the inevitable judgment means that the seriousness and sanctity of the political order has been generally rooted in the psychology of the people and has the attribute of faith. When people have a metaphysical reason to obey political authority, the political order dominated by political authority is respected. When people generally have a certain faith or creed, the matching political order is seen as inevitable and natural. Once a popular belief or creed falters, the political order that corresponds to it loses its original seriousness and sanctity, just like duckweed. The political order since Shang Dynasty and Xizhou Dynasty has lost its social utility with the collapse of political beliefs. The political form of the Great Unified Empire of Qin and Han Dynasties calls for a new political belief system, and it is urgent to establish a new political creed. Han Confucianism with Dong Zhongshu as the main representative arranges the basic theories of Confucianism (Confucius and Mencius’s benevolence and so on) and the five elements of cosmology of the Yin-Yang School that have been popular since the Warring States. Therefore, the Confucian Political Program of feudal order of importance or seniority in human relationships has a systematic cosmological schema as the cornerstone. The worldview of the ‘trinity of Heaven, Earth, and man’ that the Confucian aspirations since the “The Book of Changes”, “The Doctrine of the Mean” has been concretely implemented, and it has completed the requirements of the era from the beginning of Lu Shi Chun Qiu and the Twelve Dynasties. Confucianism integrates the requirements of each school to build a system.169 Everything in the world is arranged in the world schema of teleological cosmology with rich color. The world schema is generally “the order of the heavens,” which is politically the three cardinal guides and the five constant virtues. “The three cardinal guides of the kingly way can be found in Heaven.”170 The study of Confucian classics and ways of thinking in the study of Confucian classics in the Han Dynasty is the enlightenment and argumentation of the ontological order around the “order of the heavens” in the human world. Of course, the explanation and argumentation are inseparable from the method of constructing the innate connection of “heaven-human induction”. During the Qin and Han Dynasties, Chinese political philosophy established a basic framework, and its basic conclusions on the ontological order lasted almost two thousand years. “The theoretical system of unity of Heaven and Man, heaven-human induction, and the Yin-Yang or Five Elements established by Dong Zhongshu, gradually become the thinking framework of Confucianism for generations, forming a stereotype.”171 Then, the development 169

Zhun [81], pp. 145–46. Dong Zhongshu, Chun Qiu Fan Lu, “Jiyi”. 171 Zehua [43], p. 80. 170

70

1 Introduction

of Chinese political philosophy could only work hard to make the formulation and argumentation of the ontological order more convincing and effective. Since the Qin and Han Dynasties, China has continued the political system centered on the emperor system. The political system with the emperor system as the core is also constantly improving. In a sense, this is a dominant sign of the endless flow of Chinese political tradition. Behind this sign is the conceptual system that matches it. This concept system also continues the unity since Qin and Han, but it is getting better and better in the way of expounding and justifying. The two constitute a system of mutual guarantee, coordination, mutual promotion and mutual circulation. “Political doctrine itself is an integral part of politics.”172 “Human groups often create institutions and practices, whether or not political philosophers should be explored philosophically. However, once Plato or Locke actually writes his opinion, those insights can become, and have become, one of the ways in which human groups create institutions and practices.”173 The Han dynasty, represented by Dong Zhongshu, played an important role in the conscious development of Chinese political traditions, such as Plato and Aristotle. Its influence on the construction of the basic political system is far from what the Buddha and the Tao can do. “Over the past 2000 years, the Chinese nation has been influenced by Confucian theory. The deepest and greatest are the aspects of the public and private life of the system and law” “Scholar-officials of the Six Dynasties are known as broad-minded. In fact, Yikao often commits to filial piety and righteousness, which is strictly prohibited by the family.”174 Since the end of the Han Dynasty, traditional Chinese political philosophy has entered a new stage, and the ontological order constructed by Dong Zhongshu has encountered the skepticism of individual human rational awakening. A series of reasonable entanglements brought about by individual rational consciousness, such as the individual and group, ethical emotion, and Confucian form. In this kind of theoretical entanglement, there are issues of how to generalize the essential stipulation of individual people, how to ensure that people generally have the abundant feelings that match the provisions of Confucian, how to view the goodness of all things in the world, how to evaluate the position of external theological authority in the arrangement of world order and the domination of individual destiny, and so on. The problem of this and so on comes down to one point, which is the ideal personality problem. “The Consciousness of Man (Me) has become the unique spirit of the Wei and Jin Dynasties, and the ontological construction of personality is the main achievement of dark learning in Wei and Jin dynasties.”175 The construction of ideal personality cannot be completed by the ideological faction inherent in the pre-Qin and Han dynasties, and the dark learning of Wei and Jin dynasties also mainly put forward the problems. Although He Yan, Wang Pi, Guo Xiang, etc, built the ideal personality of the Confucian ethical code based on Laozi’s “nature”, the “nature” it finds only has methodological significance. It is not possible to systematically 172

Yinke [83], Preface. Yinke [83], p. 4. 174 Qichao [84], p. 283. 175 Zhun [81], p. 193. 173

5 Historical Interpretation of the Logic …

71

answer many complex questions in the construction of ideal personality. It is the increasingly Chinese Buddhism that really pushes the ideal personality construction forward. From the beginning of the end of Han and the Chin dynasty, the trend of Chinese Buddhism has been increasingly driven by the demand of society and the input of Buddhist theories. The result is to systematically think about the world and people by citing the theory and thinking methods of Indian Buddhism, finding the eternal human body and the way to return to the ontology from phenomena. This process reached a climax in the middle of the Tang Dynasty. Not only have Chinese Buddhist schools emerged, but also Chinese Buddhism has found a way to understand the world’s objects and the individual’s ontology, which systematically expounds many paths from the phenomenon to the ontology. Many achievements of Chinese Buddhism in the construction of personality have been remitted to the torrent of Neo-Confucianism in the Song Dynasty, so that the Confucian political order has been established and consolidated on the basis of a more consolidated thought. After more than 600 years of theoretical washing, the political theories of Confucianism in the Han Dynasty were not only thoroughly pruned, but the political myths and attached demonstration were almost washed away. The ideological materials of re-managing the political philosophy of Han Confucianism are also basically available. However, Confucianism, Buddhism, Daoism, and the Three Religions still need to carry out systematic and in-depth theoretical integration in order to solve the personality confusion caused by the widespread political skepticism since the end of the Han Dynasty. Although the Sui and Tang Dynasties restored the paradoxical status of the ethical code, the study of Confucian classics has also undergone some changes different from Han, and the chapters and the principles have been initially combined. But after all, Confucianism has not absorbed the theoretical nutrients of Buddhism and Daoism, the ethical code of Han is only emphasized on the level of experience, and still does not have the necessary foundation of faith. The maintenance of the political order of the Sui, Tang five Dynasties, in addition to relying on the people-oriented value of Confucianism, mainly relies on violent monopoly and utilitarian calculations. The most typical story that while water can carry a boat, it can also overturn it is just a repetition of Jiayi’s “fear of the people.” In the Han Dynasty, its essence is still utilitarian calculation. Many monarchs in the Tang Five Dynasties made careful thoughts on how to be a monarch and how to be a minister. There have been many discussions that “it is difficult for the king, not easy for the courtiers.” However, politics has fallen into the “dead situation” in which “the Son of Heaven should have strong soldiers and sturdy horses.” After the end of the Five Dynasties, the thinkers of the Song Dynasty began to absorb the wisdom of Buddhism and Daoism to rebuild the Confucian ontological political order. This process did not end until the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. The mainstream academics that existed in this period of time are Song and Ming Dynasties’ philosophy, whose thought methods and academic forms are quite different from those of Confucianism in the Han and Tang Dynasties.176 Li Zehou pointed out that the basic characteristic of “Neo-Confucianism, with Zhu Xi as 176

Zhaowu [67], p. 543.

72

1 Introduction

the main representative,” is to raise ethics to ontology in order to reconstruct human philosophy.” “In the limited, sensual and realistic (also worldly, common sense) physics of feudal order of importance or seniority in human relationships, to seek and demonstrate beyond this limited, sensual, phenomenal infinite, reason and ontology.” “This kind of law, order, and purpose as the ontology controls and dominates the sensuous real world of nature and people.” Political theorists, “gradually abstract the law, order, and purpose from the material world as things that control, dominate, and rule the latter.” They also attempt, “to find the rational innate ‘the nature of Heaven and Earth’ in the sensed, experienced ‘physical nature’,” to dominates experience selfish desires, physical nature with the “a priori ‘Heavenly Laws’ and the ‘the nature of the heavens and the earth’, to complete ethical behavior.” The key to its approach is to “remove emotional desires as much as possible to fulfill ‘a universally inevitable’ ethical behavior.”177 From Zhou Dunyi etc. to Zhu Xi, Neo-Confucianism mainly explores that the world has a noumenon of heavenly laws. It not only determines the inner essence of all things in the world, but also stipulates the existence forms of all things in the world and the inevitable relationship between them. It also serves as the supreme master of ethicalization of the whole world. If Dong Zhongshu’s “Heaven” takes people as a subject of chaos, and drives people to interact in an inductive way with the Heaven. Then, Zhu Xi and other’s “Heavenly Laws” have not only penetrated into the body of the individual, but it also plays a dominant role within the subject. The foundation of the ethical code is established in the essence of human beings, thus completing the mission of School of Laws in epistemology. But the essence of School of Laws is practical. The School of Laws of completion in epistemology must also solve the problem of how individual people can fulfill their methods in their own behavior. The difference between Zhu Xi and Lu Jiuyuan’s brothers is only in the sense of method. Both of them have gradually merged in the long-term debate. In the end, Wang Shouren in the middle and late Ming Dynasty completed the method proof of how individuals get the Heavenly Laws. Wang Shouren confirmed that everyone has the goodness of the Heavenly Laws. It is usually obscured by “selfish desires”. Only through self-examination, “breaking the thief in the heart”, is “the justice of heaven” naturally presented. Although the ontology of necessity has an individual choice form, there is no alternative. Its content is nothing but the ethical code. In this sense, Wang Shouren internalizes the universally inevitable the ethical code into the inner consciousness of social individuals. Constructing the “conscience” of “the Heavenly Laws” and the logic ladder of “the unity of knowing and doing” that is united with individual behavior has logically ended the entire journey of the Neo-Confucianism. Wang Xue the left wing fell into the naturalism of political philosophy, almost once again on the old path of dark learning which is “beyond the Confucian ethical code and let-nature-be.” The result is naturally of no positive significance. Although it was still sensational at the time, Wang Xue and the left wing right fell into doctrine of Zen Buddhism, which is seemingly back to the “Duhua”, and naturally did not produce any important theoretical significance. After Wang Shouren, traditional 177

Zhun [81], pp. 220–227.

5 Historical Interpretation of the Logic …

73

Chinese political philosophy continued, but there is no problem at the ontological level. It can only under the circumstance of the established ontological order carry out empirical political reflections. They can do this, or carry out fierce political criticism under the stimulation of realistic politics. But whether it is reflection or criticism, nothing can and cannot surpass the setting of the ontological order of that era. The political philosophy of the late Ming Dynasty is represented by Li Zhi’s “Theory of the Childlike Heart.” However, its destructiveness is far greater than constructiveness, and there is no active building on ontology and methodology. He criticizes more about the split between “emotion” and “rationality” in people’s subjectivity. He opposes the opposition between “the Heavenly Laws” and “selfish desires.”178 He not only emphasizes that “the Heavenly Laws” does not oppose “sexual desire”, but also emphasizes that the “nature” of “sexual desire” is “the Heavenly Laws.” As long as “nature” is not false, even if it violates the “law and discipline rite”, it is not contrary to “the Heavenly Laws.” Although Liang Qichao regarded Li Zhi as a kind of character of a “monk who doesn’t follow the rituals” he himself was convinced that, “there are many books that are useful and harmless to the Holy Religion.”179 Although Li Zhi’s argument was also banned by the Ming Shenzong Wanli, it is precisely the theoretical portrayal of Ming Shenzong’s personality. It’s really not enough to build and open up new ideas, but just the reflection of destruction and disintegration, which reflects the end of the world that selfish desires expand. After the Ming Dynasty ended in civil strife, the Qing Dynasty entered the Central Plains. This change set off the climax of the scholar bureaucrat’s self-introspection and selfreflection. Criticism of the politics of the Ming Dynasty in intellectual circles has also changed from a mystery to a pragmatic form. Advocating the ethical behavior required by the Dao, and observing the teachings of the sages, it is necessary that behavior and basic necessities of life follow the rules of the world. The average person must be like this. Even in the political arena, the “doing good” of sages must be carried out. From the Ming Dynasty’s Gu Yanwu, Huang Zongxi, Wang Fuzhi, etc. to Hong Liangji in the Jiaqing period, they all take “doing good” as the core tenet of empirical politics. Even thinkers who feature political criticism are mainly criticizing the “ruthlessness” of politics. Before the Opium War, the climax of Traditional Chinese political criticism and institutional construction appeared in the early Qing Dynasty, under the cover of the combination of unity of Heaven and Man and the unity of knowing and doing. Criticism and construction are both specific to the maladministration of the Ming Dynasty, nor did they surpass the “benevolent government” that Zhu Xi and Wang Shouren agreed on. If we say from Zhou Dunyi to Wang Shouren and other theorists are debating how to understand benevolent government, the purpose is to “know benevolent government” in theory. Since the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, theorists have become critics and practitioners, criticizing that the politics of the Ming Dynasty did not meet the standards of benevolent benevolence. They also engaged in actively constructing benevolent specimens that reflect the will of the sages. Its purpose is “doing good.” The two are not only connected in time, 178 179

Renyu [85], p. 4. Xulu [86], p. 211.

74

1 Introduction

but also logically coherent, and after the completion of knowing “benevolent government”, “doing good” has gradually come to the end. “In China, the emergence of new things can only be after the Opium War.”180 In fact, even after the Opium War, the traditional Chinese political discourse still exists tenaciously, although the traditional concept also provides the docking point to absorb the new knowledge. However, the entry of new ideas has always been difficult. China’s modern political thinking mode and system is neither a natural continuation of traditional political thinking, nor a simple variation of traditional political thinking, but the result of the intertwined integration of ancient and modern, China and the West. Under the influence of the sudden changes in the political environment and Western modern culture, the world geography of Lin Zexu, Wei Yuan, Xu Jishe, etc., and its introduction to modern politics itself, contains a special interpretation of traditional Chinese people. This way of interpretation is infiltrated with Confucian political ideals, such as Yao, Shun, Yu, Tang and people-oriented political values. It also includes the enlightenment of accepting new knowledge in the face of the West. Although this interpretation is based on the interpretation of the new with the old, in his explanation, he gave birth to a new bud of making up for the old with the new. (2)

The Staged Changes of the Concept of Traditional Chinese Political Philosophy

The concept of traditional Chinese political philosophy has a long history. However, the concept has obvious original connotations and extensions in the original historical stage,this is very common in the development of political concepts in China and the West. George Holland Sabine noted that, “Many modern political ideas—for example, justice, freedom, constitutional government, and respect for law, etc., all originate from the Greek thinkers’ views on the city-state system,” but “in the long history of political thought, the meaning of such nouns has been modified, and it is always necessary to understand the meaning of the various systems that enable these concepts to be embodied and the society that enables them to function.”181 The concept is the shell that carries the concept, and the concept is the content of the concept, in a certain historical period. The two are closely linked, but they cannot be separated from each other in different historical periods. Not only do some concepts continue to exist in a different concept, but also some concepts completely change the concepts they carry. As a nation with a long tradition of civilization, China’s highly integrated social and cultural integration is a key influence variable, at least since the Qin and Han Dynasties. We can find obvious traces of the extension of the political community with the spread of the core concept of civilization. The most obvious manifestation is that the concept spreads from the central area of civilization or to Xi Zhou, or assimilate aliens who are pouring into civilization. From a certain perspective, the continuity of civilization is clearly expressed as the continuity of the core concept. However, from another perspective, the development of civilization requires the change of ideas. The result is that the concept corresponding to the 180 181

Xuanjun [87], p. 20. Yinke [83], p. 22.

5 Historical Interpretation of the Logic …

75

concept of stability always undergoes a certain degree of phase change, mutating at any time, and advancing with the times. The concept of the programmatic political concept has changed, which not only related to the degree of development of people’s rational analytical ability, but also related to the penetration, influence, and infection of foreign concepts. When the two meet, the conceptual connotation of the programmatic political concept will undergo obvious and drastic changes. This time, there is often a fierce ideological debate. The core of traditional Chinese civilization is politics, and the concept of stability is mostly political concept, most of which belongs to the programmatic concept. The unity and change of programmatic political concepts and basic political concepts is a key and important aspect of understanding traditional China. The key point is to sort out the changes in the basic concepts implicit in the continuation of the programmatic concept, to gradually clean up the core part of the basic logic system of traditional Chinese political philosophy, and to analyze the typical attributes of its mature form. The following, combined with the epochal changes of the concepts carried by several programmatic concepts, analyzes macroscopically several major phase changes of the concept of traditional Chinese political philosophy. The earliest concept in political philosophy is the original concept of primitive religion. Politics is only part of the world that religion understands. The earliest concept of primitive religious origin inherited the inertia of the original mythology, as the original mythology has given the basic spirit of different nations the fundamental constraints of direction and manner. The historic thinking mode of Chinese ethics orientation was formed during the primitive mythology. “The philosophical reflections of ancient China were very different from primitive religions and animal myths, and close to social ethics and political norms.”182 In this process of ‘humanization’ or secularization, various old gods and new heroes were reordered. According to the original forces that worshiped their respective ethnic groups, they arranged a methodical myth of the “Imperial Family.”183 As far as the existing reliable literature analysis is concerned, the earliest basic political concepts in Chinese history can be traced back to the oracle bone in the middle and late Yin Shang. The most important political concept is the “Emperor”, a concept that lasted for more than 3,000 years. It was officially withdrawn from the historical stage when the Qing Dynasty collapsed. Its important position in traditional Chinese political philosophy is maintained throughout the Confucian scriptures, even if the Neo-Confucians admire that “Confucius did not talk about weirdness, courage, rebellion and ghosts and gods.” Nevertheless, it still repeatedly mentions the political origin function of the domination and control of “God”. The important position of the Western Zhou Dynasty in the history of Traditional Chinese political philosophy is inseparable from Zhou Gong’s “establishing rules for ceremonies and compose appropriate music for different occasions” and Confucian respect for Western Zhou culture. “Heaven”, as the Western Zhou Dynasty’s original political concept, has a meaning that changes and becomes more and more complicated. However, the most basic function is based 182 183

Qizhi [88], p. 189. Qizhi [88], p. 337.

76

1 Introduction

on the original control, dominance, and so on. The emergence of these two most important original concepts is related to the history of “ancestor worship”, with the obvious color of ancestor worship. “The earliest myths in ancient China were actually the myths of the origins of the clan (the royal family) of the earliest dynasties in ancient Chinese legends…. Gradually the ‘God of Heaven’ became the ‘ancestor’, and the tribe god was promoted to the universal god.”184 “Xia, Shang and Zhou are basically the world of God.” “From the Spring and Autumn Period, the status of God has gradually declined, and the status of people has gradually increase.”185 However, the Yinzhou system is still “wrapped in the layers of clothing of the clan blood. Its superstructure and ideology continue directly from the original culture.”186 At this time, the underlying fundamental concept in the core concept of politics is wrapped in the concept of religious theology, and has not yet achieved an independent status. The normative concept in the core concept of politics is simply to enumerate the social behavior requirements of important people. The normative concept is the derivative attachment of the original concept. That is, the normative concept is the necessary action for important people to respond to the concept of origin. The typical thinking is to “lead the people to serve the God.” There is still a lot of legacy about “leading the people to serve the God” in the middle and late Spring and Autumn Periods. At that time, there was a debate about whether “listen to the people” or “listen to God” when the monarch made a decision.187 Since the Spring and Autumn Period, the systemic binding force of traditional religious theology has gradually declined, while the status, role and function of people has become increasingly prominent. China’s humanistic thinking has arisen. The way of thinking shifts from theological a priori to the intuitive experience. “Laozi and Confucius are two giants in the development of humanistic thought. It is a sign of the shift in the way of thinking in Chinese history. The two of them raised the previous sporadic humanistic thinking into theory. Laozi returned people to nature, and Confucius returned people to society, thus laying the foundation for humanistic thinking in Chinese history.” Chinese thought has entered contention of a hundred schools of thought since the late Spring and Autumn Period from a general perspective. Although “serving ghosts and gods” since the Shang Dynasty and Xizhou Dynasty have been very weak, as a category of thought, there is still a certain status, not to mention that Confucius did not deny the existence of God. In the case of Mozi’s “Heaven”, it shows that schools with important social influences that have failed to say goodbye to theological thinking. This demonstrates the essence of the “practical rationality” of the ancient philosophers, who tend to “guide and implement rationality in everyday real life, the feelings of feudal order of importance or seniority in human relationships and political concepts.” “China attaches importance to the combination of love and reason, the balance to regulate emotion with reason

184

Qizhi [88], pp. 290–303. Zehua [45], p. 614. 186 Zhun [81], p. 8. 187 Guidian [89], p. 16. 185

5 Historical Interpretation of the Logic …

77

for the reason is the social and ethical psychological feelings and satisfaction.”188 Ceremony, music, etc. “has been re-established a series of practical and rational provisions and explanations.” The political and cultural system since the Western Zhou Dynasty lost its explanatory power and persuasive power with the loosening of the political system. The ancient philosophers have abandoned the divine foundation of the political culture of the Western Zhou Dynasty. They directly refer to the key to the construction and maintenance of social and political order—effective monarchy politics. Among the ancient philosophers, “with the exception of a few people, such as farmers, who have quietly raised questions and challenges to the monarchy, almost all treat the monarchy as a theoretical premise without doubt.” The heated debate between several major factions does not involve the need for a monarchy and the use of any system to replace the monarchy.” “Their argument is how to consolidate, strengthen, and perfect the monarchy.”189 From a certain angle and standpoint, each school has an in-depth examination of the premise, foundation, tools, and purposes of the monarchical politics from an insight through intuitive experience. The concept, category, and ideology of different styles and ideas have been developed, and the contention of a hundred schools of thought formed. During the development of the ancient philosophers in the middle and late stages of the Warring States, the influence and penetration of each other gradually became prominent. “To compromise and reconcile with each other, there is a trend of academic confusion.” “The name of the school is still the same, and the content of the thought is different.” Often “there is disagreement in a group, and an mix of factions.”190 The thoughts of the various factions gradually show a trend of mixing in the world of the universe, ancient and modern. However, this was before Qin Shihuang’s policy of the Burning of the Books and taking the officials as their teachers. In the Chun Qiu and Zhan Guo periods, there was no substantial change in the ideological situation that “Daoism is bound to be divided and destroyed by various schools of thought.” The political violence of the Burning of the Books has failed to establish a unified system of ideas. The major transition of political philosophy is often associated with a particular historical event. On the one hand, a particular historical event has created a different situation, which has led not only to the change of the thinker’s thinking background, but also to the change of the thinker’s thinking subject. Qin Shihuang unified the six countries and created a tradition of a centralized system with the emperor system as the core. The emperor surpassed the “post-yuan” of the Three emperors and Five Sovereigns, and it is the natural result of the contending of the political thoughts of the ancient philosophers. “The most outstanding people in the Spring and Autumn and Warring States have jointly cultivated a sauerkraut of sorrowfulness—the king’s salvation and the unification theory.” “Qin Shihuang is the personification of this theory.” He “inherited the ideological achievements of ‘sage-making’ and ‘sageworshipping’ of Spring and Autumn and Warring States Period. At the same time,

188

Zehou [41], pp. 50–51. Zehua [13], p. 114. 190 Gongquan [53], p. 5. 189

78

1 Introduction

there is new development: that is, I am the sage, sage-king.”191 When the Han succeeded the Qin system, it also inherited Qin’s political culture, and completed the integration of political concepts that Qin has not completed. The concept and category of the ancient philosophers’ invention is increasingly shrouded in a new ideology, and fundamental changes have taken place in meaning and purpose. The original Confucianism and the Confucianism of the Qin and Han Dynasties are significantly different in their basic concepts and purposes. The pre-Qin Dynasty primitive Confucianism “is based on the individual members of the clan aristocracy and the consolidation of the patriarchal bond”, “based on the blood concept and psychological foundation of the clan members.” Confucianism in the Qin and Han dynasties “is based on the ruling order of the unified empire and the autocratic monarch” and “infiltrate the spirit of the Legalist.” “On the basis of the legal practice of legalism that emphasizes utilitarian utility, it was a new creation which tried to absorb and reform each doctrine.”192 The integration of political concepts in the Han Dynasty was actually a continuation of the integration of political concepts in the pre-Qin period. One basic clue that runs through it is Confucianism. On the one hand, the Han will absorb and digest the thoughts and concepts of the pre-Qin philosophers and take it for themselves. In the connotation of the Confucian core concept, it was influenced by the non-Confucian factions of the pre-Qin period. This influence can be briefly summarized as the miscellaneous features of Confucianism. On the other hand, the Han transforms other schools with Confucian concepts. It has led to and consolidated the trend of Confucianism in the field of political ideas. On the basis of the concept of the pre-Qin, the Han Dynasty gave many important concepts to specific times. For example, “Heaven” in the proposition of “heaven-human induction” and the “unity of Heaven and Man” is a concept of the spirit of the times. He combined the “Heaven” of the Western Zhou Dynasty, Daoist Lao-Zhuang and other “naturalists”, the Confucian Mencius and other “ethics Heaven” and “benevolence Heaven” ideas, and it has the meaning of Mozi’s Heaven to reward the virtuous and punish the wicked. The study of the “ancient and modern, heaven and man” in the Han Dynasty constructed the most basic political relationship model of the traditional Chinese patriarchal society, and elevates it to the inevitable height of human beings. However, the theoretical purpose of Heaven-Human Ideology of the Han people is only to drive the active social individual to obey the necessary social norms. Each role of society has a well-established code of conduct that is ethical. These norms come from Heaven. It belongs to the common phenomena of ancient and modern times, and all the roles of society need to be unconditionally observed. Obedience is regarded as good by heaven, and thus will be blessed. Violators are regarded as evil by heaven, and thus will suffer. There are no mistakes in good or evil. The Heaven-Human ideology of the Han people has not given due attention to the inherent complexity of social individuals, but the most basic political relationship model of society and the inevitable natural world order cannot always be based on the mysterious nature of good and evil. What’s more, the idea that we should love the 191 192

Zehua [46], pp. 1–4. Zehou [39], pp. 138–140.

5 Historical Interpretation of the Logic …

79

good and shun the evil, and that God blesses the good and punishes the evil of God’s will is not no mistake at all. Wang Chong attributed the changes in everything in the world, ancient and modern, to the natural endowment of “qi”. The fate of things is attributed to the “qi” of their endowments.193 The concept and scope of the Han Dynasty has always been immersed in the atmosphere of Heaven-Human induction. Alternatively, it constructs the Dong Zhongshu-style unity of Heaven and Man with the best teleology: a series of judgments and propositions that control, dominate, and drive the world to the best by God’s will. Alternatively, we see that starting from the assumption that the blessing is determined by the accidental endowment of qi, we can think of everything in the world as fate. No matter whether it is Heaven or the thing itself, there is no will to dominate or control. It can only be settled in the status quo that has been decided. Everything is absolutely decided, or decided on the highest good of God, or on the self-contained of things themselves. The world pattern of heaven-human induction by the Han people gradually lost its persuasive power in the late Han Dynasty. People gradually developed to the point of questioning the ontology of personality, and began to explore the inner subject foundation of the basic social order. They began to focus on the rational arrangement of factors such as knowing, feelings, intentions and desires in human nature. That is, in the life of man, in the end, which subjective element it should be determines the behavioral choice of a person, or which subjective element a person should listen to is a happy person. This is the so-called individual consciousness of Yu Yingshi. “The so-called individual conscious person is consciously an individual with independent spirit. It is not the same as other individuals, and it shows its unique features everywhere. The purpose is to be known.” “According to this criterion, in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, there are many such figures.”194 Li Zehou is known as the individual conscious person. “The awakening of man is created precisely in the ideology of the formerly dominant—from knowledge of the classics to fate, from the suspicion and negation of ghosts and superstitions to moral ethics.” “It is the suspicion and denial of external authority that has the awakening and pursuit of inner personality.”195 People generally feel that “established traditions, things, achievements, learning, and beliefs are not very reliable. Most of them are imposed on people from the outside, and the meaning and value of personal existence are highlighted. How to meaningfully and consciously grasp this short and often miserable life, and make it more rich and satisfying becomes prominent.” How did politics get established before the Wei and Jin Dynasties? What is the basis of its establishment, and its main purpose or function? How do people face politics? And so on. All need to be constantly re-answered. The Heaven-human induction established by Han is systematic, and there is no exception to loving the good and shunning the evil, and no mistake at all, because it is absolutely absolute. Therefore, the teleology of lacking any mistake at all quickly lost its charm because of flaws, and politics was faced with a profound discourse crisis. At this time, the thinker followed the Daoist way of thinking, trying to find the pillars 193

Guidian [90], pp. 138–148. Yingshi [91], pp. 310–311. 195 Zehou [41], pp. 87–90. 194

80

1 Introduction

of meaning that support the world from the categories of Daoism. “Nature” has thus become a very popular important concept. Other concepts are clearly affected by the concept of nature, and quickly became metaphysical. But nature as a concept is not rigorous. Its meaning is diverse. The three basic schools of metaphysics are quite sufficient, of which the most important nature concept of the interpretation can be like He Yan, Wang Bi with Confucius, and the Seven Worthies of the Bamboo Grove with Zhuangzi’s flavor. The attitude towards the Confucian ethical code developed by the Han is quite the opposite. Even Guo Xiang is merely using nature to explain the doctrine that existence is reasonable. Actually, it does not solve the problem after the awakening of man. The problem is still there. People’s doubts have not been alleviated, or even not explained at all, and people urgently need to be explained to find the theoretical pillars that support life and the political system. It is absurd to lose the life supported by the theoretical pillars. Politics without its theoretical backbone is cruel.196 The pace of the gradual making Chinese of Buddhist theory is precisely after the decline of metaphysics. It is because Buddhism theory uses a large number of concepts, categories, propositions, etc. that have been introduced to think about difficult problems that metaphysics cannot solve, problems such as the fundamental and the branch, in activity and at rest the end, You (Being, existent) Wu (Non-being, non-existent), the profound reality that underlies all things, the body and the spirit, and so on—all of these have become hot issues in the theoretical circle. Seng Chao makes an essential difference between the ontology and the phenomenon of the world, and lays a foundation for the world view from the return of the false world to the noumenon real world. Hui Yuan’s theory of causation and theory of the profound reality that underlies all things provides a world of things that are led by the profound reality that underlies all things. Perfecting the traditional Chinese system of loving the good and shunning the evil provides the impetus to guide people to be good. It also solves the doubts that Wang Chong and others have to loving the good and shunning the evil. Buddhism’s karma should replace the Han’s Heaven-human induction, which has a systematic interpretation of the world’s gain and loss. Politics is nothing but a kind of gain and loss, among which, the ethical code is affirmed as a kind of good. “Buddhist doctrines have Confucian principles. Buddhist Tathagata have Confucian concepts. Yao and Confucius have different starting points, but they interact with each other. Even though the starting points of considering problems are different, their aims are the same, and they are all to teach people to be good.”197 During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, Confucianism was being revived after being subjected to the influence of the Buddhas and Daos in the Northern and Southern Dynasties. However, it was only limited to the influence in the field of social order. The right to speak on human nature, noumenon, and so on is still controlled by Buddhism. The topic of the universe and its origins is controlled by Daoism. The ideological pattern of the Sui, Tang, and Five Dynasties maintained the trend of equal importance of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism as a whole. The problems and levels of thought that Confucianism considers remain at the role orientation and order 196 197

Youlan [92], pp. 15–24. Shuping [8], p. 465.

5 Historical Interpretation of the Logic …

81

reconstruction under the affirmation of the people-oriented value. In the absence of metaphysical ontology, Confucian people-oriented values and benevolent ideals still lack reliable guarantees from the inevitable world. Because Buddhism was repeatedly suppressed after the Mid-Tang Dynasty, having reached its extreme height, it begins to wane. The metaphysical ontological world maintained by Buddhism has lost the persuasive power in front of numerous living beings. Under the stimulation of real factors, such as the military governor segmentation, the world order gradually degenerated into a “Vanity Fair” that lost value. The political world and the order of humanity have lost the constraints of loving the good and shunning the evil, or have fallen into a weak experience and preaching, or have fallen into a naked violent coercion. The political chaos in the Five Dynasties reached its extreme, which there was in direct connection with the decline of the system that loves the good and shuns the evil. The chaos of the politics of Five Dynasties shows that after the absence of ethics, political utilitarianism can neither create a healthy political mentality in the social individual, nor create or guide the construction of a healthy political ecology. The theme of political thought in the Song Dynasty was from the position of Confucianism. They would use the theoretical resources of Daoism and Buddhism to construct the metaphysical foundation of the basic political order in order to find the universal “Dao” or “the Heavenly Laws”, the essence of which is to have Confucianism utilize the theoretical resources of Daoism and Buddhism. From the Early and Middle Northern Song Dynasty to the Mid-19th Century, the Heavenly laws and selfish desires have become popular words. All life and political thoughts are infiltrated in the discussion of the Heavenly laws and selfish desires, and they are all dyed with the color of the Heavenly laws and selfish desires. If the philosophical theory since the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties is based on the connection and difference between the real world of noumenon and the false world of the phenomenon, the truth of the ontology is used to explain and guide the falsehood of the phenomenon. Finally from the falsehood of the phenomenon, there is a return to the truth of the ontology, which invented a lot of methods from the falsehood of the phenomenon’s return to the truth of the ontology. Then, the philosophical theory since the Song and Yuan Dynasties did not annihilate the difference between the truth of the ontology and the falsity of the phenomenon, but merely repositioned the content and mutual relationship between the two. Confucians of the Song Dynasty expressed the truth of the ontology by the “the Heavenly Laws” of Buddhism, and positioned the state of “everything” in everything to be the truth of the ontology. Taking “selfish desires” as a false phenomenon that does not reflect the inevitable phenomenon of the world, individuals must also abandon the false and return to reality. However, the truth is not the Buddha’s Buddhist world, but the Confucian sage. From the five persons of North Song dynasty to the Zhuxi of the Southern Song Dynasty, the thinkers mainly invented and borrowed concepts and categories to clearly distinguish the truth of the ontology and the false phenomenon. The basic conclusion was the opposition between the Heavenly Laws and selfish desires. From the Southern Song Dynasty to the middle of the Qing Dynasty, the thinkers mainly engaged in basic ideological activities on how to implement making desires less selfish and “preserving the Heavenly Laws.” The political thoughts of this period are

82

1 Introduction

subordinate to philosophy. Not only are they dyed the color of the Heavenly Laws and selfish desires, but also they are subordinate to the words of the Heavenly Laws and selfish desires. If you break away from the words of the Heavenly Laws and selfish desires to understand the political thoughts or political ideals at this stage, it will inevitably be distorted. The Ming and Qing dynasties were both a period of high political criticism and a period of climax of the construction of a political system. However, the political philosophy and political ideals of this period did not get rid of the attachment to the Heavenly Laws and selfish desires system, and still insisted on maintaining the Heavenly Laws of Confucian ethics. Huang Zongxi and so on are probably not exceptional. Feng Youlan has accurately pointed out that the Han studies in the Qing Dynasty still belonged to Song and Ming Dynasties’ philosophy in principle. “Sinologists, if they talk about the so-called theory of the principles, the issues they discuss, such as Li, Qi, Xing, Ming etc., are still the questions raised by the Song and Ming Dynasties’ philosophers.” “The classics on which it is based, such as The Analects of Confucius, Mencius, Great Learning, The Doctrine of the Mean, etc., are still the four books proposed by Song and Ming Dynasties’ philosophers.” “The so-called sinologists, if they talk about the so-called the study of the principles is still the continuation of Song and Ming Dynasties’ philosophers.”198 The discourse system of the Heavenly Laws and selfish desires has continued into the period of the Westernization movement. Correspondingly, the basic vocabulary of thinkers in political thinking is not very different from the Song and Yuan Dynasties. And the basic meaning of a series of political terms actually has no special changes. It did not show the slightest trend of modernization. Chen Xuzhen pointed out that “in China, new things can only appear after the Opium War.”199 In fact, even after the Opium War, the discourse system and political vocabulary since the Song, Yuan, and Ming dynasties still stubbornly maintained their integrity. It was not until the Sino-French War that the discourse system and political vocabulary changed more clearly and showed some colors that tend to be modern. The Heavenly Laws, selfish desires discourse system and its political concepts under the influence did not basically withdraw from the historical stage until the beginning of the 20th century. (3)

The Improvement of the Traditional Chinese Political Philosophy Reasoning System

The political development of each nation contains the development and growth of the political reasoning system, and each politically mature nation has a relatively mature and stable political and philosophical reasoning system. The development of political philosophy is always inseparable from the increasingly perfection of political reasoning. In fact, political reasoning does not have infinite possibilities in a relatively closed cultural environment. Without regular cultural exchanges and collisions, the development space of political reasoning can easily reach its possible limit, long-term stagnation at a certain level, or chaos and eventual collapse. People with higher political civilization and relatively strict political reasoning are often 198 199

Qichao [93], pp. 974–975. Xuanjun [87], p. 20.

5 Historical Interpretation of the Logic …

83

at the focus of cultural exchanges. At least on the hotline of cultural exchanges, it is difficult for a relatively isolated culture to have more mature political reasoning and a higher degree of political civilization based on it, and it has to be delayed for a long time at a more primitive stage. China’s traditional political civilization developed precisely at the intersection of multiculturalism. It not only opened up a cultural exchange hotline between land and sea, but also created cultural conditions for the sustainable development of Traditional Chinese political civilization. However, China’s traditional political civilization has its own consistent purpose and endless veins. The traditional Chinese political thinking and reasoning has always been in the process of formation, improvement, and consolidation. The development and growth of traditional Chinese political thinking and reasoning system is not a process from concept to concept. There is no absolute correct judgment and proposition once and for all, but with the repeated public doubts that people have formed in political life, they gradually ask questions, rebuttals, and demonstrate the realization of the increasingly perfect system of traditional political reasoning. Many questions that have occurred in the history of thought since the Qin and Han Dynasties are unheard of by the wise men and philosophers of the pre-Qin period, and they are completely unpredictable. Most of these political questions that philosophers and wise men in the pre-Qin period have never seen or heard are important questions that the development of traditional Chinese political reasoning has put forward to itself, and some new questions have also been raised by foreign ideological and cultural resources. However, it can only act as a kind of auxiliary role, which makes Traditional Chinese political thinking absorb foreign ideological and cultural resources to get through its crisis period and obtain new development. This allows for the gradual development of traditional Chinese political reasoning to a mature state. However, the development of traditional Chinese political reasoning not only does not deviate from the theme and purpose that were fundamentally determined at the beginning of civilization, but also corresponds to the increasingly conscious presentation of Chinese political tradition in the development trend. Starting from the reliable literature of traditional Chinese political philosophy, the development of political reasoning has experienced the stages of Shang and Zhou theology, the pre-Qin philosophers, the theory of Heaven and man in the Han dynasty, Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism coexisting, the Song and Ming Dynasties’ philosophy, and the real learning of Ming and Qing Dynasties. Corresponding to the periodic development of political reasoning, the academic thoughts in these stages, except for the theology of Shang and Zhou, are all epoch-making “thoughts of the times”. “Not all ‘thoughts’ can become’ tides’, and if they can become ‘tides’, then their thoughts must have considerable value and be suitable for the requirements of their times.” “Not all ‘times’ have a ‘trend of thought’, and the era with a trend of thought must be an era of cultural advancement.” “In China, after the Qin Dynasty, those who can really become trend of thought are the classics of the Han Dynasty, the Buddhism of the Sui and Tang Dynasties, Neo-Confucianism in the Song and Ming Dynasties and the textual research in Qing Dynasty.”200 Generally speaking, 200

Zehua [94], p. 1.

84

1 Introduction

people are not completely free in the development of ideas, but are fundamentally constrained by the traditions and concepts that have been formed before. The rise of the trend of the times is rooted in the self-conscious reflection of the thinkers on the one hand. On the other hand, it was provoked by current events. The evolution of political thought in the early Han Dynasty, the early Tang Dynasty, and the early Qing Dynasty was inseparable from the negative lessons of summing up the politics of the previous dynasty. Therefore, the trend of thought of the times always appears after a huge contrast between ideas and practices, and it occurs on the basis of conceptual attempts to re-understand and explain practice. Once people of an era have obvious commonalities on the topic of thought, it usually means that thinkers have been attracted by the problems of their time, and this has often become an important premise and basic symbol of the rise of the trend of the times. The ideological trend of the times reveals the fundamental commonness of the times from the aspect of ideological expression. “All the ideological trends of the times are formed by ‘the continuous mass movement’.” “Under the same movement, they are often divided into numerous small branches, and they are mutually jealous and mutually exclusive.” However, “there must be one or several common ideas, and the same basis is the starting point of the thought.”201 The commonality of trend of thought in various eras also has a direct and decisive influence on political thinking and political reasoning in terms of concepts, categories, propositions, etc. It is impossible for any big thinker to transcend the era. That is, given the trend of the times, even though his thoughts had a profound influence in the long history, he could not surpass the times and the trend of thought. Therefore, although political thinking and political reasoning in any civilized society contain relatively complete logic of political philosophy, the complete logic of political philosophy is neither closed nor absolutely perfect, nor can a great thinker of a certain era complete it alone. Rather, a series of times thoughts raised by a series of stimulations, questions, and textual research in the process of interaction between practice and ideas generate the final result of the tide. If there is no stimulation, question, and textual research provided by practice, there will be no vigorous trend of thought of the times. Without the birth, brewing, and breeding of ideas, thinking, and reasoning, there will be stagnation at a certain arrangement of ideas or level. It is worth noting that some of the stimuli, questions, and textual research provided by the practice link are inevitable for the development of the civilized society itself, while others are provided by the influence of other civilizations.202 The former is the inherent extension of the internal political thinking and reasoning of the civilization. Its development direction is the increasing self-consciousness of the political tradition of the civilization. The latter is the external supplement of the political thinking and reasoning of the civilization. Its development direction is to make the political thinking and reasoning of the civilization more open, and breed more realistic possibilities for the development of political thinking and reasoning. It can even lead to the overall transformation of political thinking and reasoning. Before the Opium War, the problems and dilemmas 201 202

Zehua [94], pp. 1–2. Kaimo and Shiwei [38].

5 Historical Interpretation of the Logic …

85

encountered by Chinese political thinking and political reasoning mainly came from the inherent extension of political thinking and reasoning. The problem occurred mainly from political practice, while foreign culture mainly played an auxiliary role. Ways, methods, concepts, categories, propositions, and other aspects help to improve traditional political thinking and reasoning. As for the ethical code system established since the Han Dynasty, a common value ideal and fundamental political purpose of society, its authority has not been truly shaken. In most cases, people were only thinking about its universal basis and derivation method. During the middle and late Yin and Shang Dynasties and the Western Zhou Dynasty, Chinese political thinking and reasoning have been very systematic. At the same time, however, they have formed a stable monarchical political tradition.203 As far as the popular political discourse of Shang and Zhou is concerned, they regard politics as a link in the Heavens and the earth that is directly dominated by God or Heaven. On the one hand, the king accepts the will of God to the world. On the other hand, it represents the religious activities of asking for, reporting, and being grateful to God or Heaven. The main channel of communication between the king and God is sacrifice and divination. Therefore, the general feature of political thinking and reasoning in the period of Yin and Zhou was to “lead the people to serve God.” Under the influence of God’s will, people are engaged in universal political thinking and reasoning, and the kingship attribute of political thinking and political reasoning is also basically stable. Before, people’s consciousness was not enough to create metaphysical philosophical concepts. People’s thinking and reasoning were generally based on myths or divinities, but when people’s consciousness creates the concept of metaphysics, the thinking and reasoning system of mythology or divinity will become one thousand boils and a hundred holes. It will be in a disastrous state and lack persuasion at least. In the early Spring and Autumn Period, the political thinking and reasoning of the myth or the protagonist style in the middle and late period of the Yin and Shang Dynasties generally suffered from the crisis of argumentation.204 The authority of the heavens encountered suspicion, and the authority of the king also fell. Since the Yin and Shang Dynasties, political thinking and reasoning are very inadequate and are increasingly in trouble. The pre-Qin scholars discussed the different aspects, links, or contents of the tradition of kingship since the Yin and Shang Dynasties in different ways, and formed a grand state of thought with a hundred schools of thought contending. Although it is a grand state of thought, the pre-Qin scholars did not get the minimum unity of political thinking and reasoning, but made political thinking and reasoning fall into pieces. Different political concepts, different theories of different princes, and different schools of thought of different princes all make sense. However, the contradictions and conflicts among the various thoughts directly hit the coherence and unity of political thinking and reasoning, and thus fell into the disorder of political life. The victory and capture became an important political rule, while the core of politics became to make the country rich and its military force efficient. During the Spring and Autumn period and the Warring States period, the lack 203 204

Zehua et al. [94], p. 2. Zehua [45], pp. 48–50.

86

1 Introduction

of integrated and diversified political concepts, categories, and propositions objectively contributed to the trend of political fragmentation in the spring and Autumn period and the Warring States period. However, the trend of integration of concepts, categories and propositions in the late Warring States period was becoming stronger and stronger, which was deeply consistent with the Chinese political tradition of political unification. In the Qin and Han Dynasties, along with the re-emergence of political unity in the system, the integration of ideas, categories and propositions created by the ancient philosophers also obtained structural results. In the Qin and Han Dynasties, the formation not only became the core proposition about the basic political relations and codes of conduct within the community, but also constructed a corresponding interpretation system that covers all things in the world from ancient to modern, and obtained a series of inevitability propositions of ontological significance in the way of simple system theory, which deeply influenced the form and content of national political psychology. “Just as the Qin and Han Dynasties laid a solid foundation for the unification of the country and the Chinese nation in terms of achievements, territory, and material civilization, the Qin and Han thoughts played almost the same role in the cultural psychological structure of the Warring States period.” The Han Dynasty “finally formed the unique cultural psychological structure of China.”205 Although the Han Dynasty gave the necessary stipulations about basic political relations, order, rules, etc., when it systematically analyzed and explained the basic reasons of political relations, order, rules, etc. from the perspective of connection, it fell into good and evil. It is a logical paradox. On the one hand, the simple system and theory of loving the good and shunning the evil has brought all things in the world into the inevitable chain controlled by Heaven with ethical provisions, in this chain, loving the good and shunning the evil are presented in the inevitable way of heavenhuman induction. There is no mistake at all. On the other hand, disaster and human beings’ good and evil are not always corresponding. There are a lot of phenomena or things that cannot be explained reasonably by the inevitable chain of heavenhuman induction. When theology of divination combined with mystical Confucian belief extends the inevitable chain of heaven and man’s induction to the extreme, the logic reasoning contained in it inevitably encounters a large number of phenomena that cannot be reasonably explained, thus falling into a kind of reasoning crisis. The ontological political conclusions given by Dong Zhongshu and others did not encounter widespread suspicion. The common doubts were the premise and reason of the ontological political conclusions. Wang Chong criticized Dong Zhongshu’s inductive system for the good and evil. He built the relationship between human and lenient on the occasional discouragement, but he did not object to the establishment of the order in the Han Dynasty, and the position and attitude of the two in the order of the order. There is no difference, and the difference is only manifested in how all things in the world are inevitably determined. The world in Dong Zhongshu’s vision is determined by other things in the system under the control of Heaven, and, in Wang Chong’s view, everything in the world is determined by the contingency of things 205

Yinke [83], pp. 138, 174.

5 Historical Interpretation of the Logic …

87

and has no necessary correlation with other things. Judging from the explanatory power of the theory itself, Wang Chong’s accidental determinism of qi in the human body cannot be compared with Dong Zhongshu’s system. After the persuasive power of Dong Zhongshu’s system declines, Wang Chong’s system can’t replace it. Even Wang Chong’s successful explanation is far from the one he produced. However, Wang Chong’s thought is an inflection point. That is, Wang Chong becomes an inflection point for analyzing and interpreting political affairs from the perspective of a systematic theory, and analyzing and interpreting political affairs from within the human subject. The point is to interpret things from the internal regulation of things, to understand and interpret people from the subjective regulation of people, to regard people as an independent existence, to find the essential regulation of existence itself, to take the essential regulation as the premise and destination of political individuals, to reasonably arrange the various regulations of people as a subject, to find the universal ideal personality, to explain the complex world in which people live, and to explain the rationality of political things by explaining the complex world. For example, Huiyuan’s theory of karma not only has more positive encouraging significance than Wang Chong’s in explaining loving the good and shunning the evil of the world. It is more logical than the theory of metaphysicians in Wei and Jin Dynasties, and even more convincing than Dong Zhongshu’s Heaven-human induction. However, from the southern and Northern Dynasties to the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the Buddhist interpretation of politics was mainly reflected in the world outlook and philosophy of life. It mainly supported the Confucian ethics system from the most basic level, weakened or resolved the skepticism crisis of the ontological political order reason since Wang Chong in theory, and thus produced the objective effect in favor of the Han Confucian the ethical code.206 The co-dependence of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism in explaining people’s confusion and satisfying people’s different spiritual needs has become a kind of inertia of traditional Chinese thinking mode, but the most representative period of the times was from the southern and Northern Dynasties to the beginning and middle period of the Northern Song Dynasty.207 The strong existence of the coexistence of the three religions continued until the rise of Neo Confucianism in the Song Dynasty. The rise of Daoism has gradually formed a mainstream discourse system and the corresponding mainstream way of thinking. In the early and middle period of the Northern Song Dynasty, once again, the integration of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism focuses on the revival of Confucianism. The main academic form is Song Xue in the context of Confucianism. The rise of Song Xue is an important event in the history of Chinese academic thought, which means that the Confucian classics of Han and Tang Dynasties lost its dominant position. Song Xue, which pays attention to the interpretation of justice and reason, had become the dominant form in study of Confucian classics. The Song school is not only the deepening and further development of the cultural pattern of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism since Sui and Tang Dynasties, but also a political 206 207

Shuping [8], p. 465. Guidian [89], p. 301.

88

1 Introduction

and ideological sublimation of Confucianism since the late Han and Wei Jin Dynasties. It replaced the way of the cosmology of Han Confucianism with the way of the theory of nature and mind, which made the ethical code of Confucian ethics obtain the necessary support of ontology and methodology. It also got rid of the confusion of the ethical code of Han Confucianism which was explained by the theory of Heaven and Man from the ontology and methodology of metaphysics. With Confucianism’s absorption of Buddhism and Daoism, Song Xue completed the cultural transformation from attaching equal importance to Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism to the integration of Confucianism, Buddhism and Daoism since the beginning of Sui Dynasty, and formed different academic schools and great thinkers.208 Although there are significant theoretical differences in the academic tradition created by Song Xue, in terms of the concept and category of its use and the theoretical proposition jointly elaborated, the thinkers of Song Xue have made profound thinking throughout the world and all things in the ancient and modern times around the governance of country of the traditional Confucianism. They not only established a series of closely related political judgments on a firm ontological theoretical proposition and changed the simple purpose of the rule of the unity of heaven and man of Han Confucianism into the inherent ontological rule of the unity of Heaven and Man of all human beings, but also changed the way and method of people’s returning to their own noumenon by considerding them in detail. The words of Buddhist meditation and wisdom practice are transformed into the words of “getting rid of selfish desires of people” in Song Xue, so as to find the way and path to realize the “unity of Heaven and Man”. The method and path of realizing “unity of Heaven and Man” confirmed by Song Xue is generally “the unity of knowing and doing”, and the essence of “the unity of knowing and doing” is to make the noumenon intuitive knowledge given to each person fully embodied in his daily behavior, or to make the daily behavior fully embody “the justice of heaven” and completely rooted out “the private of selfish desires”. From the middle period of the early Song Dynasty to the end of Qing Dynasty, the mainstream ideology not only strengthened the opposition between “the justice of heaven” and “the private of selfish desires”, but also repeatedly stressed the purpose and mission of “preserving the public sense and eliminate human desire.” In fact, from the perspective of the occurrence and purpose of politics, the political philosophy of the Ming and Qing Dynasties has already implemented the political philosophy of Song Xue to the extreme. In the traditional perspective, all fundamental issues concerning politics have been thoroughly answered in the political philosophy of the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Although the body of all things in the world is made up of qi, everything in all things depends on the “Li” contained in it. Although “Li” and “qi” are inseparable, there is no direct decisive derivation between each other. The harmony and order of the world is rooted in dominance of the highest good that exists in the world, this dominance is called “Heaven” or “God”. It determines the state of everything in terms of “qi” and “Li”. That is, the “qi” and “Li” that constitute things do not depend on specific things, but on the dominance of the highest good. On the material side, the operation of things is just the gathering and separation of Qi, while 208

Zhun [81], pp. 221–225.

5 Historical Interpretation of the Logic …

89

on the rational side, it contains “the mean”, “excessiveness”, and “insufficiency”. On the relationship between things and the Supreme Master, it also contains some controlling ethical factors that God blesses the good and punish the evil. Qi theory is popular all the time in the world, and there are always “the mean”, “excessiveness”, and “insufficiency” in Qi theory. The dominance of the highest good fails to make Qi theory “in their appropriate proportion”, but only to ensure that everything generated by Qi theory has its “proportion”. In many states of things, only “the mean” is the embodiment of “the justice of Heaven”, which completely embodies the highest good, while “excessiveness” and “insufficiency” cover up “the justice of Heaven”. “The mean” shows the thing as it should be and ought to be, which reflects the essence of things, while “excessiveness” and “insufficiency” show the non pure unfinished abnormal state of things, which reflects the surface phenomenon. “Excessiveness” and “insufficiency” not only return to “the mean” as the inevitable destination, but also return to “the mean” as the necessary obligation, just as the phenomenon must embody the essence. The essence must be contained in the phenomenon. Everything in the world has its essential necessity that embodies the dominance of the highest good, and the function of this essential necessity is actually to ensure that everything has its place. Everything has its place means that each has its own full representation of the nature. The complete presentation of the essence of the world means that the operation of the world is completely in line with the requirements of the dominance of the highest good. The essential necessity of human being is also based on Heaven’s principles. The social individual whose behavior fully embodies Heaven’s principles can only be a sage, and the nature of Heaven’s principles of most people cannot be fully presented due to their own selfish desires, which makes “eliminating selfish desires” the premise of “preserving Heaven’s principles.” Not only the mission of human life is “preserving the public sense and eliminating human desire”, but also the mission of politics is “preserving the public sense and eliminating human desire.”209 The struggle between Heaven’s principles and selfish desires manifests itself in moral self purification of each individual in society, and in the social level it manifests itself in political overall restriction. That is, the sages who embody Heaven’s principles have acquired the qualification and power of cultivating the public with selfish desires in an all-round way, Heaven’s principles shows that many people are dignified and dominate, while those with many selfish desires are humble and dominated. The premise of political occurrence is that one of the social individuals has achieved the goal of “preserving the public sense and eliminating human desire” and has the qualification of sage. The goal and terminal point is that all people have achieved the goal of “preserving the public sense and eliminating human desire.” If human society lacks the sages who have realized the pure supreme good, then politics will not happen, and if all human beings have realized the pure supreme good, politics will become redundant. The possibility of political occurrence is the pure goodness of a few sages, while the pure goodness of sages is only the justice of Heaven. The necessity of political occurrence is that most people must belong to the pure goodness, but still not to. Therefore, the essence of politics in the traditional Chinese era is 209

Shiwei [29], p. 310.

90

1 Introduction

that sages lead and force the people to belong to the pure goodness. From the middle of the Northern Song Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty, people’s political thinking became more and more perfect under the guidance of Neo Confucianism. The purpose, starting point, process, and form of politics were not only systematically and completely explained, but also made the traditional political philosophy of monarchy reached its mature completion form. This level of familiarity has made the possible logic of traditional Chinese political philosophy to fully unfold. That is, in the traditional Chinese political vision, political philosophy has no further logical space to expand, and can only fall into tedious textual research, or limited to strategic thinking, and even strategic thinking is often trapped in the situation of selling ancient pills.

References 1. Renbo, W. (2006). The victory of the common people: An examination of the discourse of Chinese democracy, Chinese law, No. 3. 2. Mengwu, S. (1960). History of Chinese political thought. Sanmin Book Company. 3. Gongquan, X. (1998). History of Chinese political thought. Liaoning Education Press. 4. Wailu, H. (1957). General history of Chinese thought, Vol. 1–3. People’s Publishing House. 5. Wailu, H. (1960). General history of Chinese thought, Part 2, Vol. 4. People’s Publishing House. 6. Wailu, H. (1956). General history of Chinese thought, Part 2, Vol. 5. People’s Publishing House. 7. Datong, X., & Qingkui, X. (1981). History of ancient Chinese political thought. Jilin People’s Publishing House. 8. Shuping, S. (1980). The history of chinese philosophy, Vol. 1. Shanghai People’s Publishing House. 9. Shuping, S. (1981). The history of chinese philosophy, Vol. 2. Shanghai People’s Publishing House. 10. Guidian, Z. (2007). Traditional chinese political philosophy. Hebei People’s Publishing House. 11. Dainian, Z. (1987). Huang lizhou and ancient chinese democratic thought. Contained in Guang, W. (1987). Huang zongxi’s Theory—Proceedings of the International huang Zongxi Symposium. Zhejiang Ancient Books Publishing House. 12. Cunshan, L. (2006). From minben to the beginning of democracy. Contained in Guang, W. (2006). Proceedings of the National Symposium on the thought of minben of huang zongxi. Zhejiang Ancient Books Publishing House. 13. Zehua, L. (2000). Chinese royalism. Shanghai People’s Publishing House. 14. Zehua, L. (2000). Traditional chinese political philosophy and social integration. China Social Sciences Press. 15. Mizoguchi, Y. (1987). The complications and unfolding of chinese modernism. Shanghai People’s Publishing House. 16. Zongsan, M. (2001). From lu xiangshan to liu jishan. Shanghai Ancient Books Publishing House. 17. Weiming, D. (2002). Confucian tradition and modern democracy. Contained in Qiyong G., Wenlong, Z. (2002). Du weiming’s anthology, Vol. 5. Wuhan Publishing House. 18. Levenson, J.R. Confucian china and its modern destiny, Translated by Dahua, Z., Qing, R. China Social Sciences Press. 19. Zhiqiang, C. (2003). What is the history of ideas? Contained in New art, No. 3. 20. Zhiqiang, C. (2006). The history of the history of ideas, significance and method. Contained in New art. No. 6. 21. Berlin, I., & Jahangebloo, R. (2007). Conversations with Isaiah Berlin. Halban.

References

91

22. Berlin, I. (2002). Against the current. Yilin Publishing House. 23. Henry, H., Berlin, I. (2013). Against the current: Essays in the history of ideas. Princeton University Press. 24. Peng, L. (2007). “Whether it is possible to historically understand thought——Taking implication and understanding in the history of ideas as an example.” Contained in Journal of postgraduates of Peking University. No. 3. 25. Skinner, Q. (2002). The foundation of modern political thought. The Commercial Press. 26. Zehua, L. (2008). Collection of the history of chinese political thought, Vol. 1. People’s Publishing House. 27. Zehua, L. (2000). Chinese royalism— an investigation of traditional social and ideological characteristics. Shanghai People’s Publishing House. 28. Zhaowu, H. (1999). Herbal collection. Joint Publishing. 29. Shiwei, Z. (2004). The limits of minben—The new theory of huang zongxi’s political thought. China People’s Publishing House. 30. Shiwei, Z. (2008). “Political ideas and social harmony: A perspective of justice on a socialist harmonious society.” Contained in Journal of the party school of the fujian provincial committee of the communist party of china. No. 7. 31. Liwen, Z. (2001). Research on zhu xi thought. China Social Sciences Press. 32. Liwen, Z. (2002). On the logical structure of chinese philosophy. China Social Sciences Press. 33. Shiwei, Z. (2006). “The basic requirements of socialist harmonious society for political philosophy.” Contained in Academic Frontiers. Hong Kong. No. 11. 34. Gongquan, X. (2005). The history of chinese political thought. New Star Press. 35. Shiwei, Z. (2006). Basic theory of political science. Shaanxi People’s Education Publishing House. 36. Zehua, L. (1985). “Research objects and methods of history of chinese political thought.” Contained in Tianjin Social Sciences. No. 3. 37. Zehua, L. (1999). “Respected monarch and humble courtiers: The framework of traditional chinese thought and culture.” Contained in Chinese social sciences review, Vol. 1. Tianjin Ancient Books Publishing House. 38. Kaimo, W., & Shiwei, Z. (2004). “A philosophical analysis of the general nature of political thought.” Contained in Baiji university journal of arts and sciences, Social sciences edition. No. 6. 39. Zehou, L. (1984). A brief discussion on qin and han dynasty thought. Contained in Chinese social sciences. No. 2. 40. Tongzu, Q. (1981). “Confucianism in chinese law.” Contained in Chinese law and Chinese Society. Zhonghua Book Company. 41. Zehou, L. (1989). The history of beauty. Cultural relics Publishing House. 42. Zehua, L. (1988). Authoritarian power and chinese society. Jilin Wenshi Publishing House. 43. Shiqi, T. (2002). History of western political thought. Peking University Press. 44. Zehua, L. (2003). Research objects and methods of chinese political philosophy. Contained in The manuscripts of xier zhai. The Commercial Press. 45. Zehua, L. (1996). History of chinese political thought (Pre-qin dynasty volume). Zhejiang Publishing House. 46. Zehua, L. (2007). Collection of history of chinese political thought, Vol. 3. People’s Publishing House. 47. Shiwei, Z. (2008). “Political ideas and social harmony: A justice perspective of a socialist harmonious society.” Journal of the Party School of the fujian Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China. No. 7. 48. Zhaowu, H. (1999). A false question in historical research—From the long stagnation of socalled feudal society in china. Contained in Reed grass collection. Joint Publishing. 49. Chang, L. (1980). “On the cause of the long-term continuation of feudal society in china.” Contained in Shanghai Normal University Journal. No. 4. 50. Guantao, J. (1984). Prosperity and crisis: On the ultra-stable structure of feudal society in China. Hunan University Press.

92

1 Introduction

51. Jindian, L. (2004). “The interpretation of the symbols of philosophy and law.” Contained in Law science—Journal of Northwest University of Political Science and Law. No. 3. 52. Thilly, F. (1995). History of western philosophy. Translated by Li, G. The Commercial Press. 53. Gongquan, X. (2005). History of chinese political thought. Xinxing Publishing House. 54. Zehou, L. (1994). On the history of ancient chinese thought. Anhui Literature and Art. Publishing House. 55. Zehou, L. (2005). History of chinese political thought. Xinxing Publishing House. 56. Zehou, L. (1994). Essentials to remember about xunzi, book of changes and the golden mean. Contained in On the history of ancient chinese thought. Anhui Literature and Art Publishinng House. 57. Chunfeng, J. (1997). The silk manuscripts: The thoughts and times of the yellow emperor’s four classics. Contained in History of han dynasty thought. China Social Sciences Press. 58. Tongzu, Q. (1981). Confucianism in chinese law. Contained in Chinese Law and Chinese Society. Zhonghua Book Company. 59. Chunfeng, J. (1997). The characteristics and historical status of dong zhongshu’s thought. Conntained in History of the han dynasty. China Social Sciences Press. 60. Chong, W. (n.d.). Discourses weighing in the balance. Chinese Text Project. https://ctext.org/ lunheng/zhs. 61. Zehua, L. (1996). History of chinese political thought (qin, han, wei, jin, southern & northern dynasties volume). Zhejiang Publishing House. 62. Chunfeng, J. (1997). Analysis of wang chong’s thought. Contained in History of han dynasty thought. 63. Zehou, L. (1981). The experience of beauty. Wen Wu Chubanshe. 64. Zehua, L. (2007). Pre-qin theory of ritual propriety and monarchical despotism. Contained in Collection of the history of chinese political thought, Vol. 3. People’s Publishing House. 65. Chinese History Society. (1951). Odes of the supreme peace saving the world. Contained in Special issue of chinese historical materials from the recent ages, No. 2. 66. Chinese History Society. (2000). Righteousness and solidarity, Vol. 4. Shanghai People’s Publishing House/Shanghai Bookstore Publishing. 67. Zhaowu, H. (2001). Collected treatises on historical reason. Tsinghua University Press. 68. Zehua, L. (2003). The sage—the originating substance of traditional chinese culture. Contained in The manuscripts of xier zhai. The Commercial Press. 69. Hua, X., & Jing, R. (1992). The path of immanent transcendence—the essential collection of yu yingshi’s neo-confucian writings. Chinese Broadcast Television Publishing House. 70. Zehou, L. (1999). The doctrine of the chinese sexagenarian cycle: The doctrine of the humanization of nature. China Film Publishing House. 71. Shiwei, Z. (2009). “On the royalist psychosis of integrating heaven-or-nature, dao, the sage and the king into one.” Contained in Tianjin social Sciences, No. 3. 72. Peiyuan, M. (1998). The Evolution of Neo-Confucianism—From Zhu Xi to Wang Fu zhi, Dai Zhen. Fujian People’s Publishing House. 73. Zehua, L. (2001). The History of Ancient Chinese Political Thoughts. Tianjin Nankai University Press. 74. Zehua, L. (2003). Monarchy Autocracy in the Analects of Confucianism on Rites in Pre-Qin Dynasty. Contained in Xier Zai Manuscript. Zhonghua Book Company. 75. Zehua, L. M., & Lanzhong, W. (2005). Autocratic power and China. Ancient Books Press. 76. Zehua, L. et al. (2000). Traditional chinese political philosophy and social integration, China Social Sciences Press. 77. Zehua, L. (1996). The unity of heaven, man, and kingship. Tianjin Social Science. 78. Zhang, S. (2003). “Advocating the Public and Inhibiting the privacy: The Theme of Huang Zongxi’s Political Thought,” Contained in, Zehua L. et al., Public and Private Concepts and Chinese Society. China Renmin University Press. 79. Morgan, L.H. (1977). Ancient society. Commercial Press. 80. Zehou, L. (1985). On the history of chinese political thought. People’s Publishing House. 81. Zhun, G. (1982). Greek City-state system. China Social Sciences Press.

References

93

82. Sabine, G.H. (1986). The history of political theory. The Commercial Press. 83. Yinke, C. (2001). Feng Youlan’s review of the history of chinese philosophy. Life, Reading, and New Knowledge Sanlian Bookstore. 84. Qichao, L. (1996). Academic history of nearly 300 Years. Oriental Publishing House. 85. Renyu, H. (1997). The 15th Anniversary of Wanli. Life, Reading, Xinzhi Sanlian Bookstore. 86. Xulu, C. (1992). The Metabolism of modern chinese society. Shanghai People’s Publishing House. 87. Xuanjun, X. (1986). Myths and National Spirits. Shandong Literature and Art Publishing House. 88. Qizhi, Z. (1993). History of Chinese thought. Northwest University Press. 89. Guidian, Z. (1984). A new exploration of wang Chong’s political thought. Hebei People’s Publishing House. 90. Yingshi, Y. (1987). The intellectual stratum and Chinese culture. Shanghai People’s Publishing House. 91. Sheng, H. (1998). Biography of emperor Wen of Sui Dynasty. People’s Publishing House. 92. Youlan, F. (1947). History of Chinese philosophy (Part 2). The Commercial Press. 93. Qichao, L. (1996). An Introduction to academics in the Qing dynasty. Oriental Publishing House. 94. Zehua, L. M., W., & Lanzhong, W. (1987). Decentralized power and chinese society. Jilin Wenshi Publishing House.

Chapter 2

Germination and Embryonic Form: Yin Shang and Western Zhou’s Political and Philosophical Concepts

The early experiences and characteristics of Chinese political thought determine the overall form, basic problems, and basic characteristics of Chinese political thought, and even stipulate the general framework for the development of Chinese political thought—all of which has particularly important theoretical significance. At the same time, tracking the early stages of the development of Chinese political thought is a very interesting thing. This is because on the one hand, the process of production of the human mind and its thoughts is always a fascinating issue. On the other hand, the production of the human mind and its thoughts is actually a difficult issue to sort out. Not only is the plot complicated, but the material left behind is surprisingly rare. In particular, the early experiences of Chinese political thoughts have long been submerged by the dust of history. There is not even a trace of remnants to be found. Further, logically, the process of production of the human mind and its thoughts is an annoying problem that cannot be answered with certainty. Therefore, we can only adopt a method of purely logical analysis for the initial experience of Chinese political thought. The popular history books of various Chinese political thought almost all begin from the middle and late stages of the popular oracle bones. As far back as the Yin Shang and Western Zhou literature, although its conceptual framework is still very crude and simple, traditional political thinking had not only begun to take shape in the form of various political traditions, but also generated the core concept of traditional Chinese political philosophy, and the most important content and features are presented to us in a concise manner. The political literature of the Yin Shang and the Western Zhou Dynasty, on the one hand, presented us with the earliest version of the core concept of Traditional Chinese political philosophy, which enables us to understand the core concepts of traditional Chinese political philosophy. On the other hand, from the political literature of Yin Shang and Western Zhou, we can still find the gestation and occurrence process of the core political concepts, which will help us to accurately understand the way in which concepts are abstracted from experience. Based on the political literature of Yin Shang and Western Zhou Dynasty, this chapter not only picks out the core concepts of the Chinese tradition from the

© Tianjin People’s Publishing House 2022 S. Zhang, The Logical Deduction of Chinese Traditional Political Philosophy, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-4376-7_2

95

96

2 Germination and Embryonic Form: Yin Shang …

original political literature, but also presents a crude system of reasoning supported by simple concepts. In this way, the manner and method of generating the concept are further briefly presented. Chinese political thought has a longer history than the written records. It existed before written words were produced. Just as the oral traditions that have been passed down by word of mouth in the history of literature, there is also an oral tradition of political thought in the history of China. At the same time, human beings express their own thoughts in words, and they must have gone through a long process of development. At first, only a few simple symbols could be used to record political ideas that were not too complicated at the time. Research of Chinese political thought should begin from the era when Chinese political thought began to exist. However, because we are limited due to the lack of available literature, we have to retreat to the next stage. In this way, we can only begin with the period of writing that we know, and the history we have written is only a small part of the history of human use. That is, the history of the text has developed to a more mature stage, and the political thought has actually undergone a long developmental process before the text has matured. Sam Mengwu’s History of Chinese Political Thought and Liang Qichao’s History of Pre-Qin Political Thought all adopt anthropological methods combined with Chinese ancient documents in order to logically reproduce the premises and background of Chinese political thought.1 From this, they deduced the formation of the characteristics of Chinese political thought. Xiao Gongquan and Liu Zehua’s History of Chinese Political Thought evaded the formation of Chinese political thought and began to discuss it directly from the era of reliable political and ideological data.2 The discussion of this chapter takes into account the above two traditions. It uses anthropological methods to logically reveal the roots of the environment and ideological characteristics of the formation of Chinese political thought, and also refers to the general laws in the formation and development of human thinking. It sorts out the many complex relationships in the formation process of traditional Chinese political thought, and pays attention to the importance of the ideas formed by reliable years of ideological data. It also briefly presents the core propositions and basic framework of Traditional Chinese political thought. From the perspective of cultural anthropology, human thinking abilities and methods gradually evolve along with the evolutionary process of human beings. The starting point of evolution is the starting point for human beings to break away from the animal kingdom. Although thinking at that time can only be presented as action, it does open up the process of transforming oneself in the process of transforming the world. Political life and the way of political thinking therein have become 1

See Sam Mengwu: The History of Chinese Political Thought, Taipei: Sanmin Book Company, 58th Edition of the Republic of China, pp. 1–4. Liang Qichao: History of Political Thoughts in the Pre-Qin Dynasty, Tianjin: Tianjin Ancient Books Publishing House, 2003 edition, pp. 1–2. 2 See Xiao Gongquan: History of Chinese Political Thought, Beijing: Xinxing Publishing House, 2006 edition, p. 1; Liu Zehua: History of Chinese political thought (pre-Qin Dynasty volume), Hangzhou: Zhejiang Publishing House, 1996, p. 1; Liu Zehua: The History of Ancient Chinese Political Thoughts, Tianjin: Nankai University Press, 2000 edition, pp. 1–2.

2 Germination and Embryonic Form: Yin Shang …

97

more mature with the evolution of human beings. They have not only formed a relatively stable political tradition, but also bred and formed a unique system of political concepts from this political tradition. During the Shang Dynasty and the Western Zhou Dynasty, China’s ancient political traditions were basically stereotyped, and the political concepts fostered by this political tradition began to emerge. Certain political concepts are always nurtured and generated in specific political traditions, while the contents of political concepts constitute political doctrine. Political doctrine as an attempt by human beings to consciously understand and solve the problems of collective life and collective organization is an extension of humanity, and its content and way of thinking basically determine its most important part of political thinking before the texts have matured.3

1 The Initial Maturity of Xia and Shang Political Power and Political Thinking Human political thinking has a long history and is difficult to trace. However, the development of political thinking tends to be mature at the beginning, and there are clear signs of this, as well as far-reaching historical influences. In general, the initial formation of political thinking will always leave a history of how the country itself formed. All countries with political legends can trace the formation of allusions, which have considerable historical authenticity and deserve attention. In the Natural History of Apes, Huxley brilliantly analyzed the historical value of ancient legends: The ancient legends are tested by modern and rigorous scientific methods, most of them disappear as ordinary as dreams, but the strange thing is that this dream-like legend is often a half-awake dream, indicating the truth.4

The earliest record of political facts is this legend of word of mouth, which is actually a type of political thinking that is passed down unconsciously throughout history. The historical impact of the initial maturity of political thinking is also quite long. On the one hand, it is beneficial to the transmission and consolidation of political legends from generation to generation. More importantly, on the other hand, it demonstrates the most important achievements of political development, greatly expands the ability of human beings to use the political environment to adapt to the natural environment, and enhances the competitive advantage of people all around. The advantage of a country is first and foremost a political advantage. It is not surprising that political thinking that can maintain political superiority has been passed down from generation to generation, which has been the case since ancient times. Although China’s political legends can be traced back to the legendary three emperors and five sovereigns, 3

[U.S] George Holland Sabine, Thomas Landon Thorson revised: The History of Political Theory, pp. 2–3. 4 Quoted from Lin Jianming: Manuscript of Qin History, Shanghai: Shanghai People’s Publishing House, 1981, p. 11.

98

2 Germination and Embryonic Form: Yin Shang …

political legends supported by objective archaeological data can only be traced back to the Xia and Shang dynasties. (1)

Chieftain State in China’s political legend

Within geographical China, a group of people with roughly the same political structure had been formed. It is still unknown when they began to share the concept of a world, but at least in the legendary three generations, this concept had been established. Xie Weiyang believes that the early Chinese state was not produced by a clan with democratic characteristics as in the past, but by a Chieftain state with authoritarian characteristics.5 The occurrence and development of early countries have proceeded in two ways, clan and Chieftain state. Early countries can evolve directly from the clan, as in the cases of ancient Greece and Rome, and can also evolve from the Chieftain state. The Chieftain state is the product of the disintegration of the blood clan, the most basic social organization being the tribe with a strong blood relationship. At the same time, there is centralization, the highest power of the society is in the hands of the chief of a tribe with special social status. The power of the chief of a tribe is not restricted by tribal members. Chieftain state society is a common clan society in Asia, Australia, Africa, etc.6 Such societies do not necessarily evolve into a country, and may remain in the Chieftain state society for a long time. Before the political threat of the Central Plains dynasty and its obvious influence, the ethnic minority regimes in northern China remained Chieftain states. When the Emirates society encountered major challenges, it needed the coordination of the various states, as well as minimum political cooperation, which creates an inseparable political connection between the various states. In order to avoid fighting between each other and cope with common dangers, it is often necessary to refer to the chief of a certain chieftain state as a temporary leader. Over time, the temporary leader becomes indispensable and becomes a life leader. At this time, the chiefs go beyond the meaning of chief. The public chief of a certain chieftain state is the master of the world. At first, the production of the overlord of all within the realm was always publicized by the chiefs’ meeting, and was not hereditary. The generation of the overlord of all within the realm is preceded by the consideration of the chief’s moral prestige in order to give him priority in political and military power. He then gradually monopolizes the name of the overlord of all within the realm by means of a relatively strong chieftain-state. In fact, the chieftain-state is probably the basic social organization that China’s ancient society consisted of. The evolution of the chieftain state of the Central Plains into a country has been affected by many social factors. In particular are the serious floods that have occurred frequently, which promoted the growth of centralized political institutions. The growth of centralized power has stopped at the appearance of the Great People’s Congress. Therefore, the legendary era of China left only the records of the Chieftain Council, but not the records of the People’s Congress. 5

Xie Weiyang: Early China, Hangzhou: Zhejiang People’s Publishing House, 1995, pp. 236–458. [U.S.] William A. Havelland, Translated by Wang Mingming: Contemporary Anthropology, Shanghai: Shanghai People’s Publishing House, 1987, p. 477.

6

1 The Initial Maturity of Xia and Shang …

99

The throne did not spread to the son, it must not originate in Yao. As for who should be passed on to the throne,… the power of decision seems to belong to the Council of chief of a tribe. At that time, the regime could be said to elect the monarchy, but the right to be elected was limited to tribal chiefs, and the right to vote was only for tribal chiefs.7

Chiefs with strong political, economic and military strength always get the title of the overlord of all within the realm and enjoy the highest power, which inevitably induces the desire of each chief of a tribe in the chieftain state. Although the emergence of the the overlord of all within the realm is still elected by the Council of Chiefs, the substantive determinants have shifted to force. The struggle for the overlord of all within the realm by force has caused political and military turmoil, and the state is thrown into confusion, leaving the people destitute. Professor Zhang Guangzhi pointed out in his book, The Chinese Bronze Age, that: Since the late Neolithic Age, many countries in North and Central China have formed, their development is not only in parallel, but also in mutual impact, mutual stimulation, and mutual growth. The three terms of the Xia Dynasty, the Shang Dynasty, and the Zhou Dynasty have two different meanings. One is the era: about 2200 BC to 1750 BC for the Xia Dynasty, 1750 BC to 1100 BC Shang Dynasty, from 1100 BC to 2500 BC for the Zhou Dynasty; the second is the dynasty. In these three eras, the royal family of Xia in the Xia Dynasty was later believed to be the head of the countries of North China. The royal family of the Shang Dynasty was the head of the North China, and the Zhou royal family was the head of the North China countries in the Zhou Dynasty… Xia, Shang, and Zhou are another three political groups, or three countries…. In the Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties, the three countries of Xia, Shang, and Zhou may exist at the same time, but the forces in the period will be different from generation to generation.8

Xia, Shang and Zhou are the beginnings of China’s traditional dynasty system. There have been no objections to this for thousands of years, but there is still no direct literature on the maturity of the Xia Dynasty’s political tradition. Judging from the political situation of the Shang and the Zhou, the three should have few differences. They each acted as the overlord of all within the realm, and they were called the post-yuan. The strong power was the post-yuan, and the weak power was the postgroup. Although the post-yuan and the post-group formed a relationship between the monarch and the minister, in reality, they could not form a strict affiliation. The way that post-yuan dominated the post-group was similar to that of Jin Wengong in the Spring and Autumn Period, but different from that of Qin Shihuang. (2)

Heritage and Great Unity in Xia and Shang Dynasties

The hereditary monarchy of Chinese political tradition was formed and consolidated in the Xia Dynasty. The political precocity in the Xia and Shang dynasties was also marked by the hereditary ruler’s authority. Professor Sam Mengwu inferred the emergence of hereditary monarchy from the general political psychology, and 7 Sam Mengwu: The History of Social Politics in China (1). Taipei: Sanmin Book Company, Republic of China 74, p. 14. 8 Zhang Guangzhi: Bronze Age in China, Beijing: Life, Reading, Xinzhi Sanlian Bookstore, 1983, p. 47.

100

2 Germination and Embryonic Form: Yin Shang …

affirmed the progressive role of hereditary monarchy in political history. He also emphasized that hereditary monarchy is conducive to the effective maintenance of political order. During Tangyu’s reign, the succession to the crown was decided by the tribal chiefs, which probably followed the traditional practice, not by Yao…Floods are flooding, people escape floods, migrate and move, and there is no rest for any day… With the changing environment, people from all sides must apply new wisdom to cope with the new environment. As a result, traditional ideas gradually lose their authority…Dayu has made great contributions to the people in controlling water, all human beings have a mentality of respecting their father and their son… So after Da Yu passed away, all the rulers left Yi and had an audience with Qi (the son of Da Yu) and said that the son of the Emperor Yu was also our Di(帝), the throne changed from election to heirloom, thus opening up the system of hereditary monarchy in China for thousands of years. Heritage can stabilize the political situation,… It can stop tribal chiefs from fighting for the throne.9 At the beginning of the throne’s inheritance, Chieftain state’s traces were very obvious, and the characteristics of blood relationship tribes had been maintained for a long time. Until the Shang and Zhou Dynasties, the state system “was still wrapped in the clan’s blood clothing layer by layer”.10 In the national structure, the Xia Dynasty’s state still maintains the status of the tribe-based society in the form of the tribe, as far as the available information is concerned, the tribe is still a very active form of grassroots social organization in the Xia Dynasty. However, the independence of the tribe has been greatly reduced. The tribes must recognize the co-ownership of the Xia tribe and recognize that it is a component of the Xia regime. This shows that the political unification tradition has been strengthened. The political thinking, political psychology, and political ideology of the Xia Dynasty are closely related to the political tradition of “I unify the people.” It emphasizes that all nations under the Heaven form a unified regime—that all nations under the Heaven are unified in the Xia Dynasty, and numerous living beings are unified after Xia Dynasty. Challengers of the unified political order have been subjected to a violent reshuffle of politics. Dayu and his son Qi not only have legends of standing up by killing challengers of order, but there are also allusions they by acting on behalf of “God’s punishing hands” and starting war. China’s political unity and monarchical hereditary have inherent logical relevance, and the connection point is the Supreme God belief that is popular in various tribes in China in ancient times. There is no direct information about the Supreme God belief in the Xia Dynasty. However, the Supreme God belief of the Shang Dynasty has quite a wealth of information. “Judging from the abundant oracle inscriptions of the Shang Dynasty on tortoiseshells, there was a religious belief in the ‘God of Unity’, which dominated all the destinies of nature and human beings, in the Yin and Shang 9

Sam Mengwu: The History of Social Politics in China (1). Sanmin Book Company, Republic of China 74, p. 15. 10 Li Zehou: Confucius’s Reevaluation, On the History of Ancient Chinese Thought, Beijing: People’s Publishing House, 1985, p. 8.

1 The Initial Maturity of Xia and Shang …

101

Dynasties at Wuding.” This “God of Unity” is “the Supreme God with personality and intent, called Di(帝) or God”, who “dominates wind, cloud, thunder and lightning, meteorological changes in nature”. He can “descend to the world, enter the city palaces and bring disaster and poverty”, “directly protect or harm the Yin King”, and “control the Yin King’s fortune and fate”. “The emperor in the Yin people’s minds can even descend to the world to give orders and command everything on earth”.11 The Supreme Gods of the Yin and Shang Dynasty reflected their political strength, while the Supreme Gods of other ethnic groups were rarely recorded in the literature at that time. The ethnic groups belonging to the Yin and Shang Dynasty still had their own system of Supreme God belief. For example, the so-called “Heaven” of the Zhou Dynasty had the same noble theological status as the “emperor”. Zhou Gong mentioned that during the Supreme God time, people use different appellations for different ethnic groups. When facing the Yin and Shang ethnic groups, he called the Supreme God by the emperor or god, while when facing the Zhou people, he used the word “Heaven”. The combination of Emperor and Heaven in the early Zhou Dynasty actually showed the collision and alternation of two different Supreme God beliefs. Chieftain politics is based on the Supreme God, which realizes the centralization of chieftain power, post-yuan of the overlord of all within the realm was founded on the supremacy of God. As the Supreme God, the Emperor of Shang Dynasty and the Heaven of the Western Zhou Dynasty played an important political role, resulting in the supreme political leader and the unified political order. The hereditary monarchy was established in the Xia and Shang Dynasties and unification lasted to until the end of the Qing Dynasty., iIn the long historical development process, the pursuit of political unification remained uninterrupted, and the relationship between political unification and highly centralized political order remained the same., bBoth of these which required a strong monarch and a unified, Supreme God. From a long-term historical perspective, “Heaven”, as a Supreme God, has a powerful function to breed all political things and their legitimacy in politics. As a political honor, the Son of Heaven is more closely related to Heaven. The development process of ethnic minority regimes around China is roughly similar to that of Xia, Shang, and Zhou. From the development of political powers such as Liao, Jin, Xia and Mongolia, the unified supremacy and the mighty monarch are important signs of political precocity. Its further maturity is not based on the Central Plains political culture dominated by Confucianism. Political Confucianism often pushes minority political power to new heights, and even makes minority political power develop into a national multi-ethnic regime. Hereditary monarchy and the Great Unification are the political traditions that have lasted since Xia and Shang Dynasty in China. It has a long history and profound influence, and it can represent the necessity of traditional Chinese politics.

11

Hu Houxuan, Hu Zhenyu: History of Yin Shang, Shanghai: Shanghai People’s Publishing House, 2003, pp. 451–480.

102

2 Germination and Embryonic Form: Yin Shang …

(3)

Monarchy Centralization in the Political Tradition of Xia and Shang Dynasty

The Chinese political tradition has shown the obvious characteristics of monarchy and autocracy since it can be judged as a simple form of its basic characteristics. “From the very beginning of civilization, the ancient state machinery of China embarked on a road of monarchic despotism.”12 Xie Weiyang pointed out: Under the king, there was a central bureaucracy similar to that of the later dynasties in Xia dynasties. The principal officials are six persons of San Zheng and courtiers etc. The San Zheng may also be the top three officials among the six or so people. In the event of major affairs, the king would call them in. They have high powers, and aggression against them or contempt for them is considered a great crime against the state. This practice of selecting the main and top officials among many officials has not been seen in the legendary data of the chieftain period… Compared with the chieftain period, the bureaucracy of the Xia Dynasty was more complex and huge, and the high-level power of the state was more concentrated in the hands of a few people… The degree of specialization of the central bureaucracy itself increased. Under the high-level officials, the central bureaucracy of the Xia Dynasty also allocated a series of officials with various professional functions. This is more formal than the situation in which some tribal chiefs held office under the supreme authority of the chieftain during the chieftain’s period. Of course, these functional officials may also have their own official offices. This is also a reflection of the increased specialization of the Xia Dynasty bureaucracy… As grass-roots community units in the Xia Dynasty, tribes also have their own offices. Although such offices are used by local authorities, it may be similar in structure and function to the corresponding bureaucracy of the central bureaucracy of the Xia Dynasty. Because these tribes themselves were under the control of the Xia state system, these local bureaucracies can be regarded as part of the bureaucratic machinery of the whole Xia Dynasty.13

But after all, the situation of Xia Dynasty’s political institutions was not as clear as in Shang Dynasty. In fact, there is no reliable documentation about the authority of the Xia Dynasty. The discovery of a large number of oracle bones in the Shang Dynasty can be corroborated by the literature and provide a relatively clear organizational chart of the regime. The Shang kingdom is a community composed of many states and tribes with the same or different surnames. Each country and tribe has relative independence. Some of them have unstable relations with the Shang central government, obviously retaining the characteristics of the chiefdom era. The Shang king has a high appeal in the political community, but as the leader of the alliance, the appeal of Shang king to tribes or countries must be based on respect for each other and carried out in accordance with the usual practice. If the Shang king abuses his power and damages the interests of the alliance, it will inevitably lead to opposition, and even lead to the breakdown of the relationship between the two sides. The emperors in the middle and late Yin and Shang Dynasties had maintained great political authority. The edicts of the emperors in the Shang Shu at that time fully depicted the autocratic face of the 12

Liu Zehua and others: Authoritarian Power and Chinese Society, Changchun: Jilin Wenshi Publishing House, 1988 edition, p. 2. 13 Xie Weiyang: Early China, Hangzhou: Zhejiang People’s Publishing House, 1995, pp. 372–373.

1 The Initial Maturity of Xia and Shang …

103

emperors. It shows the absolute authority of the emperors throughout the country, and the political intimidation of the Shang king Pangeng in order to relocate his capital: “those who break the rules of etiquette and disobey the king’s orders must be totally cut off and exterminated so that they can not carry on their ancestry.”14 The emperor’s supreme authority was well proved. The king of the Shang dynasty retained the attribute of half man and half god. He not only had the special favor of Heaven, but also took the opportunity to become the only role in communicating the relationship between Heaven and man. Not only did Pangeng’s political intimidation take Heaven as the authoritative basis, Even when the Emperor of the Yi Dynasty was about to collapse, he still emphasized that he had a “life in Heaven”. Even the ancestors of the Shang Dynasty were attached to Heaven and accompanied by Heaven. In the middle and late period of Yin and Shang Dynasties, the political tradition of monarchic despotism also showed the obvious characteristics of the unity of family and country and the integration of rulers and fathers. In the Kingdom of Shang, the blood ties between social organizations and internal social organizations were not cut off, at that time, the social pillar supporting the Shang Dynasty were many clans of Shang Dynasty people in Shang Dynasty, especially the clans with the same surname, to some extent, the social organizational structure of the Kingdom of Shang was unified with the clan organizations in the Shang community.15

Zhang Guangzhi pointed out: In the Shang and Zhou Dynasties, the Chinese were probably organized into a number of single-lineage clans… These clans were well-organized communities. Each clan had its own family name, which is derived from the birth of its ancestors and passed down along the paternal subsystem… Members of the same clan trace back to their male ancestors, and take ancestor worship as the symbolic crystallization of this fact… kinship between the Shang and Zhou dynasties is an important factor that directly determines political status… The differences of political status among different kinship groups are divided into three categories: The first case is within the same country… The relationship was between the public and the civilian population… The second case is the political relationship between the public offices of the same surname countries… The third case is the political status relationship among the public offices of different countries with different surnames… One of the most important factors that family relations play in the political relations between different countries with different surnames is the existence of the so-called the maternal cousin marriage system… From a man’s point of view, the maternal cousin marriage system is a system of intermarriage with uncles, cousins and sisters and prohibition of marriage with sisters of the relationship between the children of a brother and a sister.16

(4)

Rites and Virtues in Xia and Shang Dynasties

The initial maturity of political tradition is also reflected in the initial maturity of political thinking, and in the systematization of the political tradition of etiquette and 14

Shangshu Pangeng part 1. See Liu Zehua and others: Authoritarian Power and Chinese Society, Jilin Wenshi Publishing House, 1988 edition, p. 2. 16 Zhang Guangzhi: Chinese Bronze Age, pp. 296–301. 15

104

2 Germination and Embryonic Form: Yin Shang …

music based on consanguinity clan. It not only highlights the “rites” and “virtue” in the system design, but also presents some important concepts and categories that are compatible with a systematic political system, such as virtue, rites, respecting people, raising people, the employment of familiar people, no idleness, strict laws and uniform standards, and so on. From the point of view of the construction of a system of social rules, “rites”, rooted in kindred society relationships, has gained an authoritative position and played an important role in social and political life. Professor Zhang Guangzhi once discussed the Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties as clan kinship dynasties. Three generations of dynasties were created by three clans: Yong, Zi and Ji. In fact, the rise and fall of the dynasty became the ups and downs of the fate of each clan in the political field where many clans coexisted… The social groups that maintain their members by ties of blood control political power… The clans themselves are highly sequenced in accordance with their blood relationship… Each clan is composed of several clans, and members of the same clan are united by a clear lineage… Even individual members of each clan have high or low political status… There is no doubt about the principle that lineage determines political status.17

In the social groups formed by consanguineous clans, the primitive etiquette with sacrifice as the main carrier has a very important social and political function. “It is through this primitive etiquette activity that the ancient clans organized and united their groups to produce and live in accordance with certain procedures and norms in order to maintain the survival and activities of the whole society. This set of etiquette has a great mandatory and binding force on each clan member… In fact, it is a kind of unwritten customary law.”18 From the Xia and Shang Dynasties to the Western Zhou Dynasty, although the state apparatus had been formed, the whole society was still wrapped up in clan lineages, which resulted in primitive rites with sacrifice as an important content in clan lineages, gradually having the function of political domination while maintaining the characteristics of blood lineage. The fundamental symbol of his transformation to the official ruling function is Zhou Gong’s “making rites and making music”. But before that, the function of “rite” in maintaining order in the social and political community was also very obvious, and thus laid the foundation of “rite” as the national and political meta-rule, which means that “rite” not only has the basis of the mother of political rules, but also it summarizes the basic spirit of various political rules, and is also a model version of various rules.19 17

Zhang Guangzhi: Art, Myth and Sacrifice, Beijing: Life, Reading, Xinzhi Sanlian Bookstore, 2013, pp. 3–6. 18 Li Zehou: Confucius’s Reevaluation, On the History of Ancient Chinese Thought, p. 9. 19 The English name of “元规则”is “meta-rules”, created by Jeffrey Brennan and James M. Buchanan, the rule that determines the rules or choose rules of rules, Wu Si defines it as “the most violent people have the final say" in The Law of Blood Reward: The Game of Survival in Chinese History The strong man has the final say, as far as the characteristics of the traditional Chinese political monarchy are concerned, the generalization is in place, but this article still uses the “meta-rules" in the interpretation closer to the West. Wu Si: The Law of Blood Reward: The Game of Survival in Chinese History, Beijing: China Workers Press, 2003, pp. 3–6.

1 The Initial Maturity of Xia and Shang …

105

From an ideological point of view, the initial maturity of political thinking is also reflected in the emergence of political concepts suitable for “etiquette”. The lack of ideological materials in the Xia Dynasty failed to present the conceptual connotations of “etiquette” and “virtue”. But from the reliable literature in the Shang Shu, the concepts of “etiquette” and “virtue” obviously played an important role in their political life.20 In the Yin and Shang Dynasties, “virtue” became an important political concept. Its significance is mainly to regulate people’s behavior and make people’s behavior meaningful. In the sense of political sociology, it is mainly manifested in the restriction and regulation of monarch’s political behavior. The concept of “virtue” makes the individual monarchs subject to the general constraints and norms of the monarch so that even if the monarch has the highest power, he can not act recklessly and care for nobody. As far as the records of oracle bone inscriptions are concerned, the logical meaning of “virtue” is not clear. However, like other improvements later, the traditional political concepts in China are often defined by the social requirements of the concept. The function of the concept is mainly to regulate and measure human behavior.21 “Virtue” requires the monarch to abide by the Heavenly mandate, obey their ancestors, believe in and appoint old persons, not to amass treasures, to be diligent government affairs, etc. In the Shang Dynasty, the concept of a “rite” existed. Many sacrificial systems recorded in oracle bone inscriptions on tortoiseshells or animal bones can be attributed to “ritual”. “Ritual” is closely related to sacrifice, which is an important political phenomenon in itself. It reflects sacredness, universality and absoluteness. What does not conform to “ritual” is also unreasonable, and what does not conform to “ritual” is certainly not legitimate. In the Yin and Shang Dynasties, it had been clearly expressed that “we value our people” and “there is no one who does not attach importance to the care of the people”. Some important people-oriented ideas such as “governing and migrating according to the interests of the people” are put forward, emphasizing that “the duty of the monarch to preside over the country lies in respecting the people. Otherwise it is not worthy to be called a descendant of Heaven”.22 Most of the traditional Chinese concepts have the function of serving as a social norm, but they do not emphasize their cognitive function. Our understanding of the above concepts should also be based on their social and normative functions as far as possible. Political concepts such as “virtue” and “courtesy” have obvious social and normative functions, and express the basic standards that political behavior should respect. But we must bear in mind that these concepts are based on primitive religion, not universal axioms and propositions. Although these concepts and categories have just emerged and their significance is not full, they are still very important because they indicate that China’s political thought at that time has a central point, and establish a basis for the formation of political thought in the future. However, after all, the political thinking in the middle and late Shang 20 See Liu Zehua: The History of Chinese Political Thoughts (Pre-Qin Volume), Zhejiang People’s Publishing House, 1996 edition, p. 12. 21 See Zhang Shiwei: The Limit of people-oriented-The New Theory of Huang Zongxi’s Political Thoughts, Beijing: China Renmin University Press, 2004, pp. 49–55. 22 Ibid., pp. 76–78.

106

2 Germination and Embryonic Form: Yin Shang …

Dynasty is still preliminary in nature. There is no clear and strict logical reasoning relationship between the above concepts and categories, nor is there a systematic political theory. However, the normative needs of monarchy political behavior have been quite determined.

2 The Intellectual Genealogy of “Leading the People to Serve the God” As a self-conscious group adaptation mechanism, politics has highly logical characteristics. On the one hand, there is a logic of power in the political system itself. It presents the origin, starting point, object, process and purpose of political power through the institutional framework, on the other hand, politics is also a part of the universal world that people know, as a part of the universal world, political logic is closely related to people’s understanding of the universal world. The political system of any era is connected with a certain intellectual genealogy, whether it is democratic or autocratic, ancient or modern. There is no exception. From the historical experience of political development, political development is often also the development of political logic, and the development of political logic is closely related to the evolution of people’s intellectual genealogy. Without the evolution of knowledge pedigree, political development cannot be realized at all, because no matter how strongly society demands political development, as long as politics can not develop a new logical form, it is impossible to achieve its substantive development. The continuity of traditional Chinese politics is inevitably related to the intellectual genealogy structure which has been basically stereotyped since the Qin and Han Dynasties, where we find the first mature stage of the Chinese political tradition, we can see quite a lot from the perspective of intellectual genealogy. That is, the first stage of maturity of the political system corresponds to an intellectual genealogy with respect for theocracy as its core. (1)

There is a General Need for Sacred Things in Politics

It is well known that, “The Yin people respect God and lead the people to serve the God”, but people do not know that religion, which is characterized by worship, is an inherent need of human beings. As long as people are human beings, they must have certain worship of sacred objects, gods, values, or authority. Otherwise people will degenerate into a pure thing. People should not only know the best or have an understanding about the best, but also realize the objective existence of the best. Otherwise they cannot be regarded as real people. People’s interpersonal communication must be based on the worshipful sacred value in order to truly find their common essence with others, as well as to truly develop interpersonal relationship with others. Interpersonal relationships without value pursuit and value communication is only a special form of a physical relationship. Although human beings can not live without belief in certain forms of religion, it is undeniable that human religion

2 The Intellectual Genealogy of “Leading the People to Serve the God”

107

was once very barbaric and had a strong social harmfulness. However, they can make their beliefs more civilized and humanized, which is the development of religion. Religious development in human society always tends to affirm greater rationality and legitimacy of more people, and to provide people with a value basis for their lives and the ideal goal of pursuit on the premise of not causing material or spiritual harm to people as far as possible. Although China does not have the religious worship of the Middle East and the West, it cannot do without certain humanistic authority worship and value worship. The authority worship and value worship of humanism are also rooted in some mysterious and absolute cosmic power of omnipresent, omnipotent, and omniscient, Di (帝), God or Heaven. Until the collapse of the Qing Dynasty, Chinese political tradition has always regarded Di (帝), God, and Heaven as the root of human values, and Chinese political thought has always maintained the pious worship of the Supreme Gods such as Heaven, Di (帝) and God.23 From the perspective of the development of intellectual genealogy, a certain religious system itself is the earliest manifestation of a certain intellectual genealogy. The relationship between the gods and the main theological symbols in religion is almost a pedigree of empirical knowledge in the form of religion. Starting from a certain concept of inevitability, it deduces a logically complete whole and individual knowledge about the world, which is used to guide people’s daily actions. Most of people’s actions need exact reasons, while major actions must have necessary reasons. In civilized societies, these reasons usually manifest as profound philosophy and precise science, in the early stage of civilization, these reasons can only be manifested as religion or myth. People with different social activities in different environments have different types of religions and intellectual genealogy embodied in different religious stories, the political thinking based on intellectual genealogy is also very different. The religious story and the intellectual logic it presents contain a more general, national spirit, which in turn reinforces the religious story and its intellectual genealogy. Ancient India, ancient Greece, ancient Rome, the ancient Middle East, and ancient China all have a long history and represent a completely different national spirit. It is worth noting that the religions of all nationalities in the world show the dual characteristics of theological belief and rational science in the course of their development. However, different nationalities are different, and the forms of theological belief and rational science are also very different. In the book Myths and National Spirits, Xie Xujun states that: “The formation of ancient Greek mythology and national spirit is due to the cohesive force of economy, power, technology, etc. The formation of China and Hebrew mythology and national spirit is due to the ceremonial, ethical and cohesive forces.”24 The national spirit is often reflected in the myth “Tianshu” left over by various nationalities, and obscured implications are gleaned from it. Mythology, on the other hand, profoundly affects the way of thinking and lifestyle of various nationalities, and has the initial predictive 23 See Liu Zehua: China’s Royalism, Shanghai: Shanghai People’s Publishing House, 2000, pp. 384– 85. 24 Xie Xuanjun: Myth and National Spirit, Jinan: Shandong Literature and Art Publishing House, 1986.

108

2 Germination and Embryonic Form: Yin Shang …

and longest lingering effect on the changes of political tradition and social form of national culture. Religious classics and mythological stories in the cultural circles of ancient Egypt, ancient Babylon, ancient India and ancient Greece occupy supreme status in the overall national culture, it is conducive to the establishment of an endless theological political tradition. Ancient Greek culture has the strongest systematic characteristics and is conducive to the establishment of a democratic or republican politics based on science.25 Chinese culture has the most practical characteristics, theology has gradually evolved into a cultural system serving politics. The king takes the supreme position of theology as the ruler. The basic element of the Chinese spirit is the worship of secular “virtue” such as social supremacy, attaching importance to “doing “ rather than “knowing”. It only pays attention to practicality. Religious mythology has long been practicalized and ethicalized. China’s genealogy is messy, but it has the idea of Supreme God. Greece’s genealogy is more systematic, but the idea of a Supreme God needs to be imported from Hebrew.26 According to the myths and political legends handed down, the worship of sacred objects in Chinese politics has a tendency of moral pragmatism since ancient times. This tendency developed into a systematic theory of sage worship under the conscious efforts of Confucianism. Li Zehou called the sage worship of Confucianism which developed Traditional Chinese politics as “practical rationality”. [Practical rationality] is not to use a mysterious fanaticism, but is rather a calm, realistic and reasonable attitude to explain and treat the tradition of things. It is not an indulgence or abstinence to stifle or indulge emotional desires, but a reason to guide, satisfy and control desires. It is not nihilism or egoism towards people. Rather, it is to achieve a certain balance in the pursuit of humanity and personality. Furthermore, [It] treats traditional religious ghosts and gods in the same way. There isno need for external God’s commands, no blind obedience to irrational authority… Everything is measured and handled on a practical rational balance.27

Traditional Chinese worship of political sacred objects has the color of pragmatic reason or practical rationality. Its manifestation is to highlight the sage’s virtue and regard the sage king as the omnipotent, omniscient, and omnibenevolent savior. Since the debates of the hundred schools of thought in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States, traditional Chinese political sacred objects have the secularized characteristic of the unity of Heaven and king. The supreme authority of the Supreme God is mainly manifested in the sacred virtue of the king who is entrusted by Heaven. The factors of “etiquette” and “virtue” occupy a very prominent position in the saint’s morality. During the Yin and Shang Dynasties, the king’s superior responsibilities in terms of “virtue” and “etiquette” were very obvious. Its essence was still to build politics on the pure and noble moral quality of the king and the conscious performance of the etiquette. The authority of “God” was only manifested in the “virtue” and “etiquette” of the king. The “virtue” and “propriety” of the king are 25

Ibid. Ibid. 27 Li Zehou: Confucius’s Reevaluation, On the History of Ancient Chinese Thought, pp. 29–30. 26

2 The Intellectual Genealogy of “Leading the People to Serve the God”

109

just the necessary manifestations of the king’s possession of the imperial or Heavenly mandate. People often measure whether a king has an imperial or Heavenly destiny by his performance in terms of “virtue” and “propriety”. (2)

“God”and Its Legacy in the Early Political Thinking

In the early period of human political thinking, political thinking had strong theological characteristics. The worship of gods was an important symbol of political thinking at this stage. Not only was the Oracle the supreme authority and final standard of politics, but also the conceptual standard of human beings had not yet been established. “Leading the people to serve God” is the most common feature of this stage, and everything depends on God. Noone can show political initiative by influencing God in any form. The most classic manifestation of theological political thinking is that God is completely dominant and man is totally passive. Political thinking in its theological form is universal at a certain stage of human development. Marxists generalized theological factors into religion. Professor Liu Zehua pointed out that, Religion is one of the symbols of the development of human thinking, and it is also the symbol of ignorance in the advanced history… “God” has a lofty position in people’s minds… Worship of God, within a certain range, can play a positive role in the norms of human behavior and make people perfect… Xia, Shang and Western Zhou Dynasty are basically the world of gods… Since the Spring and Autumn Period, the status of God has gradually declined and that of man has gradually risen… [But] in the history of ancient Chinese thought, except for a few people, most thinkers did not drive God out of temples.28

On the one hand, he identifies the changing trend of political thinking from God to man. On the other hand, he put forward the continuous role of God in Traditional Chinese political thinking.29 The political thinking of pre-classical Greece also has a strong theological color. Athenians are very reverent to gods. The Homerec epics record many facts that Greeks rely on gods for political activities, which shows the important position of gods in people’s political consciousness. “The poets of the 7th century B.C. (Alkaus, Simonidis, Acerox) condemned the emergence of tyranny in a sentimental and sarcastic tone, lamenting the weakness of mankind, but advised people to be patient and let God arrange the consequences.”30 Theology is a universal factor in the early stage of human politics, and it remains universal in the long process of human political development. Although human’s political connection originates from the organic connection of social life, and its form of political activity can not get rid of the fundamental influence of the basic model of social organization. Human beings have long relied upon a Supreme God in discussing the sacredness of politics and the seriousness of political 28

Liu Zehua: History of Chinese Political Thought, Hangzhou: Zhejiang People’s Publishing House, 1996, p. 14. 29 Ibid. p. 614. 30 [U.S.] Frank Thilly, translated by Ge Li: A History of Philosophy, Beijing: Commercial Press, 1995, p. 5.

110

2 Germination and Embryonic Form: Yin Shang …

connection. The politics of the primitive state are basically theological politics. All kinds of political connections are guaranteed in the name of God. The root of political coercion is also attributed to God. It can be said that people obey politics because of God. In the historical development of the Western political world, theology has always played an important role. Although the theory of people’s sovereignty has substantially created a new source of political legitimacy, the belief in God still has important ethical value in political maintenance. The Bible is still very important in the ritual activities of Western politics, and the belief in God is still convincing in explaining why people are unconditionally and universally respected. In traditional Chinese politics, the long-standing existence of and universal belief in the Supreme God is also a very noteworthy phenomenon. The concept of a Supreme God prevailed in Yin Shang and Western Zhou Dynasty. It not only existed in various important political documents for a long time, but also all emperors in successive dynasties regarded themselves as “the Son of Heaven”, and theologized their sources to realize some form of integration between Heaven and king, as well as to enhance their legitimacy in power. From the perspective of the development of Traditional Chinese political thinking, the position of a Supreme God is sometimes light and sometimes heavy. The alternation of the two tends to be accompanied by a relatively strong humanistic atmosphere. However, in general, humanism does not completely exclude a Supreme God, but only seeks a Supreme God to discuss the ethical basis of politics through human factors. Generally speaking, when human factors need to be prominent in all aspects, the role of a Supreme God will be relatively diluted. However, a Supreme God does not completely withdraw from the field of political thought. It still occupies an important position in the mass political thinking and political reasoning of politicians. When the human factor is prominent and the fundamental explanation of politics is difficult to coordinate, or the serious and sacred propositions required by politics can not be effectively discussed, the Supreme God will be prominent again. It will even become doubly important. The universal arrangement of supremacy is regarded as the general source of political seriousness and the inevitability of order. The people-oriented factor also needs the arrangement of the Supreme God. This not only comes from the Supreme God as the most important ethical content of Traditional Chinese politics, but also from the Supreme God as the “rite” of the basic order of traditional political society, and even the content and destination of various political roles. (3)

Intellectual Genealogy and Politics in the Form of Theogony

The Yin and Shang Dynasties still had strong primitive characteristics, and people’s knowledge was still very naïve. They had been interpreting the changes around them with the myths that existed in ancient times, and adjusting their behavior according to the explanations. In the early development of knowledge, all nations in the world paid special attention to astronomy. Astronomy in ancient Egypt and Babylon was relatively developed. They observed a large number of astronomical phenomena and worked out more accurate calendars. Particularly in the complete solar calendar of ancient Egypt, the measurements and calculations are very accurate, almost no

2 The Intellectual Genealogy of “Leading the People to Serve the God”

111

difference with today’s measurements and calculations. Ancient China also paid more attention to astronomical phenomena. Of course, for geographical reasons, ancient Chinese astronomers did not produce as precise calendar and chronology as ancient Egypt. In the early days of civilized society, people observed astronomical phenomena, but they could only explain astronomical phenomena in a mythological way on religious grounds. In fact, not only astronomical phenomena, but also various phenomena observed by people can only be explained by mythology and religion. At first, people explained the natural or social phenomena one by one, and created various myths which were different from each other. It was as if every regular thing had an independent God to dominate it. As a result of the objective connection of phenomena, people gradually combine various myths which do not belong to each other to form a systematic myth or mythology in order to systematically explain the objective world.31 The Ancient Greek Hesiod’s Mythology is an attempt to explain everything in a shallow and poetic way based in mythology. Although the genealogy of gods is not philosophy, it already contains the embryo of philosophy. Theological genealogy attempts to explain the mysterious world theoretically, explaining the origin of the phenomena assumed to be natural phenomena and the dominators of human life. However, most of these explanations can only satisfy the poetic imagination, but cannot satisfy the requirements of reasoning. It relies on supernatural forces and motivations rather than on the causes of nature. Philosophy, on the other hand, must explain nature with nature, and explain people with human beings, replace fantasy with reason, abandon supernatural causes and motives, and explore and explain confusion with empirical facts.32 In the Yin and Shang Dynasties, “leading people to serve the gods” was the product of both the development of the humanistic tradition to a certain extent and the insufficient development of the humanistic tradition. Its development stage was probably the same as that in the later portions of the Ancient Greek Theogony. Everything seems to have a dominant god, and each God belongs to the highest god. The highest god has the function of assembling and controlling all phenomena. Everything has its own specific God of domination to breed its own inevitable rules and their causes, and each god of domination belongs to the Supreme God. In this way, all things have an inevitable link, and the interdependence of all parts of the world has been established. The whole world has become orderly because of the supremacy of God. The relationship between human beings and nature and between human beings and themselves is decisively influenced by the supremacy of God.33 The uniqueness of human beings lies in their unique sense perception, which is the premise for human beings to know the world and themselves. Human sense perception grows and develops socially with the development of social practice.

31

Ibid. p. 6. Ibid. p. 7. 33 The emergence of supreme God means that people have realized the unity of the objective world in knowledge, and through the understanding of unity, they have constructed an interrelated inevitability intellectual genealogy, which is an important basis for people’s conscious action. 32

112

2 Germination and Embryonic Form: Yin Shang …

The five senses (sensory organs) of human beings are the result of history, and they themselves have accumulated the functions and nature of society… The concept of space and time of human beings is not formed by a passive perception of the world by the senses, but by the requirements and regulations of the basic activities of actively transforming the environment created by the use and manufacture of tools under the constraints of the historic group structure.34

From an anthropological point of view, “social rationality is accumulated in human perceptual intuition.”35 In the early stages of humankind, when social rationality has not yet acquired an independent form, rationality often uses perceptual and intuitive imagination to present the rules and regulations of the world grasped by human beings. It obtains the guarantee of a certain order. Rules and regulations come about by setting up a God for each objective thing, and constructing the order, rules, and regulations of the whole world through an imaginative story of various gods. Before the logical rationality of human beings had been independent, myths and legends played an important role in presenting the world that people recognized. Ancient Greek myths and mythology were representative in this respect. In ancient Chinese myths and legends, the Emperor and Heaven also led different spirits or local gods, and played an important role in universally linking all things in the world through theocracy. When the universal connection of the whole world was established by theocracy, especially by the Supreme God after the systematization of mythology, the political connection will naturally become theology. Further, theological politics and a theological worldview have a very close logical connection. Whether in the traditional Chinese era or in modern Western society, the Supreme God occupies an extremely important position in secular political reasoning. (4)

The Intellectual Genealogy and Politics of “Leading the People to Serve the God”

We know from the oracle inscriptions of the Shang Dynasty and tortoiseshells of the Yin Dynasty that the Di or God is the Supreme God of Yin Dynasty, and that God is supreme and has absolute authority. It not only governs all natural phenomena, but also governs everything in the world. Not only are the wind, rain, shade, sun, thunder, and lightning in the natural world dominated by Di or God, but the conquest of the empire, field hunting, city building, and disasters are also dominated by it. From the oracle inscriptions of the Shang Dynasty on tortoiseshells, we find that the Shang King’s deeds and actions and all military affairs should be reported to Di, asking whether it is evil or good. More than 100,000 oracle bone inscriptions have been unearthed in a Yin Dynasty ruin, which shows that the superstition of the Yin people regarding ghosts is deep and heavy.36 Religion has a dual character in human history. On the one hand, it gives the world necessary order and reason in the 34

Li Zehou: Critique of Critical Philosophy—Review of Kant, pp. 110–111. Ibid. 36 See Liu Zehua: The History of Chinese Political Thoughts (Pre-Qin Volume), Zhejiang People’s Publishing House, 1996 edition, pp. 3–4. 35

2 The Intellectual Genealogy of “Leading the People to Serve the God”

113

form of theology, which enables people to acquire a certain degree of initiative in a certain respect. On the other hand, the theological form of religion also gives people a certain degree of rational blindness. As a result, people will lose their reason and become tools of imagination or fantasy. In addition, religion can also make people crazy and fearless, act recklessly, and care for nobody, or act on one’s own will. Many barbaric things are hidden under the surface of religion, dressed in religious clothing, and many well-known villains act in the name of religion. The dead end of history may be broken by religion, and it can also go to extremity by religion. Religion is one of the symbols of the development of human thinking, and yet it is also a symbol of ignorance in advanced history. Monarchy was strengthened by God, and was extremely cruel by God. The result of deification often lost the room to regulate policy, as was the case with the Yin Emperor.37 During the Yin and Shang Dynasties, “leading the people to serve God” formed a collective ideological authority to explain politics. Mr. Hou Wailu pointed out in his General History of Chinese Thought that: Human beings accumulate speech and then use association or imagination in an attempt to abstract things… Not only do human beings experience the object subjectively by virtue of their ability to feel, but also, because of the imparting of ancestors in several years and their memory experiences in several years and months, the complex and multifaceted nature exists and reflects the abstract things is accepted by the public… The actual life of human beings and the verification of their practice have accumulated, and these abstract images have gradually moved away from the natural object world,… Real and imaginary things are gradually separated. However, at this time, the conceptual labor and the concept of labor can not be divided. Work with one’s mind and labour force are still in a combined stage. The mystery of supernatural things has been added to the subjective concept, gradually leaving the natural things themselves, and a kind of authority has taken place over human beings… Here, the initial knowledge is inseparable from religion as the object of knowledge, and human beings like to synthesize knowledge of general objects (synthesizing associations). The is what gives rise to the idea that ‘a foolish person likes to act on his own will… When he can’t grasp the real connection of things, he tends to be omnipotent, to swallow nature, and need a consistent answer. At this time, human beings need to understand the root causes of natural survival and the fate of themselves. At the same time, they can solve problems together with the concept of religion through self-reflection. When things dominate human beings and it is difficult for human beings to conquer things, human beings turn things upside down and make things dominated by human consciousness through association for one reason.38 This consciousness is the Supreme God as supreme ruler envisaged by human beings. In the Yin-Shang Dynasties, it was God or Di. God, as the Supreme God, produces and dominates all things in the world. Human beings, as one of all things, is of course rooted in and controlled by God. In this case, 37

Ibid. pp. 14–15. Hou WaiLu: General History of Chinese Thought (Volumes 1), People’s Publishing House, 1957, p. 69.

38

114

2 Germination and Embryonic Form: Yin Shang …

human politics can only be some form of theocracy. Three Articles of Pan Geng is a typical historical material of theocratic politics preserved in history. According to Mozi, Pangeng, king of the Shang Dynasty, was determined to move the capital from Hao to Yin in order to reverse the bad habits and tendencies of the nobles in the Shang Dynasty. As a result, not only the nobility opposed it, but also the subjects refused to go. Pan Geng made three speeches. Pan Geng’s speech shows that he is like a God king, integrating theocracy and kingship, a combination of God and mankind, and shows his position as the only intermediary between Heaven and mankind. The destiny of the people is controlled by Heaven and earth, and the king of the Shang begs for it from Heaven. Thus, although the people’s lives are fundamentally controlled by Heaven, they can only be controlled by the king in real life. In order to support all the people, the king must force all the people to do what the king wants, and the people must listen to the king’s words and devote all their efforts to them. People should only listen to one king, as the king’s will and wishes represent Heaven, which is in the fundamental interests of the people. To violate the king’s will is to violate God’s will. He will not only be condemned by Heaven, but also have no good end. The king has complete power of life and death over the people. He has power not restricted by other people or organizations, and his power is supreme. Everything regarding the people comes from Heaven or God and is bestowed on the king. The clap of thunder, rain, and dew is only the emperor’s kindness. So the Yin King wanted all men to obey him, so that he has the power over major issues such as life and death. The premise is that everything is bestowed by him. Since everything of the people was given by the king, it is logical that everything of the people should belong to the king. If there’s anything left for you, you should be grateful to that.39

King Shang’s words and deeds reflected the popular pedigree of political knowledge at that time, the pedigree of political knowledge establishes the personalized Di or God as the supreme authority of omnipotence, omnibenevolence, and omniscience in the world. Di or God has absolute freedom to control and dominate everything between Heaven and earth at will, while its dominant object can only be subordinate to its domination and control. This pedigree of political knowledge not only provides the necessary basis for Shang King’s political rule, but also provides a standard sample of Shang King’s domination and control over everything in the world.

3 The Normality of Political Thoughts in Shang and Zhou Dynasty Different human groups have different political origin patterns and basic political organizations. Of course, there is the unity of politics and the functional identity of different regional politics. But when we study the basic forms and operational 39

Liu Zehua: The History of Chinese Political Thoughts (Pre-Qin Volume), Zhejiang People’s Publishing House, 1996 edition, p. 11.

3 The Normality of Political Thoughts in Shang and Zhou Dynasty

115

modes of politics, we mainly focus on the differences in origin and form of politics in different regions. The political origin has a clear direction in the political myths of various nationalities. The series of myths of ancient Greece gave birth to the political origin mode of social individual rationality. One of the main features of this method is that elections exist to varying degrees, which are a common feature of the early political stories of the Indo-European language family. The Semitic prophet mythology shows the theocratic political attribute of the unity of politics and religion in the region, which formally gives religious prophets great authority. The political origin revealed by ancient Chinese mythology reflects the typical characteristics of practical rationality, and shows a path of a chieftain state evolving gradually from the consanguineous clan. On the basis of establishing their own moral superiority, clan patriarchs in this path gradually realized the great change from home to country through heroic mythology, thus forming a unique road of political origin. “From the very beginning of civilization, the ancient state machinery of China embarked on a road of monarchy.” “The reason why we will go on this road” is because in ancient China, when the social class contradictions:became increasingly acute, the country became a social need. The former primitive clan organizations and institutions have not yet collapsed, they have only adapted to the new needs in their functions and started to perform state functions with the former clan organizations, that is, the former clan organizations have become state machines… After entering class society, clan organizations still exist within the ruling tribes.40 (1)

Monopoly of Monarchy over the World of Meaning

The King of Shang called himself “I unify the people”, which showed the characteristics of monarchic despotism and the rule by man in the traditional Chinese political system. The basic forms of political life are different from democracy and autocracy, which are theoretically based on the meaning of human beings and their manifestations. If the meaning of human beings can be separated from the specific secular life to obtain metaphysical, universal meaning, then the meaning of human beings is only to confirm that they have been loved by God, rather than sticking to some form of life. If everyone can get the same myth from the high priest, then people get equal religious status, and equal political status arises from equal religious status. In this way, the form of political life cannot but show a certain degree of democratic characteristics. If the meaning of human beings can only be expressed in a certain format of social life, then when human beings gains their own meaning, their social life will be subject to all-round constraints and control by politics. That is to say, the meaning of human beings can only be realized in a certain political sequence, and they must obey the arrangement of political authority. Otherwise, it loses the meaning of human being. In remote ages and ancient times, the universal significance of human beings was based on primitive religion. Religion gave meaningful support to human beings in the form of religious rituals. The meaning of human beings was first based on 40

Liu Zehua, etc.: Authoritarian Power and Chinese Society, Changchun: Jilin Wenshi Publishing House, 1988, p. 2.

116

2 Germination and Embryonic Form: Yin Shang …

certain religious activities. Therefore, it is necessary to pass through priests, especially high priests. Some national high priests were only clergymen, whose duty was to convey the revelations of God in religion to the world. Other activities of the world do not have theological characteristics in form. They organize their secular life in full accordance with secular customs and rules, including political life. Their political authority does not have the divine characteristics of priests, but only political leaders who are generated according to conventions. Some national high priests also serve as political leaders, with the largest priests as the king. The common people have no other form of social organization besides religious theology. All social life is submerged in religion and takes on the form of religion, forming the so-called “Kingdom of God” in the political tradition. Some national high priests are concurrently appointed by the king. He is not only the highest priest, but also the highest political leader. He practices both theocracy and monarchy. They are closely related, and those who enjoy the highest religious power must be the highest political leader. Supreme political leaders also enjoy supreme religious rights, but they are distinct from each other. Royal power usually has secular manifestations; it only plays a theocratic role in specific religious occasions. In ancient Chinese political mythology, the story of the “disconnection of Heaven from earth” was recorded twice. One of the five emperors Zhuanxu used the excuse of “people and gods were not mixed in ancient times.”41 The rectification is said to be caused by the “riots of the Jiuli tribe”, “the mixture of people and gods”, “people and gods being alike”.42 The reason is that “the mixture of people and gods” and “people and gods being alike”, “deprive the gods of authority”. So there was a “disconnection of Heaven from earth”. Emperor Yao also used the excuse of “the three Miao tribes do not believe in gods” to conscript the three Miao tribes: “so they conquered the three Miao tribes, enabled Heaven and earth to have their own place, and established a fixed order of discipline among people.” Researchers mostly think that this is the mark of a clan of aristocracy monopolizing theocracy, but in fact it is not. This should be considered the theocracy struggle of the tribes during the war. The triumphant tribes often force the defeated tribes to believe in the gods of the victors, and forbid the belief in the original tribal gods in an attempt to conquer the defeated tribes spiritually and culturally. On the other hand, the belief of the overlord of all within the realm also made the victorious tribes establish their status of the world’s common God of the tribal gods in the field of theocracy, thus repeatedly issuing prohibitions against belief in non-victorious tribal gods. In ancient China, tribal roots were based on tribal gods, and the primitive groups formed by tribal gods adopted the organizational form of consanguineous clan. Both political and religious leaders are headed by tribal chiefs, and the existence of tribes often depends on the clan where the tribal chiefs are located. As long as tribal leaders and all clans can be restored, the tribal can be restored. Otherwise, the tribe will die out. The event of the “disconnection of Heaven from earth” is similar in nature to the “Forbidden Obscene Temple” repeated by the descendants who spread Confucian culture enthusiastically. 41 42

The National Language·Chu dialect part II. Shangshu·Lv Xing.

3 The Normality of Political Thoughts in Shang and Zhou Dynasty

117

Human society will eventually be reflected in the world of God, and the chieftain form of the human society will inevitably be reflected in the Kingdom of Heaven, causing the Kingdom of Heaven to appear as a unified relationship as the human world, just as the post-yuan of the overlord of all within the realm will be in charge of the post-group. The gods of the tribes of post-yuan should also occupy the highest position. Once the unification of the Heavenly Kingdom was formed, the tribes of post-yuan could also occupy the dominant position for a long time. The ancient Greek regimes shared almost all theocracy. There is not only no difference in seniors and juniors, gentle and simple among tribes, but also there seems to be no difference in seniors and juniors, gentle and simple between the high priests of different tribes. The status of the high priests depends on the general reputation of the temple among the people. The relationship between the city-states in ancient Greece is totally different from that between different kingdoms in ancient Chinese society. There is no difference between them in respect of seniors and juniors, gentle and simple, as they are totally equal in governance just as their citizens are totally equal with each other. The political status of China’s various kingdoms is different, among which the status of the kingdoms of post-yuan is obviously higher than that of other kingdoms. They not only form the difference of seniors and juniors, gentle and simple, but also directly form the relationship between the dominating and dominated. The relations between the various kingdoms must not only be different with respect to seniors and juniors, gentle and simple, but also it must be manifested in a certain form of monarchy-minister relationship. It is impossible to form an alliance like that of ancient Greece. Of course, it is impossible for ancient Greece to have such a political empire as that of traditional China. The gods of ancient Greek society only solved the doubts about people’s beliefs or knowledge, but not the political problems. Therefore, in ancient Greek religion, there would be no problem of the relationship between Heaven and man in China, let alone the role of the intermediary between Heaven and man in China. God only solves the problems of faith and knowledge, while political problems are solved by people according to their own knowledge and in accordance with the principles of reason. Chinese gods are not responsible for solving people’s beliefs and knowledge problems, but for explaining the universal significance of human beings and their inevitable manifestations, and strengthening the political order and orientation of human beings. Traditional Chinese theology holds that the universal significance of human beings is not the wisdom of the subject, but the virtue of the subject is manifested as an inevitable way of behaving in a sequence of relations. That is to say, the significance of God lies in the formation of the necessary order of human beings.43 The establishment of human norms of conduct, and the maintenance of the necessary authority of centralizers.44 The so-called meaning and standard of human beings in Traditional Chinese society lie in etiquette, and the basic spirit of etiquette is seniors and juniors, gentle and simple. Just as the Supreme God exists in the divine realm, the political order of the world must also come down to a 43

Refer to Gu Jun: Gu Jun Wen Ji, Guizhou: Guizhou People’s Publishing House, 1992, pp. 71–72. Zhang Shiwei: The Limit of People-oriented—The New Theory of Huang Zongxi’s Political Thoughts, Beijing: China Renmin University Press, 2004, pp. 55–57.

44

118

2 Germination and Embryonic Form: Yin Shang …

supreme king or queen. The emperor or queen has special qualities and abilities, and has been favored by the Emperor of Heaven, they have become the only intermediary between Heaven and man, and thus become the starting point of all the meanings and orders of the world.45 Yu often acted in the name of Heaven when he played the role of the post-yuan, executed the crusade against other princes, punished or even killed the leaders of the princes, and destroyed the country. The Shang dynasty’s kings were generally like the queens of the Xia dynasty, while the feudal states were apparently subordinate to the Shang Dynasty and at the Shang dynasty king’s dispatch.46 (2)

The Role between God and Mankind

In the oracle inscriptions of the Yin Dynasty, the king of Shang said of himself “I unify the people”. There are also records of “I unify the people” in Shangshu Pangeng. The political content of “I unify the people” only means that the world is the largest. Within the four seas, “I unify the people” is the highest, the most respected, and the greatest. The King of Shang is in the supreme position of inheriting Heaven, inheriting ancestors, and saving the people. Since the meaning of human being originates from the Lord of Heaven, divinity is naturally included in human nature. If everyone can get God’s enlightenment with the help of the priests, then the divinity of human beings is abstract, general reason, and all kinds of secular problems of human beings can only be solved by human reason. But if the Lord of Heaven only contacts with a specific person, and others must know and practice the meaning of their own existence through a certain person, then the meaning and value of a person actually depends on a person. Therefore, that person thus controls all human activities, becoming the highest of human being. Just as there can only be one supreme deity in the universe, there can only be one supreme human in the world. The only supreme in the world is the king. Only the king can take the order of Heaven and be the incarnation of Heaven. All people are saved by the king and are under the control of the king.47 Although “I unify the people” appeared in the middle and late Shang Dynasty, it has a long history as a political role and must have developed from post-yuan in the chieftain era. From oracle inscriptions of the Shang Dynasty, on tortoiseshells records of Yin Dynasty ruin, the reference to “I unify the people” endows the Shang dynasty king with a certain theological character, which means that the Shang dynasty king plays an important political role of demigod and demi-human in communicating the Heaven and with human beings. He also has the special nature of both human and god. The Shang dynasty king was a God to others, and he was human to the Lord of Heaven. Ancient Chinese classics have recorded a large number of mythical heroes of half-beast, half-man or half-bird, half-man. The beasts or birds on them are in fact the image of sacred attributes, the core of which is the noble divinity, and their human characteristics enable them to play an important 45

Ibid. pp. 173–175. Refer to Peng Bangjiong: Exploration of Business History, Chongqing: Chongqing Publishing House, 1988, pp. 175–176. 47 Liu Zehua: History of Chinese political thought (pre-Qin Dynasty volume), Hangzhou: Zhejiang People Publishing House, 1996, pp. 10–11. 46

3 The Normality of Political Thoughts in Shang and Zhou Dynasty

119

role in human political life. In fact, the traditional Chinese emperor is a kind of real existence of a half animal, half human or half bird and half human.48 For ordinary people, the emperors must be both humanized gods and deified people. The oracle inscriptions of Yin Dynasty ruin are sometimes called the dead kings Di, such as “Di Ding”, “Di Jia”, “Di Wenwu”, or “Di Wang”, “Di” and “Di Xia”. God and the king are both Di. The king has the deified nature of the combination of man and god. The King stands up against all people and becomes the best she could be, called “I unify the people”. At the same time, “I unify the people” also shows that the fundamental basis of human being is in the Lord of Heaven, and only by following the will of the Lord of Heaven can we be regarded as real human beings. In real life, only the Shang dynasty king can directly follow the will of the Lord of Heaven, so only the Shang Dynasty king can call him a person, while others are not human before they accept the leadership of the Shang Dynasty king. In fact, China’s chieftain society, which has been formed since ancient times, has a unique political role to communicate between Heaven and man, and the specific way that the role communicates between Heaven and man is to make people’s behavior conform to the norms of the Lord of Heaven, and thus become so-called human rather than degenerate into beasts. “I unify the people” means some basic assumptions of Traditional Chinese politics in terms of human standard and adult procedure with the ultimate goal of adulthood. It is self-evident that the emperor is endowed with the unique advantages of nature, that the emperor has become an adult is the basic premise of political occurrence. Since the emperor has become an adult, he naturally has the obligation to help others become adults, and derives a monopoly on power from the obligation. The standard of human beings can only be determined by the emperor, and whether they are adults is confirmed by the emperor. The emperor’s privilege is entirely derived from his special status in the relationship between Heaven and humankind, and there can only be one person who enjoys such special status at any time. Everything in the world originates from the Lord of Heaven, but everything given by the Lord of Heaven can and must pass through the “I unify all people” as supreme on earth. His political governance of the people has the representative nature of acting for the Lord of Heaven or God in political governance, that is, “Heaven works, man replaces it”, and “I unify the people “ reigns for the Lord of Heaven, his rule is in fact the rule of the Lord of Heaven, and the gift of Heaven must pass through his hands.49 Man’s requests must also be heard through him and answered by Heaven through him. King became an adult before others, he was the most advanced in the crowd, people’s demands are mostly put forward by king to Heaven, in this way, all the people’s possessions, though from the Lord of Heaven, can only be obtained by the king’s substitution for people’s request. The Shang Dynasty king took over the lives of all the people from the emperor or God, and was responsible for keeping them in good health. Just as Di or God neither governs and controls everything according to universal natural laws or basic laws, nor does he need to accept any 48 See Liu Zehua: China’s Royalism, Shanghai: Shanghai People’s Publishing House, 2000, pp. 431– 440. 49 Shangshu Gaotaomo.

120

2 Germination and Embryonic Form: Yin Shang …

practical restrictions at all, “I unify the people” has absolute power to dominate and control the world without any fixed rules to follow and without any restrictions. He can control everything in the world according to his will. The criterion of judgment and measurement can only be the will of the Shang Dynasty king himself. In this case, the political theory of “I unify the people” is totally a man-governed face of imperial dictatorship.50 The political theory of “I unify the people” implies the sacred meaning of the monarch. Not only can emperors be allowed to dominate and control the society, which makes it absolutely impossible to follow any law, but also indulge emperors to take any political action they want without fear of legal obstruction. Even if certain rules or restrictive forces have emerged in political rule, emperors can easily get rid of their practical role, whether by virtue of their own dignified political status, or by virtue of their sacred nature of communicating between Heaven and human beings. Additionally, they may use the brutal force already in their hands. As long as the emperors are unwilling to be restrained, they can find many political ways to get rid of the restraint. In addition, the Shang Dynasty king need not worry about failing to pass the social test when conducting political acts because the criteria for judging the political acts of the Shang Dynasty king are entirely in their own hands. Others have no right to comment on their political acts, even if there are a few so-called impervious officials who dares speak frankly before the emperor, the emperors can still adhere to their own criteria, If the trouble is too great, then they can choose to dismiss a few officials who dares speak frankly before the emperor to eliminate the trouble, moreover, no matter the reasons for dismissing honest ministers how unreasonable, it can only be regarded as legitimate and just by the public. Because the Shang Dynasty king had full use of human rights, the appointment, assessment, rewards and punishments of bureaucrats way were all carried out by the Shang Dynasty king. Others were excluded from the human rights, and they also could not supervise nor participate in decisions. (3)

The Humanistic Turn of Political Thinking in the Late Western Zhou Dynasty

In ideology, human political civilization has gone through the theological stage in which the Supreme God is dominant. Later, it experienced the continuous development of human initiative and its dynamic role, and eventually expelled the humanistic stage of the Supreme God. Although the historical development of human beings has undergone a complex process of alternating domination of man and God, the general trend is that the initiative and dynamic role of human beings has been continuously developed. This process can be summarized as the continuous victory of humanism over divine principle. However, it is impossible for man to achieve complete victory over God. Although people once conquered the Supreme God, it was not long before the Supreme God was invited into the sacred temple for worship, and even a nation without its Supreme God introduced the Supreme God from foreign cultures. Before the introduction of the Supreme God, most of these nationalities were confused 50

Liu Zehua: History of Chinese political thought (pre-Qin Dynasty volume), Hangzhou: Zhejiang People Publishing House, 1996, p. 10.

3 The Normality of Political Thoughts in Shang and Zhou Dynasty

121

because of the lack of a Supreme God, and even people’s personality was generally diseased, which led to complete disorder in society. People have abandoned the Supreme God more than once, but their society is swallowed up by endless desires. The failure of social integration leads to political chaos. Although man cannot completely defeat the Supreme God, he always makes great progress in his initiative in the struggle against the Supreme God, that is, the struggle between man and the Supreme God and every restoration of the Supreme God enlarges the initiative of human beings and makes humanism develop in different forms. Human beings gradually turn from seeking their own inevitable basis from outside, mysterious forces to seeking their own inevitable basis, from relying on the power of imagination to relying on the power of reality to explain one’s own inevitability.51 This process is the transition from divine principle to humanism, which generally occurs in human society. From the point of view that human beings cannot completely defeat the Supreme God, the transition will always be accompanied by humankind. From a certain stage of the development of humanism, the transition often occurs in a specific historical stage, from the theological world outlook dominated by a Supreme God to the humanistic world outlook dominated by human beings. Such a historical stage has appeared more than once in the long history of humankind. The triumph of humanism over supremacy is always the triumph of experiential political realism over transcendental political romanticism in political ideology. Traditional Chinese humanism is different from the modern humanism of the individual, standard in Western society. Its main content does not involve the sacredness of individual and individual rights. It only emphasizes the fundamentality and purpose of human beings relative to God, and a strong, practical methodology, For example, advocating first people and then God, it emphasizes that human beings are the purpose of God and the holy realm, as well as pursuing harmony between human beings and nature, and the unity of Heaven and human beings. Traditional Chinese humanism emphasizes that the existence of God is for people’s life to conform to laws and purposes. It emphasizes that the metaphysical God must serve the physical people, which has obvious pragmatic characteristics. Li Zehou points out in his article “Talking about the Wisdom of China” that: Practical reason is the characteristic of Traditional Chinese thought in its own character. In order to find a way out for the great changes in society at that time, the pre-Qin scholars put forward the doctrine that rationality emancipated from the witch history culture of Shang and Zhou Dynasties did not lead to an abstract way of thinking in leisure (for example, Greece). Neither did they sink into the pursuit of liberation (such as in India), but persisted in the practical exploration of the world.52

In fact, the practical mode of traditional Chinese thinking, which pays attention to the effect of experience and necessity of the real world, has a longer historical origin. Li Zehou’s practical rationality is the manifestation of the conscious and extensive use of practical thinking. Traditional Chinese practical thinking emphasizes practice 51 52

Ibid. p. 614. Li Zehou: On the History of Ancient Chinese Thought, p. 301.

122

2 Germination and Embryonic Form: Yin Shang …

at its center, and regards the problems in social practice as the starting point of cognition. It also advocates understanding in practice, takes the effect of practice as the criterion to test cognition, and takes the effective thing in practice as true knowledge. It also orients the fundamental purpose of cognition as practice. The expression of traditional Chinese humanistic thought also has a strong practical character, the socalled humanism does not emphasize the value and dignity of individuals, but only the dynamic role of the whole human being, that is to say, the so-called humanism in the Chinese tradition only emphasizes that the inevitability of human beings can only be expressed by what human social life ought to be. The legitimacy of human beings lies in that they abide by the social norms of human roles and restrict themselves. They are “not to look at things which do not conform to the rites, not to listen to things which do not conform to the rites, not to say things which do not conform to the rites, not to do things which do not conform to the rites”.53 Traditional Chinese humanist thinkers often only advocate the necessity of experience. That is, the necessity of experience, and the inevitability of experience is the transcendentalism of course. Their so-called transcendentalism is, of course, only a formalization of the secular experience of life. The formatting of Chinese social experience life is to, …put all kinds of astronomy, geography, calendar, climate, body, life and death, rank, official system, dress and adornment… all kinds of objects touched, observed, experienced and expanded from Heaven and earth to objects that cannot be touched, observed and experienced, as well as the ideals and realities of society, politics, life and individual life—they are all taken as a neat schema… People are willing to organize these areas of empirical knowledge into a whole system schema structure so as to obtain a theoretical (including empirical knowledge and mathematics) understanding and grasp…. This practical reason for maintaining direct connection with the reality of life, and opens up the direction to the overall grasp of the interconnection between things. That is, it moves from function to structure, according to the approximation or similarity of functions, organize many different things and arrangements in a systematic form, trying to grasp them from the height of practical rationality.54 (4)

The Uniqueness of Traditional Chinese Humanistic Political Thinking

The humanistic characteristics of Chinese political thought as a whole are an important part of traditional Chinese social humanistic thought. Much like the whole humanistic thought of China, it has the characteristics of emphasizing experience and human’s overall initiative. It advocates that human experience must be the universal necessity of experience. The inevitability of experience is surely transcendentalism, and transcendentalism of course must and can only coincide with the necessity of experience. The growth of the humanist tendency in the development of Chinese political thought is mainly manifested in the emergence of realistic empiricism and the collective initiative of human beings in the form of sages. 53 54

Ibid. p. 160. Ibid. p. 164.

3 The Normality of Political Thoughts in Shang and Zhou Dynasty

123

Xia Dynasty, Shang Dynasty and Western Zhou Dynasty are basically the world of gods… From the Spring and Autumn Period, the status of gods gradually declined, and the status of human beings gradually increased… Laozi and Confucius appeared, two giants in the development of humanistic thought. This is a sign of the shift in the way of thinking in Chinese history. The two of them raised the previous sporadic humanistic thinking to the level of theory. Laozi returned people to nature, and Confucius returned people to society, thus laying the foundation for humanistic thinking in Chinese history. With the further development of the Warring States scholars, humanistic thought has become the mainstream of traditional Chinese culture, and the basis of political thought.55

The vigorous development of humanism in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period was not achieved overnight, but experienced a long process of development. Although the starting point of this process is difficult to determine, at least in the early Western Zhou Dynasty, when Zhou people established a new concept of “destiny”. Humanism in the Chinese political tradition experienced a leap forward. In fact, the ultimate purpose of humanism and divine principle is to establish the basis of human inevitability. divine principle directly appeals to the absolute and only Supreme God for human inevitability, while traditional Chinese humanism directly appeals to the deified human, the so-called holy king. The new concept of destiny established by the Zhou people is different from the old one of Yin people. It highlights the importance of human virtue in the theory of destiny and shows the strengthening of humanism in the political thought of the early Western Zhou Dynasty. The people of the Zhou Dynasty explained the political change between the Yin and Zhou Dynasty with the new concept of destiny, which fully demonstrated the political legitimacy of the people of the Zhou Dynasty replacing the people of the Yin Dynasty as the overlord of all within the realm. The new concept of destiny establishes the idea that destiny can be transferred, and puts the virtue of the ordered person in a very prominent position. On the one hand, people of the Zhou Dynasty demonstrated their political legitimacy of gaining the political status of the overlord of all within the realm by having virtue superior to people of Yin Dynasty. According to Mao Gongding’s inscription, [This] greatly demonstrates the merit of political and military achievements. Heaven hates the lack of virtue of the former emperors. Therefore, the virtue of Zhou Dynasty matches each other and bears the destiny of Heaven.56

On the other hand, the people of Zhou Dynasty transformed their innate destiny into concrete political virtues, and closely linked them with concrete political measures and political requirements, thus greatly developing the political and moral system that had already appeared in the middle and late Shang Dynasty, as well as the political system of realism. The rulers of the Western Zhou Dynasty no longer likened their rule to the eternal sun, nor placed their hope of maintaining their rule on the eternal shelter of the Lord of Heaven and the ancestor gods. The experience of dynastic 55

Liu Zehua: The History of Chinese Political Thoughts (Pre-Qin Volume), p. 614. Refer to Liu Zehua: Not Suitable for Pursuing Modern Consciousness Deliberately from Confucianism, Wen Huibao, 13 February 1990.

56

124

2 Germination and Embryonic Form: Yin Shang …

change has also stimulated people’s reflection on theocracy, and the important result of this reflection is to highlight the position of human experience in the chain of links in the whole world, emphasizing that human affairs can influence the choice of the Lord of Heaven, and highlighting the importance of doing a good job of human affairs. Although Heaven is still the omnipotent Supreme God who dominates the world’s fortunes and misfortunes, it no longer pays attention to only one family name as the ancestor god did. Rather, it always pays attention to finding suitable people for “democracy”, deposes those who are not suitable for “democracy”, and shelters those who are suitable for “democracy”. Whether the king has the right to do “democracy” in human affairs directly affects the choice of the Lord of Heaven. The people of the Zhou Dynasty acknowledged that Heaven’s will dominated human affairs, which indicated that they were still in the obscure stage of divine principle. But at the same time they acknowledged that human affairs could influence and restrict Heaven’s will, but at the same time they affirmed to a certain extent the important influence of human beings’ realistic political behavior and character. The people of the Zhou Dynasty conceptualized and categorized certain political morality and measures, and linked such concepts and categories with God’s will. They regarded them as the inevitable requirement of God’s will and the basic expression of king’s compliance with God’s will, thus indicating that they had begun the transformation to the humanistic stage.

Bibliography 1. Gu, J. (1992). Gu Jun Wen Ji. Guizhou: Guizhou People’s Publishing House. 2. Havelland, W. A. (1987). Contemporary anthropology. (Translated by Wang Mingming). Shanghai: Shanghai People’s Publishing House. 3. Hou, W. (1957). General history of Chinese thought (Volumes 1). Beijing: People’s Publishing House. 4. Hu, H., & Hu, Z. (2003). History of Yin Shang. Shanghai: Shanghai People’s Publishing House. 5. Li, Z. (1985). Confucius’s reevaluation, on the history of ancient Chinese thought. Beijing: People’s Publishing House. 6. Liang, Q. (2003). History of political thoughts in the Pre-Qin dynasty, Tianjin: Tianjin Ancient Books Publishing House, 2003 edition. 7. Lin J. (1981). Manuscript of qin history. Shanghai: Shanghai People’s Publishing House. 8. Liu, Z. et. al. (1988). Authoritarian power and chinese society. Changchun: Jilin Wenshi Publishing House. 9. Liu, Z. (2000). China’s Royalism. Shanghai: Shanghai People’s Publishing House. 10. Liu, Z. (2000). The history of ancient Chinese political thoughts. Tianjin: Nankai University Press. 11. Liu, Z. (1996). History of Chinese political thought (pre-Qin Dynasty volume). Hangzhou: Zhejiang Publishing House. 12. Peng, B. (1988). Exploration of business history. Chongqing: Chongqing Publishing House. 13. Sabine, G. H. (1961). A history of political thought. Austin: Holt, Rinehart and Winston. 14. Sa, M. (2003). The history of chinese political thought. Taipei: Sanmin Book Company. 15. Sa, M. The history of social politics in China (1). Taipei: Sanmin Book Company. 16. Thilly, F. (1995). A History of philosophy (translated by Ge Li). Beijing: Commercial Press. 17. Xiao, G. (2006). History of chinese political thought. Beijing: Xinxing Publishing House. 18. Xie, W. (1995). Early China, Hangzhou: Zhejiang People’s Publishing House.

Bibliography 19. 20. 21. 22.

125

Xie, X. (1986). Myth and national spirit. Jinan: Shandong Literature and Art Publishing House. Zhang, G. (2013). Art, myth and sacrifice. Beijing: Life, Reading, Xinzhi Sanlian Bookstore. Zhang, G. (1983). Bronze age in China. Beijing: Life, Reading, Xinzhi Sanlian Bookstore. Zhang, S. (2004) The Limit of people-oriented—The New Theory of Huang Zongxi’s Political Thoughts. Beijing: China Renmin University Press.

Chapter 3

Contention of a Hundred Schools of Thought: The Convergence of the Multiple Perspectives and Purpose of the Pre-Qin Philosophers

Li Zehou clearly pointed out in his book, The History of Beauty, that an overall trend of thought, the general tendency of the hundred schools’ concurrent rise, and the contending of those philosophers “is rationalism.”1 The activity of understanding with the concept of rational thinking, propositions, etc., is actually rational selfconsciousness in philosophy. The rational awakening of Chinese tradition was realized during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, not only because social changes provided rational understanding as a possibility for organizing the social division of labor, and not only because the political environment had become relatively loose. Rather, it was also because of the dramatic changes in traditional Chinese politics, which provided the goal of recognition and sufficient incentives. This is of course because traditional Chinese rationality has an obvious and strong practical orientation, which is called “practical rationality.” “Practical rationality” means, “leading and carrying out rationality in daily real life, the feelings of feudal order of importance or seniority in human relationships and political concepts, without abstract carefree.”2 The reality of the feudal order of importance or seniority in human relationships and politics attracted the rational thinking of the ancient philosophers. Thinking of feudal order of importance or seniority in human relationships forms the philosophy of life, while thinking about political issues forms political philosophy. Liang Qichao pointed out in The History of Political Thought in the Pre-Qin Dynasty, that “Chinese academics, centering on the study of human life in the world, both ancient and modern are focusing on various issues in this area.” Further, the various problems, “in the words of the present, that is, the problems of life philosophy and political philosophy are also included.” He also claimed that, “Since the Spring and Autumn Period, academic thought has flourished in China. The doctrines of ancient philosophies of thought are nothing but political in purpose.”3 1

Li Zehou: The History of Beauty, Beijing, 1989, p. 46. Ibid. p. 50. 3 Liang Qichao: History of Political Thoughts in the Pre-Qin Dynasty, Beijing: Oriental Publishing House, 1996, pp. 1–2. 2

© Tianjin People’s Publishing House 2022 S. Zhang, The Logical Deduction of Chinese Traditional Political Philosophy, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-4376-7_3

127

128

3 Contention of a Hundred Schools of Thought: The Convergence …

As a turning point in the history of thought, ancient philosophers have created many unique concepts, mainly relying on the reasoning relationship between concepts to explain the complicated world. In particular, they concentrated on explaining and analyzing the myriad doubts about how human beings can deal with themselves politically, and proposed various concepts and political ideals. They provide the basic ideological material and most possible answers for the construction of traditional, mainstream Chinese philosophy and traditional, mainstream Chinese political philosophy. Engels once highly praised the position of ancient Greek philosophy in the Western world, “in the various forms of Greek philosophy, it is almost possible to find embryos and sprouts of various viewpoints in the future.”4 We can similarly evaluate the hundred schools of thought in the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods regarding the history of traditional Chinese political philosophy. The political tradition that China has formed since the Shang Dynasty has become increasingly mature. On the one hand, there are many problems and difficulties, and it is necessary to consciously apply expertise to focus on those issues. On the other hand, society is increasingly different regarding the development of different interest groups. People from different interest groups have great differences in their perspectives and their subjective demands of observing social and political issues. However, the Chinese political tradition still maintains its overall originality in the process of rational consciousness. Although the different scholars have different expertise, the issues that they think need to be dealt with are different. However, the various key issues that need to be addressed are all part of the organic whole of the Chinese tradition, thereby establishing an organic connection between the various expertise due to the organic connection of the concerns. As for people of different interest groups, although there are differences in interests and perspectives, the interests are also related to each other while they are different. Their respective interests and ideals expressed in different positions and perspectives contain hidden but still strong commonalities. On the surface, the contending of the ancient philosophers is that different opinions or interpretations cluster together, and so there is constant contending. Not only are the various schools eager to determine the unique content and status of their own ideas, or even exclusively believe that only their own ideas can help the world, but also this contending embodies the “division” in the development of Chinese thought. However, there is “combination” in the “division.” It is the same, interlinked, and complementary thinking that the ancient philosophers demonstrate in their debates. He 合 is the force that dominates the trend of contending and possible futures. It not only “greatly promoted the development and perfection of the monarchy of authoritarianism,”5 but also, it has gradually guided the contention of a hundred schools of thought to seeking and realizing the unification of political philosophy intrinsically. The contending of the hundred schools of thought in the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods is an important symbol of China’s traditional, political, rational awakening, and is also the basic 4

Marx and Engels: Selected Works (Vol. 3), Beijing: People’s Publishing House, 1972, p. 468. Liu Zehua: Chinese Royalism - An Investigation of Traditional Social and Ideological Characteristics, Shanghai: Shanghai People’s Publishing House, 2000, p. 114.

5

3 Contention of a Hundred Schools of Thought: The Convergence …

129

foundation for the political philosophy of traditional Chinese political thought. The main characteristics and features of Chinese political tradition change consciously to clear-cut concepts, categories, propositions, judgment, and reasoning. Although the political thoughts of various factions have obvious differences in terms of concepts, categories, propositions, judgments, and reasoning, there are also differences in the construction of logical relationships.6 But as far as the results of the contention of a hundred schools of thought are concerned, the Chinese political tradition is clearly expressed as a logical system that dominates the dominant position. The ultimate finisher was Dong Zhongshu at the time of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. The ideological Qin and Han political philosophy initiated by the ancient philosophers and completed by Dong Zhongshu reflects the main aspects of Chinese political tradition, and it has high philosophical and theoretical explanatory power that maintains a dominant influence on the continued development of Chinese political thought and political tradition.

1 The People-Oriented Political Thought of Confucianism and Mohism Many commentators have summarized Confucianism as humanistic thinking, and highlights the anti-authoritarian nature of humanistic thinking. However, Mr. Liu Zehua has said that the traditional Chinese humanities are not the opposite of autocracy, and furthermore that the direction of its guidance is “just royalism.”7 Laozi and Confucius respectively created two perspectives for observing politics. Laozi pioneered the observation and analysis of political perspectives from the general, physical (i.e., natural) nature of human beings. Confucius created a perspective of observing and analyzing politics from the perspective of the humanity or sociality of human beings. The school with the same perspective as Laozi is legalism, while the school with the same perspective as Confucius is Mohism. This section focuses on Confucianism and Mohism, who both observe and analyze politics on the basis of the special social nature of human beings. Not only do the two schools attach great importance to the role of sages or gentlemen outside the institutional norms, attempting to compensate for the shortcomings caused by a rigid political system with the positive action of human beings, but also they have all been influenced by the Yin Shang culture. Confucianism does not deny the ghosts and gods and attaches great importance to the sacrifices, while the Mohists retain the theocratic political appearance of the Yin and Shang dynasties. The early propagation regions of Confucianism were also mainly concentrated in the kingdoms with the cultural tradition of Yin Shang, and the main disciples of Confucius were mostly Lu Chinese, while the 6

Li Zehou: A Brief Discussion on Qin and Han Dynasties, On the History of Ancient Chinese Thought, pp. 136–146. 7 Liu Zehua: Chinese Royalism - An Investigation of Traditional Social and Ideological Characteristics, Shanghai: Shanghai People’s Publishing House, 2000, p. 202.

130

3 Contention of a Hundred Schools of Thought: The Convergence …

Confucian characters of the kingdoms with less influence on the culture of Yin Shang were more often rejected as impure. Mozi is a descendant of Yin Shang. With a tradition of Yin Shang culture, his ideological character is simple and plain. Confucianism and Mohism both promote loyalty to officials, love for others, and nourishment for the people, but the position of Confucianism is close to the aristocrats, while the position of Mohist thought is closer to the commoner. (1)

Confucius’s political Thought: “Benevolence” and “Ritual” Are Equally Important

The personal name of Master Kongzi or Confucius was Qiu, and his formal name was Zhongni. He was born in the state of Lu. His ancestors are descendants of the Yin people, the aristocrats in the state of Song. Confucius was born in 551 B.C. (year twenty-one year of Zhou Lingwang, and year twenty-two of Lu Xiangwang), and died in 479 B.C. (year fourty-one of Zhou Jingwang, or year sixteen of Lu Aigong). He lost his father at the age of three, in the early years, he held the post of Keeper of the Stores. He was also Governor of Zhongdu, [a city in the state of Lu] and thereafter advanced to the post of Minister of Crime and soon left the post, when he then traveled around the country with students. In his later years, he was engaged in organizing cultural classics and compilations. It is said that he revised Book of Odes (or Poetry), the Book of History, the Book of Rituals or Rites, the Book of Music (no longer preserved as a separate work), and compiled the Chun Qiu. His speech was written down by the disciples and compiled into the Analects of Confucius, which is the main source of Confucius’s thoughts. The family history and deeds of Confucius are well documented in the Historical Records (Chapter 47). Although historical data show that “Confucianism” (Ruism) existed before Confucius as a special social occupation or identity, the status of Confucius as the founder of Confucianism must still be affirmed. The previous “Confucianism” was only a special social identity or occupation. On the one hand, “Confucians” for their profession were skilled assistants and masters of ceremonies. On the other hand, they educated the people with the content of “the Six Disciplines.” Not only have they not yet proposed a conscious range of ideas, but also the good and the bad are intermingled. Confucius divided “Confucianism” into the “Confucianism of the superior man” and “Confucianism of the small man,” and advocated people to uphold the “Confucianism of the superior man.” Traditional Chinese political culture has not only regarded rituals and ceremonies as a political activity, but it has also always regarded educating people as a very important political task. Prior to Confucius, “Confucianism” were skilled assistants and master of ceremonies, and the political work of educating people by means of the “Six Disciplines” originally acted as the assistant role of the monarch in governing the world. The school founded by Confucius is called Confucianism, and because Confucianism is closely related to Confucianism prior to Confucius, his creation of Confucianism was a process of reflecting upon Confucianism, consciously turning Confucian positions and viewpoints into an ideological system. It contains a series of original ideas created by Confucius, and has also greatly enhanced the realm of li

1 The People-Oriented Political Thought of Confucianism and Mohism

131

(ritual) and yue (music), as well as the general political culture supported by “Confucianism” in the pre-Confucius era. Confucius thereby sublimated the traditional li (ritual) and yue (music) into an ontological and programmatic political existence. The ideological creations of Confucius and other philosophers have substantial sources in social politics, and not all of them come from their own minds. Ancient books, such as the book of poetry, contain God’s will; A people-oriented perspective, exemplified in the theory of rites, music, and military punishment, which were adopted by various schools of thought before Qin Dynasty, and became the gist of Chinese political thought… Such old sayings show the original system to be weak and its meaning relatively simple, so they must be supervised and managed by great Pre-Qin master before writing a far-reaching manuscript that then become the theory of a school.8

The ancient Chinese political tradition had formed the basic foundation of peopleoriented rulership and rulership by kings before the birth of Confucius. Not only was it impossible for ancient philosophers to change this fact, but also their thoughts must have arisen in the process of a people-oriented rule by kings, which is a political tradition that moves from the spontaneous to the conscious. The status and role of ancient philosophers in the history of Chinese political thought depends entirely upon the objective contributions of the various schools of thought in the process of the political tradition of being people-oriented and rule by kings from spontaneity to consciousness. Confucius’s political thought was developed under the model of people-oriented rule by kings. The rule by kings is manifested in the sincere maintenance of the Zhou rites, and the orientation towards the people is expressed in the emphasis on “benevolence” and “virtue”. Confucius’s politics, in terms of content, can be summarized as “being fully ordered concerning ritual, music, and punitive expeditions”; in terms of its form, it can be summarized as, “when right principles prevail in the kingdom, customs and norms of life come from the Son of Heaven” and the hierarchical order of “ceremonies, music, and punitive military expeditions proceed from the Son of Heaven.” In terms of benig a political starting point, it is a three-step process of making the people “wealthy”, “more populous”, and “civilized”. The philosophical level of Confucius’ political thought does not reach that of Mencius and Xunzi, but the neutrality and comprehensiveness of his thoughts are similar to Mencius and Xunzi. Although the political thought of Mencius and Xunzi each influenced different groups of thinkers, the person who can fully reflect Confucian political thought is still Confucius. In general, Confucius’ political ideas contain four aspects. First, Confucius’s political thought has inherited the people-oriented value of traditional political culture, which attaches importance to human beings and the common people, thereby exploring the social nature of human beings. Based in the perspective of human beings and the common people, his political thought explains the inevitability and necessity of political order by using human social features, emphasizing that the purpose of politics is to nourish the people and enrich people’s livelihood, to keep taxes and imposts light, to limit labor service exactions, and 8

Xiao Gongquan: The History of Chinese Political Thought, Beijing: Xinxing Publishing House, 2005, p. 3.

132

3 Contention of a Hundred Schools of Thought: The Convergence …

to restrict fiscal expenditures, which contains a lot of humanistic political thought content. As everyone knows, Confucius’s political thought has a strong civilian character, including the elements of transforming the political tradition of attaching importance to people and protecting people since the Yin Zhou into a delicate care for members of the general society. It also includes elements of highlighting human values, taking people as the fundamental purpose of politics, and taking the goal of “becoming a whole person” as the fundamental task of politics, and taking the ideal of “becoming a whole person” as the key to realizing social order. Confucius focuses on the inevitable basis for finding the political order on the basis of the values and objectives of political order rather than on the form of the political order. In the Analects, there are not only a large number of political remarks such as “the benevolent man loves all people” and “men of honor learn morality mainly to help others”. Regarding caring for the people and having a people-oriented political perspective, there is also a large number of political remarks, including “implementing benevolence lies in oneself”, “overcoming oneself and submitting to the rites, then everything under Heaven would be restored to benevolence”, both of which recognize the equal value of human beings. A longer passage reads: It is rare for people to be filial to their parents, obedient to their brothers, and fond of offending the upper rulers. He does not like to offend the upper rulers, but he who likes to rebel does not exist. A man of honor devotes himself to fundamental matters; the foundations were established; the principle of governing the country and being a man have also been established, filial piety to parents and obedience to one’s elder brother, this is the foundation of man.9

This passage directly reflects the idea that Confucius pays great attention to the social nature of members of society to maintain political order. From the principle that Confucius education advocates “teaching without class distinctions,” (Analects 15:38). Confucius seems to have truly lived out his commitment to the idea of “cherishing all living beings”, which seems to emphasize the important position and role of the social nature of all people in political governance. Confucius’s people-oriented thought, which attaches importance to human beings and to common people, is derived from the family and inside the traditional bloodline ancestry organization and from the positive understanding of Confucius’s value to people. Confucius’s humanistic private teaching is also manifested in the realist political attitude exemplified in the idea of, “respecting spiritual beings while to keep aloof from them” as well as, “if you are not able to serve men, how can you serve their spirits?”. Second, Confucius’s political thought also inherited the form of political order cast by China’s ancient political tradition since the Yin Zhou, emphasizing the extreme importance of ritual and embodying the ideological characteristics of maintaining the political tradition of monarchic despotism. There are many places in the Analects that talk about rituals, which clearly demonstrates the persistence of Zhou rites, and further asks people to fully recover or follow the Zhou rites. The Zhou rites utilize a whole set of regulations, institutional standards and etiquette originally established. It is the standardization and systemization of the late clan ruling system 9

The Analects, “Xue Er.”

1 The People-Oriented Political Thought of Confucianism and Mohism

133

based on primitive witchcraft etiquette. ... as the Yin Zhou system of the early slavery, it is still wrapped in layers of clothing in the blood of the clan. Its superstructure and ideology continue directly from the original culture.

On the one hand, Zhou rites has clear and strict rules of social order, such as having upper and lower ranks, elder and younger roles, and so on. The etiquette of a primitive clan had become monopolized by a few nobles. On the other hand, because the economic base continued as the basic social structure of the clan community, this set of rituals still preserved the original democracy in people’s nature to a certain extent.10 Confucius’ persistent maintenance of Zhou rituals actually included both his deep understanding of the political order and also the creation of many of his important ideas. Confucius abstracted the basic principles, forms, and procedures for the establishment and operation of the system for all political systems. “Ritual” was established as “the basis of government,”11 by which the Zhou rites had some political meaning in terms of ontological order. Therefore, all political roles must have been based on the way in which the rites exist, the existence of such rites being the so-called “names” ming of Confucianism. Confucius stressed utilizing a thing’s “proper name” because: If you don’t have a proper name, you can’t speak properly and reasonably, and if you don’t speak properly and reasonably, you can’t do anything. If things fail, ritual and music will not flourish. If ritual and music cannot flourish, the execution of punishment will not be proper, if the penalty is improper, the people do not know how to do it well.12

Zhou rites thus became the basic principle that must be followed in the design and political role of China’s political system. Third, Confucius’s political thought also advocates a harmonious political spirit, and uses the family-style father-son ethics and affection to revitalize political order, to integrate social hierarchy and mutual love into an organic ideology, and to emphasize that people must have political feelings that match the political order and their political roles. The general name of these political feelings may be what Confucius calls “benevolence”. Confucius does not talk about the universal “benevolence” of people from the perspective of epistemology, but rather from the perspective of ethical or political practice. When we discuss the universal “benevolence” of people, therefore, it is difficult for us to have a modern, logical way to understand Confucius’s “benevolence”. If we forcibly give Confucius a definition of universal “benevolence”, there can be almost no positive significance. Moreover, the definitions we have cannot reflect the true thoughts of Confucius at all, as they only represent a sliver of his thought on the basis of a one-sided viewpoint. When Confucius talks about “benevolence”, he always combines behaviors suited to certain situations, on the one hand, with the means of how to act benevolently specific conditions, on the other. If we must offer a definition of “benevolence”, then we can only barely define it as “love others.” Most of Confucius’s “benevolence” can be accommodated in the scope of 10

Li Zehou: On the History of Ancient Chinese Thought, p. 8. Li Ji, “Ai Gong Wen.” 12 The Analects, “Zilu.” 11

134

3 Contention of a Hundred Schools of Thought: The Convergence …

loving others, of overcoming oneself and submitting to the rites. In this way, everything in the empire would be restored to benevolence, and can be understood as “loving others with courtesy”, as well as the idea that, “[the benevolent person], wishing to be established himself, seeks also to establish others; wishing to turn his own merits to account, helps others to turn theirs to account” and “do not do to others what you do not wish yourself.” These are all direct expressions of loving others. Confucius’s “love others” is different from the “Universal Love” that Mozi said, because the former scope of “loving others” is to “love others with courtesy” and to “love others with virtue.” The idea that “the man of Ren loves all men, while the most important thing is to love your parents”, emphasizes that we must never fail to offer love in the same way to all people. The way in which people can show their love is completely dependent upon the relationship between the lover and the person being loved. The relationship between rulers and ministers and fathers and sons determines the way people love each other. However, judging from the basic principles of “loving others with courtesy” and “loving others with virtue” advocated by Confucianism, there are only two major ways in which people express their love to others, the first is the love of the monarch to the people, while the second is giving children enough love and good education, as that is the best gift that parents can give to their children.13 It is manifested in the intervention of rulers and fathers on people’s affairs, because, in the first place, the main performance in people’s love for their elders is their respect and obedience to rulers and fathers. Fourth, Confucius’s political ideals and the way of governing the country are inseparable from his appeal to the personality of the gentleman, which is characterized by the idea of a strong, “rule by man”. The idea of rule by man includes both rule by virtue and rule by the rites. Rule by virtue is the manifestation of rule by man. It emphasizes that the virtuous must be in the position of ruling others, while those who lack virtue are also in the political position of “being ruled by others”. It also emphasizes that the fundamental goal of political governance is to transform those who lack virtue into those who have it. Rule by the rites is the basic scale and standard for measuring whether a particular instance of rule by man achieves its fundamental goal. People’s behaviors must follow the rites, and if we reach the point of “not looking at things which do not conform to the rites, not listening to things which do not conform to the rites, not saying things that do not conform to the rites, and not doing things that do not conform to the rites,”14 the fundamental political goal of rule by man can be achieved. On the one hand, Confucius’ ideal politics considers turning everyone into gentleman a basic political goal, and emphasizes that all people should realize that “loving others with courtesy” shows a strong interest in the successful construction of an ideal personality. On the other hand, the realization of ideal personality has become the main force for Confucius to construct and realize his political ideals. Those who have achieved the ideal personality have some important political advantages, and become the true subject of rule in the state. A virtuous man is the main choice of Confucius to run the state by leading by example and 13 14

Strategies of the Warring States: Talking about Queen Mother Zhao by Chulong. The Analects, “Yan Yuan.”

1 The People-Oriented Political Thought of Confucianism and Mohism

135

by broadly educating. “When rulers themselves are right (setting an example), his government is effective without the issuing of orders, if the rulers themselves are not correct, even if the order is repeated, the people will not obey it.”15 This idea plays an important role in emphasizing the role of “politicians” in political governance; if they are led by virtue, and uniformly sought to be ruled by the rules of propriety, they will have a sense of shame, and will eventually become good. This emphasizes that those in government must use “virtue” as the preferred means of governance. Confucianism was basically still in the empirical stage during the time of Confucius. Its political thought only put forward the basic requirements of society for people. Confucius demanded that people be generally “benevolent on the inside and courteous on the outside”, emphasizing the need to combine “benevolence” and “courtesy” by causing them to appear in a corresponding relationship. That is, benevolence should be ritualized, or to judge rituals with benevolence. Benevolence refers to overcoming oneself and submitting to the rites, such that everything in the empire would be restored to benevolence.16 Confucius’ conception of “benevolence” does not have the universal basis of Mencius’, but it refers to the most basic moral character of human beings, and all other virtues are rooted in it. Further, Confucius’ conception of ritual also does not have the universal ontological basis of Xunzi’s, but it is also the most basic system of social norms that human beings must abide by. Li Zehou writes that, “Confucius speaks of ‘benevolence’ in order to explain rites,” and that he, …transforms this blood relationship and historical tradition into an ideological selfconsciousness. [Confucius] explains the political science of this kind of kinship and hierarchy that lies beyond the nature of the species, playing a social role that causes it to eliminate the historical limitations of a particular clan or society, and emphasizing its universal and long-lasting social meaning and role.17

Although Confucius’s political thoughts have no deep philosophical ideas, he has already shown some metaphysical or theoretical features. The expression of these theoretical features reflects the general rationality of the Chinese ideological tradition in the pursuit of the a priori in experience. It “has the extreme importance of practicality… That is, it is not focused on theoretical discussion and exploration, or on arguing about philosophical issues that are difficult to solve… rather, what matters is how to deal with real life.”18 Confucius’s thought, …does not lead people’s emotional psychology to outward worship or to the mysterious realm, but to dissolve it in the world relationship between people, with the parent-child relationship at its core. The concepts, emotions, and rituals that make up the three elements of religion are surrounded and immersed in the unity of this secular ethic and everyday psychology. There is no need to build another building of theological beliefs.19 15

The Analects, “Wei Zheng.” The Analects, “Yan Yuan.” 17 Li Zehou: On the History of Ancient Chinese Thought, Anhui Literature and Art Publishing House, 1994, pp. 21–23. 18 Ibid. p. 35. 19 Ibid. pp. 25–26. 16

136

3 Contention of a Hundred Schools of Thought: The Convergence …

Confucianism has given enough recognition to the individual’s efforts since Confucius, and the universal consciousness of the individual is the basis for the establishment of an ideal political society, emphasized in the idea that, “as soon as I crave for benevolence, it is at hand,”20 meaning that when you encounter what you should do, take the initiative to do it without giving in.21 (2)

Mencius’s Kind Character and Benevolent Politics

Mencius (given name Ke) was a man of the state of Lu, who was born around 371 B.C., and died around 280 B.C. He was the son of the aristocrat Meng Sunshi of the state of Lu, though he lost his father in childhood and his family was poor. The ancient story, now famous in the history of Chinese education, was that his wise and caring mother tried to find a good environment for her child’s education. Mencius’s family history is recorded in the ancient history books, the Shiji, which contains the Collected Biographies of Mencius Gou Qing. Therein is recorded the words and deeds of Mencius. Mencius regards himself as the orthodox heir of Confucius’ doctrines, taking “upholding the minds of the people and quelling improper arguments” as his own responsibility, while accepting many disciples, and traveling around the warring states. He spared no effort to promote his own political ideas. Although Mencius received the courtesy of the various feuding states at that time, he also took great pride in his teachings, though he did not see much of any political success. Nevertheless, Mencius, with his own political ideology, was able to enjoy a high reputation after Confucius throughout Chinese history. Mencius’ political thought mainly carried forward the idea of “benevolence” in Confucius’ political thought, wherein he refined the idea that, “the benevolent man loves all men”, removing any utilitarian features from the concept. On this basis, he put forward the theories of the original goodness of human nature, the theory of benevolence, and the theory of monarchical power. He designed the ideas behind his theory of monarchical power on the basis of exerting the enthusiasm and initiative of ordinary people, and introduced an a priori argumentation method for this purpose. He further adheres to a thoroughly people-oriented perspective. Additionally, he discussed the concept of human nature necessary for the ideal political order, the state of nature, and Confucian political thought in clear and rigorous language. Mencius’ political thoughts mainly have the following features: First, Mencius insisted that Confucius understood the tradition of political necessity and political function from the perspective of human beings, and furthermore that Confucius transformed this tradition consciously into a combined political and philosophical approach. After a careful examination of people’s common sense, Mencius developed and deepened Confucius’s theory of “benevolence” and his idea that “by nature, men are nearly alike”, creating the theory of the original goodness of human nature. He thereby thoroughly implemented Confucius’s idea of equality, which taught others regardless of class distinctions, extending the goal of political service to all individuals in the political community. The scope and role of political 20 21

The Analects, “Shu Er”. The Analects, “Wei Ling Gong.”

1 The People-Oriented Political Thought of Confucianism and Mohism

137

philosophy must be traced back to the source, and the end point of traceability must be either one or a series of assumptions based on meaningful propositions. The role of political philosophy mainly depends on whether the basis of the original hypothesis is sufficient, and the theoretical interpretation is the effect of the hypothesis itself. Great political philosophers are always known for proposing certain propositional hypotheses with universal significance and fundamentality. As a great political philosopher in the traditional Chinese era, Mencius’s influence and significance also depended upon the various propositions and hypotheses in his political philosophy. Mencius’s theory that human nature is originally good is a meaningful hypothesis in political philosophy. Although the issue of human nature was raised as early as during the Spring and Autumn Period, and there were different ideas about it, such as the theory that human nature is utilitarian, that human nature has no moral significance, that the generation of good and evil is the result of acquired customs, or that there is both good and evil in human nature. But these theories have shortcomings and biases that become clear when compared with Mencius’s theory of original goodness of human nature. His theory cannot assume the many positive functions played by the original political philosophy proposition hypothesis. Mencius’s original political philosophy proposition hypothesis itself is based on the more rigorous logical reasoning of “Lei (类), Gu (故), and Li (理)” (the three principles and basic forms of Mohist reasoning in the late period of pre-Qin dynasty in China). “Anyone of the same kind can cite similarities,” he believed. He first identified people as a unique category in the world, and concluded that, people, being of the same genus, have the same fundamental human characteristics. That is, humanity is a common feature shared by all people.22 Similarly, the attributes of all things should be inherent in everything, and this inherent attribute is a strongly persuasive means of understanding the object itself in an a priori way. Therefore, Mencius believes that the goodness of human nature is human beings’ universal, innate, and instinctive moral sense, which human beings easily and naturally know without consideration. It is expressed in the consciousness of human being by means of the feeling of commiseration, a sense of shame, a sense of modesty and yielding, and a sense of right and wrong. These serve as the basis for the so-called the four cardinal virtues: humanity, justice, propriety and wisdom, Expressed in social behavior, it is the conscious observance of social norms, the love for one’s parents and respect for one’s brother. Regarding the ontological status of human beings, the nature of the traditional sage-kings, Yao and Shun, has social universality. If everyone can protect their own instinctive moral sense, then the proposition that “everyone can be a Yao or a Shun,” should be changed to the proposition of “everyone is a Yao and a Shun”. Second, Mencius vigorously advocated a people-oriented perspective on the basis of his theory of original goodness of human nature, emphasizing the moral politics of “gaining the [approval of the] masses is the way to become sovereign” and “a just cause enjoys abundant support”—features of what Mencius calls “benevolent government” or “an unbearing government.“ The idea that “all human beings are by nature good” recognizes the identity between and the masses and the sages, and raises 22

Mencius, “Teng Wen Gong,” Part I.

138

3 Contention of a Hundred Schools of Thought: The Convergence …

the status of the masses. However, this does not mean that human society can realize the sublimity and greatness that human nature originally contained without political governance. Although Mencius is an idealistic political thinker, he also acknowledges that the reality of politics is always the coexistence of “the superior man” and “the common people”, emphasizing the necessity of a social division of labor between them. That is, “if there is no the superior man, then no one will govern the common people; if there is no common people, then nobody will support the superior man.”23 People in the society either “work with one’s mind [brains] or as a labor force. Those who work with their brains will govern others; those who labor with physical strength are governed by others, those who are governed by others need to support others. Those who govern others are supported by others.”24 “Governing others” and “being governed by others” reflects the division of labor in the political system. “Supporting others” and “being supported by others” each reflects the economic division of society. The purpose of both is to show that the political division of labor determines the social division of labor, intending to affirm that rulers support themselves without engaging in the productive labor of farming. It is worth noting that the fundamental purpose of the social division of labor and political division of labor is the people, specifically teaching and raising them, which determines the political division of labor. The rulers borne out of the political division of labor must also love the people by political means and make them better. Mencius advocates “benevolent government” or “an unbearing government”, emphasizing the purposeful status of the people in the political system. “The people” were first recognized by Mencius as the basic object of political service. “The people are the most important element (in a state); the spirits of the land and the grain are secondary; and the sovereign is the least.”25 Mencius understands the nature of politics as being for the people. “Benevolent government” also highlights the extreme importance of maintaining the “people” in measuring the legitimacy of ruling politics. The idea that “Heaven sees as my people see; Heaven hears as my people hear,” and taking “the people’s voluntary acceptance” as the expression of Heaven’s will highlights the importance of “benevolence” in “benevolent government”. “Benevolence” not only determines whether or not power can dominate the world. “Xia, Shang and Zhou unified the Middle Kingdom because of the implementation of benevolent government; later, this unity was lost because of the lack of benevolent government.”26 It is also a basic measure of the value of whether political power is legal and effective. The main characteristics of “benevolent government” or “an unbearing government” are to love the people and to protect the people. Not only must the government do everything possible to consider the “people”, but also it must guarantee the basic life of the “people”, and make people live without worry.27 Moreover, we must find ways to educate the people in ideology and help all “people” “become a whole 23

Ibid. Ibid. 25 Mencius, 4a/2. 26 Mencius, “Teng Wen Gong” part 1. 27 Mencius, “Teng Wen Gong” part 1. 24

1 The People-Oriented Political Thought of Confucianism and Mohism

139

person”, or even “become a sage”. The guarantee of the basic life of the “people” is to “regulate the livelihood of the people”, to give the “people” a constant livelihood, to implement “benevolent government”. Mencius believes that we must start with dividing and defining fields, to “let the people have property”, which is to make sure that people shall have sufficient wherewithal to serve their parents above and their wives and children below. In good years, they shall always be abundantly satisfied; and in bad years they shall escape the danger of perishing. The idea of allotting people five acres of homesteads and planted mulberry trees enables that people over fifty can wear silk, and that dogs and pigs and other domestic animals can be raised in good times, so that the elderly over the age of seventy can eat meat.28 Mencius believes that the key to the realization of benevolent government is whether the emperor can, “apply the mind that cannot bear the sufferings of others in order to devise a compassionate way of governing.” True benevolent government can only be based on the monarch’s “unbearing mind”. Only a monarch with such a mind can produce a true “unbearing government”, and only the real “unbearing government” is the true “benevolence” that reflects the kingly way. Third, Mencius’ political thought contains obvious idea of monarchy, centralization, and hierarchy. Although the thought of Mencius’ humanism is typical, there are fundamental differences between his people-oriented thought and democratic thought after all. When we analyze Mencius’ political thought, we must not forget the other side of traditional Chinese political thought that is inseparable from peopleoriented thought, and the more typical the people-oriented thinker, the more typical his centralized, monarchical, and hierarchical thinking is. Mencius theory of a centralized monarchy is mainly manifested in the two features: first, the idea that “Heaven grants monarchy” and “the rule by man”. Mencius monarchy theory is not fundamentally different from Xunzi’s regarding the source, nature, and mission of the monarchical power. Not only has it adhered to the traditional theory of “Heavenlymandated monarchy”, but also it suggests that “Heaven gave birth to ordinary people, and he gave birth to a monarch for them, and he also gave birth to a teacher for them.”29 These ideas contain very strong elements of sage worship. “Sages are teachers of the hundred generations.”30 Mencius strongly advocated studying and imitating the method of ruling used by the traditional sage-kings, Yao and Shun. The monarch’s way of governing the country must learn from and imitate the traditional sage-kings, Yao and Shun. However, the focus of the study of emulation is the “unbearing mind” of the sages. Mencius has always taken providing the monarchs with the “doctrines of Yao and Shun” as a matter of course. “If my doctrine is not the doctrines of Yao and Shun governing the country, I dare not tell it in front of the king.”31 Mencius, like Confucius, emphasized the important political role of the monarch using metaphors, such as, “The moral character of the upper ruling class is like the wind, and that of the common people is like grass, when the wind blows on the grass, the grass falls 28

Mencius, “Liang Hui Wang” part 2. Mencius, Vllb, 38. 30 Mencius, “Gong-sun Chou” part II. 31 Mencius, “Gong-sun Chou” part II. 29

140

3 Contention of a Hundred Schools of Thought: The Convergence …

back in the direction of the wind,”32 “as long as they are upright, even the people of the world will be obeyed”, and “if you are kindhearted and just, there will be no one who is not; if you have personal loyalty, there will be no one who is not; if you are upright, there will be no one who is not; an upright ruler can stabilize the country.”33 In addition, although Mencius highlighted the extreme importance of traditional people-oriented thinking, he also uses a typical mode of expressing this people-oriented thought, emphasizing that it is the people who are important and the ruler, unimportant. He even advocates that the society can engage in revolution in order to eliminate the “autocrat”. But the “ethical” world that Mencius wants to achieve is still a world utilizing love with distinctions, holding that society can only operate successfully in accordance with the spirit and rules of the Zhou rites. The “heart of benevolence” or “unbearing mind” of human beings is only the basis of the maintaining power of social order, while the rules or order of the society still emphasize that the emperor should plan for his officials’ future, and the officials should show respect, loyalty and filial piety to the emperor. Mencius has a broader theoretical consciousness than Confucius, paying more attention to the universal role of human initiative. He also pays more attention to the important role of theoretical construction. Mencius’s political thought has a relatively rich philosophy, and puts forward some absolute, universal concepts, categories, and propositions that transcend experience. There are three main absolute, universal concepts, categories, and propositions invented by Mencius: First, Mencius believes that human nature is originally good, which is a priori and absolute. This idea holds that everyone’s humanity is good, and that human goodness always exists. It can be obscured, but it cannot be eliminated. The absolute necessity of human nature as the highest good shows that people have some basic feelings of justice which serve as an instinctive moral sense of knowing without consideration. Mencius’s theory of the original goodness of human nature actually emphasizes that people are the highest good in social nature, which is the most basic and most common property of human beings. Second, the theory of nature is the universal basis of the world proposed by Mencius. Of course, it is also the fundamental basis of human society: “A just cause enjoys abundant support, an unjust cause finds scant support.” The enlightened monarch is the one who has a just cause, and the one who has an unjust cause is an autocrat. Mencius advocates that the world should fight against the unjust cause by means of the just cause, suggesting a theory of revolution based on the Way of Heaven. Way of Heaven has a people-oriented nature and is characterized by being close to the people and loving the people. The Way of Heaven is judged by the people’s sorrows and joys to judge a cause just on unjust. Third, Mencius’s theory of the sage kings standardizes the existence of the ruler, regarding the sages as the basic model of the monarchy with a just cause. The basic criterion of human beings is the state of the existence of ancient kings. Mencius not only used the sage kings as the standard to measure and to judge all monarchs, but also he offered the model of the sages to the people, and asked everyone to accept them as means of measurement 32 33

Mencius, IVa 2. Mencius, “Li Lou,” Part I.

1 The People-Oriented Political Thought of Confucianism and Mohism

141

and evaluation. Mencius thought that “everyone can be a Yao or a Shun”, which not only fully affirms that everyone has equal opportunities to become a Yao or a Shun, but also holds that people must be a Yao or a Shun—otherwise, they are not people. (3)

Xunzi’s “Transforming Nature”, Promoting the Growth of Culture, and Kingly Government

Xunzi’s personal name is Kuang, but he was also known under the alternative name of Sun Qing. He was a native of the state of Zhao during the Warring States Period. He was born about 298 B.C. and died in 238 B.C. He used to study in the academy of Ji Xiaxue in the State of Qi, a great learning center at that time. He once was hired by the state of Qin and commented on the politics of the State. After that, he left the State of Qi and entered the State of Chu, where he received a courteous reception by Lord of Chunshen. He became the magistrate of Lanling and later died in the state of Chu. The Shi Ji or Historical Records has biography of him, which records the life and deeds of Xunzi. The fate of Xunzi’s political thought has a paradoxical nature that is difficult to elaborate. On the one hand, it has a strong influence on traditional Chinese politics for thousands of years. On the other hand, famous thinkers since the Song and Ming Dynasties have repeatedly devalued the importance of Xunzi in Confucianism, and he was almost artificially removed from Confucianism. According to Mr. Liu Zehua, Xunzi’s main thought belongs to Confucianism, and at the same time critically absorbs the thought of other ancient philosophers. It looks a bit mixed, but it is not messy. On the contrary, it seems to be rich, full, and broad.34

Xunzi’s political thought is very inclusive. It conforms to the needs of Confucianism while integrating the thoughts of the ancient philosophers and constructing a new political ideology. Compared with Mencius’ political thoughts, Xunzi adopted a more realistic approach, emphasizing the importance of social behavior norms from the objective reality of social needs governance, strengthening the formal or procedural requirements of the society as a whole, and highlighting the necessity of external political authority and social and political governance in human society. He also greatly believed in human initiative, so that humankind not only becomes the intelligent part of the universe, but also, by virtue of being able to form groups and being good at using external objects and existing material conditions, is able to rely upon its own capacity to “transform nature and promote the growth of culture”, to create an ethical world of the highest good, and to replace deities with humanity in reigning supreme over Earth. Xunzi’s political thought mainly includes the following four features: First, his ideas about human nature serve as the logical starting point of Xunzi’s political thought. Xunzi took an empirical or realist approach different from Mencius’s a priori method in thinking about human nature. He hypothesized that human nature is bad. Strictly speaking, Xunzi’s theory of human nature does not directly claim that human nature is evil. It is first affirmed that human nature is a 34

Liu Zehua: History of Pre-Qin Political Thought, Nankai University Press, 1984, No. p. 392.

142

3 Contention of a Hundred Schools of Thought: The Convergence …

natural entity that is free from the propriety and righteousness of the sage kings. Human nature is bad in this sense, but it does not mean that it is morally evil. It only means that human nature is profit-loving. The reason why profit-loving is bad is because it leads people to be selfish, causing internal disputes. This is a divisive or destructive factor in social groups. The separation and destructiveness of human nature is in conflict with the ruler’s coordination and management of society, and so is something that the ruler suppresses and stamps out. As such, the ruler suppresses and kills humanity, and the means of doing so is to transform nature and promote the growth of culture, thereby making the profit-loving person into one who loves righteousness. Xunzi’s assumptions about humanity are based on a large amount of social experience, taking the authoritative role of the propriety and righteousness of the sage kings as a basic premise. The human nature that Xunzi discusses is something that people naturally have. Rather than be something distinct from the social nature of animals and plants, Xunzi takes human beings’ daily performance as human nature, while Mencius takes human beings’ extraordinary performances as human nature. “What we call nature is something born; it can’t be learned, you can’t do it through hard work.”35 The nature of “something born” is the expression of the emotions and desires that everyone possesses. “Emotion is the actual content of nature; desire is the reaction of emotions to external things.”36 Xunzi’s view of human nature is that people’s temperament, affection, and desire are immoral things that are contrary to the propriety and righteousness of the sage kings. They are physiological reactions, such as the eyes’ desire to see beauty, the ears’ desire to hear beautiful sounds, the mouth’s desire to taste beautiful food, and the heart’s desire for profit. They are also drawn to things with social appeal. When one dresses oneself, one hopes to have silk and satin, embroidered with colorful patterns; when they travel, they hope to have vehicles and horses.” “The son of Heaven, the richest in the world, known as the sage, concurrently controls people; people cannot get their own control—all humans share these desires.” “Fame is like the sun and moon; merit is like heaven and earth. All humans share these desires.” Human nature is born with a love for wealth. They follow this human nature, and so there is a race for plunder, and their resignation and modesty disappears. From birth, there is a mentality of jealousy and hatred. When they obey this kind of human nature, they murder and frame one another, and loyalty and faithfulness disappear. They are born with greedy ears and eyes, and an instinct for music and beauty. They follow this nature, and so chaos and lewdness arise, and etiquette disappears.37

Nature does not have any goodness or badness, but if the humanity is ignorant of the propriety and righteousness of sage kings, and continues to develop, it is bound to produce “evil” that violates or destroys the propriety and righteousness of sage kings. Second, Xunzi believes that the human nature will naturally lead to ethical and political evils, and produce social and political destruction. However, he also believes 35

Xunzi, 23. Xunzi, 22. 37 Xunzi, 23. 36

1 The People-Oriented Political Thought of Confucianism and Mohism

143

that human nature also makes it so that people can group together. But the evil of profit-loving human nature has directly undermined the conditions of the “righteousness” of the group. Human social groups should be based in “love”, and it is a necessary condition for people to care for each other by means of ritual propriety. Because Xunzi is committed to theorizing about human nature, he cannot ignore the evil of human nature, and it is inevitable to propose means of intervention. This is the education and regulation promoted by the idea of promoting the growth of sagely culture, which Xunzi considers to be the goal of politics. In essence, it is the transformation of nature and the promotion of the culture of the sages. The idea of the transformation of nature and promotion of culture requires that the sages instill the social or ethical nature of human beings into the common people, and so changes the developmental trend that human nature has already formed, thereby causing people to become human beings. Xunzi believes that the important feature of human beings that differs them from other species is “artifice”, which is created by the sages or sage kings, rather than by human nature. Xunzi believes that artifice “can be learned and be made to be good. Etiquette is a system to maintain social order and ensure the survival of the crowd”. The root of artifice is the sages: “the sages transform nature and promote the growth of culture.”38 Xunzi’s view of transforming nature and promoting the growth of culture, on the one hand, affirms that the fundamental characteristics of people that distinguish them from other things is caused by human beings’ conscious activity, emphasizing the importance of human subjective initiative. On the other hand, it also endows a few sages with the ability to consciously create the fundamental characteristics of human beings. In this way, the masses must rely upon the sage kings if they want to become human. They must give everything to the sage kings. The result is the creation of all the reasons why the sage kings fully dominate and control the masses, and the sages have naturally become the key to determining the rise and fall of the world, “being the foundation of governing the state”.39 Third, Xunzi regards the sages’ “promoting the growth of culture” as the key to the rise and fall of the empire, and the most important work of transforming nature and promoting the growth of culture is to make clear the distinction between the rich and the poor, between men and women, and between the old and the young, so that people can form social groups, the basic means of doing so being the promotion of etiquette and respect for laws. Although Xunzi emphasizes that human nature can only be derived from the Nature itself, he also believes that human nature is different from that of other things. People naturally have a higher subjective initiative than other species. People are superior in nature to other species, and can be called “the genius of all things on earth.” Xunzi did not explain why human beings are superior to other species in their nature. Perhaps Xunzi did not even think about answering this question: it is simply natural that people are the genius of all things on earth. He was merely expressing a well-known fact, so there had been no need for any argument. But we must be clear that Xunzi’s theoretical assumptions about the superiority of 38 39

Xunzi, 23. Xunzi, 19.

144

3 Contention of a Hundred Schools of Thought: The Convergence …

human nature to that of other species lacks logical necessity, and the feature of human nature he discusses is not purely “natural”, as it includes some of the most basic, non-ethical, and social features of human beings. People cannot live a good life by relying on nature, and they cannot become ethical people until they carry out the sages’ project of “transforming nature and promoting the growth of culture.” Only then will they truly be able “to make clear the distinction between the rich and the poor, between men and women, and between the old and the young, so that people can form social groups”. Otherwise, human society will fall into turmoil. This is what Xunzi refers to when he writes, Human beings are born with desires. When these desires are not satisfied, they cannot remain without seeking their satisfaction. When this seeking for satisfaction is without measure or limit, there can only be contention. Contention leads to disorder, and disorder to exhaustion [of material resources]. The former kings hated this disorder, and so devised rites and righteousness to maintain necessary distinctions, to nurture people’s desires, and to assure the supply of things that people seek.40

The sages have to do the political work “to make clear the distinctions between the rich and the poor, between men and women, between the old and the young”, in order to save human society from being trapped in a state of turmoil. The core of political work in making clear such distinctions is “making etiquette and a respect for laws flourish. Propriety governs the state “as a balance weighs and a woodworker’s black line judges straightness”. People cannot live without propriety; things cannot succeed without propriety; a state cannot be peaceful without propriety”. “Therefore, heaven and earth provide material life and nurture the people. The sage completes human beings by civilizing and governing them.”41 Xunzi also attaches great importance to the “law” on the basis of ritual propriety, and like the legalists, who advocate that “law overcomes private desires.”42 Xunzi’s emphasizes the necessity of having laws and law enforcement. Fourth, although Xunzi advocates these things, he does not advocate a strict “government by law”, but rather advocates “rule by man”. The man who governs the world always exists, but there are no laws that remain unchanged. On the one hand, “the rule by man” and “government by laws” are all derived from ritual propriety, which, affirms the important political status of the monarch and the teacher as the “the foundation of governing the state.” “The monarch is the origin of the people; if the origin is clear, the river is clear; if the origin is turbid, the river is turbid.”43 Ritual has three basic points: Heaven and Earth constitute the beginning from which comes life; ancestors are the origin of a nation; emperors and teachers (This refers to the moral custom of respecting emperors and teachers and sticking to the order of all ages hierarchy.) are the foundation of the rule of the world Without heaven and earth, how can everything survive? How could there be humans without ancestors? How can the world be governed without a monarch and a teacher? Therefore, complete righteousness should serve the heavens and 40

Xunzi, 19. Xunzi, 27. 42 Xunzi, 14. 43 Xunzi, 12. 41

1 The People-Oriented Political Thought of Confucianism and Mohism

145

the earth, respect for ancestors and the monarchs and teachers, which are the three basic viewpoints of etiquette.44

On the other hand, the “law” is born from the sages, originally being the basic tool used by the sages to rule the world. If there is no sage, if one cannot rely on sage, the “law” can neither be produced nor play the positive role of the “law.” The “law” relies upon the sage kings to be created, and is carried out by the sage kings. If there are no sage kings, then even if there is a “law”, it will be difficult to rule the world. The so-called “man who governs the world always exists, but there are no laws that remain unchanged.” in which laws that remain unchanged is not a “law” in the sense of law or decree, but the “law” in the sense of legal philosophy, it also contains “rites”, whose political and philosophical significance is to emphasize that the sages created and controlled all the laws, it highlights the attachment or subordination of laws or rules relative to saints. If sages is the authority of the political society, then “law” is nothing but a derivative authority of political society, and the true supreme political authority of the political society, can only be a saint who has authority, it is simply not a “law” that derives authority. Xunzi believes that only the personalized authority of the sage is the noblest political authority of the political society. Xunzi’s so-called rule of law can only be created by Sages or sage—kings, and only those who understand and rely on the basic spirit of the “law” created by the sage—kings can really use the “the methods of governing.”45 What Xunzi calls the methods of governing is the sage kings’ law of three generations. He also promotes the later kings, advocating the study of the methods of governing for the three generations, taking them to be sage kings rather than hegemons. He believed the political system established by the king should not exceed the three generations of Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties. Additionally, the content of the law listed is also relatively systematic and detailed, and the ruler is required to follow what the sage kings created. The sages, in the eyes of Xunzi, as well as the regulations created by the later kings of the three generations, represent not only Xunzi’s ideal political ideal, but also the concrete manifestation of the dao or the basic principles and standards for measuring and judging existing political order and the ruler. Of course, meeting its standards is also a basic requirement of the monarchy. Fifth, although Xunzi’s political thoughts are far from that of Mencius in terms of people-oriented rhetoric, his political thoughts still contain rich, people-oriented ideas. Xunzi clearly insisted that politics is for the people rather than for the monarch. “It is not for the sake of the ruler that heaven brings forth the people; rather, it is for the sake of the people that heaven establishes the ruler,”46 From the perspective of summing up historical experience, he put forward a people-oriented political idea that the monarch should benefit the people: It is impossible for the monarch who governs the country to ask people to support themselves, if he does not cherish the people. The ruler is incapable of bringing his people close to him 44

Xunzi, 19. Xunzi, 9. 46 Xunzi, 27. 45

146

3 Contention of a Hundred Schools of Thought: The Convergence …

and loving himself, it’s impossible for them to do things for himself, bending their bodies and exhaust their energy.

Xunzi raised the importance of loving the people and benefiting the people to the height of determining the gains and losses of the regime: As a monarch, the state will be stable only if he loves the people, and glorious only if he loves the people with both ability and virtue. If he fails to do both, the state will perish.47

The starting point of Xunzi’s politics is a man of noble character, who raises the people, which in itself reflects a people-oriented idea. Xunzi proposes that the people are like the water, while the monarch is like a boat. The water can carry a boat, and it can also overturn the boat. The people can support the political rule of the monarch, but they can also subvert the political rule of the monarchy, which highlights the important position of the people in the political system. Xunzi’s people-oriented thought also showed that he proposed a series of policy propositions to enrich and benefit the people, such as modifying the conditions of mandatory state service to leave ample time for harvest, as well as to repair dikes and other infrastructure, and modify taxes. Xunzi’s political thought is a bit less philosophical than Mencius’. His theory pays more attention to empirical and political issues, and uses more empirical thinking to explain the universal nature of people using more scientific characteristics. His idea that human nature is bad takes common empirical facts as the starting point for thinking about human nature. Mencius’s idea that human nature is good more considers human nature with respect to natural human psychology. Mencius pays more attention to the root of political governance and emphasizes the importance of human transformation through teaching in political governance. He asks people to be innocent in an attempt to achieve the rituals of kingliness on the outside with the sagely benevolence on the inside. He also pays more attention to the moral autonomy of the people. Xunzi pays more attention to the governing of human behavior, and advocates that political governance should focus on “ritual”. He asks people to behave in the manner Confucius refers to as, “not looking at things that do not conform to the rites, not listening to things that do not conform to the rites, not saying things that do not conform to the rites, not doing things that do not conform to the rites”. He requires that people abide by the constraints of kingliness on the outside, whose rituals serve as the minimum standard of sagely benevolence on the inside. Xunzi pays more attention to the compulsory rule of political authority. As a predecessor of Confucianism in the pre-Qin dynasty, Xunzi made important contributions to the inheritance of Confucian academic traditions and literature. (4)

The Mohist’s idea of the Will of Heaven, Universal Love, and Advocating top-down Uniformity (Shang Yi 尚一)

Mozi’s given name was Di. He was born in 468 B.C. and died in 367 B.C. The Shi Ji or Historical Records is full of speculation and vagueness regarding the records 47

Xunzi, 12.

1 The People-Oriented Political Thought of Confucianism and Mohism

147

of Mozi. “Mo Di was a scholar-bureaucrat from Song, and was good at defensive warfare tactics”. He made every effort to promote economizing expenditures. Some people say that he and Confucius were contemporaries, while others say that he is after Confucius. Mozi and his disciples formed the Mohist school, and respected one person as a “The Great Master”, Mozi. The Mohist learned both liberal arts and martial arts, and they believed the necessities for individual life to be thin. The Mohists gained high office and were required to be sent by The Great Master. They claimed to respect Dayu teachings, taking self-suffering to the extreme. They wore short clothes and straw shoes, and rushed among the states to support the weak and resist the strong, being skilled at defense and opposing the attacks of powerful states. The basic perspective of Mozi’s political thought is as humanistic as that of Confucianism, which probes into the necessity and proper form of politics from the point of view of human sociality, and does not pay much attention to elucidating political thought from the perspective of universal laws. Mozi’s political thought is far less philosophical than Mencius’ and Xunzi’s, but closer to Confucius’. The main content of his political thought is a systematic political program and proposition. The general feature of Mozi’s political thought are zhi (质), ye (野), shen (神), and yi (一). The so-called Zhi (质) refers to Mozi’s lack of aristocratic temperament. Rather, he has a strong civilian temperament, emphasizing practice, ignoring the theory, and using “Li” as the main symbol of people. Ye (野) refers to promoting simplicity against the extravagance of formal rituals, emphasizing that what distinguishes human beings from other things is “the practice of small producers” (Li 力) rather than “luxuriant elegance” (Wen 文). Shen (神) refers to the idea that the Will of Heaven and the gods and ghosts are ultimately reliable. People don’t have to ask the Will of Heaven and the gods and ghosts for all things, but they can still usher in rewards and punishments for people, with the purpose of settling disputes, rather than acting recklessly and not caring for anyone, acting on their own will. The idea of yi (一) emphasizes the unity of order and authority, and requires people to unconditionally obey the unified political authority. The content of Mozi’s political thought includes roughly the following elements: reverence for heaven, serving spirits, respecting the virtuous, identifying with superiors, economizing expenditures, simplicity in funerals, against music, against fatalism, universal love, and against aggression. In the first place, Mozi differs from Confucius, Mencius, and Xunzi in that he first advocates a substantial role for “the will of Heaven” and “ghosts” in the political system. Although the characteristics of Mozi’s political thought also have obvious humanism characteristics, he still considers the will of Heaven and ghosts as maintaining the highest source of political authority and legitimacy in his system. Mozi first affirmed that “Heaven is more honorable and wise than the Son of Heaven”, and he highly emphasized that “righteousness” came out of heaven, thus placing Heaven in an absolute, authoritative position. Heaven can reward and punish the Son of Heaven: “When the Son of Heaven practices virtue, Heaven rewards him; when the Son of Heaven does evil, Heaven punishes him.”48 Second Mozi also stressed

48

Mozi, 27.

148

3 Contention of a Hundred Schools of Thought: The Convergence …

that Heaven stands on the side of the people. Heaven judges the quality of politics according to the people: To love others and to benefit others is to follow Heaven, and so you will be rewarded by heaven; to hate others and to steal others is to go against Heaven, and so you will be punished by heaven.49

The will of Heaven has become the source of political authority and political law, and it is also an important criterion for judging whether or not the ruler has political legitimacy. Governance is good when in harmony with Heaven, and it is not good to be contrary to heaven.50 Mozi warned the rulers to rule according to the requirements of the will of Heaven: “be careful and do what Heaven wants; do not do what Heaven hates.” Mozi emphasizes that the ruler must follow the will of Heaven, which is fitting for righteousness. He pointed out that “This is the very reason I know why Heaven likes virtue while disliking viciousness.“ “With righteousness the world will be orderly, and without it the world will be disorderly”. Mozi stressed the righteousness to rule the world, “You cannot go from the bottom to the top; you have to go from the top to the bottom.“ Heaven is the highest political authority: If ordinary people cannot manage to rectify themselves, there will need to be rectification by a scholar (the lowest rank of the nobility). If a scholar can’t manage to rectify himself, he will be corrected by the lesser feudal lords of a higher-ranking noble. If a lesser feudal lord manage to rectify himself, he will be corrected by the rulers. If the rulers can’t rectify themselves, they will be corrected by the Three Senior Lords. If the Three Senior Lords cannot rectify themselves, then the Son of Heaven will do it. If the Son of Heaven cannot rectify himself, Heaven will do it. The high status of the heavens can provide the basis, norms, and standards for the behavior of the Son of Heaven, and can reward and punish the Son of Heaven.51

All the righteous actions of loving and helping others can be in line with Heaven’s wishes, thus winning praise from heaven. On the contrary, all the unjust actions against the will of Heaven are bound to be punished by heaven.52 The main purpose of the Heaven’s blessings to the people is to warn the rulers. To a certain extent, this kind of warning is also discussed in both the “Will of Heaven” and “On Ghosts” books of the Mozi. The idea is not merely designed to “lead the people to serve the God” of Yin-Shang. Rather, it is just last barrier to world order. Second, Mozi put forward the idea that “the Will of Heaven” aims to promote an ideal world in which everyone practices “universal love” and “mutual benefit”. On the one hand, Mozi regards “universal love” and “mutual benefit” as the fundamental purpose of politics, and strives to realize it. On the other hand, Mozi also regards “universal love” and “mutual benefit” as the fundamental standard for sages to govern the world, and hopes to realize great order throughout the empire. “Everyone attacked 49

Mozi, 27. Mozi, 27. 51 Mozi, 28. 52 Mozi, 4. 50

1 The People-Oriented Political Thought of Confucianism and Mohism

149

each other because they thought their opinions were right and others’ were wrong”. The result of this can only be the generation mutual disapproval among people, rather than universal love and mutual benefit. “Considering others to be wrong” is the source of social chaos. Only a “unified righteousness” in the world can create “universal love” and “mutual benefit”. “Universal love” and “mutual benefit” are what Heaven desires. “Heaven will want people to love universally and to benefit each other, and does not want people to weaken and cheat each other.”53 It is also the starting point for the sages to govern the world, or the safe and sturdy political foundation. Mozi believes that people lacking universal love is the source of disaster, and that all kinds of disasters are caused by not loving each other. If you can love one another, there will be no trouble in the world. Universal love not only encourages people to care for each other, but there is also an emotional expression of ethical love between sovereign and subject, father and son, husband and wife, and brothers. Universal love is what Heaven wants in terms of morality and ethical friendship. On the contrary, universal love creates a loss of balance. Generally, if people lose their self-interest, then the world will be in chaos, and the world will not want it. As he loves himself and not his father, the son benefits himself to the disadvantage of his father; As he loves himself and not his elder brother, the younger brother benefits himself to the disadvantage of his elder brother; As he loves himself and not his ruler, the minister benefits himself to the disadvantage of his ruler. This is called chaos.54 When the father shows no affection to the son, when the elder brother shows no affection to the younger brother, and when the ruler shows no affection to the minister, this too is what the world knows as disorder. When the father loves only himself and not the son, he benefits himself to the disadvantage of the son. When the elder brother loves only himself and not his younger brother, he benefits himself to the disadvantage of the younger brother. When the ruler loves only himself and not his minister, he benefits himself to the disadvantage of his minister… It all arises from the want of mutual love.55 All of the world’s disorders,” “all arises from the want of mutual love”. Mozi thinks that loving others is like loving oneself Then disaster will not prosper, “If everyone in the world will love universally, states not attacking each other, houses not upsetting each other, thievery and robbery ceasing to exist, rulers and ministers, fathers and sons, all being affectionate and filial—if all this comes to pass the world will be orderly”.56

Third, Mozi is like many thinkers at the time in also advocating sagely politics as the king’s basis. He believed that the political legitimacy of the sage kings stemmed from Heaven or the will of Heaven, and that the most basic political work of the sage kings was to unify the conceptions of righteousness in the world so that everyone can “love universally” and “benefit each other”, thus forming a centralized political system. In a sense, Mozi and Confucius, among others, advocate elitist governance, with a small number of intelligent and virtuous people as political leaders to rule and manage the public, while the masses below are inferior in terms of virtue and intelligence. Mozi believed that “If the noble and wise men govern the foolish and 53

Mozi, 4. Mozi, 14. 55 Mozi, 14. 56 Mozi, 14. 54

150

3 Contention of a Hundred Schools of Thought: The Convergence …

lowly, then the state will be orderly; if the foolish and lowly man governs the noble and wise man, then the state will be disorderly.”57 That is to say, respecting the virtuous is the foundation of politics in the eyes of Mozi. Since ancient times, the rulers of the world have attempted to control the fools with wise men. The principle of respecting the virtuous means to dominate people who are incompetent with capable people. The wise man must be qualified for governance and must be honored. The noble people control the humble people, and the noble people control the despicable people. The king is the most honorable, while the people are the most despicable. The Mohist idea of respecting the virtuous opposes the influence of patriarchal feelings in politics, and advocates that only the virtuous ought to be positions of power. As long as they are virtuous, they will be in positions of power, and will become officials. Respecting the virtuous is also the principle of political leaders, and political leaders at all levels have obtained positions with worthy men of ability. “Therefore, the ancient sages respected the wise and appointed the able people, and do not form a party with father or brother. They are also not biased toward wealth, nor are they in love with beauty”. “The virtuous were promoted and exalted; the vicious were kept back and banished.”58 The birth of the Son of Heaven is also in accordance with the principle of Respecting the Virtuous, produced by the “the existence of God or of spirits.” The three generations of sage kings is: The ruler who governs the country under heaven, he has implemented the principle of universal and equal love for the people, on this basis, we should further make the interests of all people in the world universal, and further lead the people of the world to respect the supreme God, so as to love the people and benefit the people; The supreme God appreciates the rulers and makes them the Son of Heaven, let him play the role of parents of all the people, and all the people praise the ruler and call him sage-king, which is still the case today.59

The basic principle of Mozi’s establishment of a political system is that the rationale has the right, the more reason, the greater power, the chiefs at all levels are wise men who are rationally superior to others; in turn, the wise man is already the chief of the political penalty, and the wisdom of the official is of course superior, officials can also rely on this to require full obedience from members of society, and comprehensive political control of social life. Fourth, Mozi’s political thought emphasizes the absolute control of external political authority on individuals. This is quite the same as Xunzi, and the degree of emphasis is even better than Xunzi. In a sense, Mozi is more inclined to the fierce idea of foolish people, even the political thoughts of the legalist “taking the officials as their teachers” have been produced. Its important ideological performance is “Shang Yi”, “Respecting the Virtuous” and “Identifying with the Superior”. The root of great order throughout [across] the land lies in Universal Love. The most crucial aspect of the performance of people’s Universal Love is whether the view of Universal Love 57

Mozi, 9. Mozi, 9. 59 Mozi 9. 58

1 The People-Oriented Political Thought of Confucianism and Mohism

151

can be consistent. If everyone expresses their views on Universal Love, love others according to your own opinion, then the dispute between each other must be difficult to avoid, and hinder the practice of Universal Love. Mozi is particularly eager to demand consistency in this view, not only do not require different views and opinions in society, but also the pivot to achieve the same idea handed over to the governor. Directly achieve ideological consensus with the wisdom of the ruler, the lowly are deprived of the right to know and debate, as there is only a saying that they ought to believe in the ruler. The world’s thoughts are unified with the superiors’. Finally, it arrived at the emperor as the most supreme and wise in the world. The view of the emperor is the final view of Universal Love. The empire must be convinced in the mind of the judgment of the Son of Heaven. According to the Mohists, one of the emperor’s most important functions is to unify thoughts, manifested in the idea of “let everyone have the same values and appropriate codes of conduct.” The process of “letting everyone have the same values and appropriate codes of conduct” must be carried out on all levels of the bureaucracy. Choose the world’s most wise and sacred person, establish him as the Son of Heaven, and let everyone have the same values and appropriate codes of conduct. The Son of Heaven has established that he only depends on what he hears and sees, and we can’t unify the opinions of the world by ourselves, so we choose to examine the virtuous, intelligent and eloquent people of the world and recommend him as Three Senior Lords to participate in the opinions of unifying the world. The Son of Heaven and Three Senior Lords having been established, and because of the vast territory of the world, the people in the distant mountains and fields cannot be unified, so dividing up the world and setting up tens of thousands of the feudal lords and rulers so that they can work to unify the opinions of their countries. The monarch has been established, but it is impossible to unify the opinions of a state by the ears and eyes of one person. Therefore, in their own country, they chose some wise men to be generals and the lesser feudal lords around the monarch, as well as their long-term expertise as far away as the countryside, so that they could participate in the unification of domestic opinions.60

Mozi’s political thought not only highlights the divinity of Chinese traditional political thought, but also highlights the centralization of Chinese traditional political thought. However, Mozi’s political thoughts have been ignored in the Han Dynasty. The main reasons are: First, the beneficial elements of Mozi’s political thought were inherited and absorbed by other schools of thought. The flower of Mohist thoughts was on the high branches of other schools of thought and produced fruitful results; second, the content of Mohist political thoughts rarely has major innovations after Mozi, and there is a lack of important thinkers like Confucian Mencius and Xunzi.

60

Mozi, 10.

152

3 Contention of a Hundred Schools of Thought: The Convergence …

2 Daoism, Legalism, and the Political Thought of Man-Made and Natural Objects Although the political thoughts of Daoism and Legalism cannot be considered the core content of Chinese traditional political thoughts, as is Confucian political thought, their status and role in the history of Chinese political thought are also very important. If Confucian political thoughts did not contend with Daoist and Legalist political thoughts, and become its wings, it would be impossible for it to obtain its historical status later on, and the logic of Chinese political thought will also be incomplete. In this sense, we may wish to regard Daoist and Legalist political thoughts as friends and necessary supplements of Confucian political thought. If Confucianism mainly deducts political ideology from the perspective of human social performance or human ethical requirements, the starting point of its logic is the sage of absolute transcendence, then Daoism and Legalism undoubtedly interpret their political ideology from the perspective of universal laws or laws of the world. The logical starting point is the Dao of objective existence of the natural world. Both Daoism and Legalism advocate the “law and nature” and emphasize the negative effects of human desires, require people to endure their own desires, not to be restrained by desires. Daoism emphasizes the universal thought of philosophical meaning and provides theoretical resources in the sense of methodology. At the same time, it also led some Daoist thinkers to completely deny human civilization and the necessity of civilization, and embarked on the road of political criticism and even anarchism. The focus on law and nature by the legalists is naturally a positive appeal, and they hope to learn universal and effective political methods from the universal laws of the world. The Daoist and Legalist ideas not only have a certain lineage relationship, but each interprets its basic political thoughts from the perspective of universal laws or laws of the world. Even their status in the history of Chinese political thought is quite similar—both Daoism and Legalism are essential and important complements to Confucian political thought. (1)

Laozi’s Nature and Governing without Taking Action

The founder of Daoism is said to be Laozi, but the specific situation of Laozi is already unclear in the era of Sima Qian. Shi Ji or Historical Records Volume 63 cited three people. However, judging from the records of the three people in Shi Ji or Historical Records, Sima Qian seems to tend to believe that Laozi is Lao Dan. So far, there are still many disputes about Laozi’s situation, however, most people think that Laozi is an Lao Dan. According to Shi Ji or Historical Records Volume 63, Laozi was of the surname Li, his formal name was Er and his courtesy name was Tan, he was from Ku County in the State Chu (now Luyi, Henan Province). He was a official historian in charge of books in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty. He was well-known. According to legend, Confucius had consulted him about Zhou Li and lived in seclusion in his old age. There are many versions of the Laozi in history, including the present book Laozi, which consists of 81 chapters, and consists of two

2 Daoism, Legalism, and the Political Thought …

153

parts comprised of philosophical poems written in verse. They are the first classics of Daoism. The Laozi sums up a programmatic category from the perspective of the commonality of all things. This is the “Dao”, and Laozi takes “Dao” as the logical starting point to deduct a philosophical ideology and systematically explain and explain the various phenomena of the complex world, as well as to give people guidance on behavioral and thinking methods, or to find a universal basis for people’s regular behaviors and thinking methods. Laozi’s discussion of the laws of nature does not develop scientific rationality or cognitive rationality as in the West, nor to create conceptual tools of logically rigorous understanding and discovery, but to guide people’s social behavior. Although in terms of form and proposition, Laozi does emphasize the importance of the universal law of nature, but from a theoretical point of view, Laozi is mainly or fundamentally a classic humanist. The focus never leaves the practice of human beings, and the empirical material supporting the basic conclusions of Laozi contains a large number of human social experience materials. “The ‘Dao’ of Laozi is not, as the current philosophy history thinks, an observation and generalization of natural phenomena,” it “is just to understand people by means of nature, it is not a true study or summary of natural knowledge.“61 Perhaps it is precisely because the basic ideas and conclusions of Lao Tzu have more influence on social life than on scientific development, some people regard Lao Tzu as a military work. Some people also regard Laozi as a political work. Li Zehou believes that Laozi is a political-philosophical theory based on the actual experience of the military and the observation and understanding of history.62 The content of Laozi’s political thought is very rich and complex, and people’s interpretation of Laozi’s political thought is also varied. Here, we have not opened up the issue of the class orientation of Laozi, nor do we intend to discuss whether its philosophical thinking is a matter of materialism or idealism. Instead, we focus on the issues, methods, and viewpoints that are universal in their political ideas, based on the determination of the logical position of Laozi’s political thought in the development of Chinese political thought, and thus determine its logical position and social significance in Chinese history. The political thought of Laozi has the following aspects in general: One, the “Dao” proposed by Laozi is not only the original and programmatic concept in Chinese thought, but also the programmatic and original concept in Chinese political thought. “Dao” makes people’s behavior obtain the basic form of authoritative assurance. It has become a hub or intermediary between the heavens and the people, and thus is closely linked to the legitimacy of political authority. The “Dao” of Laozi is an original concept. It is because “Dao” is not the inherent characteristic of all things, but the source of all things that precedes everything. Laozi called it vividly “the mother of the world.”63 “All things in the world come into being

61

Li Zehou: Sun Laohan Heshu, On the History of Ancient Chinese Thought, pp. 92–93. Li Zehou: Sun Laohan Heshu, On the History of Ancient Chinese Thought, p. 78. 63 Laozi, 25. 62

154

3 Contention of a Hundred Schools of Thought: The Convergence …

from Being (You); and Being comes into being from Non-being (Wu)”64 “From Too there comes one. From one there comes two. From two there comes three. From three there comes all things.” The “one” here spoken of refers to Being.65 The “Dao” of Laozi is therefore not an ontological concept because “Dao” emphasizes the fundamental similarities between all things in the world. Rather than the fundamental differences between different categories of things, different objects must show the common “Dao”, they are the same, together to embody and maintain the “Dao.” Although the Dao tells the origin of the world, although it mentions the universal laws of nature in the world, “Dao” is still not a ontological concept, because “Dao” is a programmatic concept that guides people’s practice. Since nothing has its own unique essence, “natural birth” can only be subordinated to the fundamental rules or laws of the great source. In this way, “Dao” is only a code of conduct or fundamental criterion for explaining and regulating the natural and natural state of things. To flexibly, practically, and rationally explain the “Dao” of “counter-moving” in a variety of ways. In Laozi’s exposition of “Dao”, many references have behavioral guiding significance and contain rich political wisdom. “He does not show himself; therefore he is seen everywhere; he does not define himself; therefore he is distinct; he does not assert himself; therefore he succeeds; he does not boast of his work; therefore he endures”. “He does not contend, and for that very reason no one in the world can contend with him”.66 Second, “Laozi” believes that the law of the “Dao” and the form of movement is the most ideal and perfect mode of existence in the universe, the expression of this law is “nature.” Laozi tries to understand the laws of human society from the perspective of universal law, and to propose a new perspective on how to analyze human society. He believes that man, as one of the works of God, is also universally natural. Its activities should also embody the universal laws of nature. It will take natural law as an important criterion for the legitimacy and rationality of human activities, and clearly advocates “returning people to nature.”67 The tradition since the Yin and Zhou Dynasties has always emphasized the importance of God and regards God’s will as a reasonable measure of human behavior, the divination of Yin Shang took a “report” on God “no matter big or small things”. Although the Western Zhou Dynasty has emphasized the importance of human virtue, “Heaven” as a personified God is still the only source of reasonable behavior. Of course, “Heaven” as the basis for reasonable and justified behavior of people includes the perspective and content of both human and material, when the humanity of society is further enhanced, “People” and “things” will respectively become the basis for explaining people’s behavior. Its performance is that Confucius represents the Confucianism of human beings from the particularity of human beings, and Laozi represents the Daoist naturalism from the universal attributes of things. Confucianism and Daoist naturalism all reflect 64

Laozi, 40. Laozi, 42. 66 Laozi, 22. 67 Liu Zehua: The History of Chinese Political Thought (pre-Qin), Zhejiang People’s Publishing House, 1996, p. 614. 65

2 Daoism, Legalism, and the Political Thought …

155

the humanistic spirit that replaces God’s factors with human factors. While human beings have both sociality and nature, the reasonable and legitimate interpretation of human behavior also needs the basis of these two aspects almost at the same time, and the basis of these two aspects is often only with some kind of internal unity can be truly persuasive. Laozi’s naturalist interpretation and Confucian’s humanist interpretation perspective has a certain one-sidedness. It cannot become the whole society’s common belief in the political ideology, but its importance in the history of Chinese political thought is not to be denied. To a large extent, “nature” is the excellent state of “Dao”; all things only have its “natural” state is the real embodiment of the “Dao”. In this sense, things deviate from their natural state is to deviate from the “Dao”. People’s “nature” is no exception. “A small country having few people” is the “nature” of human society. However, in the view of Laozi, humankind has long said goodbye to “nature”, so “Laozi” has to set up a “doing nothing, yet there is nothing that is not done” concept of governance for the political state of mankind, hoping to achieve or retain the “nature” of human beings as far as possible. Third, “Laozi” advocates a concept of governance for the state “doing nothing, yet there is nothing that is not done”, many principles and measures for ruling the country have been put forward, enriching the connotation of Chinese political thought. “The law of nature is to reduce the surplus and supply the insufficient, but the law of society is not the same, which reduce the insufficient, and devote them to those who have more than enough. Who can make himself rich and help the poor with his wealth? Only a person with the Dao prevails can do it.”68 The principles of governance in human society actually deviate from the “Dao” and tend to chaos. “When the Dao is lost, there is the Te. When the Te is lost, there is [the virtue of] human-heartedness. When human-heartedness is lost, there is [the virtue of] righteousness. When righteousness is lost, there are the ceremonials. Ceremonials are the degeneration of loyalty and good faith, and are the beginning of disorder in the world.”69 What is pointed out in Laozi, such as virtue, humaneness, righteousness, and propriety are indeed alienated into the plaything of the ruler in reality. At this time, there are many sly and dirty things hidden behind them. However, we still cannot fully agree with Laozi’s complete denial of the consciously creating political tools. Human reason of course is not omnipotent, but human reason is indeed not absolutely incompetent, it does solve some highly specific empirical problems. Actually, some form of ruling principle or strategy itself which Laozi advocates does illustrates the validity of human reason. Laozi (25) clearly puts forward the ruling principles that “the king takes the earth as the learning object, the earth takes the heaven as the learning object, the heaven takes the Dao as the learning object, and the Dao takes nature as the object of learning, advocating, “The sage manages affairs through the course of taking no action, and spreads the teachings that are not put in words.”70 Its main content has the following two aspects: First, the rulers must be pure quiescence and non-action [or taking no purposive action], reduce political activities, decreasing taxes, lighten 68

Laozi, 77. Laozi, 33. 70 Laozi, 10. 69

156

3 Contention of a Hundred Schools of Thought: The Convergence …

penalties, use soldiers with caution, and practice frugality. Only in this way can we “rule a big country like cooking a small fish”,71 thereby remaining unable destroy the nature of the people and society. Second, the ruler should not act to induce people to do something, but should instead make the people “without desires”, “without knowledge”, pure quiescence and non-action [or taking no purposive action]. He should keep the folk customs simple and honest, and reduce the source of chaos in the world. The sage rules the people by emptying their minds, filling their bellies, weakening their wills, and toughening their sinews, ever making the people without knowledge and without desire, “by doing it without taking action, there is nothing that is not well-governed.”72 The “wu-wei (non-action)” of Laozi is obviously not the inaction of sitting, but to raise the ruler to the state of great wisdom in which Great wisdom is like ignorance, “wu-wei (non-action)” is not a passive waiting state, instead, wait and see that it is ready to go, and that you will always be in a state of uncomplacent positiveness. As long as people are aware of their shortcomings and limitations, they are still in a positive state. As long as people can still maintain adequate tolerance and modesty, they can get people’s help, and there will be further development. Laozi’s “doing nothing, yet there is nothing that is not done” just tell people that: On the one hand, no one will be absolutely perfect, and everyone has many weaknesses and deficiencies under some circumstances. Everyone needs to review and reflect on themselves from time to time, trying to show cautiousness about things known and tolerance for things unknown. On the other hand, the ruler can only play a strategic role if he gets out of trivial affairs, the true wise rulers must be those sages who are “good at doing things with the strength of others.” Those emperors who are always inclined to self-expression and willing to cut their own knives can only be inferior ones who are not in the stream. A truly wise monarch is one who can handle everything with ease under any circumstances. In all circumstances, the monarch can handle everything with ease, and he must always get out of the trivial affairs and put himself into a “wu-wei (non-action)” state of active waiting. Only in this way can the ruler truly achieve the goal of “nothing that is not done.” In the form of “wu-wei (non-action).” “Doing nothing, yet there is nothing that is not done” contains a wealth of political ruling wisdom. Even today, it still has important guiding value for government management and so on. (2)

Zhuangzi’s Ideal Personality and Political Criticism

Zhuangzi’s given name was Zhou. He was born in 369 B.C. and died in 286 B.C. He is from the state of Song (now near Shangqiu, Henan), and at one time served as an administrative official at Meng [the “lacquer garden”; usually identified as a town in modem Shantung, Anhui or Hunan Province. According to Shi Ji or Historical Records Volume 63, Zhuangzi “He made himself well-acquainted with all the learning of his time, but the essentials of his own thought were derived from the words of Laozi”. Zhuangzi records that some stories of Zhuangzi are not fully true, but they can also be used to understand the spirit of Zhuangzi’s avoidance of government and 71 72

Laozi, 6. Laozi, 3.

2 Daoism, Legalism, and the Political Thought …

157

cynicism. Although Zhuangzi’s political thought has a deep relationship with Laozi, there are also many similarities in specific claims, but Zhuangzi’s political thought still has a basic core different from that of Laozi’s thought. Not only is the logic of the thoughts rigorous, but also the attitude of the viewpoint is clear and distinct, which creates a philosophy of his own Compared with Laozi, Zhuangzi pays more attention to the “nature” of individual people. “Laozi” is based on the natural state of the human group and hopes to build an ideal society for “a small country having few people.” By instrumental consideration of “Dao”, many political philosophical propositions with important philosophies have been developed to serve the monarchy in governing the country. Zhuangzi, on the other hand, pays more attention to the individual person, and not only locates and interprets nature from the perspective of the individual, but also puts forward a series of methodologies to safeguard the individual’s nature, and thus makes a philosophical political critique of the rule, the core of which lies in the construction of an ideal life that is free from political taint. “Laozi” makes every effort to make people ruthless, while Zhuangzi expresses his passion for life and further condemns politics’ alienation and harm to life. Generally speaking, the content of Zhuangzi’s political thought mainly has the following features: First, Zhuangzi, like Laozi, also took “Dao” as the origin and programmatic concept of his political thought. Zhuang Zhou believes that the origin of the world is “Dao.” Zhuangzi’s “Dao” is not only consisted of “emotions and good faith, wu-wei (non-action) and lack shapes”, or “from its origin, without heaven and earth, it has been inherent since ancient times,”73 but it is also a thing that makes things come out of everything. The Dao is the condition of everything, but it does not depend on any other condition. All existence depends on Dao, but Dao does not depend on any other existence. It existed before Heaven and Earth, and other things are derived from it, but it is self-sufficient. Zhuangzi believes that all people should learn, imitate, and practice the “Dao” in order to become a real person. The so-called real person is a state of freedom that preserves the true nature of human beings without being alienated by foreign objects. The person in this state of impunity is Zhuangzi’s so-called “the perfect man” and “a sage.” But Zhuangzi’s interpretation of “Dao” is not the same as Laozi’s. On the one hand, Zhuangzi’s “Dao” emphasizes more than purely natural features than Laozi, and associates “Dao” with universal natural objects. He put forward the famous assertion that “the whole world is just a kind of qi,” and regards people as a part of pure nature, a derivative of nature. Using nature to define the essential characteristics of a person, he advocates that people should recover one’s original simplicity. According to Zhuangzi, “heaven and earth give me body to bear, give life to make me tired”74 is to highlight the materiality of human existence, it is condensations of the qi that we have our life, to gather is to live, to scatter is to die”,75 which shows the free and natural life realm that Zhuangzi pursues. On the other hand, Laozi mainly looks at the “Dao” of the origin from the perspective of understanding 73

Zhuangzi, 6. Zhuangzi, 6. 75 Zhuangzi, 2. 74

158

3 Contention of a Hundred Schools of Thought: The Convergence …

and analyzing the rise and fall of political order and disorder, and also uses “Dao” as a methodological basis for achieving good politics. Also, the personality that Laozi attempts to shape is still a typical ruler’s personality. Zhuangzi sees the Dao from the perspective of the spiritual freedom of individual survival, taking “Dao” as the basis for people to acquire respect and maintain individual, spiritual freedom. It reflects a true people-oriented humanistic thinking. This kind of people-oriented has a clear political critique, or a more obvious anarchist tendency. Second, Zhuangzi’s definition of human nature from the natural point of view determines that his political thought has obvious anti-political color and strong social critique. This is mainly manifested in Zhuangzi’s series of critical remarks on real politics. Zhuangzi first criticized the destruction of human nature by Confucian “benevolence and righteousness.” He said: Long ago the Yellow Emperor started working on people’s minds with benevolence and righteousness, Yao and Shun worked so hard that their skin did not grow fine hair.76

Since Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties, no one in the world can change his nature without resorting to external things. The common people sacrificed for their own benefit, scholars sacrificed for fame, a senior official sacrificed for his family, sages sacrifice for the sake of the world, so these four kinds of people have different careers, different fame and title, and that they sacrifice their lives to harm human nature, but is the same. Po-yi died for honor at Mount Shou-yang, while [the brigand] Chib died for cupidity on the Easter Range, the reasons for the two men’s deaths are different, but they are the same in having destroyed their lives and done violence to their natures.77 Secondly, Zhuangzi also exposed the ugliness of realistic politics, and, to some extent, criticized the deviation of political things from the essence of humanities. The politics of reality are shrouded in various sacred auras, and people obey politics mostly because they believe that such aura is a manifestation of fairness and justice, But Zhuangzi tells people that this sacred aura in real politics has actually been alienated into a tool for a few privileged people to realize their own lusts. The sacred things created by the sages can be used by both the good and the wicked. However, there are fewer good people and more wicked people. Therefore, the creation of the so-called sages has also become a bad thing that harms people. Zhuangzi put forward that “the Sages does not die, the thief is not more than”, “The Thief is punished, the now clamoring is the princes, and benevolence and righteousness.”78 Thirdly, Zhuangzi’s political ideal is “in an age when de [i.e. the Dao in application] perfectly prevails” without politics, which fundamentally denies the necessity of political existence. Although Zhuangzi believes that the reality of politics is mostly an ugly thing that harms human nature, political forces exist objectively in society, and most people have to deal with political forces. In this way, Zhuangzi will naturally express his hopes for political power, hope that political forces can maximize the respect for people’s essential attributes and that political forces can remain wu-wei 76

Zhuangzi, 11. Zhuangzi, 8. 78 Zhuangzi, 10. 77

2 Daoism, Legalism, and the Political Thought …

159

(non-action), To ensure that everyone can live a social life that is in line with the Dao, restore the people to “a constant nature” they spin and are clothed, till and are fed.79 For the ancient governors if there is no desire, the world will be satisfied, if there is no action, everything will change, if the society is calm, the people will be stable.80 Zhuangzi’s concept of “wu-wei (non-action)” is different from Laozi’s concept of “wu-wei (non-action) inaction”. Laozi’s “wu-wei (non-action)” is a positive state of change, just showing the quietness on the surface. Its fundamental pursuit is to leave “nothing undone”; Zhuangzi’s demand for the ruler’s “wu-wei (non-action)” is not only to require the ruler to reduce his intervention in social life, or try to keep everyone works for oneself or natural state, but it also requires the rulers themselves to be in a natural state like ordinary people, so that rulers do not provoke the impulse of desire of ordinary people in order to make a person safe in a state of nature. Zhuangzi asked the rulers to obey nature, obey the feelings of the people, “let nature take its course”, and truly rule according to the Way of Heaven of “wu-wei (non-action) is the ruler”, and if one rules according to the humanity of “active rulers who are physically and mentally exhausted”, it will surely harm human nature. There is a fable about chaos in the Zhuangzi which elaborates Zhuangzi’s opinion on “wu-wei (non-action)”. the implication of this fable is that the Emperor of the South Sea and the Emperor of the North Sea often meet in the chaotic places of the Central Emperor, Chaos, who treats them well every time. In order to return the good intentions of the Chaos, the Emperor of the South Sea and the Emperor of the North Sea kindly bored “seven apertures” for it, and Chaos died.81 Zhuangzi’s political thoughts have always had different views. Some views even deny the political significance of Zhuangzi’s thought and deny that Zhuangzi has political thoughts, and some views regard Zhuangzi as a typical political thinker. Some views regard Zhuangzi as a representative of ideological emancipation, while some people think that Zhuangzi represents the interests of the fallen aristocracy. In short, the academic circles have different views on the existence or content and status of Zhuangzi’s political thoughts. We believe that although Zhuangzi did not propose a very constructive and positive political proposition, nor did it provide a systematic theory of ruling the country like Confucianism, Mohism, and Legalism, Zhuangzi did raise a very important theoretical issue in the political field, which is: how should politics properly handle the legitimate and effective relationship between the nature of human beings as political objects and political authority? Not only that, but Zhuangzi’s political thoughts in this respect are still an important ideological representative in Chinese political philosophy, and it has had a profound historical impact on Chinese political thought.

79

Zhuangzi, 9. Zhuangzi, 12. 81 Zhuangzi, 7. 80

160

3 Contention of a Hundred Schools of Thought: The Convergence …

(3)

Shendao’s Political Thought of Guishi or the Noble Position, and Guigong Or Justice as the Most Important Thing

Shendao was from the state of Zhao during the Warring States period; his date of birth and death has not been tested. The Shi Ji or Historical Records, biography of him (ch. 74) records that Shendao had studied at Jixia academy in the state of Qi. His philosophical thinking is close to or belongs to Daoism, though his political thought belongs to legalism. The original Shenzi had already been lost, and there are only fragments remaining, which are the main source of research of Shendao. Shenzi remnants not only talk about power, but also respect the law. Part of its content is related to political trickery, though the main components of the political thought of legalism has been basically complete. However, its political thought also has some Daoist features, such as wu-wei (non-action). There is a certain tolerance, and its characteristics are that the rule of a monarch must be in a position of solemnity. However, in governance, we should not rely solely on ourselves; governing the country must abide by the law, but the content of the law should not be too harsh. The monarch’s ruling behavior should pay attention to the application of power, but not only rely on conspiracy and deception.82 The main contents of Shendao’s political thought are as follows. For one thing, attaching importance to power is an important feature of Shendao’s political thought. Shendao disagree with the Confucian and Mohist views of the king as a sage and a morally perfect man. He believes that the place where the king is different from the mortal is that he has a noble position that no mortal has. If there is no such noble position, then there is no fundamental difference between king and the mortal, and political relations cannot be established. The reason why a wise man succumbs to a foolish man is that a wise man has no power, a foolish man obeys a wise man because a wise man has power. If Tang Yao had no power, he could not even give orders to his neighbours, Tang Yao’s ascension to the throne will enable all people whenever he issued an order forbidding something,

Further, “from this point of view, the wise can’t make the foolish obey automatically, only power can achieve the result that the virtues have to yield.”83 Shendao advocates that political countries must produce a unique, dominant person, whom should be sure to maintain positional advantage over others. He resolutely opposes the existence of many of the same high-profile positions in political countries, whether there are two or more high positions in the name, or the position of the exclusive position cannot effectively control other low positions. This will lead to “two equally noble men [who] cannot serve each other, and two equally humble men [who] cannot work with each other”,84 the result of which is that it can’t be any normal political order. Shendao demanded that the high position of the monarch must be based on the help of the public. The idea of, “if you get help, you will get it, but if you lose it, 82

Liu Zehua: The History of Chinese Political Thoughts (Pre-Qin Volume), Zhejiang People’s Publishing House, 1996 edition, p. 271. 83 Shenzi, “Weide”. 84 Shenzi, “Yiwen”.

2 Daoism, Legalism, and the Political Thought …

161

you will fail”,85 is that the key to benefiting from the public lies in “the simultaneous storage of public opinions”, and that “the common people mix together and each one of them do their own things.” Although the specialty of the people varies, it can be exploited by the monarch. Therefore, the monarch does not seek talent in one aspect, so the monarch’s requirements are not unsatisfactory, the monarch is not deliberately critical of his subordinates, so there are plenty of talents, if the monarch is not critical of his subordinates, they will be easier to do things, it’s easy for ministers to do things, and all kinds of talents in the country are tolerated, the monarch can accommodate all kinds of talents, and the number of people below naturally increases, the more people below, the higher the prestige of the monarch.86 The above discussion about helping the public reflects the more obvious Daoist views. This reflects from one side that the legalist theory has obvious Daoist natural wu-wei (non-action) in the methodology of observing the world. Second, as a legalist thinker, Shendao advocated the government of laws in respecting the law, and opposed the rule by man or cultivating one’s moral character of Confucianism and Mohism; On the other hand, it fully emphasizes “Guigong or justice is the most important thing” and emphasizes that the monarch’s power is the political value of the world. Shendao first emphasized the two major drawbacks of “cultivating one’s moral character.” First, the monarch does not have a certain standard as desired.87 It is easy for reward and punishment not to be proper, and people will complain. Those who have been rewarded with great rewards are still not be satisfied, and hope to get more. Otherwise, they will be dissatisfied; those who should have been severely punished by the light penalty are still not satisfied, and they hope that the punishment will be lighter. Otherwise they will also be dissatisfied. Second, the energy and ability of the ruler is limited. Shendao highlighted the many benefits of applying the government of laws: First, the law must reflect the universal “Dao.” Shendao’s “Dao” contains two basic characteristics, namely, tolerating all things and treating all things equally. Accordingly, the law also has two characteristics, including all human affairs and treating all human affairs equally. The law is like “scales with standard weights” and “the length of feet and inches”, which is the standard for measuring human behavior. Second, because of the nature of people’s preferences of interests to avoid harm, you can find universal or common codes of conduct from the mutual interests of the population. Shendao also emphasized the basic idea of legislation for the public. Not only must the law be established for the public, but also the establishment of the main body of legislation is also for the public. He stressed that “in ancient times, supporting the Son of Heaven and making him honorable was not for the benefit of the Son of Heaven alone,” because “if there is no noble monarch in the world, then the national decrees will not work, and the purpose of making them work is to govern the state well.“ “Therefore, the purpose of supporting the Son of Heaven is to govern the state well; it is not about setting up the 85

Shenzi, “Weide”. Shenzi, “Minza”. 87 Shenzi, “Junren”. 86

162

3 Contention of a Hundred Schools of Thought: The Convergence …

state to serve the Son of Heaven alone.”88 “The purpose of establishing a monarch is to govern the state well, it’s not about building a state to serve the monarch alone.” “Therefore, it is necessary to establish a just understanding by divining good fortune and bad fortune and misfortune with turtles, to establish fair standards by weighing objects, to establish a just reputation by means of an contract, to establish fair review criteria by measuring the length of objects.”89 “Fairness” is a higher authority than a monarch, even if it is respected as a monarch, as well as “believing in fairness and eliminating private interests”. Here the so-called public, is “the public for the world”, the important content of “public” is embodied in the “division”, “so governing the world and the state depends on the determination of position.”90 All subjects are legally an effective part of the state machine. The key figure in the establishment is the protection and execution of the law is the monarch. “As a wise monarch, we should not listen to rumors, but deal with political affairs according to legal power and observe gains and losses.”91 Shendao also asked the rulers to deal with the relationship between law-abiding and law-changing, “governing a country without laws will be chaotic, and sticking to them without knowing about changes will decline.”92 Shendao also advocated that “the ruler and monarchs should have the skills of governing a country, should advocate law rather than depend on virtue,” and “let yourself be in a state of idleness when you are in control of your subordinates, and let his subordinates be busy with their duties”, which are the methods in handling their servitors. To revere the law, rulers’ respecting the virtuous is prone to create contradictions between sages and seniors, to reduce authority of seniors, and is not conducive to the rule of the ruler. Respecting the virtuous will also impact the basic policies of revering the law and reduce the authority and effectiveness of the law. Of course, Shendao has no objection to appointing people on their merit, but the premise is not to respect the political authority of the sage, it only requires the sages to “do your best with your intelligence to perfect his business” the so called “ “let yourself be in a state of idleness when you are in control of your subordinates, and let his subordinates be busy with their duties” is very close to Laozi’s main idea of “doing nothing, yet there is nothing that is not done”, emphasizing that ruler is mainly in the active position, for a minister. However, his worthy qualities and knowledge is required by Shendao: “a king’s use of a man who is known all over the world for his wisdom will benefit his country.” It is not in his loyalty, because people are their own, and the commitment of a minister to the monarch is basically impossible and unreliable.

88

Shenzi, “Weide”. Shenzi, “Weide”. 90 Shenzi, “Shenshi”. 91 Shenzi, “Junchun”. 92 Shenzi, “Yuwen”. 89

2 Daoism, Legalism, and the Political Thought …

(4)

163

Han Feizi’s Political Thoughts with Equal Emphasis on Law, Methods and Power

Han Feizi, from the state of Han in the Warring States Period, and whose ancestors were Han aristocrats, was born in 280 B.C., and died in 233 B.C. The Shi Ji or Historical Records Volume 63’s recording of Han Fei’s life story is roughly credible. Han Fei was a student of Xunzi, and his thoughts were obviously influenced by Laozi. His political thought has a multi-integrated or integrated nature, and it is not only a master of legalist ideas. Although Han Feizi does not have the grand character of Xunzi, compared with other legalists, it still looks grand and simple. After Han Feizi’s writings were transmitted to the state of Qin, they were appreciated by Qin Wangzheng and were cited by Qin Wangzheng as a confidant. Han Fei’s political destiny is really poor, but his writings have been immortalized because of his deep thoughts. Although the rapid death of the Qin Dynasty also brought a notoriety to Han Feizi, the rational content contained in Han Feizi’s political thought has not only been integrated into the political consciousness of the mainstream of traditional society, and the unique ideas that cannot be integrated still have certain universal value. The content of Han Fei’s political thought can be summarized as follows: First, Han Fei’s political thoughts contain a rich political philosophy and systematically answer basic questions about political occurrence and development. Han Feizi is both a master of the political thought of the legalists, and he is also the integrator of the thoughts of the ancient philosophers. Han Feizi’s political thought is based on a very conscious epistemological and logical method, and has the theoretical basis of a systematic worldview and historical perspective. The fundamental category embodying its theoretical foundation is “Dao”, and its core content is “humanity” rather than the “Way of Heaven.” The focus on the “Dao” investigation is the common sense that ordinary people show under certain conditions. Based on people’s common sense, Han Feizi put forward many political classic propositions that benefit people. For example, Han Feizi insists on the empirical methodology that Legalists have always emphasized. Determining the basic attributes of human nature by the reality of experience, and opposing Mencius’s practice of determining the absolute nature of man. The fundamental difference between the people of ancient age of Shang Xian and the Warring States era in common sense is the material condition of different times. “In early antiquity, men did not till, for the fruits and grains of the trees and grasses supplied enough to eat; women did not weave, for the skins of animals supplied enough to make clothing. Without engaging in labor there was enough to supply men’s needs. People were few and goods were abundant; therefore the people did not quarrel and fight.……But nowadays people do not consider a family of five children as large, and each child having again five children, before the death of the grandfather there may be twenty—five grandchildren. The result is that there are many people but few supplies, and that one has to work hard for a meager return. So the people fall to quarreling, even though rewards are doubled and punishments are made more severe, disorder is not prevented.93 In an era of competition, Han 93

Hanfeizi, 49.

164

3 Contention of a Hundred Schools of Thought: The Convergence …

Feizi believes that people’s most basic common sense is to seek advantage and avoid harm. As long as people are to seek advantage and avoid harm, the monarch can use the interests to control the people. Han Feizi also advocated that rulers are mainly based on the validity of experience as the main criterion for understanding, practicing and judging things. This proposed a series of empirical methods of understanding. The field of use of this empirical method of understanding is basically limited to the process of the monarch driving the servitors. If you don’t listen to what he says, then people without knowledge won’t know; if he is not appointed himself, then the undesirable will not be noticed… and they will want to get a strong man, but just listen to his self-introduction, so even mediocre and incompetent people are indistinguishable from the strong man Wu Huo, therefore for an official position, only competent people can do it, distribution according to things scatters intelligence.94

Han Feizi not only inherited the thinking trend of Laozi’s naturalism, but also conducted in-depth and meticulous discussions of “Dao”, and also like Laozi, he insisted on a very strong humanistic concern. The human world is always the main field in which he grasps, and the world outside of human beings is only mentioned when it emphasizes the universality and absoluteness of the Dao. Second, since Han Feizi has adopted the trend of political thinking of Laozi’s naturalism, he certainly opposes the trend of political thinking like that of Confucianism. But what is incredible is that Han Feizi rejected the Confucian way of thinking while inheriting some of the fundamental ideas of Confucianism, emphasizing the difference between the sages and the mortals, pinning the hopes of the world to the wise monarch. Further, to some extent he continues to develop the policy advocated by the Mohists, “only law is the way to govern the land under heaven”,95 “words and deeds not conforming to the laws and commands must be prohibited,”96 “officials are those who enforce the law impartially”.97 Emphasizing that the people must be taught by law,98 and “taking the officials as their teachers”,99 and whether it is conducive to the improvement of the country’s strength as the sole criterion for judging the value of the person and its legality. Han Feizi’s so-called person is nothing but an available item without any dignity. In the political philosophy of Han Feizi, people are just a part of the state machine. The status and interests of the individual are not the fundamental purpose of political pursuit; rather, they are only important when used as a tool for the monarch. Just as an efficient machine system cannot accommodate incompetent or low-energy parts, groups of people who have nothing to do with or have little to do with national interests are not allowed in the country. In particular, those groups that are determined to be unfavorable to the country or people are called “蠹” by Han Feizi, and must be completely removed to make people happy. 94

Hanfeizi, 46. Hanfeizi, 38. 96 Hanfeizi, 41. 97 Hanfeizi, 35. 98 Hanfeizi, 44. 99 Hanfeizi, 49. 95

2 Daoism, Legalism, and the Political Thought …

165

Han Feizi closely links the favorable elements of the country with the effective mobilization of the monarch, the ingredients that the monarch can mobilize with interest that are beneficial to the country. The ingredients that the monarch can’t mobilize with interest are not good for the country. Han Feizi’s thought reflects the typical national standard value orientation and has a typical representativeness in the history of Chinese political thought. In addition, Han Feizi also advocated that rulers should be good at learning to control the minister from the general “Dao”, and to emphasize the skills of control. There are no relationships of warmth between the monarch and the minister, even the relationship between father and son cannot be established on the basis of relatives’ warmth; the warmth of the father and son in the monarch’s family often conceals a cruel power struggle. The relationship between people is full of interests, and people often use their interests to determine their social relationships and mentality. The relationship between the monarch and the minister should be especially careful; it is necessary to prevent their own authority from being stolen by the minister. It is also necessary to prevent the ministers from only making empty promises and muddling with one’s duty, so the monarch must pay attention to the power of maintaining control over one’s servitors. Third, the unity of “the monarch” and “Dao” puts the monarch in the position of the human being, establishing the social role of the monarch different from ordinary people. The monarch has the theoretical basis for playing the role of the savior of the dictatorship. The “Dao” of traditional Chinese political philosophy is an important category for providing political legitimacy resources, it can provide a universal legal basis for political things, making political things have a minimum of dignity and sacredness in order to obtain universal recognition, recognition and non-infringement commitments, thereby maintaining the stability of the political system. Although Han Feizi did not propose the concept of political legitimacy, nor did he focus on the political legitimacy of the monarch, Han Feizi associates the realization or embodiment of “Dao” with the monarch. In essence, it emphasizes that the monarch has a special political status different from that of others. Although this special status may come from a hereditary or coup, as long as he gets the name of the monarch, he also has some potential political legitimacy and is qualified for law and to transmit their learning. In fact, Han Feizi is also not very concerned about the process or way in which the monarch obtains his special status, but merely paying attention to the special status of the monarch is the basic premise of political phenomenon. The fundamental intention of Han Feizi’s theory of the unity of “the monarch” and “Dao” is to have the monarch learn and imitate the “Dao”, and to control the servitors in accordance with a generally effective way. Han Feizi believes that there are three universal characteristics of “Dao”: First, the “Dao” is the unique force that governs everything around it, and is in a position that dominates everything, which is an absolute force that is not subject to restrictions. All things in the universe are in good order because of the existence of one force that is absolutely dominant. Second, the role played by “Dao” has a certain inevitability. That is, there are characteristics that should be so and can only be so. “Dao” must engage in things, and the inevitability of things. The inevitability of anything lies in its “Dao” nature, and the state of the “Dao” of things has an inevitable identity. Thirdly, the way in which “Dao” works is

166

3 Contention of a Hundred Schools of Thought: The Convergence …

particularly good at “cause”, it is necessary to use objective conditions, both because of the times and human feelings. The positive role of “Dao” is not to replace the movement of all things, it is the movement to drive, dominate and control all things, so that they can maintain their inevitable state. On this basis, Han Feizi advocates that rulers should maintains a unique and exclusive status; it is necessary to firmly guard the active control power of the monarch only; to be “necessary” like “Dao”. To be the name of political things in accordance with the requirements of “necessity”, it is necessary to adhere to “faith” in the process of reward and punishment, and to follow the “Dao” in the way of “doing nothing, yet there is nothing that is not done” to drive the servitors. Fourth, although Han Feizi did not propose a completely new initiative to control servitors and common people, he systemized the laws, techniques, and potentials proposed by the pre-Qin legalists, and has the ideological characteristic of the synthesizer of the legalists. Han Feizi pays attention to the general basis for finding “Dao” from the theory of Laozi, and greatly improved the philosophical level of legalist political thought, bringing the Legalism’s thought to a theoretical improvement, and developed the legal ideas of the Legalists to its ultimate, to become a personalized symbol of legalism. Han Feizi advocated that the rulers should attach equal importance to law, political trickery, and power, because they are all effective tools for rulers to control and dominate his servitors and common people. Han Feizi believes the reason why the emperor is therefore the emperor first lies in his political superiority: “if there is talent but no power, even virtuous people can’t bring unworthy people under control.”100 If rulers do not have “power”, then “the sovereign loses the power and subject own the state”,101 and there is no way for the sovereign to set up control of the subjects and the establishment of the law. Compared with the “power” formed by nature, Han Feizi pays more attention to the man-made “power”, emphasizing the importance of rulers’ consciously forming and maintaining his political superiority. On the one hand, the ruler mainly consciously creates the “smart power” that makes him have good ears and eyes. “Monarchs need not have superhuman wisdom, as long as we are good at turning the world’s wisdom into our own, making the ears and eyes of all the people in the world their own ears and eyes, to do this, the ruler should not leave the Imperial Palace and know everything in the world,”102 in order to prevent your position from being fooled, deceived, exploited, and disobedient. On the other hand, the rulers must consciously create the “majesty” necessary for the prohibition of the order. “Without power and authority, laws and decrees cannot be effectively implemented.”103 The majesty of the ruler is a must for the administration of the state. Otherwise, it will not be able to effectively control the servitors. It cannot guarantee the execution of the decree, the majesty of rulers is also characterized by heavy punishment. Heavy punishment makes people far from punishment because of fear. 100

Hanfeizi, 49. Hanfeizi, 11. 102 Hanfeizi, 14. 103 Hanfeizi, 45. 101

2 Daoism, Legalism, and the Political Thought …

167

There will be no brutal rascal in a family with strict tutoring and the loose discipline of a loving mother can lead to a prodigal son squandering the family fortune, I therefore know that majesty can prevent tyranny, but generosity cannot stop the unrest.104

After rulers retain “power”, they must also use the law to prevent traitors. The essence of anti-traitors is to prevent the “selfishness” of important ministers. Public and private are incompatible: Ordinary people only pursue their own private interests, only the monarch pursues the public interests of the country. Personal self-interest, the pursuit of no labor but adequate food and clothing, not official but prestigious. The public interest of the state requires that the private interests of scholars should be curbed in China, popularizing the law and explaining the law, blocking all kinds of private interests contrary to the interests of the state, we should concentrate everyone on the realization of the national public interest and actively build up achievements.105 The purpose of legislation is to abolish private feelings, which will be abolished naturally after the implementation of the law.106

He believes that only by abandoning the “selfishness” of the close offices and high offices, the “the common good” of the ruler can be truly preserved. If the law is to be effective in dissuading traitors, it must be specific, clear and easy to implement. For the whole nation, all kinds of work, no matter how big or trivial, is judged by law, “In the state of an enlightened ruler, his orders are what are most authoritative among men’s statements, and the laws are the most suitable to [men’s] affairs. Speech and acts that are not in conformity with the law must be prohibited.”107 Han Feizi’s anti-traitors ideas are not only in the field of “law”, but also in the field of “political trickery”. The “methods” that Han Fei said refers to the “methods “ under the ruler’s driving of the servitors. The main content is Xin shu and the political trickery. The methods are “concealed within the breast, are deployed to meet all contingencies in government, and to control covertly the servitors”.108 If the “laws and commands” are focused on setting up various names, positions, and points for the subjects, the intention is to judge the words, the law, and the behaviors of the world with the law as the criterion, then the focus of “political trickery” is mainly to prevent the evil-doing and treachery of the close offices, high offices and the sycophant servitors, and to maintain the awesome power of rulers. Han Feizi’s assumptions for rulers are tireless, and he repeatedly tries to explain the detailed powers of preventing all kinds of evil-doing and treachery, he is one of the few examples of loyalty to the monarch.

104

Hanfeizi, 50. Hanfeizi, 47. 106 Hanfeizi, 45. 107 Hanfeizi, 41. 108 Hanfeizi, 38. 105

168

3 Contention of a Hundred Schools of Thought: The Convergence …

3 The Preliminary Integration of the School of Eclectics of the Pre-Qin into Political Thought The political thoughts of the ancient philosophers of the pre-Qin period grew from the same political tradition, each reflecting different aspects and levels of political tradition, and they have certain similarities. They are interlinked and complementary. In the process of the development of the ancient philosophers, especially after the basic maturity of the ancient philosophers’ ideological ideology, the political thoughts of various schools are engaged in a fierce ideological encounter. However, there was also an infiltration of mutual ideas, so that there is a clear difference between the political thinkers of the same genre, and there is a clear similarity between political thinkers of different genres. “There is a disagreement in a group, and a mix of factions,” and those who give up the parochial prejudice become the School of Eclectics.109 Every political thought school has appeared in other political thought schools; every political thought school can’t maintain its own pure state, but must absorb the same, interlinked and complementary things in other political schools, which is the development trend of the occurrence of the school of eclectics in various genres. The miscellaneous nature of each political thought school only means that the political thoughts of each faction are influenced by other schools; it does not mean that each school of thought will lose itself in the process of miscellaneous thinking. In fact, the great integration of political thoughts, finally achieved by the political thoughts of the ancient philosophers, is the result of constant mixing without losing its own self under the premise that Confucian political thought basically maintains its fundamental characteristics. The development trend of the School of Eclectics of political thoughts of the ancient philosophers, although not necessarily disrupting the ideological logic of the original ideological factions, certainly further enriched the content of various political and ideological factions, refined their logical systems, and increased their persuasiveness and explanatory power. However, the mixing of political thought must also be wrapped around in such a stage that the logic of political thought is basically completely disrupted, and the useful parts of the political thoughts of various political and ideological factions are concentrated, the content of political thoughts that are concentrated can meet the needs of different aspects of political society, but they do not have a rigorous logical relationship with each other. In this way, there is a new faction in political thought: the School of Eclectics. The School of Eclectics’ most famous thought is represented by the editor, Lu Buwei, of the Lu Shi Chun Qiu. Although the political thought of the School of Eclectics lacks a strict logical relationship, but the political thoughts of the School of Eclectics are not as random as the platter, otherwise, it can’t creates a philosophy of his own. What is special about the political thoughts of the School of Eclectics is its miscellaneous existence, its miscellaneous selection and miscellaneous communication that Mr. Liu Zehua said. The so-called miscellaneous existence means that the School of Eclectics did 109 Xiao Gongquan: The History of Chinese Political Thought, Beijing: Xinxing Publishing House, 2005, p. 3.

3 The Preliminary Integration of the School of Eclectics …

169

not have the attempt to cancel any one, nor did it want to use the intention of one school to eat and melt other schools. The School of Eclectics adopted a policy of concurrent storage, and its political thoughts seem to contain many equally important schools of thought in appearance, so it cannot be classified as a school other than the School of Eclectics. The so-called miscellaneous selection is that the School of Eclectics have chosen the political ideas of various factions and excluded the extreme views of each faction. The so-called miscellaneous communication is the need to use the Wang or the rulers to govern the world as the program, the political and ideological content to command each school, that is to say, the needs of the Wang must penetrate hundreds of political ideas.110 The key to judging whether a political thought belongs to the School of Eclectics is to see whether the political thought simultaneously highlights the political and ideological themes of different schools, and whether it emphasizes the political opinions of different schools in the same way and whether there is a complete and rigorous logical relationship. As long as the thinker or political work emphasizes the political themes of different schools and emphasizes the political opinions of different schools equally, and there is no strict logical relationship between different political opinions, then it belongs to the School of Eclectics. As a political ideological faction, the School of Eclectics is a transitional existence, and it is a product that will be melted and not melted in the process of realizing the great integration of Chinese political thought. Taking Confucianism as an example, although Confucianism in the School of Eclectics retains many Confucian colors, it makes people know that it is Confucian at a glance, but the purpose and appeal of the mind have undergone major changes.111 Although political thinkers have seen the same, interlinked, and complementary aspects of political thoughts of different factions, they have discovered the social value of political thoughts of various factions, however, they have not yet sorted out a clear logical relationship in the political thoughts of the ancient philosophers, and they have not been able to realize the true integration of Chinese political thought. (1)

The Political Thought of Guan Zi

As early as the pre-Qin, the Guan Zi had been written, and its circulation has been quite extensive. Han-fei-zi, (ch. 49.) remarked: “in every family there are kept copies of the Laws of Lord Shang and of Guan Zi”. The existing Guan Zi is set up by Liu Xiang of Han Dynasty, accompanied by Liu Xiang’s Narrative. According to Liu Xiang, the original Guan Zi was 564 chapters, and there are many repetition. He re-edited to remove the 480 repeated, leaving the remaining 86 articles. The current book of Guanzi is still 86 articles from the catalogue, but there are only 76 articles in existence. The authors of each article, except for a few articles, have contested authors. For most articles, so far, no specific author has been found. Guo Moruo thinks that “the book of Guanzi is a kind of mixture”, it is “not just a book written 110

Liu Zehua: The History of Chinese Political Thought (Xinqin Volume), p. 593. Li Zehou: A Brief Discussion on Qin and Han Dynasties, See On the History of Ancient Chinese Thought, Beijing: People’s Publishing House, 1985, pp. 138–140. 111

170

3 Contention of a Hundred Schools of Thought: The Convergence …

by Guan Zhong, but is rather made not by one person, nor for a single time.” “It is probably a collection of fragmentary works from the Warring States and beyond; part of it is the old file of Qi State, part of it was the time when the Han Dynasty made a book to be offered by Qi.”112 Xiao Gongquan believes that “The book Guan Zi is not necessarily written by Guan Zhong, but the political thought it reflects does not necessarily have nothing to do with Guan Zhong. Therefore, the study of Guan Zi’s thought should be combined with Guan Zhong’s words and deeds.” Liu Zehua believes that the book Guan Zi is the sum of all kinds of ideological works at that time, among them, the works of the legalists are mostly, and there are also Daoism, the Yin-Yang School, Confucian, Logicians, and military thought. Although the Guan Zi does not represent a school of thought, the authors of the various factions in Guan Zi have a common tendency to integrate.113 When the factions of the sects absorb the ideas of other factions, they are generally digested. The more obvious the integration, the less extreme the faction of your own faction, the exclusion and opposition between factions are greatly weakened. Some articles are difficult to judge the belonging of the faction because of their outstanding integration. Although the academic circles have a big gap in their views on Guan Zi, there are two basic consensuses as follows: First, the political thought reflected in Guan Zi comes from the state of Qi, reflecting the political and ideological style of the state of Qi during the Warring States Period. Second, the book Guan Zi is a multiauthored work, which has the nature of the proceedings, and highlights the political and ideological themes of different schools, emphasizing the integration between different factions. The book of the Guan Zi actually reflects the political thoughts of the School of Eclectics. Therefore, we do not intend to conduct separate research on the different political schools of thought in Guan Zi, but intend to systematically study the whole idea of Guan Zi as a famous representative of the School of Eclectics’ ideas. Although the political thought of Guan Zi is not a truthful reflection of Guan Zhong’s political thoughts, there is a close relationship between the political thought of the state of Qi reflected in Guan Zi and the political tradition formed by Guan Zhong’s reform. On the one hand, the reform of Guan Zhong is the initiator of the reform of Spring and Autumn and the Warring States Period, to a certain extent, he reflects the relatively comprehensive thoughts of the contention of a hundred schools of thought that have not yet fully developed. It is quite close to the later School of Eclectics in the inclusiveness of thought, to honor the king and stress the rites in value, flexible expediency and utilitarianism in method, and so on. These have become the ideological raw materials or core themes of the thoughts of the pre-Qin dynasty, so that Guan Zhong’s thoughts seem to belong to the School of Eclectics. On the other hand, the book Guan Zi was mainly produced in Jixia academy at the end of the Warring States Period, although the views of scholars are different, the authors who are brought under the name of Guan Zi must have the same or interlinked in their purposes, behind the words that can feel the faction. In fact, there is a similar or interlinked purpose hidden, and this is the most important feature of the 112 113

Guo Moruo: Bronze Age, Song Brake Yin Wen’s Remaining Examination. See Liu Zehua: History of Chinese Political Thoughts (Xinqin Volume), pp. 508–509.

3 The Preliminary Integration of the School of Eclectics …

171

School of Eclectics’ ideas. Based on the comprehensive research results of previous predecessors, Zhang Gu believes that the ideas contained in the book Guanzi have the unity characteristics of the school, he also advocated naming the school as the “Guan Zi school”, and he also advocated that “Guan Zi should be studied in groups”.114 The five works of Jing Yan, Nei Yan, Wai Yan, Qu Yan, Guan Zi Jie are used as the central works to study the different stages of this school.115 This book starts with the analysis of the elements of thought, it focuses on the analysis of the main contents of Daoist, Legalists, Confucian and other ideological components contained in the book Guan Zi, and compares the obvious differences with the simple Daoist, Legalists, Confucian factions, in order to highlight the overall influence of the Guanzi factions as a School of Eclectics of thought on its components. First, the Daoist political thought reflected in the Guan Zi is different from Laozi and Zhuangzi. It advocates positive and promising politics, and partially absorbs the ideas of Confucianism and Legalism. It has an obviously humanistic color and humanistic pursuit, thus forming a “Qidaojia” thought different from Laozi and Zhuangzi. Guan Zi believes that Dao, Qi, and Heaven are the same as the origin of all things. Each has its own objective laws of movement, or the idea “Heaven does not change its conventions, earth does not change its rules, Spring, Autumn, Winter and Summer do not change its season; it is the same from ancient times to the present.”116 “Dao” is not only manifested in nature, but also in personnel. People themselves are also the product of “Heaven”, “Dao”, and “Qi”. “Every man’s life come from the essence of heaven, the shape of earth, together to become a person.”117 Guan Zi believes that the basic principle is to follow the rule of Heaven, and to be obedient to human nature. “His deeds obey the Dao of Heaven and Heaven helps him; he acts against the Dao of Heaven and heaven abandons him, with heaven helps, though small and weak, it is bound to grow, despite success, those who are abandoned by heaven are bound to fail.”118 “God will not break the seasons because of something’s need, the sages would not distort the law because of someone’s needs, heaven does what it does and everything benefits, sages do what they do and people benefit from it.”119 The sage who likes heaven has the sacredness. At the same time, the sage must obey the Dao, and his behavior must reflect the requirements of the Dao objectively. The Daoist thought in Guanzi absorbs part of the political thoughts of Confucianism and Legalism, and regards Dao, righteousness, rites, and law as an inseparable part of politics and logical coordination. Empty without shape is called Dao, and cultivation of all things is called virtue, ruler and servitor, father and son, the stuff of human existence—this is called righteousness, going up to and coming down from [a shrine or hall], bowing and deferring, the rankings of nobler and humbler status, the distinctions of the nearer and more distant relationships—these are 114

Zhang Guye: The Study of Guan Zi, Jinan: Qilu Shushe, 2006, pp. 19–20. Ibid. p. 64. 116 Guanzi, 64. 117 Guanzi, 48. 118 Guanzi, 64. 119 Guanzi, 38. 115

172

3 Contention of a Hundred Schools of Thought: The Convergence …

called the rites, no matter how simple things are, the size of things, its essence is the same, the function of law is to prohibit certain human actions.120

The Daoist thought in Guan Zi advocates that the rulers should be quiet and inaction, diluting the Daoist naturalistic value theory, and regarding the Dao as the root and foundation of humanity, which provides the foundation of the worldview for Confucianism and Legalism, and strengthens the external constraints of the rulers’s behavior. Second, the legalist thought in Guanzi is quite different from Shangyang, Han Feizi and others who emphasized “the laws serve as teachings” and “taking the officials as their teachers” the Jin Legalism. It is the so-called “Qi Legalism” that integrates or contains Daoist and Confucianism. There are relatively many works of Legalism in Guan Zi, most of which are influenced by Daoism, Confucianism and other ideas, and have the characteristics of integrating Daoism and Legalism and Confucianism and Legalism. For example, Sovereign and Subject is mainly about the relationship between sovereign and subject, and Daoism of sovereign and subject, which is obviously dyed with the colors of Daoism and Confucianism. The political theory of “"Qi Legalism” takes the overall relationship between Heaven, Earth, and man, as the starting point, and holds that only by grasping the law and mutual relations of the three can we govern the country well. “There is a regular weather, the earth has a regular form, people have regular etiquette, once established, it will remain unchanged, which is called Sanchang,” “Unified planning of the overall situation is the way of the monarch.” “If the monarch violates his monarchy, he cannot keep his country.” The law is by no means a visitor, but the product of the rulers. “The producer of laws is the ruler.” The law was created by rulers following the inevitable law of the relationship between nature and society. Nature and society constitute an organic whole that restrict each other, and the objective laws of nature and society are not transferred by human will. Rulers can govern the world only by obeying the objective laws of nature and society. Rulers’ legislation should incorporate the laws of nature into the legislative content, make people abide by the laws of nature, and embody the spirit of the laws of nature in other decrees of the monarch, and implement different decrees according to different seasons. The thought of the legalists of Guan Zi also embodies the general characteristics of the reform theory, emphasizing that the law should be “adjusted to the needs of their times, responding to different conditions among their common people”; emphasize whenever he issued an order forbidding something, “his commands must have accorded with the people’s likes, and his prohibitions with the people’s dislikes”. Third, in Guan Zi, there is a book devoted to the issue of “light and heavy”, called “light and heavy articles”, a total of 19 articles. Three were lost, and there are 16 existing, among which “light and heavy Yi” is the work of the Yin-Yang School. There are fifteen articles in addition to this one. The fifteen articles in the light and heavy articles are: Chen Cheng ma, Cheng Mashu, Shi yu, Haiwang, Guo xu, Shanguo gui, Shan Quan shu, Shan zhi shu, Di Shu, Kui duo, Guo zhun, Qingzhong jia, Qingzhong yi, Qingzhong ding and Qingzhong wu. The theory of light and heavy is the most 120

Guanzi, 36.

3 The Preliminary Integration of the School of Eclectics …

173

important ideological resource of Chinese tradition and the art of governing the country. Although the theory of light and heavy is not created by the author of Guan Zi, it is a definite fact that the theory depends upon Guan Zi for its preservation. The object of the theory of light and heavy is quite extensive, and the light and heavy problems touched in the Guan Zi are roughly as follows: First, the reasoning of light and heavy. This is a common way to observe and analyze things, emphasizing that everything has the characteristics of the following quote: “You have a heavy burden on your shoulders. Let me help you, so your burden is lighter. Then, when your life is better, I’ll go.” “Heavy” goods are relatively scarce, so the price is higher than usual, and is the reverse is considered “light.” Second, it is used to analyze the agricultural, industrial, and commercial industries in a policy-oriented manner. The theory of light and heavy is applicable to the price analysis of cereals, compared with all other things. If the price of cereals is high, the price of everything is low, if the price of cereals is low, the price of everything is high, the light and heavy of the two mutually complement [supplement] each other. Third, to guide monetary policy, the theory of light and heavy is applicable to currency analysis, money, and other things that are the same as the value of things that people are competing to collect. Further, the value of things that people are competing to sell is smaller. Fourth, the theory of light and heavy can also be applied to the analysis of personnel policies, the so-called “soldiers are not militant but despise death. It is the function of the art of light and heavy that makes it so.”121 Guan Zi sums up many social phenomena that can be applied to the principle of lightness and heaviness from complex social phenomena. The core of the principle of lightness and heaviness is the balance between things. This balance may change due to human factors, but it may also change due to changes in the relationship between things. It may also change due to changes in the environment. The key to governing the country is to master the political trickery of the light and heavy. People with high energy status deal with people with low energy status. One who is skilled in directing the affairs of government will value highly that to which the people attach a low value, and treat as important what the people regard as of little weight; when the markets of the countries are oversupply, our state is in short supply through hoarding. Then, you can take charge of the state.122

Only by mastering the strategic resources to maintain society can the rulers grasp more strategic resources more effectively, and only by mastering strategic resources can we effectively maintain the balance of social relations, and can we improve our ability to deal with all kinds of social problems and contradictions, so that the country can have long-term stability. The Guan Zi also puts forward many propositions which attach importance to people that embody the Confucian political views, such as “it is acting in accord with the people’s wishes that causes governments to prosper; it is acting contrary to people’s minds that causes them to fail”.123 “When the people are listened to 121

Guanzi, 46. Guanzi, “Qingzhong Yi”. 123 Guanzi, 1. 122

174

3 Contention of a Hundred Schools of Thought: The Convergence …

individually they are foolish, but when they are listened to collectively they are sagacious, even if the ruler has the virtues of a [sage king like] Tang or Wu, he still will be in agreement with what men in the street say.”124 “The shepherd of the people shall see to it that none of the men (Shi 士) be guilty of improper conduct and none of the women of lascivious acts, f or the men to be free of improper conduct is a matter of education (Jiao 教), for the women to be free of lascivious acts is a matter of admonition (Xun 训)”. The content of the book Guan Zi reflects the characteristics of the mixed ideas of its thoughts. It may be a good research perspective to classify it into the School of Eclectics. (2)

Political thought of the Lv Shi Chun Qiu

Lv Shi Chun Qiu was compiled by Lu Buwei, a member of the State of Qin who invited a group of guest at the end of the Warring States Period. The book consists of 8 Lan, 6 Lun, and 12 Ji, a total of twenty-six volumes, two hundred and sixty articles, more than two hundred thousand words, which have always been regarded as masterpieces of the School of Eclectics. Its content is mainly Confucianism and Daoism, and it also covers legalists, Logicians, the Yin-Yang School, Mohism, the School of Agrarians etc. It involves all aspects of Heaven and Earth, and ancient and modern times, and preserves the rich ideological materials of the pre-Qin period. Although Lv Shi Chun Qiuis not the work of Lu Buwei, it also reflects Lu Buwei’s political ideas and pursuits. Lv Shi Chun Qiudoes not have a rigorous logic system, and it is difficult to maintain the consistency of ideas as Confucianism, Mohist, Daoism and Legalists. However, Lu Buwei achieved the effect of expressing political thought through miscellaneous existence, miscellaneous selection and miscellaneous communication works of the ancient philosophers. It shows his ambition to integrate the ancient philosophers and seek political and ideological unity. “Lu Buwei is not condemned by the prejudice of one faction, but is condescending, seeing that everything in each faction is conducive to the rule of the rulers.” “He is like a bee in many flowers, and picks all the flowers.” “He stood above many schools and used a standard to benefit the ruler and to communicate with hundreds of schools.“ “His miscellany is insightful and selective, so it can be called a school.”125 Li Zehou believes that Lv Shi Chun Qiuinfiltrates the spirit of the Legalism,126 and regards Lv Shi Chun Qiuas being primarily, “on the basis of the practice of legalism that emphasizes utilitarian utility. It also was a new creation which tried to absorb and reform each doctrine.”127 The theoretical innovation of Lv Shi Chun Qiu is manifested in its miscellaneous selections, miscellaneous existence, and miscellaneous communication of the ancient philosophers. The History of the Former Han Dynasty, (ch. 30) has listed the advantages and disadvantages of the ancient philosophers, and Lv Shi Chun Qiuis precisely the product of eliminating the 124

Guanzi, 30. Liu Zehua: The History of Chinese Political Thoughts (Pre-Qin Volume), Zhejiang People’s Publishing House, 1996 edition, p. 593. 126 Li Zehou: On the History of Ancient Chinese Thought, Anhui Literature and Art Publishing House, 1994, p. 139. 127 Ibid. 141. 125

3 The Preliminary Integration of the School of Eclectics …

175

extreme components of each school on the basis of their respective advantages and disadvantages. The ancient philosophers are derivatives of Chinese political traditions, and there are contents that are conducive to monarchist, authoritarian politics. At the same time, it also contains some extremist theories that have no practical value. On the one hand, Lv Shi Chun Qiuadopted a compatible and inclusive attitude towards the ancient philosophers, and did not abandon any school. On the other hand, it has made necessary choices for various political thoughts, and will concentrate on the content which benefit monarchic despotism politics. In the spirit of the Legalism, the logical system of each school was infiltrated, providing the emerging dynasty with a theoretical tool for governing the country. Lv Shi Chun Qiu adopts the naturalistic worldview of Daoism and the Yin-Yang School, and regards people as a kind of all things in the world, believing that people must abide by the universal rules of all things in the world. People can only survive if they can handle the relationship with all things in the world. The Lv Shi Chun Qiu describes in detail the situation of all things in the world, and uses the theory of the Yin-Yang or Five Elements to interpret the relationship between all the things in the world, and put forward the political proposition of political law and nature. The discussion of the relationship between Heaven and man in Lv Shi Chun Qiumainly includes the following aspects: First, Lv Shi Chun Qiu uses Daoist theory to explain in detail the process of the world’s evolution from the “Super One” to Heaven, earth and man etc. Lv Shi Chun Qiu’s chapter Taile pointed out that “Super One” (Taiyi) has Two Forms, Yin and Yang. Further, Yin and Yang change, moving up and down. It becomes one. All things are created in the Super One and are transformed into the Yin and Yang. Second, there is an inherent, inevitable unity between man and Heaven and earth. There is a strict correspondence between human behavior and natural solar terms, which is the key interpretation of the Twelve Dynasties. Third, any individual must obey the heavens and universality of everything. Fourth, there is a certain inductive relationship between Heaven and man. The Lv Shi Chun Qiu has begun to communicate with the heaven and man by induction, and takes induction as a common phenomenon, using it to explain the changes in the universe. Although in the grand scheme of things, there is indeed a phenomenon that things of the same kind can interact with each other. When the sound is similar, it should be in harmony. Induction and analogy can indeed reflect certain objective connections at some point, and have a certain scientific basis. However, the inductions listed in Lv Shi Chun Qiu are mostly filled with mysterious and absurd thoughts. Moreover, using induction as the fundamental basis for explaining the changes in everything is more likely to lead to absurd behavior. However, the Lv Shi Chun Qiu uses induction as a universal basis for explaining the changes of everything, which is indeed a product of the fact that human thinking develops to a certain stage and is still underdeveloped. It attaches great importance to the coordination and consistency between man and all things, and tries to find the basis and meaning of human behavior from the universal law of the world. Although the description of the relation between Heaven and man in Lv Shi Chun Qiuis full of bold hypotheses, it uses induction as the basic basis for explaining the changes of all things. However, the political attitude of Lv Shi Chun Qiu is still

176

3 Contention of a Hundred Schools of Thought: The Convergence …

very rational. In particular, the work of the legalism is a typical expression of the pragmatic and rational spirit of Chinese tradition. Lv Shi Chun Qiu chapter Ca jin points out: “All the decrees of the ancestors met the needs at that time, some people added it or deleted it. How can we take it? Even if people do not add or subtract from it, there is still no way to take it.” The author opposes to sticking to the Law of the Ancestors as a formalism, and advocates the spirit of “meeting the needs at that time” regarding the decrees of the ancestors. The author clearly pointed out that only by aligning law-abiding and reforming laws can we effectively govern the country, “so it will be chaotic if there is no law in the country; it will not work only by obeying the law without changing, which is impossible to hold the country. Now that the manners and morals of the time and the current political situation has changed, it’s time for political reform.” The author satirizes and criticizes political empiricism with allegorical stories such as “carving on gunwale of a moving boat”, and declaring the spirit of resolute political reform of Legalism, because everything in the world is changing. So the idea is don’t be afraid to abandon tradition. In addition, the pragmatic, rational spirit of Lv Shi Chun Qiu is also reflected in its choice of ancient philosophers. This choice basically does not consider the logical framework of each thought itself, not even considering the theoretical preferences of each individual’s own ideas, and is in full accordance with the needs of the monarchical political machine, making it a question of pragmatism. The attitude is based on rationality. The Lv Shi Chun Qiu treats the offensive warfare at that time with sober historical rationality, and advocates that the sages should raise armies of righteousness. Lv Shi Chun Qiu chapter Dang Bing pointed out that “ancient sages advocated just war and never abolished it.” Lv Shi Chun Qiu chapter Zhao Lei further emphasizes that, From the three kings on, they had used troops, we should use troops for countries in turmoil, and, we should not use troops for countries in good governance, there is nothing more unlucky than to attack a country that is well governed, there is no greater harm to the people when a country is chaotic and does not fight against it, that is to say, different strategies should be adopted according to the different ways of dealing with the disorder, it is from this that civilians and military officers are used.

“Now that the army has come, it is going to slay those who should not be kings, and revenge for the people, this is their act of conforming to heaven”128 The key point of Lv Shi Chun Qiuis to arrange the political relationship between sovereign and subject and servitors and common people, and to provide the basic framework of monarchic despotism and the main ruling concept. It draws on the views of many pre-Qin Confucians. Lu Buwei has more preferences for Confucian claims, so that some scholars think of Lv Shi Chun Qiu as an anti-Qin political work, and even see it as the theoretical preparation of Lu Buwei’s conspiracy to his own claim to being emperor. Lv Shi Chun Qiu inherits the political proposition of the Confucian sage as king, such as, “So there is no better way to think about the world in the long run than to set up the Son of Heaven, nothing is better than setting up a monarch for a state’s long-term consideration.” The Son of Heaven, rulers, and, Monarch are produced to rescue and suppress a rebellion and benefit 128

Lu Shi Chun Qiu, “Huai Cong”.

3 The Preliminary Integration of the School of Eclectics …

177

all the peoples.129 The chapter, “Ai lei”, emphasizes “If a monarch can treat the affairs of the people of the world as important matters, the people of the world will submit to him”. The authors of Lv Shi Chun Qiu believe that the Zhou Son of Heaven has been eliminated by history, and the situation in front of us is a host of dragons without a head—a group without a leader, and an endless battle. History requires a new emperor to come to the world. “The Zhou Dynasty’s royal family was extinct and the emperor was abolished. No chaos is greater than the absence of a Son of Heaven, without the Son of Heaven, the strong are better than the weak, while the masses are crueler and the few.”130 The Lv Shi Chun Qiu also believes that the Son of Heaven must obey public opinion. “When making a decision, we must first examine the popular support before we can do it.” First of all, the ancestors governed the world in conformity with the people’s hearts, that’s why he could be successful. Since ancient times, there have been many people who rely on benevolence to win the popular support and build great cause and achieve good reputation. Losing the popular support and building fame has never happened.131

If the public opinion conflicts with the private desire of the monarch, the monarch must give up his private desire and obey the public opinion. Lv Shi Chun Qiu brought up again a political proposition with a strong people-oriented perspective. This is the idea that, “the world is not the world of one person, but the world of all people.“ Not only this, but it also re-emphasized the normal process of state governance advocated by pre-Qin Confucianism, such as, The foundation of the world is the individual. If a person stands upright, he will manage his family well, if he runs his family well, he will govern his country effectively, and if he runs his country effectively, he will govern the whole world. therefore taking oneself as home, home as the state, the state as the world.132

And, “In the past, sage-kings of their ancestors cultivated themselves and managed the great achievements of the nation naturally, corrected themselves, and the nation was naturally peaceful and stable.”133 “The foundation of safety and danger, honor or disgrace lies in the monarch, the monarch’s basic duty lies in the temple, the root of the temple lies in the people, and the root of governing the people lies in the officials.”134 “If the sage is in the position of governing the country, he will surely put his love for the people and the interests of the people in his heart.”135 Lv Buwei, the editor of Lv Shi Chun Qiu, views the political doctrines of the preQin philosophers in a political, pragmatic manner, and conducts eclectic processing on the political doctrines of the ancient philosophers. He also enables the doctrines to sit in some aspects of monarchy politics, so that the political theories of the ancient 129

Lu Shi Chun Qiu, “Shi Jun”. Lu Shi Chun Qiu, “Guan Shi”. 131 Lu Shi Chun Qiu, “Shun Min”. 132 Lu Shi Chun Qiu, “Qiu Zhi Yi”. 133 Lu Shi Chun Qiu, “Qiu Guang Ji”. 134 Lu Shi Chun Qiu, “Qiu Wu Ben”. 135 Lu Shi Chun Qiu, “Qiu Jing Tong”. 130

178

3 Contention of a Hundred Schools of Thought: The Convergence …

philosophers can complement each other in practice and jointly play a positive role in governing the world. The Lv Shi Chun Qiu lacks a “consistent” thought, and lacks a clear and systematic view. There is a lack of rigor and necessary logical relationships between the content of each aspect or parts. Therefore, it can only be considered in the preparatory stage for the realization of the unity of the political thoughts of the pre-Qin ancient philosophers. (3)

The Political Thought of the First Emperor of the Qin Dynasty

The First Emperor of the Qin dynasty has always been regarded as the “culprit” of the extinction of the culture of the ancient philosophers. The Qin Dynasty was also seen by most thinkers or scholars as a dark age of contempt for culture and no thought. The short-lived death of the Qin Dynasty just confirmed the tragic nature of contempt for culture and rejection of reason. But human culture and reason are like the air in life. Just as no one can live in a vacuum, no one can live in a society without culture and reason. The Qin Dynasty is not as completely free of culture and reason as the general scholar thinks, but its cultural and rational existence form is different from other times. Many reliable documents retained and newly unearthed by Qin dynasty indicate that although the First Emperor of the Qin dynasty did not leave an elegant chapter, in the theory of the emperor, it can be called an authority that has never existed before. “The theory of the emperor he made with his strategist not only carries forward the cause pioneered by his predecessors, but also forges ahead.”136 “The First Emperor of the Qin dynasty inherited the highest and core achievements of the new culture of Spring and Autumn and Warring States Period—Dao.” He heroically announced that I am the way! The First Emperor of the Qin dynasty used the Dao to make the most reasonable argument for his victory. The First Emperor of the Qin dynasty grew up in the cultural environment where the society called for a new sage. The great victory put him at the top of history. The First Emperor of the Qin dynasty inherited the ideological achievements of the "sage-making" and the "sage-worshipping" of the Spring and Autumn and Warring States Period. At the same time, there was a new development, that is to say I am the sage, the sage-king.137

As far as historical facts are concerned, the First Emperor of the Qin dynasty is not only the heir to the political culture of the ancient philosophers, but is also the victim of the political culture of the ancient philosophers. The reason why he hurts the political culture of the ancient philosophers is because he wants to establish his own status in that culture. For this reason, his exclusive inheritance of the political culture of the ancient philosophers will inevitably cause great harm to the political culture of the ancient philosophers. The natural logic of the development of the political culture of the ancient philosophers was interrupted bluntly. However, political measures of the First Emperor of the Qin dynasty and the experience of the Qin Dynasty’s shortlived death have provided a new topic for the development of political thought. The First Emperor of the Qin dynasty’s political thoughts are mainly based on Legalism, 136 137

Liu Zehua: Chinese Royalism, Shanghai People’s Publishing House, 2000 edition, p. 129. Liu Zehua: Chinese Royalism, Shanghai People’s Publishing House, 2000 edition, pp. 130–32.

3 The Preliminary Integration of the School of Eclectics …

179

and they are compatible with some of the other ideas of Confucianism, Daoism, the Logicians, and the Yin-Yang School.138 The logical connection between the various schools of thought is relatively loose, and the existence of its thoughts is relatively comprehensive, which indicates a relatively advanced stage of development of miscellaneous ideas. The main contents of the First Emperor of the Qin dynasty miscellaneous political thoughts are as follows. First, the First Emperor of the Qin dynasty’s theory of being an emperor is not only the product of integrating the political culture of the ancient philosophers and summing up the historical experience of the past, but also the most creative part of the political thought of the First Emperor of the Qin dynasty, and the essence of the thought that can withstand the test in history. The First Emperor of the Qin dynasty’s theory of being an emperor has three pillars: First, the Dao is the king. The Dao is the core concept and theoretical origin of Chinese traditional political culture. Its most important function is to provide minimum political legitimacy and regulate people’s political behavior. In the context of ancient China, the supreme authority of social life must have a proper way, and the essence of politics is only to control “an unjust cause” with “the Dao prevail”, and to control “few instances of Daoist terms” with “numerous instances of Daoist terms.” Second, the saint is king, combining “Dao” with his own sacred personality. On the one hand, he turns himself into the only personality of the Dao. On the other hand, he uses his Dao to enhance his character, ability, and charm. To elevate oneself to the supreme realm beyond the reach of others, whether it concerns intelligence, conduct, or ability, charm, love, etc., it must be far beyond mortals, so as to truly become a sage, and also to truly become sage-king. Third, the emperor must have made great contributions to the world, which cover everything. Huang (皇) and Di (帝) are important political names in the ancient times, they themselves have been praised for the heroes who built the immortal work. The three emperors and Five Sovereigns used to be the model of rulers, the three emperors are Huang (皇), and the Five Sovereigns are called Di (帝). The First Emperor of the Qin dynasty was the overlord of all within the realm to connect Huang (皇) and Di (帝) to the emperor, which is inextricably related to the full affirmation of the First Emperor of the Qin dynasty and his strategists on the merits of the First Emperor of the Qin dynasty, which, “is something the Five Emperors did not attain to.” Of course, the key figure is the First Emperor of the Qin dynasty, it is the First Emperor of the Qin dynasty who rejected the “The Great Sovereign” proposed by the group of ministers and adopted his own “Emperor” and claimed himself to be the first emperor. The First Emperor of the Qin dynasty established a centralization of power in the true sense, firmly establishing the new political concept of “everyone who lives on the earth is a subject of the emperor” and “everyone who lives on the earth is a subject of the emperor.” Regarding its theory and system, it established the political relationship structure that the emperor has everything and rules everything. Second, the First Emperor of the Qin dynasty was victorious under the guidance of Legalism. The Qin Dynasty was quickly annihilated in the context of various 138

See Wang Zhi’s On the History of Han and Tang Dynasty, Peking University Press, 1992 edition, pp. 7–10.

180

3 Contention of a Hundred Schools of Thought: The Convergence …

extremist legalist policies. The First Emperor of the Qin dynasty’s legalist preference is reflected in a series of words and deeds recorded in the Shi Ji or Historical Records (ch. 6). It is also reflected in the policy or measures adopted by the state after it was reunified, among which the political influence of the latter is greater. There are two main contents of the First Emperor of the Qin dynasty’s legalism policies or measures: First, the First Emperor of the Qin dynasty and the Second Emperor of the Qin dynasty both pursued the policy of governing the country with extreme personal desire and heavy penalty, and regarded the administration of the state as a tool to realize their infinite desire. Heavy penalties were used to deal with all those who dared to provoke the authority of the emperor and threaten the emperor’s desires and harm the interests of the emperor. The so-called extreme personal desire, on the one hand, is the pursuit of unlimited and infinite ruling power. “Everything big or small is handled by the emperor; the prime minister and other ministers were only obedient to the emperor and executed according to the emperor’s wishes.”139 “The theoretical righteousness of the First Emperor can be manifested in the world, and it has been extended for a long time in later generations, later generations inherit righteousness without abandoning it.”140 This is how the first emperor establishes the fundamental order for all ages. On the other hand, he also squandered the wealth of the world so that to “be extremely happy,” “to satisfy (individual) curiosity about all good-looking and pleasant to hear, and to satisfy all kinds of hobbies endlessly and indefinitely.”141 In addition, the First Emperor of the Qin dynasty’s idea of establishing the age-old work made him eager to complete some large-scale social public works, such as building a well-connected road and the Great Wall defending Xiongnu. The so-called heavy penalty means that the people and minister are like grass and mustard, and the people and ministers were frequently killed at all time, under the management of the dense Qin law. The people and ministers are also easily caught by the Qin law and become prisoners. The main labor force of major projects in the state was composed of criminals, the entire Qin Dynasty has actually become a large prison, “It is used to describe the road was crowded with prisoners in prison clothes in the Qin Dynasty, the prison is full of people, like a market.”142 Second, the First Emperor of the Qin dynasty promoted the legalist cultural policy that “the laws serve as teachings and taking the officials as their teachers.” For this reason, the barbaric behavior of the Burning of the Books was carried out, which accelerated the barbarization and even hooliganism of the political authorities. “The Qin Dynasty was an era of suffocating theoretical thinking, defying theoretical thinking means providing opportunities for barbaric rampage.” “The First Emperor of the Qin dynasty and his son believe in Legalism in their thinking, but their personal arbitrariness has deprived the serious legalists of room for reconsideration.”143 The emperor, 139

Shiji, ch 6. Taishan “Carving Stone”. 141 Shiji, ch. 87. 142 The History of the Former Han Dynasty “System of Penal Code”. 143 Liu Zehua: The History of Chinese Political Thoughts (Qin Han, Wei Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties), Zhejiang People’s Publishing House, 1996, p. 8. 140

3 The Preliminary Integration of the School of Eclectics …

181

the decree, and the officials are both a symbol of way of Heaven and a manifestation of way of Heaven. Anyone can only live in harmony with Way of Heaven, and so anyone must be under the officials at all levels, learn the laws of the state, and the decree is the Way of Heaven that the emperor was promulgated in the world. Huang Di’s (皇帝) mastery of the ultimate truth as a sage-king is the basic consensus of politicians and thinkers of all ages after Qin, but most politicians and thinkers will admit that Huang Di’s (皇帝) mastery of the ultimate truth can only be theoretical. There are always such inadequacies and flaws in the emperor’s understanding in experience. The emperors seldom take the theoretically desirable state as a real state; however, the First Emperor of the Qin dynasty mistakenly regarded the state as the actual state, banned different ideas, and deprived people of their rights and opportunities for thinking. The First Emperor of the Qin dynasty’s commitment to “the laws serve as teachings, taking the officials as their teachers,” and the Burning of the Books have announced that the thoughts of contention of the hundred schools of thought have passed away. Moreover, it has ruined the natural process of the exchange and integration of the political thoughts of ancient philosophers. The ideological movements of the free contending of the ancient philosophers have come to an abrupt end, which is quite regrettable. However, the First Emperor of the Qin dynasty’s political system, policy measures, and short-lived experience have provided new topics and themes for China’s political and ideological development, which provides an important opportunity for the further development of Chinese political thought. The First Emperor of the Qin dynasty’s behavior of “the laws serve as teachings, taking the officials as their teachers” and the Burning of the Books was not fulfilled. The thought of the ancient philosophers is not extinct. The thoughts that followed the Han Dynasty continued the logical path of contention of the hundred schools of thought until we truly integrate the various schools of Chinese political thought into a logically self-contained whole. However, after the baptism by fire of the Qin Dynasty, there are indeed some schools that were previously very prominent that had declined or disappeared. But should this be attributed to the First Emperor of the Qin dynasty? I thought that I should not blame the First Emperor of the Qin dynasty for the Burning of the Books. On the one hand, whether a certain genre’s thought can exist and maintain a strong position. Although it has nothing to do with the attitude of the ruler, its more decisive influence comes from the society’s need for it. If society needs it, then the savagery of the ruler must not be artificially extinct. This is like the fact that no matter how big and heavy the boulder is, it cannot suppress the growth of the grass. If society no longer needs it, then a strong momentum will not save its decline. On the other hand, a thought faction or viewpoint will only truly disappear in history after its role has been fulfilled, just as the flowers of certain plants can only really wither after they bear fruit. If the role of a political thought genre has not yet been fully realized, then, a short-term setback can only stimulate stronger development; and if the role of a political thought genre has already been exhausted, then its disappearance in history should not be surprising. In addition, the thoughts of the ancient philosophers are originally homologous, and they have strong similarity and complementary features with each other, and with the ideological debate between the various schools, the

182

3 Contention of a Hundred Schools of Thought: The Convergence …

identity between the ancient philosophers is increasing. This creates the possibility that a thought will completely replace the positive aspects of society with other ideas. When the main social function of a genre is replaced by the corresponding function of other genres, the social necessity of the school will be greatly reduced.

Bibliography 1. Zehou, L. (1989). The history of beauty. People’s Publishing House. 2. Zehou, L. (1994). On the history of ancient Chinese thought. Literature and Art Publishing House. 3. Qichao, L. (1996). History of political thoughts in the pre-Qin dynasty. Oriental Publishing House. 4. Zehua, L. (2000). Chinese royalism: an investigation of traditional social and ideological characteristics. Shanghai People’s Publishing House. 5. Zehua, L. (1996). The history of Chinese political thoughts (Qin Han, Wei Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties). People’s Publishing House. 6. Zehua, L. (1984). The history of pre-Qin political thought. Nankai University Press. 7. Marx and Engels. (1972). Selected works (Vol. 3). People’s Publishing House. 8. Zhi, W. (1992). On the history of Han and Tang dynasty. Peking University Press. 9. Gongquan, X. (2005). The history of chinese political thought. Xinxing Publishing House. 10. Guye, Z. (2005). The study of Guan Zi. Qilu Shushe.

Chapter 4

The Discourse on the Natural and Human Spheres of Being: The Reorganization of Concepts and the Systematization of Political Thought in the Two Han Dynasties

The two Han dynasties represent the systematizing period of Chinese political thought, namely when all of the pre-Qin schools of political thought shaped up into a logically self-consistent organic whole, and became the orthodox political ideology of society after gaining official approval, forming the more complete logical system of Chinese political thought. Considering the effects of the systematization of political thought, Confucian classics scholarship and the classicist form of thought, which influenced traditional Chinese society for nearly two thousand years, took shape in the two Han dynasties, and the sage worship and classics worship advocated by Confucian classicism became the normative dogmas that were widely popular in society.1 Considering the tendency of socio-political changes, all spheres of society gradually yet universally underwent Confucianization, and the Confucianization of the way of thought beginning in the two Han dynasties gradually expanded into the legal and literary domains, and ultimately became the universal characteristic of traditional society. Legal Confucianization began with Dong Zhongshu’s “Disciplinary Regime of the Spring and Autumn Annals,” which, in the formulation of the legal code, expressed itself as bringing the code of rites into the legal code. The legal formulations of the Western Jin dynasty already markedly experienced the Confucianization of laws, whose chief representative production in the traditional Chinese era was the Tang Code (tanglü shuyi 唐律疏议).2 The systematization of Chinese political thought that the two Han dynasties undertook in one respect confirms that the most central theme of Chinese political thought was that of the relation between the natural and human spheres of being. The most basic method of thought for exploring the problematic relation between the natural and human spheres of being was that of affective reciprocity between Heaven-or-Nature and human beings (tianren ganying 天人感应). All thinkers in the two Han periods either positively or negatively utilized the method of thought known as the affective reciprocity between Heaven-or-Nature and humanity. In another respect it affirmed the dominant status of Confucianism 1 2

Zehua [1], pp. 449–468. Tongzu [2], pp. 328–346.

© Tianjin People’s Publishing House 2022 S. Zhang, The Logical Deduction of Chinese Traditional Political Philosophy, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-4376-7_4

183

184

4 The Discourse on the Natural and Human Spheres …

in the Chinese body of political thought and established the authoritative status of the Confucian classics, ensuring the dominant or decisive influence of Confucian thought upon the development of Chinese society and the socialization of the component members of society. Politics rose to the level of self-consciousness in Chinese society as a process of Confucian thought continually reforming Chinese society and Confucianizing Chinese society. The development of political thought during the two Han dynasties was never separable from the increasingly organic integration of society itself. The process of Chinese society integrating ever further into an inseparable organic whole was necessarily accompanied by the conventionalization of Chinese political thought, and the core of the conventionalization of Chinese political thought was the all-around establishment of basic Confucian political principles throughout society, that is the Confucianization of society. Although the meaning of the term tian 天 (Heaven-or-Nature) was still rather complex on the whole, generally speaking, the chief significance of tian was still the personified, willful and dominating highest controller or master of the universe in the theological sense. Tian’s most basic characteristics were “morally good” and “powerful,” or rather, “humane” and “virtuous.” There was a basic common sense in the political thought of the two Han dynasties, which implied the following aspects: the Confucian classics gradually established the authoritativeness of Confucianism in the world of political thought; Confucian classics worship emerged throughout society; the emperor acted as the son of Heaven (tianzi 天子), the true sage of the actual political world, and the political ideal of the sage-king continuously sought since ancient times had already become reality; people of all spheres and levels of society unfolded a political deification movement in a certain sense, and it historically simplified into an authorized system of political signs; Heaven-or-Nature, the son of Heaven, ordinary people and natural phenomena found systematic connections established between them, and Heaven-or-Nature censured and disciplined the son of Heaven, when necessary, through abnormal natural events. Affective reciprocity between the natural and human spheres of being was thus as precise and as timely as the shadow following the figure casting it, and the content of Confucian thought became even more authoritative after undergoing refinement by the theory of affective reciprocity between natural and human spheres of being. The demarcation between pre-Qin schools of political thought was mainly based on the investigation of issues pertaining to different aspects and different levels of Chinese politics, and the thought generated by it and the conclusions derived from it were always limited in nature, while the political thought of the two Han dynasties attempted to holistically grasp all aspects of Chinese politics from all angles, and tried to trenchantly and systematically explain the foundation generated by Chinese politics along with its logical form and necessary mission. If pre-Qin political thought had not undergone the systematization stage of the two Han dynasties, Chinese political thought could only have amounted to a hodge-podge assembly of different aspects of political thought from random schools. Chinese political thought only became capable of more fully exhibiting the inherent logic of the Chinese political

4 The Discourse on the Natural and Human Spheres …

185

tradition by undergoing the systematization period of the two Han dynasties.3 The political thought of the two Han dynasties established the guiding status of Confucian thought within the whole logical body of Chinese political thought to the effect that the conventionalization of Chinese political thought inevitably caused Chinese society to Confucianize to a certain degree, and even to the effect that the true development of Chinese political thought always moved in accompaniment with the Confucianization of Chinese society. Meanwhile, the dissemination of heterodox thought or different traditions of thought nearly always happened simultaneously while provoking quarrels with the Confucianizing characteristic of Chinese society.

1 The Canonization of Confucian Political Thought and Political Thought Becoming Classics Scholarship Confucian political thought was originally just an ordinary school among the hundred schools of pre-Qin political thought. Confucian political thought had the logical possibility of becoming the main subject of traditional Chinese political thought, because it reflected the all-around system of traditional Chinese political components, because of its middle-of-the-road and pragmatic attitude, because it focused on the substantial values in traditional Chinese politics, because it was fervently and strongly embraced by human beings and society, because it represented the longstanding human-first and formidable people-first tradition of caring about people and human beings, and because it meticulously elucidated the form of expression that the substance of politics required. The other pre-Qin schools of thought and philosophies aside from Confucianism mostly concentrated on discussing some aspect or other of the Chinese political tradition, and made beneficial theoretical contributions to this or that aspect of it. Hence, they had the possibility of becoming necessary components of the logical whole of Chinese political thought. There was a marked hierarchy of importance differentiating Confucian political thought from the other schools, but this hierarchical relation by no means arose of itself.4 At least in the pre-Qin period, such a hierarchical relation between Confucianism and the other schools of political thought was only a logical possibility. The actual existence of this hierarchical relation could only have existed during the two Han dynastic periods of systematizing transformation of Chinese political thought. Prior to Emperor Wudi of Han “banning the hundred schools and solely authorizing the Confucian tradition,” this hierarchical relation could still only have been a logical possibility, while “banning the hundred schools and solely authorizing the Confucian tradition” meant the beginning of this possibility transforming into actual existence. The core of Dong Zhongshu’s political thought was Confucian political thought, but Dong Zhongshu’s Confucian political thought was already the logical result of the hundred schools contending. The original school of Confucianism was already logically rearranged 3 4

Zehou [3], pp. 144–146. Shiwei [4], pp. 11–12.

186

4 The Discourse on the Natural and Human Spheres …

in relation to the other schools, and this arrangement of philosophies and schools of political thought already determined the logical relation between the Confucian school and the others. However, Dong Zhongshu’s political thought was only the thought of a singular being and much more theoretical effort was required if it wanted to have all-around influence over the entire society and become the stable core of Chinese society’s orthodox ideology. What we need to process here is the following problem with respect to the socialization of politics, that is the historical and social process of how a logically integrated theory becomes the logic of social action and the basic structure and basic procedure of society. Confucian political thought also underwent an important change in this process, and for the time being, we call this change the canonization of Confucian political thought. The process of Confucian political thought becoming the classical canon and fusing into Chinese society was simultaneously the process of Chinese society becoming Confucian, a process which never really stopped until the Opium Wars. Every single true advance in traditional China was inseparably tied to some active transformation of Confucian thought. Confucian political thought became the basic characteristic and fundamental pursuit of the entire society through the core categories of Dong Zhongshu’s own philosophy. It even fused into our muscles and became tantamount to an instinct influencing our collective political psychology and determining the basic structure, procedures, methods and forms of Chinese politics. After settling deeply within us over several thousand years it has made China and ourselves veritably “Confucian.” Confucianism’s status and influence in traditional Chinese politics is wide reaching and deeply profound.5 (1) The Canonization of Confucian Political Thought The most basic principles, programs and ideals of pre-Qin Confucian political thought were all retained in the body of political thought that formed during the Han dynasties, which makes the political thought of the Han dynasties qualitatively belong to Confucian thought and become a developed Confucian thought. Compared with pre-Qin Confucian political thought, Han dynasty Confucianism synthesized the essentials of the other schools of pre-Qin political thought. In terms of thought, it was full of contents. It was greatly inclusive, and it possesses vast metabolizing power: in one respect, it absorbed the positive fruits of pre-Qin philosophies and expanded the perspective and source materials of Confucian political thought; it filled out the intensions of Confucian political thought and organized pre-Qin philosophies into a cosmological system and framework of political thought both vast in substance and profound in essence; in another respect, it also reformed the thoughts of other pre-Qin philosophers through Confucianism’s great spiritual metabolism; it greatly fostered the all-around influence of the basic political principles and ideals of Confucianism upon social life. This influence involved both top-down championing of the political rulers and relentless efforts from many Confucian intellectuals, resulting in the canonization of Confucian works or political writings that were reorganized by

5

Levenson [5], pp. 200–213.

1 The Canonization of Confucian Political Thought and Political …

187

Confucian principles, which not only made the political ideals and political principles of Confucianism become the authoritative political ideals and political principles of the entire society, but also established a logically rigorous body of political thought constituted by Confucian political principles and basic political categories, thereby producing an extremely important impact on the formation of the Chinese people’s traditional political ideology and form of political thought. Han dynasty Confucianism’s important influence upon the political thought and political culture of China was chiefly realized through Confucian classical texts gaining authority, and Confucianism’s important influence upon traditional Chinese society was also chiefly realized through canonical texts gaining authority as well. The canonization of Confucian political thought first of all implied highlighting the sacred authority of some traditional texts, making them become important embodiments of the basic political ideals and political principles of social politics, which hence made them become the authoritative standards according to which people weighed right and wrong. The Han dynasty elevated the status of Confucian thought by different means than did Qin Shihuang, whose practice of book burning and scholar burying, whose extreme means of simply blocking and banning ultimately caused the quick downfall of the Qin dynasty itself. Emperor Wudi of Han “solely authorizing the Confucian tradition” only made the dynasty’s focus on Confucianism more prominent by tying the studying of Confucian works to the performance of higher office, and those who hung out the bait to entice people onto the hook listened to those who were unwilling to take the bait, which to a certain extent safeguarded the pluralistic arrangement of socio-political thought. Although different schools of political thought did not have equal shares of status, as long as the political thinkers from these different schools could still solve political problems, they could still acquire higher office and earn considerable salaries. However, the distinguished status of Confucian political thought was not universally conferred upon the other schools of political thought, the most distinctive marking of which was Confucian texts collated by the Confucian school enjoying sole claim to status as sacred classics and becoming the standards for weighing right and wrong in comparison with the other works and all other schools, which did not enjoy any such privilege. After Emperor Wudi of Han enacted the policy of “banning the other schools of thought and solely authorizing the Confucian tradition,” the political rulers and Confucian scholars pushed for the sacred status of The Five Classics step by step in two ways: one being that those in power became scholars by virtue of the “classics,” which lured the broader mass of scholars onto the track of studying Confucian works; the second being that Confucian scholars continuously fabricated myths about the Five Classics and Confucius himself, which deified Confucian thought into the mainstream political ideology of society. The Five Classics, namely Book of Changes, Book of Documents, Book of Poems, Book of Rites and Spring and Autumn Annals were not only the textbooks officially promoted by the government, but were also the moral standards of social authority. The Five Classics were already widely circulating before the time of Confucius, but what Confucius did was revise and collate these ancient texts, a deed that is at least credibly believed to have been accomplished. The Han dynasty thusly sanctioned

188

4 The Discourse on the Natural and Human Spheres …

The Five Classics basically for the reason that these texts were revised and collated by the sage, Confucius, which emphasized Confucius’ historical achievement of revising and collating The Five Classics and highlighted Confucius’ sagely character as different from ordinary human beings. In turn, Confucius’ sagely character also influenced the sacred authority of the Five Classics, such that only those which Confucius fixed could bear the name “classics.” “The Five Classics originally began with Confucius.”6 Of course, the sacred authority of the Five Classics also originated from the apocryphal discourse enjoying certain popularity at the time. In particular, the apocryphal texts were good for explaining and supplementing the Five Classics with theological thought, making the Five Classics become canons carrying universal principles. “The Six Classics are that by which the sages command the will of Heaven and Earth, clarify what falls under good and evil, distinguish what differentiates fortune and disaster, links what is right on the path of humanity, and what makes them not contradict the original tendency of human nature. Thus, if one examines the meaning of the six classics, the cohering pattern of Heaven-or-Nature and that of human beings may be grasped and put into harmony with one another, life in all forms may be grasped and nurtured, and this is the forever inalterable Dao.”7 This attitude toward Confucianism and Confucius himself has been the universal attitude of traditional China: “[i]f Heaven did not give birth to Confucius, all ages past would have been as if a long night.”8 All the way up till Pi Xirui of the late Qing dynasty, Confucius’s and Confucianism’s Five Classics were still believed to be the authoritative carriers of universal laws or universal Truths. “Confucius possessed the emperor’s virtue, but not the emperor’s throne. Late in his years, he knew the Dao was not prevailing, so retreated from the world and revised The Six Classics to teach all generations to come, and the greater meaning of their subtle messages truly became the laws of all future generations” … “later if one were to become the ruler of men, one would have to revere the teachings of Confucius to become capable of ruling the whole state; as they say, ‘follow them and there will be rule, disobey them and there will be chaos’” … “later if one were to become a scholar-official, one would also have to follow the writings and teachings of Confucius to become capable of governing oneself. As they say ‘fortune comes to the superior master who cultivates himself in them, calamity comes to the petty man who goes astray from them.’ This is what all generations have publicly declared, not what one person privately theorizes……Confucius became the exemplary teacher for all generations and The Six Classics became the textbooks for all generations to come.” In actuality, things like political laws do not even have the possibility of gaining universal validity. There is no society laying claim to absolute laws with universal validity, and what we deem universal, generally speaking, can only be value judgments. Only such judgments have some sense of absoluteness for normatively prescribing human society. Any instrumental rationality carrying the content of a specific age or any judgment about forms of experience only have universality for the age in which they hold true. 6

Ye [6], (vol. 36). Gu, Shigu [7], (vol. 81). 8 Xirui [8]. 7

1 The Canonization of Confucian Political Thought and Political …

189

Dong Zhongshu was the most famous Confucian master during the era of Emperor Wudi of Han. He was also an important Confucian political thinker, who aside from proposing the programmatic position of “banning the other schools of thought, solely authorizing the Confucian tradition,” also started the judicial tradition of “The Disciplinary Regime of the Spring and Autumn Annals,” which made an important contribution to establishing the authoritative influence of Confucian classics and propositions in judiciary practice. In the processing of disciplinary cases, there frequently appeared such specialized phrases as “the disciplinary regime of the Spring and Autumn Annals” and “sentencing punishment according to the meaning of classics,” which refer not to following promulgated laws in the processing and judging of criminal cases, but to following the Confucian classics in the processing and judging of criminal cases, or, in cases where disciplinary laws counteracted or contradicted some recordings of the Confucian classics, it meant doing away with the law and using the meaning of the classics. “Sentencing punishments according to the Spring and Autumn Annals” and “sentencing punishments in line with the meaning of classics” were closely connected in the Dao-embracing gentlemen, who were well-versed in the Confucian classics, and who entered official careers and became government officials in society. Following the establishment of the institution, which selected those who would enter official careers by means of the classics, the larger set of Confucian scholars entering the variety of bureaucratic organs became deeply influenced by the doctrine of Confucianism and would process political affairs under the guidance and constraint of the Confucian classics, although to differing degrees. “Sentencing punishment according to Spring and Autumn Annals” found further development in the Eastern Han, whose rulers not only explained laws through such Confucian classics as Spring and Autumn Annals, but also gave the legal explanations of classics scholars the force of legal validity to direct the enactment of laws and furthermore enact the thought of Confucian classics through disciplinary practice. Among them, the seven volumes of the Comparisons of Litigation (ci song bi 辞讼比) written by Chen Chong, and Comparisons of Sentencing Affairs written by Chen Zhong were both legal documents that used the classics to solve legal issues and fused classics and laws into one, which provided rulers with paradigms for “sentencing punishments according to the meaning of classics.” Ying Shao of the Eastern Han made systematic reforms to laws from the standpoint of Confucian classics scholarship in the writing of the 250 piece work Deciding Sentences with Spring and Autumn Annals. In a memorandum he presented to the emperor, he systematically elucidated the relationship between Confucian classics and laws. Deciding Sentences with Spring and Autumn Annals shows Han dynasty Confucian scholars turning Spring and Autumn Annals into the highest moral standard that embodied universal political value. Among the Three Commentaries on Spring and Autumn Annals, the Gong Yang Commentary and Guliang Commentary were equally good argumentations and elucidations of the greater meaning of the subtle messages, and are greatly representative with respect to showing the universal absoluteness of Confucian values. Sima Qian’s positive affirmation of the universal values found in Spring and Autumn Annals was very much representative among Han dynasty Confucian

190

4 The Discourse on the Natural and Human Spheres …

scholars and Confucian bureaucrat officials, “The Spring and Autumn Annals illuminates the Dao of the three kings above and distinguishes the chronicle of human affairs below. It distinguishes what is suspicious and dubious. It clarifies what is right and wrong. It settles hesitations and uncertainties. It esteems what is good and vilifies what is wicked, values the worthy and devalues the unworthy. It rescues the lost state. It brings the severed generation back in line. It repairs what is broken and resuscitates what has failed. It is the grand dao of being king.”9 The core of Han dynasty Confucianism’s “dao of being king” is the institution of rites or ritual propriety, whose elements are the three cardinal guides and five constant virtues. “Failing to comprehend the meaning of ritual propriety and moral rightness precludes the ruler from being the ruler, the minister from being minister, the father from being father, and the son from being son … Spring and Autumn Annals is the great origin of ritual propriety and moral righteousness.”10 “Sentencing penalties according to Spring and Autumn Annals” sets the principles and propositions in the Confucian classics or classical cases as standards for the making of disciplinary judgments, which both highlights the importance of human passions in legal evaluations and sets the good or ill motive of actions as an important standard for legal judgments. This resulted in establishing the standard of legal judgment as “tracking down the root of their affairs and restoring their wills.” “Sentencing penalties according to Spring and Autumn Annals” combines the principle of “determining crime by the original passion” with the principle of “determining culpability by the original mindset,” which highlighted the supreme highness of the virtues and normative ethics that were prescribed by the moral meaning of Confucian classics.” “The Spring and Autumn Annals in the hearing of cases, requires tracking down the origin of the [defendant’s] affair and tracing back the [defendant’s] original will. He whose will is wicked need not complete the deed. Look to be heavy on the crime of someone who heads out with ill will. Treat lightly the one who is rooted in uprightness.”11 Judicial sentencing must consider the criminal motive in combination with the result. Ill-motivated crimes do not even need to achieve the intended goal and still must face heavy punishment. Crimes that cause severe consequences may have been motivated by good intentions, in which case sentencing may be light. “Determine the crime by the original passion” highlights the distinction between willful crime and criminal negligence. Criminal negligence must be punished lighter in consideration with the passion involved. The core of “determining the crime by the original mindset” is homicidal intent. When processing the case, the judge must look at the criminal’s original disposition on average, which, if good, may merit lighter punishment, even if the crime is serious. If the original disposition is crooked, the punishment may be stiff, even if the crime is not so serious. He insists on “listening to the meaning of Spring and Autumn Annals, restore the passion and determine what transpired, disregard the actual affairs and malign the intent,” “[which] is how Confucius passed down the laws of the king and

9

Qian [9], (ch. “Autobiography of the grand historian”). Qian [9], (ch. “Autobiography of the grand historian”). 11 Zhongshu [10], (ch. “Essence”). 10

1 The Canonization of Confucian Political Thought and Political …

191

how the Han dynasty sought to follow prior practice.”12 Confucian classics scholarship penetrated and permeated the legal realm, then ultimately reformed the legalist spirit of Qin and Han laws, replacing it with the Confucian spirit. After solely authorizing the Confucian tradition, the emperor also frequently cited Confucian classics in the handling of major political affairs. In terms of a compass for employing people, he mostly trusted and relied on those officials who could make sense of the classics and put them into practice, while judging affairs in line with the meaning of the classics. This also further lured scholars and bureaucrats into the neighborhood of the Confucian classics. Meanwhile, the progressive Confucianization of imperial dukes and local officers markedly accelerated. After the middle of the Western Han, the classical works of Confucianism and the basic principles of governance were seen as the basic program for ruling the country by monarchs, dukes, prime ministers along with average scholars and intellectuals: “[t]he six classics, the canons of the kingdom’s teaching, that with which prior sages illuminated the way of Nature, rectified human relationships and reached the complete laws for the best governance.”13 The Confucian classics became the guides and grounds for the court’s handling of political affairs. Not only the rationality of political activity required Confucian classics scholarship to back it up with proof. The Confucian classics acted as the standard for all value judgments: evaluating the highness and lowliness of things; judging the rightness and wrongness of political affairs; grading characters and handling persons; the decrees issued by the emperor; the memorandums proffered by ministers; “all arguments in court cite the classics as grounds.” This atmosphere only strengthened after Emperor Wudi of Han solely authorized the Confucian tradition. In the many decrees issued by the emperor—from those involving higher issues like internal state politics and foreign relations to those involving lower issues like deposing or establishing the empress and the crown prince—all of them had to cite the classics and find grounds in the canonical texts to show the lawful sagacity and rationality of the classics and demonstrate their harmony with the classics. After the middle of the Western Han, government officials responded to the emperor’s call and met it by accepting the influence of classics scholarship. When proffering memorials higher up to send messages about affairs or to discuss political matters, they all competed by citing the classics as grounds. The Confucian classics became a legally defined authority. As long as a reason sounded harmonious with classics scholarship, it was right, and arguments grounded in the classics were convincing, making it easier for the emperor to trustfully follow them and accept them. (2) The Conventionalization of Confucian Political Philosophy Confucian political philosophy was originally for scholars, but for it to have widespread influence throughout all of society, certain measures had to be taken to make it more common and conventional. Classical political philosophy’s concepts, categories, rules and principles had to be expressed in forms that common people would readily listen to, in forms compatible with people’s lives, in order to become 12 13

Ye [6], (vol. 48). Gu [7], (vol. 88).

192

4 The Discourse on the Natural and Human Spheres …

some sort of political instinct common to all people. The people could seamlessly integrate the basic concepts, categories, rules and principles of Confucianism with their own actions and attitudes if and only if these concepts, categories, rules and principles underwent this baptism of conventionalization and made people express some degree of collective unconscious in relation to them, so that they may become the basic framework or universal model of people’s social activity, so that the people could universally come to show unconditional loyalty, reverence and submission to them. The symbolization of political thought is a typical sort of conventionalization, and the conventionalization of Confucian political thought definitely showed a certain characteristic of symbolization, that is the basic concepts, categories, rules and principles of Confucianism all expressed themselves as a whole series of easily comprehensible symbols, and reached the goal of conventionalizing Confucian political thought through the symbolic meaning of the symbols. The conventionalization of Confucian political thought had to make use of popular ways of thinking to convey its own concepts, categories, rules and principles to the widest social population as possible. The age in which Confucian political thought underwent this conventionalizing transformation was right at the peak age of the cosmological theory of yin, yang and the five phases, which acquired a conventional form and became a universal model of thought prior to Confucianism. The Inner Classic as a medical text well embodied the theoretical way of thinking with yin, yang and the five phases, and saw human beings and the human environment as an organic whole of yin, yang and the five phases. The Inner Classic insists that the human body is an organism composed of various systems, which although contain mutually independent component parts, every component part can only become a part and enjoy its own function and attributes within the system and thereby within this given structure of the human body. As soon as an element divorces from the system and the whole structure, some of its functions disappear. The system depends on the parts, and the parts interdependently survive off of the system. The external world’s actions upon the organism and all of its systems, in turn, are only reacted to after undergoing the structure’s and the systems’ integrated choosing and balancing. The Inner Classic insists on the improvement of the entire structure and all of its systems as well as mobilizing and strengthening all of the functions of the entire structure and its systems. For the diagnosis of illnesses and the prediction of their tendencies to develop, one would have to proceed from the idea of the system and the holistic structure. The most basic system of the human body is that of yin, yang and the five phases as well as the five full organs and six hollow organs corresponding to it. “The sage, in treating illnesses, must know [the workings of] yin and yang in the heavens and the earth, the passing order of the four seasons, the five full organs and six hollow organs, the male and female inside and out.”14 Confucian thought was closely integrated with the theory of yin, yang and the five phases through Dong Zhongshu’s systematic reorganization. In one respect, by placing Confucian political thought within the universally valid and omnipresent cosmological system of yin, yang and the five phases, he proved the universal validity of Confucian political 14

Neijing [10], 77.3.

1 The Canonization of Confucian Political Thought and Political …

193

thought. In another respect, thanks to the cosmological system of yin, yang and the five phases absorbing the universal concepts, propositions and judgments of Confucianism, the universe was Confucianized and became the ideal model to represent Confucian political principles. Traditional Chinese society’s theological discourse and sage discourse were not only communicable with respect to the power of comprehension. They were also of one common body and mind. The social demands that the two expressed were basically identical. What Confucianism presented was of course typical sage discourse, whereas what apocryphal texts presented were typical theology. Theology was the common man’s sage discourse and the sage discourse was the scholar’s theology. Scholars wanted to fuse their own sage discourse into society and make it become basic political common sense, but in order to do so, they had to use certain forms of theology and apocrypha was the theological manner of expression of Confucianism’s main political thought. Through apocryphal theory, Confucianism’s basic political thought achieved important social achievements with respect to conventionalization. As Confucian political thought became society’s predominant political ideology, the moral norms that Confucianism advocated gained elevated importance. “Loyalty” and “filial piety” were combined and became the foundation of all social morals. The Han dynasty’s ideas of loyalty and filial piety already changed subtly in accompaniment with historical transformations, and differed from pre-Qin Confucianism’s idea of filial piety, which was originally just a category of family morality, but it then came into possession of state characteristics at the juncture of the Qin and Han dynasties and came to be thought of and defined from a perspective that emphasized the morals and political interests of the whole state. Meanwhile, “ruling the realm with filial piety” became the compass of state rule. The idea of loyalty originally dealt with all relationships of subordination between political bodies. It meant the loyal person does something good for the political body swallowing him up—in exchange for a salary. Loyalty in the Han dynasty could only have meant loyalty to the Han dynasty’s son of Heaven. The ideas of loyalty and filial piety in the Han dynasty put loyalty and filial piety into communication as the political duties implied by the two became completely identical. Both insisted that the minister and son had to show respect and subservience to the ruler and father. Loyalty and filial piety were the minister’s and son’s standard ways of showing love to the ruler and father. The filial son had to respect and love his father by means of ritual propriety out of virtue, while showing dearness and elevating the name of the family. Respecting and loving one’s father without observing ritual propriety was actually harmful. Not doing so out of virtue disregarded filial piety. Virtue implies both that one does not do things lacking virtue and that one’s behavior manifests the goodness of the father’s virtue. “Obedience” is the one and only mark of filial piety, while “disobeying” is simply “unfilial.” That one’s behavior disgraces one’s father is the greatest of unfilial acts. Conversely, showing dearness and elevating the name of the family in the next generation is the greatest act of filial piety. “Value his observance of ritual propriety, do not crave his care. If ritual propriety is observed and affective minds are harmonized, even if care

194

4 The Discourse on the Natural and Human Spheres …

is not complete, it will do.”15 “The filial son in caring for the elder, enjoys his mind and does not disobey his will.”16 “Establish oneself, walk the true path, and elevate the name of one’s family in the next generation to see one’s parents and filial piety to the end.”17 “Any child observing the ritual propriety is gentle in the winter and quiet in the summer, settled at dusk and reflective at dawn. [Any child] must inform the parents when going out and must face them upon returning.” “In observing one’s father’s control [over affairs], do not dare advance if he does not say advance. Do not dare retreat if he does not say retreat. If he does not ask do not dare oppose. This is the behavior of the filial son.”18 The moral intension of loyalty is basically identical to that of filial piety, it is simply the object of the two that differs: the minister’s loyalty toward the ruler is approximately that of filial piety toward one’s father in terms of demands on behavior. The most important moral demands are fulfilling the love of one’s ruler with dao, assisting the ruler through dao, enabling the ruler to carry out the dao of Heaven-or-Nature, accomplishing the moral conduct of the sage and becoming the sage-king universally admired and loved for all generations to come. “Thus the ruler serves at the highest level. When he comes in, he contributes his plan. When he goes out, he carries out his policies. When he rests, he ponders his dao.”19 The minister’s loyalty to the ruler must in all cases be measured by nothing but the benefits brought to the ruler or the harms suffered by the ruler. If the ruler is wrong, the minister must admonish him. If a series of admonishments end up ineffective, then the minister must flee for his life. The minister better not excessively display his own stupid loyalty, otherwise he could bring upon the monarch the bad name of refusing admonishment or killing off promising talent. The Han dynasty rulers’ advocacy undoubtedly acted as direct impetus for the universalization of the morals of loyalty and filial piety, but the true universalization of the morals of filial piety and loyalty had to be proven by a rigorous theoretical system. Theory is the precondition of all conscious behavior. Only things proven by theory can become universal in people’s consciousness. Whether it is purely out of reason or out of some belief, people’s self-consciousness always demands that some theory can prove the self-consistency or non-contradictory nature of the world. The universalization of the ideas of loyalty and filial piety was in fact a natural result of the theoretical system of natural and human spheres of being at the time. When the natural/human system is described by theory as an ordered world of nobility and baseness, there is always a reasonable hierarchical relation between things, and once the hierarchy is determined, the moral relations between mutually interconnected things is also naturally determined. The natural/human system popular in the Han dynasty described the world as a hierarchical body with a commanding Heaven as the peak of nobility, as a systematic body in which all things found themselves in a hierarchy of relationships with other things, as a hierarchy of superiority and 15

Kuan [11], (vol. 5, ch. 25). Confucius [12], (12.48). 17 Xiaojing [13], (1.1). 18 Confucius [12], (1.16). 19 Zhongjing [14], (4.1). 16

1 The Canonization of Confucian Political Thought and Political …

195

inferiority, nobility and baseness and yin and yang. Similarly, human society was described as a social body with the son of Heaven as the peak of nobility. Since this was the case, the laws of nobility and baseness and superiority and inferiority between different human beings was the same basic law as that of all hierarchical relationships in the cosmic system of the universe. The basic moral law governing the relationship between superiors and inferiors and those of noble and base rank was, in a word, love, but there were two types of expression of love: one type was the love expressed by superior nobles to base inferiors; the other type was the love expressed by base inferiors toward noble superiors. The first type of love was that of the caring master, “parents, in loving their children, must plan for them far into the future.” The content of the noble superior’s care for baser inferiors was that of a caring control over them as his own children. The base inferiors showed their love to their noble superiors by means of unconditional obedience to them, and concretely speaking, this meant loyalty and filial piety, which was the universal moral law of the universe, namely the baser inferior’s one-sided moral duty to the noble superior in the hierarchical relationship. Rooted in the universal principle of yin and yang and intrinsic to the universal disposition of human beings, everyone is duty bound. “Filial piety is the warp of Heaven, the rightness of Earth and the conduct of human being.”20 “Among what Heaven covers, what Earth carries, and what man carries out, none is greater than loyalty.”21 With respect to filial piety, “locate it, and fill what is between Heaven and Earth, spread it out and cover the four seas, enact it in the next generation and there will be no gap,” promote and enact it in “the eastern sea,” “the western sea,” “the southern sea” and “the northern sea” and all will have standards.”22 All of the ethics and morals in the traditional age were rooted in loyalty and filial piety and it took them as standards of measurement. In people’s ideas, loyalty and filial piety became the root of being human. This facet is the basic characteristic that society and politics demanded of human beings, and the core content of loyalty and filial piety was “obeying superiors and respecting elders.” In another respect, that human beings universally possess a loyal and filial disposition was a basic theoretical hypothesis in the worldview of the times, and humanity’s higher moral consciousness and satisfied moral sentiment could directly derive from the natural or human spheres of being equal, “among human deeds, none is greater than fulfilling filial piety.”23 The Dao of loyalty and filial piety exerted a massively strong controlling force upon all of society’s ethical and political behavior by dint of political forces. People consciously or unconsciously set their life’s political mission in line with the dao of carrying out loyalty and filial piety without any leeway for choice. This universal practical process of carrying out the duties of loyalty and filial piety was nothing but the process of the ethical rules of loyalty and filial piety in theory becoming the social consciousness. The axiological specifications of the Dao of loyalty and filial piety deeply yet gradually penetrated the human heart via this 20

Xiaojing [13], (9.1). Zhongjing [14], (1.1). 22 Confucius [12], (24.27). 23 Xiaojing [13], (9.1). 21

196

4 The Discourse on the Natural and Human Spheres …

pathway, and took root in people’s ideas and consciousness, ultimately culminating in all of society’s universal acceptance of the dao of loyalty and filial piety, which by achieving society’s universal recognition became the most important effect of Confucian political thought’s conventionalization and the chief mark that it was already very developed.24 The popularity of loyalty and filial piety in the Han dynasty illustrates that Confucianism already became dominant in the sphere of thought at the time. (3) Political Thought Becoming Classics Scholarship Beginning in the Han dynasty, Confucian classics scholarship established an absolute authority in thought. Heaven, dao, the sage, the king and the classics were shaped into an all-in-one whole through the sculpting of classics scholarship. Heaven, dao and the sage became the axiological supports and social intensions of the king and the classics, while the king and the classics became the actual manifestation of Heaven, Dao and the sage. The king was the personal manifestation of Heaven, Dao and sagehood, while the classics were the textual carriers of the sole authority of Heaven, Dao and sagehood. Through the Han dynasty rulers’ and Confucian scholars’ relentless efforts, Confucian classics scholarship as the sole textual carrier of Heaven, dao and sagehood not only established an absolute, sacred authority in political reality, but also internalized the important contents of classics scholarship and shaped them into a universal way of political thinking. It emphasized absolute obedience to past and present sages, and this way of thinking was precisely traditional China’s form of political thought. Classics scholarship as political thought was the logical system of Confucian classics scholarship, and as a sort of knowledge of authorizing political administration, in the process of transmitting, explaining, planting, proselytizing and disseminating, it formed a passive formalized pattern of thought through becoming classics scholarship. This pattern of thought was not only accepted and supported by the vast majority of Confucian scholars, but also influenced all of society. By “becoming classics scholarship” we mean thinking habits and cognitive values were normalized by Confucian classics scholarship. By “passive” we mean people lost autonomous activity as cognitive subjects to different degrees under the norms of classics scholarship. By becoming passive acceptors, they did not have or rarely had creative spirit. All creation and originality could only unfold in ranges and degrees of being tolerated by knowledge of classics scholarship. The basic mode of scholarship also transformed from the lecture recordings of pre-Qin philosophers to the notes and commentaries on classics by Confucian classics scholarship. This means traditional Chinese society from the Han dynasty onward not only set Confucian thought as the framework on questions of human values, but also set Confucianism’s basic viewpoints as the universal conclusions. Generally speaking, classics scholarship as way of thought had the following two chief characteristics. First, classics scholarship as way of thought was the worship of an absolute, sacred authority, which could have manifested as past sages, present sages or the

24

Zehua [15], pp. 161–172.

1 The Canonization of Confucian Political Thought and Political …

197

sagely classics, that is Confucian wise men, past kings, present kings or the Confucian classics themselves. The absolute authority worshipped by classics scholarship had the distinctive feature of integrating political, moral and academic qualities into one, which was actually the result of making the emperor’s political authority both moral and academic at once. The political authority represented by the emperor was simultaneously a moral authority and an academic authority. Han dynasty Confucianism’s intellectual and moral authority was determined by the emperor’s political authority and enforced it upon all of society by means of political administration. The effect of solely authorizing the Confucian tradition was the politicization of the intellectual authority in knowledge and especially the politicization of Confucius himself. The official school status and the state ideological status of The Five Classics had been established by imperial power. Although Han dynasty Confucianism’s so-called “classics masters” could not be put on par with Confucius and The Five Classics, because the official schools established by the Han dynasty were associated with the exegetical “Commentaries” or “Explanations” maintained by the official schools, and such “commentaries” and “explanations” were also the products of the classics masters. Because of this, the famous masters of the Confucian classics during the Han dynasty also had considerable political, moral and academic authority. The political authority of the Han dynasty emperors also came with both intellectual and moral authority through self-affirmation and the praising of authorities in knowledge. They played the role of authoritative explainers of Confucian classics and effectively fulfilled the role of being Confucianism’s highest rank of authoritative classics masters.25 The combination of political, intellectual and moral authority shaped up into an absolute mental pressure on all of society and the world of knowledge. Add the lure of gain to authority, and the vast majority of scholars, especially Confucian scholars, transformed the external prescriptive and compulsory character of Confucian classics into internal self-consciousness and activity. Authority broke free from being the object of people’s cognition and it became the object of worship. People could only accept authority and authority could only serve as the precondition and standard of cognition and was placed above practice. Practice could only be a limited activity or a puppet performance controlled by authority. Practice could only be the explanations and supplementary explications sanctioned by authority. All genuine Truths were already discovered by authority and people had no other choice but to act as puppets. Since people already lost complete subjective status as cognitive agents, their cognition could only amount to comprehending and explaining authority, while transmitting the Dao from the sage’s words. In contrast to the authority’s cognition, common people’s cognition could only have the guarantee of probability without the possibility of complete accuracy. Their cognition would always lack the power of resistance to the authority’s cognition and could never effectively constrain it. At the very most, they could only act supplements to the authority’s knowledge.

25

Zehua, [1], pp. 459–460.

198

4 The Discourse on the Natural and Human Spheres …

Second, classics scholarship as way of thought was a formalized thought, which was rooted in pre-Qin Confucianism’s political ideals and political principles. Classics scholarship was the principal characteristic of Chinese political thought during the systematization period as well as the basic achievement of Chinese political thought after undergoing the refinement of systematization. The basic logic of Chinese political thought that took shape during the Han dynasty sedimented and internalized as universal political thought. The popular Han dynasty thought of affective reciprocity between Heaven-or-Nature and humanity, the oneness of Nature and humanity and the five phases of yin and yang constructed a universalized rule of the world, through which the political ideals and principles championed by Confucianism also became universal. They became universally applicable, absolute ethical laws. The absolute ethical laws and the universal laws of the world were integrated together into a formalized thought known as classics scholarship, the formalization of which manifested in two aspects: one aspect was that classics scholarship as a way of thinking expressed the universal form of affective reciprocity between Heaven-or-Nature and humanity and the five phases of yin and yang; all human ways of thinking were transformed to varyinng degrees by the five phases of yin and yang as humanity’s ethical location in the world was determined by the relationship between Heaven-or-Nature and humanity; every single judgment about human being’s ethical location manifested the universal cosmic law of affective reciprocity between Heaven-or-Nature and humanity and the five phases of yin and yang; in another aspect, classics scholarship as way of thinking also positioned each and every social role in a moving world of universal connections, universalizing and fixing the ethical location of each role, forcing every single social role to “think and not step out of place” while self-consciously maintaining one’s own ethical location, which demanded people to self-consciously uphold the social law corresponding to one’s own ethical location. The formalized thought of classics scholarship corresponded to the formalized being of the entire society. Classics scholarship as a way of thinking established by Han dynasty Confucianism was the core of the traditional Chinese way of thought. People never failed to have political values determined by classics scholarship as their political beliefs and also never failed to express sincere respect for the form of life and form of thought determined by classics scholarship. Even developing new knowledge had to be done under the authority of classics scholarship in the undertaking of so-called “reforms relying on antiquity,” but classics scholarship as a way of thinking only determined the basic presuppositions and basic framework of thought and did not realize the greater unity of thought in the true sense. Although Confucian scholars and dynastic rulers attempted to undertake the greater unification of thought many times, there were always many important intellectual divergences internal to Confucian classics scholarship and countless intellectual disputes occurred in cases where Confucian thought was otherwise unified with respect to presuppositions and form of thought. The mainstream version of Chinese political thought also had to maintain a certain degree of plurality. The political status of solely authorized Confucianism was determined by the imperial authority and internal divergences could only be

1 The Canonization of Confucian Political Thought and Political …

199

settled by the emperor, but the emperor also tended to retain the plural characteristic of Confucian classics scholarship enjoying greater unity while entertaining smaller differences in thought. Confucian classics scholarship’s greater unity and smaller differences could maintain, develop and popularize the mainstream political consciousness in society, and meanwhile, exert sufficient Confucian influence upon society. Realizing and promoting the progressive Confucianization of society while also maintaining the plural characteristic of thought enabled society to get support from diverse intellectual resources so as to avoid becoming ill-informed and suffering from the routine stupidity caused by close-mindedness in political thought. Confucian classics scholarship developed into society’s universal thought during the Han dynasty. It maintained a certain pluralism and hence avoided the absolute rigidification of thought while sustaining the intellectual vitality of traditional Chinese society. It thereby maintained the ability to formulate effective political regulations for society, but the greater unity and smaller differences found in Confucian classics scholarship restricted the tolerable array of different opinions that people could share in classics scholarship to an extremely limited range. A new thought in society could only attain legitimate status by exhibiting greater unity in content of thought with classics scholarship’s way of thinking. Moreover, a new thought’s existence and development also had to maintain greater identity with the principal thought of classics scholarship at all times. Otherwise, if it were to overstep the limit of greater identity it would be banned by the authority of classics scholarship and face universal resistance from classics thought. Traditional Chinese political thought did not stop at the horizon drawn during the Han dynasty, but always maintained the potential for continual development. The mainstream form of traditional Chinese political thought developed continuously all the way up to the eve of the Opium Wars, but traditional Chinese political thought also seemed to develop within already wellestablished presuppositions and a well-drawn basic outline such that every phase of development remained well-connected to its source. The “greater unity” of classics scholarship as way of thinking was actually traditional Chinese political thought’s “substance or basic constitution” (ti 体), while “the smaller differences” in it were traditional Chinese political thought’s “functions or practical exercises” (yong 用). Although the “functions” could be different, the “substance or basic constitution” could not in any way change. The core of classics scholarship’s “substance or basic constitution” as way of thinking was the three cardinal guides and five constant virtues constructed by the necessary reciprocity between Nature-or-Heaven (tian 天) and humanity (ren 人) in the Han dynasty. (4) The Confucianization of Chinese Society Han dynasty Confucianism absorbed the chief thoughts of all other schools in the formation of a new Confucianism, which differed from pre-Qin Confucianism. In one respect, it absorbed and digested the chief thoughts of all other schools and constructed the whole form of traditional Chinese political thought while sustaining decisive influence over traditional Chinese political thought. In another respect, it still maintained the most basic features and pursuits of Confucian thought, and meanwhile, made Confucian thought become the universal political thought in society,

200

4 The Discourse on the Natural and Human Spheres …

thereby influencing both the form and arrangement of socio-political life while successfully effectuating the Confucianizing transformation of Chinese society. The Confucianization of Chinese society officially commenced in the Han dynasty, after which it continued all the way up to the political power of the Manchu Qing dynasty in mastering the central plains. The active transformation of traditional Chinese society basically always occurred in close connection with the popularization and development of Confucian culture. The vast majority of active changes in traditional Chinese society were arguably made by virtue of the Confucianization of Chinese society and the development of traditional Chinese society nearly became the conscious realization of the basic principles championed by Confucianism. Although Confucianism lost the power to influence society and politics in China’s recent age, its influence upon Chinese society’s development cannot be ignored. Many humane scholars and aspiring officials loyally devoted to Confucian thought still fight and struggle to establish Confucianism’s status of all-around dominance and many are still obsessively passionate about Confucian thought’s positive impact on Chinese society. Many people are even still trying to guide the future development of Chinese society with Confucianism’s basic principles and to establish a modern Confucian society. They are thus trying to restrict China’s development hereafter to a scope permitted by Confucian principles and make the development of Chinese society still continue the historical destiny of Confucianization, but the odds and environment that Chinese society already faces are already totally different. The impact of globalization and the complexity of future society far exceed the capacity of Confucian principles to contain it. The world has never truly seen a universally applicable set of basic principles that are absolutely unchanging. Even now, no such basic principles could possibly exist. No political people on earth could possibly live from birth to death relying on fixed basic principles. “Although traditional culture represented by Confucianism still enjoys broad influence in real life, this does not prove that it enjoys eternally unchanging value. The decline of Western culture also cannot prove that Confucian culture envelops more Truth, beauty and goodness.”26 Qu Tongzu once specifically covered the Confucianization of Chinese law, exploring the decisive influence of Confucianism’s basic thought upon it. He reduces the substance of traditional Chinese law to law that is by nature Confucian, the most important manifestation of which was the influencing and reforming of laws with the Confucian code of rites, legally canonizing “the sentencing of punishment according to the meaning of the classics” popular in the Han dynasty.27 In actuality, the legal canonization of Confucian thought was a natural result of the Confucianization of society, while the Confucianization of society was the basic precondition of the legal canonization of Confucianism. The Confucianization of Chinese law officially began in the Wei and Jin era, while the Confucianization of Chinese society began in the Han dynasty. The standard achievement of the Confucianization of the Chinese legal system was The Tang Code, whose complete state was The Great Qing Legal Code. The Confucianization of Chinese society officially manifested itself in the Eastern 26 27

Zehua, [1], p. 223. Tongzu [2], pp. 330–336.

1 The Canonization of Confucian Political Thought and Political …

201

Han period, when Confucianism transformed from a cultural thought into the basic rules of social life. The ultimate achievement of the Confucianization of Chinese society was seen in the social form of life at the eve of the Opium Wars. From the orthodox status of Confucian thought established in the Han dynasty to the time when Confucianism’s basic principles began to seem untimely during the Opium Wars, the nearly 2,000 years of traditional Chinese history in between was a process of continuous advances in the broadening, deepening and developing of the Confucianization of society. The basic principles of Han dynasty Confucianism became the basic principles of traditional Chinese society. The Confucianization of Chinese society, generally speaking, had the following several manifestations. One, the Confucianization of Chinese society firstly manifested itself in the basic ideals of Confucianism becoming the mainstream political ideals of the entire society. Confucianism’s basic principles became the basic standards for people to judge right and wrong. The Confucian classics became decisive influencers of people in the process of socialization. Beginning with the philosophers of the early Han dynasty, people repeatedly underscored the importance of Confucianism’s principles of humane and righteous conduct when widely reflecting upon the lessons of the speedy dissolution of the Qin dynasty. As the hundred schools of thought further integrated, Confucianism’s dominant status was established among the traditional Chinese forms of political thought. Confucianism was widely propagated and the meaning of the Confucian classics became the decisive thought influencing peoples’ conception of right and wrong. Even in legal sentencing, the meaning of the Confucian classics became the basic grounds for deciding right and wrong. “Banning the other schools of thought, and solely authorizing the Confucian tradition” tightly bound the performance of governmental office to the Confucian classics, which led to the popular craving of Confucian classics, where people of all walks of life passionately desired to get their hands them, and become influential higher officials through them. As soon as one became higher official, one became the vanguard promoting Confucian scholarship, laboring in the attempt to make more people prone to being influenced by the meaning of the Confucian classics, and to make the Confucian classics wield decisive influence over the socialization of human beings. Yu Yingshi explored the relationship between the conscientious officials and cultural propaganda of the Han dynasty, showing clearly the important role of conscientious officials with respect to popularizing Confucian political culture.28 The influence of the Confucian classics upon conventional culture was crucial and the result of the Confucianization of conventional culture was the further strengthening of Confucian classics to influence society and to socialize an increasing number of human beings and to make them through increasingly many ways open to the decisive influence of the Confucian classics. Two, the second important effect of the Confucianization of society was the formation of the universal awareness of Confucian culture and the facilitation of people toward self-consciously utilizing Confucian standards for the purpose of selfregulation and toward judging their own being as conforming to the values promoted 28

Yingshi [16], pp. 140–141.

202

4 The Discourse on the Natural and Human Spheres …

by Confucian culture. Confucian standards made very meticulous prescriptions for people’s conduct, demanding people not to look, hear, say or do anything out of line with ritual propriety. All deeds, thoughts and emotions had to conform to one’s social role, which Confucianism called one’s title or name (ming 名), and the basic principle guiding and regulating each social role was civilism (mingjiao 名教). The core of Confucian civilism was loyalty and filial piety, which in turn was the root of being human as well as the basis and standard of someone being human and even more so the guidelines for society to judge the complicated nature of right and wrong. Civilism established the universal and necessary form of the human being. One could only count as human by behaving in line with the demands of civilism. Civilism was one of Han dynasty Confucianism’s important contributions to Chinese history as well as one of the most powerful political theories behind the socialization of Confucianism’s basic principles. The first pioneer in this regard could be Dong Zhongshu. The most typical text conveying civilism was the Bai Hu Tong (白虎通) and civilism’s most basic method of educational discipline was rewarding the preservation of good name and integrity, setting good examples, and educating the masses of common people with such examples, so as to make more people self-consciously conduct themselves in line with the basic principles of Confucianism, or in other words, being role models of loyalty and filial piety. Three, the third manifestation of the Confucianization of society was the Confucianization of social institutions. The Confucianization of social institutions was first of all Han dynasty Confucianism providing pre-existing institutions with Confucian interpretations, or rather, the rationalization of pre-existing institutions by means of the Confucian classics and authoritative texts. Dong Zhongshu’s acknowledgment of the Qin and Han institutions followed this model. Even in ages when Confucian thought was already the mainstream ideology of society, Confucian classics still needed to produce rationalizing explanations for the absorption of new institutions so as to make China’s institutional system continually expand and develop while being able to maintain its intrinsic unity. The Confucianization of social institutions also meant that the rulers would have to create institutions based on the spirit of Confucian classics at due times. It even set up some of the argumentation found in the Confucian classics as institutional norms, in order to regulate and command society’s institutional norms for the purpose of better maintaining and developing the Confucianized society. The Confucianization of social institutions also manifested in the decisive influence of Confucian classics over all of society’s institutional norms, which endowed the Confucian classics with a normative efficacy higher than all other concrete institutions. It formed an order of efficacy from lower to higher— from customs and institutions to edicts and finally the Confucian classics themselves. Of course, the emperor wielded the highest interpretive power over the Confucian classics. The influence of the Confucianization of society with respect to social institutions manifested in the recent era as the incomparable difficulty of reforming social institutions, and even today, there are still some who are crazily passionate about the Confucianization of social institutions. The attempt to guide development with

1 The Canonization of Confucian Political Thought and Political …

203

the basic principles of Confucianism, so-called political Confucianism, reconstructs institutional systems strongly colored by Confucianism.29 Four, the most important manifestation of the Confucianization of society was that of the Confucianization of the form of social thought, namely what we have mentioned previously as classics scholarship. The basic concepts, categories, propositions, judgments and inferences certified by the Confucian classics became the basic elements of the socially constructive way of thinking. The decisive influence of Confucianism over traditional Chinese political thought chiefly manifested itself in the widespread form of politics and the basic political ideals of society. Even though great changes effected traditional Chinese thought after the Han, the widespread form of political thought and political ideals that had matured during the Han dynasty did not change so significantly. By the “widespread form of political thought” we are referring to the content determining political institutions and the relations and procedures in people’s political thought. In traditional Chinese political thought this manifested as the universal forms of the world—yin and yang, superiority and inferiority, noble and base—gaining universal approval from the vast majority of society. The political ideals established by Han dynasty Confucianism chiefly manifested as the greater unity of monarchical rule rooted in putting people first. Although the grounds that Han dynasty Confucians fixed for this political ideal were repeatedly put into doubt, it still accompanied traditional Chinese socio-politics from beginning to end. However, traditional Chinese political thought did indeed run into crises and received certain supplementation from the political thought of other cultures in determining the axiological foundation of this political ideal and this universal form of politics, but the classics scholarship determined by Han dynasty Confucian scholars always prevailed as the dominant way of thinking. Whether with respect to the value of politics or the form of politics, the political ideal of people-first monarchic rule never truly wavered. That said, the supplementation of the Buddhist way of thinking did indeed benefit the classics scholarship in both meticulousness and depth. It made the Confucian thought of classics scholarship become even more elegant and convincing. We owe this to Buddhist thought’s theoretical advantages in ontology and methodology. It filled in ontological insufficiencies and patched up methodological inadequacies, while also profiting from systematic thought’s theoretical predicament of explaining the necessary ground of politics with the relations between elements ever since the Qin and Han dynasties.

2 The Making and Meaning of Dong Zhongshu’s Political Thought of Greater Unity Dong Zhongshu was born in 179 BCE and died in 104 BCE. A native of Hebei province, town of Guangchuan. He was a famous Confucian political theorist during the reign of emperor Wu of Han. He earned the degree of erudite during the reign 29

Qing [17], pp. 39–40.

204

4 The Discourse on the Natural and Human Spheres …

of emperor Jing of Han, teaching the Gong Yang Commentary on the Spring and Autumn Annals. During the Guangyuan era, Emperor Wu of Han (134 BCE) “personally inquired responders counting in the hundreds about the dao of ancient and current times.” Dong Zhongshu’s policy response came in three volumes, suggesting “banning the other schools of thought, and solely authorizing the Confucian tradition,” insisting “all branches outside of the six arts and the tradition of Confucius, end their discourses, do not let them advance together!” Dong Zhongshu was a very influential scholar and political theorist of the early Han dynasty. His theory and relevant works like Judicial Precedents in the Spring and Autumn Annals, Punishment Sentencing in Spring and Autumn Annals, and Luxurious Dew of Spring and Autumn Annals were all deeply and heavily influential upon the politics and laws of traditional Chinese society. Dong Zhongshu’s political thought embodied the earliest achievements of the systematization of Chinese political thought. Systematic and comprehensive in terms of content, it laid claim to a rigorous and complete logical framework and it exhibited widespread and convincing explanatory power. In one respect, it enveloped the most basic things in traditional Chinese political thought and undertook the effective critique and inheritance of the most basic concepts, categories, propositions, judgments and inferences of each pre-Qin school of thought—from the Confucian school to that of yin and yang cosmology, Mohism, Daoism, legalism and civilism. In advanced form, it established a “new Confucianism” based mainly on Confucianism while embracing all the other schools of thought at the same time. It gave Chinese political thought a relatively complete theoretical form for the very first time. He tackled the necessary sanctity of the basic political relations and relevant laws of conduct from the perspective of the relationship between the human and natural spheres of being. In another respect, Dong Zhongshu’s political thought also contained the most popular universal political beliefs of the Han dynasty and the way of thought that had become common. He situated human politics in a cosmic system encompassing Heaven, Earth and all things, while elucidating Confucianism’s basic political principles, basic political ideals and optimal way of governance from the perspective of universal necessity, which provided an ideal model of governance that Chinese society could universally apply everywhere. Because of this, Dong Zhongshu’s thought was suitable not only for the systematic investigation of the basic concepts, fundamental categories and core propositions of Chinese political thought, but also for studying basic governing principles and ruling strategies. Dong Zhongshu’s political thought penetrated for the first time rather deeply and systematically the basic problems of politics, while simultaneously tying together empirical political being and some model of universal necessity for the first time under more sufficient empirical conditions. It unified humanity and brought it into some kind of model of universal necessity. While rationalizing humanity’s political activity, it also fixed and formalized humanity’s political activity, which brought about many absurd events beyond the author’s expectations and touched on the issue of equilibrium between a priori and empirical reasoning in the political realm.30

30

Zehou [3], pp. 145–146.

2 The Making and Meaning of Dong Zhongshu’s Political …

205

(1) The Organic Wholeness of Chinese Political Thought Thinker biographies or special topic researches always circulated in the world of Chinese political thought. Biographies or works on special topics very clearly possessed marked advantages: they were not only perfectly suited for the dissemination of concrete political thought and knowledge, but could also allow people to more soberly grasp the finer parts of historical development and understand in better detail the extremely charming thoughts and viewpoints of classical thinkers. But there is no reason to hide their flaw, which is that they artificially split up the organic wholeness of Chinese political thought, making people easily “miss the mountain for the molehill,” that is it made people study and research Chinese political thought to the point of giving them the pride of knowing each thinker’s viewpoint with great familiarity while not knowing the entirety of Chinese political thought very well at all. When people do not know much about the holistic characteristics of Chinese political thought, their grasp of each finer part of Chinese political philosophy likewise cannot stand up to longer deliberation, because all concrete knowledge and viewpoints are established on the foundations of some universal common sense and underlying presuppositions, which were not only the crucial aspects enabling Chinese political thought to become an organic whole, but were also the stage upon which each thinker established his core viewpoint as well as the basic standard according to which one could measure whether or not political thought fundamentally underwent a massive change. No matter what the theoretical aim is, Chinese political thought always demands us to see it as an organic whole, and especially for those readers who have just set foot into Chinese political thought, establishing a view of such an organic whole is extremely important, and Dong Zhongshu’s political thought, one could say, amounts to the ideal medium for understanding the organic wholeness of Chinese political thought. Traditional Chinese political thought’s wholeness stems from the identity of the political tradition that gave birth to each school of Chinese political thought, which is to say, varying political thoughts or viewpoints that seem at first far apart are actually produced by a common political tradition. The identity of the political tradition determined different schools of political thought to possess a higher identity or necessary complementarity. The common political tradition not only gave birth to the common psychological foundation of politics and the instrumental reason of political cognition shared by different schools of political thought, but also determined the identity of the social groundworks established by different schools of political thought. When the psychological foundations of politics and basic instrumental reasons of political cognition that are established by different schools of political thought share higher uniformity and when the groundworks for society established by different schools of political thought share a higher identity, the contrasting relations between different kinds of political thought could basically be summarized as “the greater identity of smaller differences.” For instance, differences in political thought between the great masters of neo-Confucianism and Gu Yanwu and Huang Zongxi at the juncture between Ming and Qing dynasties fall under the category of “greater identity of

206

4 The Discourse on the Natural and Human Spheres …

smaller differences.” Especially at the level of political philosophy, seemingly dissimilar thinkers are ultimately quite similar. Since each school of political thought within this “greater identity of smaller differences” emerged in the same cultural tradition of politics and reflected some aspects of it, and since the cultural tradition of politics always acted as an organic whole, those things assuring that the organic wholeness of the political-cultural tradition organically tied the different schools of political thought together within the greater identity of smaller differences, making them possess higher identity and stronger complementarity and show marked commonality with respect to disposition of thought, thereby made the Chinese tradition of political thought that grew in the womb of traditional Chinese politics manifest stronger organicity and wholeness. In addition, each school and each viewpoint of traditional Chinese political thought came into being under the stimulus of the same types of political events. They all had to face the same socio-political problems and largely shared complementary political ideals, thereby making the political thought that they created exhibit larger commonality and complementarity when responding to social problems. The organic wholeness of traditional Chinese political thought was self-evident political common sense for the political rulers and common people of traditional society. Dong Zhongshu’s political thought both absorbed the basic things of “greater unity” in all schools of political thought and also took into consideration the ethnic universality in the ways of political thought. He truly grounded political thought in a foundation of sufficient political common sense and basically constructed a logically rigorous body of thought that completed the organic integration of Chinese political thought, which was an important achievement for Chinese political thought at the stage of systematic development.31 The main pillars of traditional Chinese political thought are Confucianism, Daoism, Legalism, Mohism, and the yin and yang cosmology school, but Chinese political thought is not a puzzle haphazardly made up of a messy pile of different schools of thought, but is rather an organic whole co-constituted by each school of thought. The term organic whole not only illustrates that each school of political thought shared basic commonalities, but also illustrates that each school of political thought shared marked complementarity and logically necessary connections to one another. In sum, we must establish the viewpoint that Chinese political thought is an organic whole, which is the basic feature that distinguishes the investigative perspective of political thought from those of other forms of thought. It also allows us to meet the basic demand that we deepen our understanding of Chinese political thought. That we insist on Chinese political thought’s organic wholeness does not mean that we equate all political thinkers of all schools. We still prominently insist on Confucian political thought’s special importance in the body of Chinese political thought, and could also insist on Daoism’s crucial role during the key periods of Chinese political thought’s development. We completely affirm Confucian political thought’s central status in the body of Chinese political thought and its important influence with respect to shaping the system of Chinese political life, but we also have to acknowledge that without the decisive role played by Buddhism during the Wei-Jin 31

Shiwei [18], pp. 76–82.

2 The Making and Meaning of Dong Zhongshu’s Political …

207

era, during the Northern and Southern dynasties period and the Sui and Tang dynasties period, that is without the profound philosophical thought of Buddhism, Chinese political thought would have possibly stagnated at the level of Han dynasty Confucianism’s thought of affective reciprocity and analogy. In one respect, the limitedness and even absurdity of Dong Zhongshu’s political thought to some degree embodies the limited nature of traditional China’s inherent way of thought prior to the influence of Buddhist thought, and in another respect, the cardinal and constant ethical principles formulated by Dong Zhongshu in politics influenced traditional Chinese society for nearly two thousand years as it became a rigid dogma, for which reason we could in some sense consider Dong Zhongshu’s political thought to be a model for understanding the fundamental limitedness of the purely Chinese political tradition. The organic wholeness of traditional Chinese political thought is principally exhibited in the necessary concepts, categories, propositions and judgments of political philosophy along with the necessary logical system constructed from them.32 Any political thought must face and solve many philosophical problems in the sphere of political life, in order to provide real political life with the theoretical foundation of more sufficient basic presuppositions and more adequate basic principles, forms, purposes and values, all of which are problems pertaining to what we call political philosophy. At the same time, political thought must also intensively concentrate on real political difficulties and the focal points and important points therein, while actively seeking empirically effective methods of solution. The essence, themes, aims and developmental tendencies of political thought all depend on the political philosophy within it. It is made up of a series of necessary categories and propositions and sets up for political society the necessary political goals that people must pursue and the universal model of political relations carrying ontological significance, which is the skeleton and soul of political thought. The theoretical conceptions of empirical resolutions to political problems at the very most amount to the flesh and blood clinging to the skeleton of political philosophy. Although theoretical conceptions may be richly filled with political thought, the categories and propositions composing them only seek empirical validity and do not possess necessity, so we basically cannot judge the essence of political thought on this basis. Whether or not a political thought possesses vitality, in one respect, depends on how philosophical the thought is, how universal it is, and how deeply or typically it reflects and considers the political problems that the political society under consideration faces. In another respect, it also depends on its degree of empirical validity for solving real political problems. Since Dong Zhongshu’s political thought is the ideal medium for understanding the organic wholeness of traditional Chinese political thought, and because the typical embodiment and manifestation of the organic wholeness of political thought is political philosophy, the latter can only be a set of necessary concepts, categories, propositions, judgments and inferences along with the universal and necessary logical relations composing them. Our explanation of Dong Zhongshu’s political thought must focus on the introduction of his political philosophy and pay close attention 32

Shiwei [19], pp. 118–126.

208

4 The Discourse on the Natural and Human Spheres …

to understanding and thinking through some of the most basic political problems Donng Zhongshu’s political philosophy set out to resolve along with the concepts, categories, propositions, judgments and inferences associated with it. The completion and contribution of Dong Zhongshu’s political thought along with its limitedness all stem from the fundamental political concepts and logical relations between the concepts that he created. The theme of Dong Zhongshu’s political philosophy is the relationship between the natural and human spheres of being, and the way of thinking through which he understood the relationship between the natural and human spheres of being was the typical thought of analogy and affective reciprocity between the two. By treating the relationship between the natural and human spheres of being as one of affective reciprocity, Dong Zhongshu established the unchanging, universal and necessary ethical principles of Chinese society for several thousand years. Dong Zhongshu’s method of proving universal and necessary ethical principles in political philosophy was an unrefined system theory or simple control theory that balanced and coordinated empirical factors with transcendental factors. It did not prove the necessity and legitimacy of politics from the inherent attributes of human beings, but rather presupposed Heaven-or-Nature’s all-around control of the cosmos, and universalized the hierarchical relationship of superiority between Heaven and Earth. The starting point of Dong Zhongshu’s political philosophy is Heaven-or-Nature and not humanity. Although human beings can make Heaven-or-Nature actively respond to themselves by means of entering affective reciprocity with Heaven, which shows a certain subjective activity, this all happens under the basic logical presupposition of Heaven-or-Nature’s humane virtue and goodness. If Heaven-or-Nature does not respond presents vicious factors, human beings are helpless and have no alternative. Humanity’s relationship with Heaven-or-Nature was similar to that between the common people and their ruler. Although the common people may emotionally move the ruler, if the ruler does not act in response, the common people are similarly helpless. This having to rely on the higher authority’s kindness without the ability to actively and positively put a check on the higher authority is ultimately very limited. Through it, one can only develop people-first thought but cannot develop democratic thought. If Chinese political philosophy’s fundamental concepts and categories are always biased toward monarchy, Chinese political philosophy still stops at the level of Dong Zhongshu’s political philosophy, and still lacks the conditions for the development of democratic political thought. (2) The Universal Logic of the Cosmic System The pursuit of thought that was popular in the Han dynasty was “probing the juncture between Heave-or-Nature and humanity, consistently linking the transformations between past and present,” in the attempt to bring all beings in the universe between Heaven and Earth into a unified, interconnected schema of the universe that obeys universal laws, that is holistically understanding, grasping and explaining it, while attempting to explain the rules and laws of the world from the aspect of the unity of all beings. Although this explanation of the universal rules and laws of the world conveys a certain mysticism and the mastery of some will, it was indeed a great step forward in

2 The Making and Meaning of Dong Zhongshu’s Political …

209

China’s theoretical thought.33 Dong Zhongshu’s thought was grounded in precisely this pursuit, and we could even say that the most basic logical presupposition of Dong Zhongshu’s political thought was precisely this discourse on “Heaven-or-Nature and humanity past and present” that explains the universal rules and laws of the universe. In the popular worldview of the Han dynasty, the universe was a system composed of many kinds of elements and possessed marked organic wholeness, the principal expressions of which was the interrelatedness of everything happening in the universe and establishing the universal connections of a simple systematicity between the different parts of the universe, according to which the change of one part or one aspect will lead to a corresponding change in another part or aspect. The existence of all beings in the cosmos follows a certain formal law, and the universal connections between all beings follows the universal natural sequential and spatial order of the five phases of yin and yang, “Nature possesses five phases: one is wood; two is fire; three is earth; four is metal; five is water; wood is the beginning of the five phases; water is the end of the five phases; earth is the middle of the five phases. This is the order of its natural sequence.”34 The so-called order of the natural sequence is the “reciprocal genesis of phases” and “reciprocal succession” between the five phases.” The reciprocal genesis of phases refers to the order of the genetic relation between the five phases, manifesting the supportive connections between all of the elements in the material world. When such connections are summarized as “the genesis of phases” (xiang sheng 相生), there universally exists an anthropomorphic father-son relation between all beings in the universe, “wood gives birth to fire, fire gives birth to earth, earth gives birth to metal, metal gives birth to water,” “water is winter, metal is autumn, earth is late summer, fire is summer, wood is spring,” “spring presides over birth, summer presides over growth, late summer presides over raising, autumn presides over harvesting, winter presides over storing,” “storage is the culmination of winter,” “what the father gives birth to, his son grows; what the father grows, his son raises; what the father raises, his son matures.”35 Relations of succession refers to the reciprocal genesis between the five phases, “metal overcomes wood, fire overcomes metal, water overcomes fire, earth overcomes water and wood overcomes earth, which shows the mutually constraining relationships universally found between all beings in the universe. Using human affairs as analogy, it appears as “what is wooden is agricultural,” “what does agriculture are people,” “if order is not followed as in the case of betrayal, the minister of the people shall be ordered to kill him to command rectification, for which reason we say metal conquers wood,” “metal is the minister of the people,” “if the minister of the people is weak, and cannot command the scholar-officials and the people, then the minister of war shall kill him, therefore we say fire conquers metal,” “earth is the bureaucratic officials under the ruler, if the ruler is overly extravagant, exceeding all measure to the point of missing written correspondence, the people revolt …Therefore, we say wood conquers earth.”36 The 33

Zehou [19], p. 145. Zhongshu [20], (42.1). 35 Ibid., (38.1). 36 Ibid., (58.3). 34

210

4 The Discourse on the Natural and Human Spheres …

relationship of reciprocal genesis and mutual succession between the five phases constitutes a more completely connected feedback system, making all beings in the universe truly shape up into an organic whole, and the controlling force driving the whole universe is “The Dao of Heaven-or-Nature” (tiandao 天道). “The five phases follow one another, each [phase] complies with the order [of dao]. The officials of the five phases are equipped to fulfill their capacity,” “wood presides over birth and metal presides over death, fire presides over summer and water presides over winter. Diplomatic bodies having to follow its sequences and palace bodies having to follow its capacities is fate.”37 Dong Zhongshu’s description of the systematic connections of the cosmic organic whole comes about though mutual similarity between types. Thus, his theory fully focusses on straightening out the division of “types” between all beings in the universe. In this, he specifically focuses on viewing Heaven-or-Nature and humanity as one kind. The central aspect of Heaven-or-Nature and humanity belonging to the same kind is Heaven-or-Nature and King belonging to the same kind. In his elucidation of Heaven-or-Nature and humanity belonging to the same kind there are imaginative and analogical ingredients lacking scientific basis. For instance, he views human being’s physiology and natural phenomena as belonging to the same type, and his analogical formulation is most typical. “Human being has 360 segments matching the number of celestial days. The body, bones and flesh match the thickness of the earth. The head possesses ears and eyes, hearing and vision, which are the signs of sun and moon. The body possesses empty cavities and arterial pattern, which are the signs of the rivers and valleys. The affective mind possesses sadness and delight, joy and anger, which are the types of spirit and mood … On the human body, the head is round, the sign of celestial capacity. Hair is the sign of stars and celestial bodies. The ears and eyes are temperamental, the sign of solar and lunar cycles,” “minor segments 366, matching the number of days. Major segments, matching the number of months. Inside the body there are five organs, matching the number of the five phases. Externally there are four limbs, matching the number of seasons. Opening and closing the eyes, matching the day and the night. Firm and soft, matching the winter and summer. Now joyful, now mournful, matching yin and yang.”38 When the analogies among parts of the universe concentrate on Heaven-or-Nature and the king’s body, the topic of “Heaven and King being of the same kind” becomes perfectly obvious, highlighting the political nature of the connotations. “The king matches Heaven,” “Heaven has four seasons, the king has four policies, four policies are like four seasons, consistent in kind,” “what Heaven-or-Nature and humanity share in common,” “celebrating is spring, rewarding is summer, sentencing is autumn, punishing is winter,” “celebrating, rewarding, sentencing and punishing are indispensable instruments,” “like the indispensable instruments of spring, summer, autumn and winter.”39 Human politics and natural laws share categorical conformity and sequential isomorphism. They also influence each other. One complements and cooperates with the other, forming 37

Ibid., (42.1). Zhongshu [20], (56.1). 39 Ibid., (55.1). 38

2 The Making and Meaning of Dong Zhongshu’s Political …

211

a paradigm of cosmic relationships in the affective reciprocity between natural and human spheres of being. The heavenly seasons, the timing of things, the human body, political control, rewards and punishments are all categorized and implicated in this diagram of the five phases composing different things sharing the same form, differing in content while sharing the same structure. This assembles a cosmological structure of mutual genesis and succession and acts as the universal groundwork of imperial administration. The monarch governs in line with the rhythm of the natural seasons, the human world runs in peaceful balance, and the weather is favorable. If the monarch disobeys the properties of the five phases, confuses them altogether in one breath, carrying out in spring the orders of autumn, and carrying out in winter the policies of summer, it will cause the realm many troubles, plaguing the people with sickness and resentment. If the monarch breaks the cosmic order, calamities and disasters will spring from Heaven-or-Nature, the imperial court will fall into crisis and come to an end. Dong Zhongshu plies together the natural mechanism of the workings of the five phases and the control theory of Heaven-or-Nature acting as the will or purpose of the master. The duality of “Heaven-or-Nature” (theological personality and natural materiality) unfolds in this system as the integration of mechanism and teleology. There is mechanism in teleology and teleology in mechanism. Dong Zhongshu’s most basic law of relations in the organic whole of the universe is the law of yin and yang. The form of everything’s lawful and purposeful being and the normal legitimate relationship between everything can only be the relationship of yin and yang, whose substance is found in determining the combinatorial relationship of noble superiority and base inferiority under conditions of mutual opposition between things. “Everything integrates together, and there is yin and yang in each integration.”40 Yin and yang are always invoked in paired opposition, that is one can only ascertain the relationship of yin and yang in things and determine which is yang and which is yin in cases of mutual opposition between things. Yin and yang are not equal parties and the so-called conversion of yin and yang can only be the conversion of opposed objects. If opposed objects do not change, and especially if the opposed objects of roles do not change, then yin and yang cannot convert into one another. Rather, what is yin is eternally yin and what is yang is eternally yang. Once the relationship of yin and yang between roles embodies “dao,” it possesses universality, eternity and absoluteness. Arguing that Heaven-or-Nature is unchanging and dao is unchanging is to say the dao-abiding relationship of yin and yang belonging to certain social roles is not an interconvertible relationship. When social roles are opposed, yin cannot convert into yang and yang cannot convert into yin: Heaven is yang and Earth is yin; Father is yang, Son is yin; Husband is yang, Wife is yin; Ruler is yang, Minister is yin. The intrinsic order of dao between yin and yang is “yin is handled by yang, yang constrains and regulates yin.” “Yin is handled by yang” is manifested in concrete socio-political relationships as “the wife is conforming to the husband, son is conforming to the father, minister is conforming to the ruler,” “the dao of ruler and minister, father and son, husband and wife is always given by

40

Ibid., (53.1).

212

4 The Discourse on the Natural and Human Spheres …

the dao of yin and yang.”41 “The theory of integration and division between yin and yang divides the whole society into two, then integrates the two into one, forming two sides that are mutually distinguished and mutually interconnected: one side is ruler, father and husband, the masters generated by Heaven; the other side is minister, son and wife, the subordinates generated by Heaven.”42 Although Dong Zhongshu’s combination theory of yin and yang neither has nor relies on rigorous and meticulous logical reasoning, he still pursues the universality and necessity of the theory and its propositions like Western thinkers, emphasizing the universality of the laws of combinatorial relations between yin and yang as well as the omnipresence and universal applicability of the combinatorial relations of yin and yang, which had all-around guiding significance for people’s social lives. Considering the unequal aspect in the relationship between yin and yang, the relationship of noble superiority and base inferiority between yin and yang possesses a certain absoluteness and the relationship between Heaven and Earth, that between father and son and that between husband and wife is one of yin and yang. The relationship of noble superiority and base inferiority between the two is eternal and unchanging, while this invariability in the relationship between social roles actually establishes a universal ethical order and eternal political order. (3) The Theory of Heaven-or-Nature and Affective Reciprocity Between Natural and Human Spheres of Being The theory of Heaven-or-Nature is the main component of Chinese political thought. From King Pan Geng of Shang to the late Qing empire, the theory of Heavenor-Nature has been central to Chinese political thought. Even though the theories of Heaven-or-Nature formulated by people in different ages exhibited many differences, even though different theories of Heaven-or-Nature always directly influenced the authority of the monarch and the legitimacy of the monarch’s political governance, and even though the possibility of the theory of Heaven-or-Nature having direct influence upon Heaven-or-Nature became ever more doubtful and the connotations of Heaven-or-Nature formulated by different theories of Heaven-or-Nature became considerably complex, the mainstream form that the traditional Chinese theory of Heaven-or-Nature took always maintained the mysteriousness, sacredness and controlling character of Heaven-or-Nature. All of the different theories of Heaven-or-Nature indeed viewed Heaven-or-Nature as the transcendent, absolute authority of the universe and political world. The theory of Heaven-or-Nature mostly affirms that Heaven is omnipotent as well as omni-benevolent. Heaven-orNature’s omni-benevolence renders human supervision over the latter unnecessary and Heaven-or-Nature’s omnipotence deprives humans of the ability to supervise Heaven. Heaven-or-Nature is the absolute controller who needs no supervision and cannot be supervised. Heaven-or-Nature is the fundamental cause of humanity, and humanity is the derivative of Heaven-or-Nature, so Heaven-or-Nature not only must comprehensively control and hold guard over human beings, but also must take on 41 42

Zhongshu [20], (53.1). Zehua [15], p. 96.

2 The Making and Meaning of Dong Zhongshu’s Political …

213

the responsibility of arranging people’s one and only lawful and purposeful social life. Humans can only obey the arrangement set up by Heaven-or-Nature, and this obedience is in line with the dao of Heaven-or-Nature, while human being only truly becomes human by moving in alignment with the dao of Heaven-or-Nature. The purpose of human life or human being is to become purely human in alignment with the dao of Heaven-or-Nature. The popular Han dynasty theory of affective reciprocity between Heaven-or-Nature and humanity and integral oneness of Heaven-orNature and humanity defined “Heaven-or-Nature” (tian 天) as a complex entity with plentiful connotations, among which there is the natural Nature presenting affective reciprocity, and there is the moral or ethical Heaven emphasizing ethical principles, then there is the personal Heaven or spiritual Heaven acting as the final master of the world. Dong Zhongshu’s theory of Heaven-or-Nature was highly representative in traditional China. He both absorbed the Yin and Shang idea of “commanding the people to serve the gods” and the political theology of Mozi’s “will of Heaven.” It ties the seriousness, sanctity and unity of the world’s order to the godly Heaven, while also absorbing the theoretical elements of human being’s political activity championed by the pre-Qin philosophers. It thereby constructs a cosmic systematicity of sensing Heaven through humanity. Dong Zhongshu’s theory of Heaven-or-Nature was typically representative in the history of Chinese political thought and had a deep historical influence. Dong Zhongshu’s chief works contain a whole series of spiritual thoughts on the mandate of Heaven. But we cannot simply reduce his theory of Heaven-or-Nature to theological thought because of this. Dong Zhongshu’s conception of Heaven-or-Nature (tian 天) has three senses, that is godly Heaven, natural Nature and moral Heaven. The three senses of tian have a certain organic connectivity. Tian as Nature is the medium of moral laws embodying universal necessity, while universal and necessary moral laws make the universe become ethical. Universal and necessary moral laws are however the concrete forms of expression of tian as moral being, which points out the legitimate and necessary forms in which the universe becomes ethical. Meanwhile, the arrangement of the contents of tian as moral being is the necessary result of tian as the god controlling and dominating the world. The universal and necessary being of the world is the effect of godly tian’s intentional arrangement. As god, tian is the highest controller of the universe, both willful and masterful, both omnipotent and infinitely good, possessing the highest authority, that is “tian is the ruler of the hundred gods.”43 Tian, ennobled as the ruler of the hundred gods, controls the human world, and the order of the human world originates from tian, whose authorizing is the political starting point of the human world, but tian as Heaven-or-Nature only authorizes the son of Heaven. “Only the son of Heaven receives the mandate from Heaven-or-Nature, while the realm receives orders from the son of Heaven.”44 “The ruler who receives the mandate is given [the mandate] by Heaven’s will.”45 “A king

43

Zhongshu [20], (66.1). Ibid., (41.2). 45 Ibid., (35.1). 44

214

4 The Discourse on the Natural and Human Spheres …

must first receive the mandate to become king.”46 The will of Heaven-or-Nature not only manifests as purposefully mastering, controlling and authorizing, but also manifests as Heaven-or-Nature’s special loving care for humanity. “Of those creatures born of the vital essences of Heaven and Earth, none is more noble than human being.”47 “The five grains are by nature edible things, gifted to human being by Heaven-or-Nature.”48 “Heaven-or-Nature’s constant will is to benefit humanity.”49 Tian as Heaven-or-Nature in Dong Zhongshu means the concretely existing natural world, including the heavens and the earth along with all creatures past and present. Tian as moral Heaven means humane Nature, “[t]he virtue of being humane is found in Heaven-or-Nature. Heaven-or-Nature is humane.”50 “Detected inside of Heaven’s will is inexhaustible, humane love.”51 The Confucian school always liked to use the moral conduct of the monarchical ruler to analogically refer to the moral conduct of Heaven-or-Nature. In one respect, Confucianism considers Heaven-or-Nature as the highest moral exemplar of being humane (ren 仁). In another respect, Confucianism traces back universal moral demands to Heaven-or-Nature, which conveniently enables theoreticians and debaters to use the moral conduct of Heaven-orNature to constrain the behavior of the monarchical ruler who receives the mandate from Heaven-or-Nature. In theory, this transforms the moral conduct of Heavenor-Nature into the moral conduct of the monarchical ruler, while strengthening the persuasiveness of “being humane” as universal moral behavior. Dong Zhongshu’s moral Heaven-or-Nature basically inherits the tradition of pre-Qin Confucianism. Although Dong Zhongshu underscores the important meaning of Heaven-orNature as the highest god undertaking all-around control and mastery of the world, he does not advocate “commanding the people to serve the gods” like the Yin and Shang eras did, but rather gave human beings a certain positivity and activity through the theory of affective reciprocity between Heaven-or-Nature and humanity. Human beings could further improve their own predicament through emotionally moving Heaven-or-Nature on high with behavior. In Dong Zhongshu, affective reciprocity between Heaven-or-Nature and human beings ties together the masterful controlling Heaven, natural phenomena and the state of politics into an organic whole, in which the only true subject is Heaven-or-Nature, who simply makes use of natural phenomena as the medium through which Heaven-or-Nature warns, punishes and rewards human beings. The state of humanity is then nothing more than the medium through which Heaven-or-Nature observes whether or not political governance is good. While the theory of affective reciprocity between Heaven-or-Nature and humanity makes an indirect affirmation of human activity, only the ruler can exercise this indirectly affirmed human activity. Through improving political governance and thereby improving the state of being of human society, the ruler may 46

Ibid., (33.1). Zhongshu [20], (56.1). 48 Ibid., (76.1). 49 Ibid., (75.1). 50 Ibid., (44.1). 51 Ibid. 47

2 The Making and Meaning of Dong Zhongshu’s Political …

215

induce or elicit Heaven-or-Nature to give a certain positive response, and the medium through which Heaven-or-Nature responds to the monarchical ruler is anomalous and unusual political phenomena. In other words, the core problem of affective reciprocity between Heaven-or-Nature and humanity is the problem of affective reciprocity between Heaven-or-Nature and the King. Heaven-or-Nature is to the king as father is to son with the former paying attention to and carefully protecting the latter. If the king makes a mistake, Heaven-or-Nature attends to his correction. If the king is not paying attention, Heaven-or-Nature continually alerts him, and only attends to punishing him when there is no other alternative. Although the thought of affective reciprocity often went against the grain of constant laws to the point of appearing absurd, it was not totally without objective basis, and moreover, the logical precondition of this thought of affective reciprocity was the sympathy between things of the same kind. When applying it to human beings, it meant that good summons good and wicked summons wicked, encouraging human beings to widely do good deeds, and warning people not to do wrong with taboos. “Here, leveling the ground and pouring water on it removes the dryness so it is moist. Burning firewood evenly removes moisture so it is dry. All things move away from what diverges from itself and follow what converges with itself, so when wind streams are convergent, they collectively gather, when sounds are proportionate, they resonate … It is not mysterious. It is mathematically so. Beautiful things summon beautiful kinds of things. Wicked things summon wicked kinds of things. The resonance of what belongs to the same kind causes it to be so … When an emperor is about to rise, ominous signs of his virtue are seen beforehand. When an emperor is about to fall, ill omens are seen beforehand.”52 The presupposition of Dong Zhongshu’s thought of affective reciprocity between Heaven-or-Nature and humanity is Heaven-or-Nature and humanity being of the same kind, and his many formulations of Heaven-or-Nature and humanity being of the same kind are packed full of imaginary contents, most of which are totally absurd and do not hold up to the test of experience. Wang Chong at the juncture of the two Han dynasties bravely exposed and ruthlessly criticized such absurd imaginings. The logical conclusion of this thought of affective reciprocity between Heavenor-Nature and humanity is Heaven-or-Nature and humanity fusing into one whole, which is a core proposition of traditional Chinese theory. The connotations of Heavenor-Nature and humanity fusing into one whole may be rather complex, and this complexity even shows itself markedly in Dong Zhongshu’s theory. We have no intention of sorting through this complexity here, but we must point out several important connotations of the proposition that Heaven-or-Nature and humanity fuse into one whole. Its theoretical starting point is harmony between all beings in the universe. Because of this, the first connotation of the proposition that Heaven-orNature and humanity fuse into one whole is that Heaven-or-Nature and humanity compose a harmonious whole, but at this point what we call Heaven-or-Nature (tian 天) does not refer to the natural world as some people hold, but rather refers to the transcendent master of the universe, which encompasses the natural world, that is 52

Zhongshu [20], (57.1).

216

4 The Discourse on the Natural and Human Spheres …

the chief goal of harmonizing Heaven-or-Nature and humanity is the formation of harmonious relationships between the transcendent, absolute master of the universe and human beings in the form of observing ritual propriety. Heaven-or-Nature cares for human beings by being humane and righteous, while human beings revere and follow Heaven-or-Nature with filial hearts. The ultimate power of control over human society is in the hands of Heaven-or-Nature, who must select promising talent and wise human beings in the realm to take on the important role of making Heaven-orNature and human beings communicate. The bearer of this role was the half-god, half-human hero in the political myths of high antiquity, the one who acted as the medium through which Heaven-or-Nature and human beings communicated. For commoners, he was Heaven-or-Nature itself, but for Heaven-or-Nature, he was just human, because of which the second connotation of Heaven-or-Nature and human beings fusing into one is the half-god/half-man quality of this role bearer. The third connotation of the proposition that Heaven-or-Nature and human being fuse into one is the integral oneness of the internal determination of natural faculties and the external form of bodily expression. The substance of human nature’s ethical content is natural faculties, and the substance of human nature’s expressive form is human affections. The proposition that Heaven-or-Nature and human beings fuse into one chiefly declares the integration of Heaven-or-Nature and humanity into one through the process of interacting. In one respect, he insists that Heaven-or-Nature and human being compose a world of meticulously ordered good-natured interactions. In another respect, he also prominently insists that the monarchical ruler holding the mandate of Heaven possesses the half-god/half-man quality of integrating Heaven-or-Nature and humanity into one. Heaven-or-Nature’s authority and the king’s authority attain higher unity through political practice and the people must obey the king to obey Heaven-or-Nature. The people can only truly obey Heaven-or-Nature by obeying the king. (4) The Discourse on Human Nature and Disciplinary Thought The discourse on human nature is the main field of traditional Chinese political thought. How human nature is understood largely determines the basic quality of the political thought under consideration. Whether it is the theory that human nature is good as in Mencius or the theory that human nature is wicked as in Xunzi, the traditional Chinese discourse on human nature effectively provides the monarch’s interference into and control of human beings with the most meaningful ground. The ruler’s all-around control of human beings fundamentally presupposes the flawed nature of human being. The theory of human nature being good holds that human nature is originally good, but also that most human beings cover up their own goodness and cannot help themselves, so the monarchical ruler must help human beings recover their naturally good humanity. This good-willed help is all-around invasive help or political help in the style of “parents loving their children and having to plan for them far ahead.” The theory of human nature being wicked holds that human nature is originally wicked, and human goodness, that is the capacity to adapt to social life, is entirely the result of the good-willed helping hands of the ruler. Effectively, the form of help prescribed by the theory of human nature being wicked differs

2 The Making and Meaning of Dong Zhongshu’s Political …

217

in no distinct way from that prescribed by the theory of human nature being good. Its coerciveness and the justness of the coercive enforcement is even stronger in the former case. The theory that human nature is good is more easily accepted by people than the converse, which is because it not only generally gives people universal hope, but can also even better prove the necessity of human beings becoming good people. Even at the level of belief in human beings, the theory that human nature is good is greatly superior to the theory that human nature is wicked. The theory that human nature is good at the minimum still acknowledges the extreme importance of human being’s self-conscious activity in managing affairs. It acknowledges that the common person can become a good person like the emperors Yao and Shun depending on one’s own moral effort. Dong Zhongshu’s theory of human nature generally inclines toward Xunzi’s, stressing more often than not the importance of externally enforced education, but Dong Zhongshu’s most basic hypothesis also differs entirely from Xunzi’s, and is much closer to Mencius’s theory that human nature is good. Dong Zhongshu makes a clear distinction between “human nature” and “good.” He holds that human nature being good is the combination of “human nature” and “good.” Accordingly, not all human natures can become good, and the root of human being becoming good is the king’s cultivation. “Human nature is the unworked rawness of the natural substance and good is the transformation of the king’s cultivation. Without their substance, the king cannot transform them, without their king’s cultivation, their unworked substance cannot be refined.”53 Human nature ultimately becoming good of course requires coming into possession of a certain condition of possibility, and this precondition is human nature. Only human nature possesses the possibility of being good. Human nature’s capacity of being good, however, requires undergoing the cultivation of learning after birth. Dong Zhongshu divides human nature into three grades: the nature of the sage, the nature of normal people, and the nature of petty people.54 This is the so-called theory of three grades of human nature, whose theoretical connotations are identical to Confucius’ doctrine of men of higher intelligence, men of mediocre intelligence and men of lower intelligence. Both insist on the cultivatable nature or plasticity of the majority of people in the middle. Because the men of higher intelligence like the sage are already capable without needing to learn it, and because no matter how much effort is spent the petty people remain helpless, the sages and petty people can only be an extremely small number of people. People of middle intelligence are the vast majority, and although they are not capable without learning, they can come to know the capacity through learning. They can become good people through the king’s disciplinary cultivation. Dong Zhongshu holds that neither the nature of sages and nor that of petty people cannot serve as the standard of human nature. He holds that only the nature of those of middle intelligence can become the standard of human nature. Dong Zhongshu’s theory of human nature also advances somewhat from Mencius and Xunzi, highlighting the equal importance of human nature possibly becoming good and transforming that possibility into reality 53 54

Zhongshu [20], (36.1). Zhongshu [20], (36.1).

218

4 The Discourse on the Natural and Human Spheres …

through the king’s disciplinary education. He also leaves a space of possibility open for human being’s own moral effort, while providing sufficient grounds for the invasive influence of the king’s discipline, all of which seems to be a solution satisfying both parties, but Dong Zhongshu’s theory of human nature still harbors a grave logical flaw, which pertains to why human beings have such wide disparities with respect to the possibility of being good: the sage is good without learning it; the petty people no matter how hard they try cannot possibly achieve goodness! Dong Zongshu effectively lost the bright mentality of optimistically looking at everyone, but his explanation was also filled with more practical, concrete spirit, which was convenient for the solid establishment of firm rulership. Most of the traditional Chinese political thinkers all acknowledged that the purpose of politics was to realize the will of Heaven-or-Nature contained in human nature, that is to realize perfect goodness. Since the sage-kings making up the extreme minority are already capable without needing to learn it, maintain their naturally good humanity, and become the standard and starting point of goodness, they naturally have the responsibility and power to invasively help the people in the middle, and thereby become the logical and factual starting point of political power in the human world. “Heaven-or-Nature gives birth to people, human nature possesses goodness and badness, but Heaven-or-Nature cannot improve them, so Heaven-orNature establishes the king for them to improve them, which is the intention of Heaven-or-Nature. The people receive human nature from Heaven-or-Nature, which they cannot improve, and resort to receiving the discipline of perfecting human nature from the king, who embraces the intention of Heaven-or-Nature by taking on the duty of cultivating the goodness in the people’s nature.”55 Dong Zhongshu’s theory of affective reciprocity between Heaven-or-Nature and humanity depicts the ways in which Heaven-or-Nature manages human beings as none other than rewarding and punishing, and the son of Heaven-or-Nature has no other means of governing the people in the middle than by rewarding and punishing them. Just as the moral conduct of Heaven-or-Nature contains yin and yang, the moral conduct of the son of Heaven-or-Nature also contains the two kinds, yin and yang, which correspond to the two complementary means of basic governance at the disposal of Heaven-or-Nature or the son of Heaven-or-Nature, and these two complementary means of governance are rewarding and punishing. Rewarding and punishing are related to each other as yang is related to yin. The main one of the two must be rewarding, with punishing playing the supplementary role. “The greatest facets of the dao of Heaven-or-Nature is yin and yang. Yang is rewarding. Yin is punishing. Punishing lords over death, while rewarding lords over life, which is why yang constantly lives in the grand summer, and manages the affairs of generating, nourishing, cultivating and growing, while yin constantly occupies the grand winter, and accumulates in empty and useless places, which is why Heaven-or-Nature attends to rewarding and does not attend to punishing.”56 By “attends to rewarding and does not attend to punishing,” it is not meant that punishment is never used, but that mainly rewarding must be firmly 55 56

Ibid., (35.4). Gu [7], (vol. 56).

2 The Making and Meaning of Dong Zhongshu’s Political …

219

upheld with punishment playing the auxiliary role. The archetype model of which the monarch’s practice of mainly rewarding and secondarily punishing is the imitation is Heaven-or-Nature coordinating rewards with punishments: “The discipline of Heaven and Earth cannot complete the year with only cold and hot, but must have spring, summer, autumn and winter; the propensity of the sage-king cannot accomplish governance only with threatening force, but must have disciplinary cultivation.”57 The reason why Heaven-or-Nature or his son must adopt the strategy of mainly rewarding and secondarily punishing is not only because the distinction of yin and yang applies to the moral conduct of he who governs human beings, but also because two developmental possibilities, good and bad, belong to the nature of people in the middle as the objects of governance. The governing means of mainly rewarding illustrates that Dong Zhongshu believed the majority of people could still cultivate their good nature by means of the rewarding cultivation of virtue, and the auxiliary help of punishing shows that Dong Zhongshu always insisted on the need to suppress the stubborn stupidity of petty people’s natural disposition. Dong Zhongshu’s advocacy of mainly rewarding and secondarily punishing actually insists on the real manifestation aimed at human nature, on rewarding and punishing according to the ethical standards of good and bad, and thus on punishing wickedness and elevating goodness. He hoped the people could maintain a certain hope, so that the ruler could effectively control. “The sage-king works on the people, making them have desire, but not excess, making them have simplicity, but not lack of desire.”58 (5) The Dao of Heaven-or-Nature and the Theory of Constant Guides Dong Zhongshu, like all of the other deeply influential thinkers, sought the laws of the eternal, absolute, universal relations of the human community to act as the basic forms or cardinal guides of social life, and attempted to find universal, necessary and absolute theoretical bases for such laws of relation, while having to consider the unruly instability existing in social phenomena. In the end, human society cannot tick along regularly like a watch, and there are many unpredictable uncertainties in social phenomena. Dong Zhongshu’s theory of constant guides are but the universal and necessary forms or cardinal guides that he prescribes for human social life. The dao of Heaven-or-Nature is precisely the universal, necessary and absolute theoretical ground. Dong Zhongshu holds that Heaven and Earth have “a constant warp” and past and present have “a consistent affinity,” which is what the Spring and Autumn Annals calls “the greater unity.” The greater unity is the just law of the world, which is universally valid, universally applicable, and eternally unchanging. By “greater unity” he means that all beings in the universe belong to “one whole,” and by “one whole” he means the origin of all beings, which actually means “Heaven-or-Nature.” All beings come into being through Heaven-or-Nature by means of the five phases of yin and yang, and there is no being that is not universally constrained by the monistic Heaven-or-Nature. The way in which Heaven-or-Nature constrains all beings is by setting up basic rules or regulations for all beings, which make them all harmoniously 57 58

Zhongshu [20], (41.3). Ibid., (20.1).

220

4 The Discourse on the Natural and Human Spheres …

coexist in the greater unified cosmos whose highest lord is Heaven-or-Nature. The basic rules or regulations that Heaven-or-Nature sets up for all creatures is dao or the way of Nature as a whole, which arises from Heaven-or-Nature itself. The development of human society manifests itself as the cyclical succession of black unity, white unity and red unity, among which although we find such transformations as “changing the beginning date of the year and month” and “changing the color of uniforms” at the juncture between dynasties, the dao prescribing the basic laws and rules of social relation does not change, “the grandness of dao originally comes from Heaven-or-Nature, which does not change, and dao doesn’t change either.” By following this dao, the state flourishes, and by betraying this dao, the state meets ruination. The most basic contents of the dao of Heaven-or-Nature is yin and yang, superiority and inferiority, noble and base. The dao of the king is to implement the universal and necessary relation of yin and yang in human relations, which, when implemented, is called the unchanging cardinal guides and constant virtues, namely the three cardinal guides and the five constant virtues. The latter chiefly expresses itself as the all-around formalization of the behavior of social roles embodying yin and yang, superiority and inferiority, noble and base, and these formalized roles and behavioral demands are what they called “names or titles” (ming 名). A “name or title” embodied a human being’s lawful and purposeful mode of being, whose most basic formal law is the relationship of yin and yang, superiority and inferiority, noble and base. “A husband although base is always yang, and a wife although noble is always yin. Among what is yin there is also relativity of yin and among what is yang there is also relativity of yang. When in something rising it always acts as its falling yang. When in something sinking its acts as its rising yin.”59 Yang is what gives orders, yin is what receives orders: “[t]he son of Heaven-or-Nature receives orders from Heaven-or-Nature; the dukes receives orders from the son of Heaven-orNature; the son receives orders from the father; the minister receive orders from the ruler; the wife receives orders from the husband. Of all those who receives orders, their superior is always Heaven-or-Nature. Even saying someone receives orders from Heaven-or-Nature is still permissible.”60 “A name or title” also must have the support of mentalities or attitudes, namely loyalty, filial piety, and humane love. He points out, “the righteousness of the loyal minister and the behavior of the filial son wins him land. Earth or land is the most noble of the five phases, it is so righteous nothing could be added to it.”61 Dong Zhongshu also insists “Heaven-or-Nature gives birth to human being, and makes him give birth to rightness and beneficial resources, namely beneficial resources to nourish his body and rightness to nourish his mind. Without obtaining moral rightness the mind cannot grow. Without obtaining beneficial goods the health of the body cannot be sound. Moral rightness is the nourishing of the mind and beneficial goods are the nourishing of the body.”62 He insists 59

Zhongshu [20], (43.1). Ibid. 61 Ibid., (38.1). 62 Ibid., (31.1). 60

2 The Making and Meaning of Dong Zhongshu’s Political …

221

that anyone in the face of a “name or title” must be good at handling the relationship between moral rightness and beneficial goods. He advocates “discerning one’s dao, not calculating one’s utility,” “correcting one’s appropriateness, not planning one’s profit,” and sets human being’s fundamental pursuit as embodying the way of Heaven-or-Nature and realizing the universal values of humanity. While this demands people to accept the enforcement of the king’s discipline and to exercise the positive activity of the individual self-cultivation of humane rightness within, it also demands correctly processing the mutual relationship and boundary between oneself and the group, realizing one’s own universal and necessary human values and becoming a sage-like, complete human being. Whether or not one can embody the way of Heaven-or-Nature and realize one’s own universal and necessary human values crucially depends on whether or not one can lawfully and purposefully feel and act in line with a title’s demands. Moreover, whether human actions and feelings can harmonize with law and purpose firstly depends on people’s rational grasp of their own role. In principle, everyone possesses the duty and capacity to learn what a title demands in order to exercise the important role of internal reflection with respect to humane values. However, human nature divides into three grades. That of the sage and that of the petty are extremely rare in the end, while the majority of people must seek pointers from the sages for awareness of what their titles demand, and even need the sages to enforce norms. The work of “profoundly examining names and titles” to “rectify names” falls entirely on the shoulders of the sages. It becomes one of the sage’s most important measures for ruling the realm, “ruling the realm begins in examining the bigger distinctions and the bigger distinctions begin in profoundly examining names and titles.”63 Dong Zhongshu insists, “names are generated by truthful reality, if it is not truthfully real do not name it so, names are that wherewith the sage authenticates things, naming them to speak truth.”64 “The principle [according to which] the Spring and Autumn Annals distinguishes things is to rectify their names and naming things as to their true reality, not missing the finest tip of an autumn down,”65 “the sage’s meticulousness in rectifying names is such that the ruler in his speaking is careless about nothing whatsoever.”66 Dong Zhongshu’s theory of rectifying names although partially contains ingredients of logical thought and epistemology like categories, reasons and principles, most of it is the Confucian doctrine of rectifying names, tying the names of things to expressions of the will of Heaven-or-Nature, and illustrating the necessity and justness of something’s state of being. It thereby holds reality responsible with names, demanding that people can choose actions which correspond with the title of their rightful social identity. Names are the cardinal constants embodying the will of Heaven-or-Nature, “the rectification of right and wrong, depends on opposing and complying. The rectification of opposing and complying depends on names and titles, the rectification of names and titles depends on Heaven and Earth, which are 63

Zhongshu [20], (35.1). Ibid. 65 Ibid. 66 Ibid. 64

222

4 The Discourse on the Natural and Human Spheres …

the greater meaning of names and titles,”67 “names and titles” are audibly different but ultimately one and the same. Both are what is evoked to express the intention of Heaven-or-Nature.”68 “Each affair is in following with a name and each name complies with Heaven-or-Nature.”69 Dong Zhongshu meticulously recounts that the names created by the sage-kings through social life express the intention of Heaven-or-Nature, and these “names” are in actuality a series of hierarchically graded social identities. “The ruler who receives the mandate is given [that mandate] by the will of Heaven-or-Nature, so his title is the son of Heaven-or-Nature, who sees Heaven-or-Nature as father and serves Heaven-or-Nature with the dao of filial piety. Those entitled to be dukes strictly observe the respectful submission to the son of Heaven-or-Nature. Those entitled to be consultants are sincere and loyal and credible, honestly observing ritual propriety and moral rightness, employing excellence greater than the moral rightness of ordinary men for the sake of cultivating refinement. The scholar-officials see to service. The common people are blind to it.” Dong Zhongshu’s “names” are not only nouns reflecting the true reality of things, nor are they just addresses expressing the will of Heaven-or-Nature. They are also the objective standards of right and wrong “if you want to judge right and wrong, it is best to draw on names; the name is to judging right and wrong as the string is to judging curvature or straightness.” In traditional China the terms right and wrong (shi fei 是非) mainly refer to right and wrong, good and bad in the ethical sense, and what Dong Zhongshu meant by shi and fei is no exception to this. Worth mentioning here is that right and wrong in Dong Zhongshu depends on the universal names. He actually prescribes a set of fixed behavioral norms for each role in social life, establishing a universal formalized being for each social role and using dead names to settle down an exuberantly active social life. If someone were to transgress the limits circumscribed by names, it would amount to a grave betrayal of humanity and sacred values, and he or she would become a shameful wrongdoer, a total scoundrel and the target of the son of Heaven-or-Nature’s despotism. Dong Zhongshu’s names are universal constraints on all human beings. Dong Zhongshu’s political thought is Confucian political thought in its entirety with respect to basic principles, but Dong Zhongshu’s political thought ultimately differs from pre-Qin Confucianism’s political thought. His political thought is synthetic in character, and to some degree, Dong Zhongshu’s political thought is a logical conclusion of the hundred schools contending. Dong Zhongshu’s political thought triggered the Confucianization of Chinese society and was deeply and historically influential in the history of China. It played a decisive role on the formation of the traditional Chinese way of political thinking and the development of Chinese political thought. It produced some canonical propositions of political relations and initiated the canonization of Confucian political thought. It also fixed the basic logical framework of Chinese political thought. However, Dong Zhongshu’s political thought contains large quantities of mystical ingredients as well, and his 67

Ibid. Ibid. 69 Ibid. 68

2 The Making and Meaning of Dong Zhongshu’s Political …

223

theoretical reasoning harbors a pantheistic tendency. It thus had direct intellectual impact upon the political theory of apocryphal theology so popular during the Han dynasty. Although apocryphal theology was not necessarily the product of Dong Zhongshu’s political thought, his political thought still may have objectively played a role in fueling the rampant development of apocryphal theology as a political theory, and vice versa, apocryphal theology may have also spurred the conventionalization of Dong Zhongshu’s theory. A certain degree of theological thought is a necessary component of Dong Zhongshu’s system of thought, but excessive ingredients of theological thought brought about a crisis in Dong Zhongshu’s body of thought.

3 Critical Political Thought in the Two Han Dynasties Political criticism was not the anarchism of totally denying the necessity of government. It was reflective, skeptical or subversive systematic political opinions directed at specific political facts and the consciousness thereof. It was widespread in each stratum and niche of human society and was routinely found amidst the political world as an important constituent of political thought. The starting point of traditional Chinese political criticism could be traced back to people’s cursing of King Jie of Xia in fables, but the blaming of everything in the later literary works of the Western Zhou as well as the criticisms of political facts in historical literature during the same time period were more mature trends of political criticism. However, the trend of political criticism in the late Western Zhou still lacked the guidance of clear political consciousness. It did not formulate perfectly clear political principles either. Instead, it expressed only dissatisfaction. Even the political criticism emerging in the process of the hundred schools contending lacked clear political aim. The political criticism found during the contending of the hundred schools of thought mostly did not take aim at specific political phenomena and political consciousness, but instead fundamentally doubted and denied the necessity of political governance. Chinese political thought changed with respect to form during the Han dynasty. It shaped up into a logically rigorous body of thought, more systematically explaining political phenomena. It also shaped the basic forms of political thought and political behavior. As Chinese political thought systematized, the trend of political criticism gradually tended to mature and more typical trends of Chinese political criticism emerged. The core value of traditional Chinese political criticism was putting the people first. With empirical thought’s basic instrument of putting humanity and the people first, it mainly undertook positively constructive political criticism and even the more destructive religious political criticism was no exception to this. Traditional Chinese political criticism mainly had three facets of content: first, Wang Chong and Fan Zhen’s political criticisms mainly unfolded critiques of political philosophy aimed at specific senses of political governance. They placed doubt on the hypothesis of political philosophy’s necessity, elevated the status of contingency and dampened the godliness of the political order, while shaking the logical foundation of the political order and weakening the sacredness of political authority, all of which had a

224

4 The Discourse on the Natural and Human Spheres …

deep influence upon political events all-around. Second, Wang Fu’s concrete criticism aimed at actual and specific political problems, dissecting the urgencies and risks across the political terrain and formulating grave or important political problems requiring urgent solutions. It pinned certain hopes of reform upon the ruler, but advocating sweeping political reforms often became the harbinger of large scale political reforms or the total collapse of the political system. Third, religious organizations engaged in political criticism in the name of religion. The heterodox organizations of Daoism and Buddhism often expressed political demands cloaked in the outer garb of religious teachings through criticism of political realities, either engaging in the religious reform of political reality or amassed the force of political criticism with religious teachings, the typical feature of which was highlighting the darkness of the real political order with religious teachings, and using radical religious sentiment to ignite people’s hostility toward the real world, while plotting salvation from the end of the world through religious acts. (1) The Antinomy of Chance and Necessity The needs of the human political order determines the necessity of the relationships between humans, and the necessary relationships between humans is also an important component of necessary relationships universally existing in the world. The political nature of human beings to some degree demands people to establish universal and necessary relations between them based on universal natural laws. The political system’s effective governance of human beings necessarily presupposes the self-conscious approval of human beings, who can only indicate approval about things they believe, which can only be truly believed on the condition of some necessity. Authority in political society not only must be established on a certain guarantee of necessity, but must also engage in operations according to necessary reasons. The necessary concepts, categories and propositions in political theories correspond to the unity and harmony of the political system and theoretically support the certainty, seriousness and sacredness that political life requires. People’s belief in necessity transforms into adherence to core political rules. Necessity in a political theory is the presentation of universal axioms for the political world. Hypothesizing necessity amounts to specific expressions of universal axioms for the world, and stable political systems always correspond to strongly convincing worldviews. A worldview’s contents concerning the world’s universally necessary rules and attributes always support the basic need of necessity for authority. Conversely, political authority must be established on foundations that human reason finds credible, but reason only trusts those concepts, categories and propositions that possess necessity, and the necessary concepts, categories and propositions in the philosophical realm similarly have important political influence. People’s understanding of the necessity of the political system was once established on universal knowledge of the natural world for long periods of time. In order to prove the necessity of political governance, people had to determine the order of the natural world as necessary. The order of humanity and all other creatures was rooted in the universally necessary order of the world. The order of the world was universally necessary, the human being acted as one among all other beings and the human political order was universally necessary as well. Not

3 Critical Political Thought in the Two Han Dynasties

225

only the political connections between people were universally necessary, but the political division of labor between people was universally necessary as well. When the entire political order is determined as universally necessary, people’s trust in and dependence upon political authority will become firmly fixed, and the political connections between people as well as the ways in which people form connections will necessarily become fixed as well. Political order requires the support of universally necessary concepts, categories and propositions. Without them, the political connections between people become contingent as the prestige and necessity of the political authority become vulnerable to major attacks. One could say that all forms of anarchism or beliefs in weak government are inseparable from doubting necessity. With respect to the theoretical groundwork of traditional Chinese political authority, it always depended on a monopoly over necessary concepts. Liu Zehua called this phenomenon the “imperialization of programmatic concepts.70 However, if the political order becomes totally necessary, political governance moves into the awkward predicament of fatalism. Political governance originally emerges in the world for the sake of pursuing and realizing people’s collective activity. Moving into the sphere of fatalism which totally annihilates activity is obviously not what political governance needs. Therefore, people in fact always have to draw clear boundaries for political necessity in the same way that human reason cannot enter the realm of faith. Human reason must have limits and political necessity must be limited to a certain scope. Otherwise, using necessity to safeguard and facilitate the efforts of political activity would become the logical precondition of annihilating political activity. Human knowledge possesses two forms, necessary and contingent, which limit one another and supplement one another and spur each other on. The activity that politics implies and the developmental nature of the political order itself requires political theory and political thought to leave some spare room for contingency, but once the strength of necessity brought about the ossification of political knowledge and political order, people’s pleas and calls for contingency will go beyond the degree to which political society actually needs contingency, exhibiting the excessive pursuit of contingency and markedly harming both political authority and political efficacy. It will even develop into the anarchism of rendering politics redundant and fundamentally eliminate the possibility and necessity of political governance. If everything were destined by contingent orders, human beings could only content themselves with the current state of affairs and the condition of human beings would have neither the possibility nor need of changing. Human beings would basically have no need of positively acting for the sake of changing their own state of being. Even if they were to positively act, the results of the actions would still be uncertain and unexpectable. This is the case for the person no less than it is for the collective and the entire society. Society could hope for its own political activity to change its own political state of being, nor would it hope that politics could bring society some kind of positive social benefit. Political governance is not necessarily or universally good for human beings, and people have not established necessary grounds and the necessity of political connections. The political relations between human beings also 70

Zehua [21], p. 371.

226

4 The Discourse on the Natural and Human Spheres …

do not have the necessary safeguard of legitimate values. If the political rights and duties relating people are not so sacred, political enforcement and submission to political authority would have not have truly moral grounds. People would have to submit to the strong not on moral grounds but because of their own weakness. Once people and the rulers are evenly matched, the rulers cease to exist and society enters the anarchic state. Disparity of power fosters rashness in the ruler’s ruling psychology and brings about nakedly violent policies. Human political life must be established on the foundation of some necessary propositions. Otherwise, political relations would lack the sufficient safeguards of seriousness, sacredness, justness and legitimacy, and politics would become dispensable in terms of social need, but if necessary constraints in political life are excessively stressed, possible human choices are greatly restricted. It may even fundamentally eliminate the activity of human choice altogether and the elimination of human activity means the elimination of politics. Political society must leave enough leeway for the proposition of contingency and cannot by any means infinitely expand the acting space of necessity to the point where everything in political society is already decided. Even though the proposition of contingency in political society is indispensable, its role and status similarly cannot be exaggerated, otherwise it will similarly bring about the redundancy of politics or political trivialism. This it to say, neither the proposition of necessity nor that of contingency can be eliminated in political theory. Any degree of emphasizing one at the expense of the other may bring about disastrous results for the entire society. Political society requires the presupposition of necessary values and a series of fundamental categories that embody the presupposition of values, thereby making the presupposition of political society’s necessary values and its necessary forms of expression appear in political theory as necessary concepts, categories and propositions. This presupposition of values and the necessary concepts, categories and propositions it expresses can both provide the safeguards for authority or sacredness that political society needs and provide people with the minimum of predictability which political activity requires. However, unpredictability and uncertainty in political society or even things that have nothing to do with political activity necessarily hand control over to contingency. Thus, when systematic political theories expound concepts, categories and propositions of necessity, they must leave open enough space for concepts, categories and propositions of contingency. Li Zehou holds that “contingency is not only a form of expression of necessity. Contingency is also a supplement to necessity, which is to say, not every contingency is the manifestation of necessity.”71 In actuality, contingency and necessity work parallel to one another in the world: sometimes contingency is the manifestation of necessity; sometimes it is a supplement to necessity. Political theory can only rationally explain the authoritativeness of the political system, maintain human being’s positive activity in politics and establish a political ideology that is beneficial to politics by setting up organic connections of harmonious dynamicity between necessity and contingency and appropriately handling the relationship

71

Zehou [19], p. 473.

3 Critical Political Thought in the Two Han Dynasties

227

between necessity and contingency. Such attributes as the sacredness and seriousness of the political order demand objective and universally necessary connections between everything and every affair in the world, but all of the defects in the world of political experience also demand maintaining contingent connections of certain proportion between everything and every affair. Dong Zhongshu’s explanations made everything in the world necessary, which ossified theoretical thought and rendered it pantheistic. Faced with the messy complexities of the world of experience, orderly explanations of the world arising from theory go bankrupt. Wang Chong’s explanations thoroughly drive out necessary connections between everything in the world, ungrounding attributes like the sacredness and seriousness which the political order requires. It brings about profound anomie in political society and the dismemberment of the political order. The orthodox ideology that Dong Zhongshu constructed overly stressed the importance of concepts, categories and propositions of necessity, formulating nearly every facet and every sphere of political society as matters of necessity and placing human politics into a system in which universally necessary connections are everywhere. Political changes will necessarily produce corresponding changes in the natural realm. Dong Zhongshu did indeed leave open requisite leeway for the activity of human beings in the theory of affective reciprocity between Heaven-or-Nature and human beings, enabling human beings to emotionally move Heaven-or-Nature and change their own behavior through their own actions. Human actions could emotionally move the celestial ruler of Heaven-or-Nature, who in turn always provided natural phenomena as indications of his own will based on how human beings acted, indicating reward or punishment through natural signs, which established connections of necessity between human behavior and celestial phenomena. Universal connections of one-to-one correspondence occurred between human behavior and celestial phenomena, thereby making human beings universally believe people could earn rewards for being good. Good deeds necessarily brought about rewards from Heaven-or-Nature, and bad deeds met with accusation and punishment from Heavenor-Nature. Dong Zhongshu conceptualized everything occurring between Heaven and Earth as predetermined and necessary. Thus, his theory necessarily faced the challenge of many exceptional cases. The challenges arising in the theoretical realm from exceptional cases would widely grow as time went on. It ultimately caused the entirety rather than just parts of Dong Zhongshu’s political philosophy to be challenged. Wang Chong at the juncture of the two Han dynasties was the first political thinker to challenge Dong Zhongshu’s system of political philosophy. Wang Chang directly appealed to contingency in the attempt to make contingency or chance completely replace Dong Zhongshu’s necessity, effectively liberating everything in the universe including politics from the shackles of Dong Zhongshu’s necessity, and making them become free agents who need no constraints. However, while Wang Chong disintegrated the universal connections of Dong Zhongshu’s necessity, he did not plan on establishing the guarantee of a certain form or a certain scope of necessity, but rather totally vetoed political society’s dependence on and need of necessity. He grounded politics in contingency instead. In this way, politics would lack the presupposition of the sacred value of universal necessity, but issues like the basic aim and

228

4 The Discourse on the Natural and Human Spheres …

basic motive of politics were eliminated as indefinable, and hence the division of labor between political roles also lost due safeguards. Since political connections, political rights and political duties were entirely the products of chance, people did not necessary have to take them seriously. Everything in political society arose from chance, and what is formed by chance cannot change and need not change either, for it would be enough for everyone to content him or herself with his or her own fate shaped by chance. Contingency originally emerges as a reaction to necessity. Its basic presupposition is dissatisfaction with necessity’s universal constraint on the human being, but the result it argues for basically robs human being of activity and makes human being fully obey the orders of a nameless destiny in politics. Wang Chong made theoretical arguments in line with the motivation to expand humanity’s political activity, but the effect of his arguments was to eliminate human being’s political activity altogether. (2) Wang Chong’s Theory of Contingent Emergence, Fatalism and His Political Criticism Wang Chong, courtesy name Zhong Ren, was a native of Shangyu in Kuaji Commandery (modern day Zhejiang). Born in 27 C.E, he passed away approximately 100 C.E. He lived through the four reigns of the Guang Wu, Ming Di, Zhang Di and He Di emperors in the Eastern Han dynasty, living altogether over 70 years. Wang Chong’s father farmed mulberry and did commerce for a living, but Wang Chong lost his father early on, proclaiming himself “of ordinary clan and poor family.” At a young age, Wang Chong did a formal apprenticeship in the learning of The Analects and Book of Documents, then went on to study at Luo Yang under Ban Biao. He “excessively read old script, and enjoyed listening to heterodox views.”72 He did not obey the philological tradition of learning, but spanned out, reading all kinds of books, “his family was poor and owned no books. He often travelled to Luo Yang book shops, reading the books sold there. He could recite and remember after only one read-through, becoming erudite and fluent in the doctrines of the hundred schools.” Wang Chong acted as Officer of Merit at the county and commandery levels, and was engaged at the provincial level, but because his political views diverged with commanding officers, he quit this post, returned to his hometown to live and taught as a local teacher. Wang Chong in his later years, “was so poor he did not even have one mu of land to shelter himself,” “so lowly he did not have a salary of either a dou or dan of grain,” and died in abject poverty.”73 He devoted most of his energy to “bequeathing books to show posterity.” His main works include Discourses Weighed in the Balance (lunheng 论衡), On Common Morality (jisu 讥俗), Censures (jieyi 节义), On Governance (zhengwu 政务), and On Nourishing Human Nature (yangxing 养性). Wang Chong’s political thought consisted of political criticism. Differing from the political criticism of others on political reality, Wang Chong’s political criticism was mainly a critique of political philosophy, in which he specifically focused on the critique of universal reasons. In actuality, Dong Zhongshu’s 72 73

Ye, Xian [6], (vol. 49). Chong [22], (85.2).

3 Critical Political Thought in the Two Han Dynasties

229

theory of affective reciprocity between Heaven-or-Nature and humanity established universally necessary connections which contain massive problems. On one hand, the political phenomena most people knew familiarly were exceptions to the necessary connection between Heaven-or-Nature and humanity. The more enlightened monarchs experienced natural disasters, while tyrannical ones like Jie and Zhou were never censured or reproached. On the other hand, how could the master of the heavens tolerate tyrants, and it was hard to make sense of Heaven-or-Nature specifically enjoying chaotic turmoil. If natural disasters were reproaches of the monarch, wouldn’t a human being getting sick be reproaches of the human being? Wang Chong totally expelled some of the necessary connections Dong Zhongshu needed to establish, which rocked the foundations of the political structure and robbed human political activity of reliable safeguards. Although Wang Chong still retained the framework of systematicity in the thought of Heaven-or-Nature and humanity, he resolutely eliminated both the godliness of the natural and the humanity of the human, completely naturalized the system composed of all beings under Heaven-or-Nature’s reign. Meanwhile, Heaven-or-Nature (tian 天) and humans (ren 人) naturally became natural beings like all of the other common natural beings. “The emergence of all beings is due to the original matter-energy (yuan qi 元气).”74 Wang Chong held that everything between Heaven and Earth, including the sun, moon, water, fire, lightning and insect life were composed of the original matter-energy, which had a mysterious spiritual nature and the function of deciding fate. The difference between human beings and other beings was inseparable from the spiritual function of the original force’s mysterious secret. Wang Chong held that all of the different species of entities were composed of different matterenergy (qi 气), “beings vary in accompaniment with qi.”75 Human being is also a being composed of the original force of qi. Human being “is ordered by Nature, endowed with matter-energy from the original element, and differs in no way from other beings.”76 Wang Chong held that there were many kinds of matter-energy between Heaven and Earth, and that the matter-energy composing human beings is a specifically vital matter-energy. Vital qi is a wise qi possessing the attribute of activity, so the human being composed of this vital qi could have a wisdom and activity denied to other species of beings. The matter-energy (qi 气) of the human being is both yin matter and yang energy, with yin matter making up the bones and flesh, and yang energy making up the spirit and mind, “human being comes into life because of yin and yang matter-energy, yin matter is mainly bones and flesh, yang energy is mainly spirit and mind, the life of the human being possesses both yin and yang matter-energy, hence [his or her] bones and flesh are firm, and [his or her] vital spirit is vigorous. Vital spirit is conscious and the flesh and bones are strong.”77 Although Wang Chong’s theory of the original matter-energy attempts to make Heaven, Earth and all beings communicate through it and thereby establish the 74

Chong [22], (66.1). Ibid., (50.16). 76 Ibid., (72.5). 77 Ibid., (65.13). 75

230

4 The Discourse on the Natural and Human Spheres …

unity of Heaven, Earth and all beings, this theory cannot pose and solve the basic problem of the ground of Nature and humans as specific natural beings. Wang Chong reduces the specificity of Heaven-or-Nature to the enduring existence of Heaven and Earth and their greater accumulation of matter-energy, and meanwhile, reduces the specificity of human beings to the distinct matter-energy composing them, that is by arguing that the matter-energy composing human beings differs from that composing average creatures. He thereby makes the matter-energy between Heaven and Earth fall under different types like moral and active. With respect to explaining the specificity of human beings, the theory of the original matter-energy does not break free of the teleological way of thinking in Dong Zhongshu’s system, but rather appears cruder and simpler than it in terms of theoretical form. Wang Chong replaces the theoretical world of necessity designed by Dong Zhongshu’s series of concepts, categories and propositions of necessity with a theory of spontaenous chance emergence. Wang Chong holds that all creatures can be created as long as certain conditions are met without the need of a willing arrangement by a higher God and indeed without the existence of a willing arrangement by a higher God. Everything originates from the natural endowment of matter-energy (qi 气). Wang Chong’s worldview is both an empiricism and a mysticism. Proceeding from the intuitive thought of Han dynasty empiricism, Wang Chong denies the theological origin and ground of the world’s being and does not affirm universally necessary connections based on theological propositions. “Heaven and Earth combine material energies, and all creatures are born spontaneously from it just as husband and wife combine material energies and the child is born spontaneously from it. The life of all creatures mixes kinds of blood. Aware of hunger and aware of cold, they observe that the five grains are edible, then select and integrate them. Observing that silk and hemp may be worn, they then select and clothe [themselves in] them. Some argue the assumption that Heaven-or-Nature created the five grains to satisfy human beings and created silk and hemp to clothe human beings. These are followers of the school claiming Heaven-or-Nature makes farmers and spinsters for human beings, which does not conform with what is natural, so their principle is suspect, and cannot be followed.” Everything in the world including political regulation and the connection between one human being and another is equally a contingent existence in no way different from the fleas or louses living parasitically off of human beings. Wang Chong’s concept of Nature insists that there is no involving mysterious force or factor outside of things themselves, “the dao of what is naturally so is not made by someone.”78 There are two implications here: one, any phenomenon thought to be intentionally produced or possibly produced is actually nothing but a natural phenomenon; two, everything, every phenomenon and every process do not require any causes or conditions and do not have any cause or condition; the production, development and termination of them are all results of themselves; the effect of anything is entirely determined by that something in-itself and there are no necessary connections between things. Wang Chong’s concept of what is naturally so ultimately denies the existence of any form of necessity between things and thereby 78

Chong [22], (54.1).

3 Critical Political Thought in the Two Han Dynasties

231

disrupts the interconnectivity of the world. The ground and cause of each thing is reduced to so-called fate, which is contingently determined by each thing in and of itself. Fate is already pre-destined by the endowment of matter-energy given to each thing during its initial formation. Fate decides the ultimate destination of each thing and possesses invariable necessity. However, even with this necessity, there is no lawfulness to it and human being is totally impotent in the face of his or her own fate. No one can presciently know of the fated result. The only possibility everyone faces is to accept the necessary result of fate, because no one can change fate or influence it, even in the slightest way, “[i]t is said in the world that the autumn qi strikes and kills the grains and plants. If the grains and plants do not take to carving off limbs, they are struck and die,” “[t]his saying misses the facts,” “[e]verything from a human being’s end to a ghost’s arrival, from a creature dying to winter cold arriving, all is fitting with encounters.”79 “Beautiful and ugly, right and wrong, follow from chance combinations.”80 There is no so-called master in the world who produces everything and controls everything, but the existence of things is not totally free. A thing only has this one and only possibility of existing as it does and this one and only possibility is intrinsically and necessarily determined. The necessary connections in the universe constructed by a naively simple systematicity is totally deconstructed by a purely natural, contingent emergence. In the face of this complex world, human being is only left with a mindset and posture he or she can only follow as all activity is eliminated. Dong Zhongshu’s affective reciprocity of Heaven-or-Nature and humanity although establishes universal and necessary connections between one human being and another as well as human being’s necessary way of behaving, he ultimately still leaves human being some active space to change his or her own fate through affectively moving Heaven-or-Nature. Wang Chong’s theory of chance emergence formulates everything human as contingent. It cannot be changed and need not change. This makes human being absolutely dependent upon his or her pre-given endowment of “original qi,” which produces a so-called “fatalism.” Human being’s destiny neither has anything to do with her own moral conduct, nor anything to do with the universal will of God or intention of Heaven-or-Nature, but it does entirely depend upon one’s own endowment of “original qi.” The birth and death, long life or premature death, happiness or misfortune of anyone is already decided early on by the initial endowment of original qi obtained. Human being has a fate decided by each’s own original qi, and that fate cannot be changed, “[t]here is the fate of living or dying, living long or living short, there is the fate of the rich and noble, and there is that of the poor and lowly.”81 “From the king and dukes to common people, from the sage and the wise to the most inferior idiot, everything from the type of head and eyes to the blood line you belong to is all fated.”82 “If fate shall decide poverty and inferior position, even

79

Ibid., (10.11). Ibid. 81 Chong [22], (3.1). 82 Ibid. 80

232

4 The Discourse on the Natural and Human Spheres …

if one becomes rich and noble, one will still run into a plague of misfortunes.”83 “If fate shall decide wealth and nobility, even if one suffers from poverty and inferior position, one will still run into the goodness of fortune,” “so if fate mandates high nobility, one will reach it even from lowly terrain, and if fate mandates lowliness, from the peak of wealth and status one will risk it and fall.” It seems as if “wealth and nobility enjoys the help of a godly hand, and poverty and lowly status suffers the misfortune of a ghostly clutch.” What is worth noticing is, Wang Chong’s “fate” is entirely the product of chance. There is no necessary standard or predictability whatsoever in it. Human being loses all space and spare room for active effort in the face of such a fate. All mishaps happen by chance and nothing reveals any good will of rewarding goodness and punishing evil. “All carrying out of the moral path, all inequities of misfortune and happiness, all combinations of being humane and morally right, all differences of profit and harm,” are “contingently so.” “Whether one runs into a mate or suffers untold harms, all is mandated by fate.”84 Wang Chong agrees with the political ideals and political principles of Confucianism. He holds that the “five classics” are higher in status than laws and decrees, that Confucian scholars are higher in status than literary officials, that the meaning of the classics are higher in status than worldly political affairs. He holds that scholarship is the primary root and that politics and affairs of government officials are the secondary branches. “What the student of Confucianism learns is dao.” “What the cultural official learns is service … Service branches out of dao.” “The Confucian student tends to the primary root, the cultural official tends to the secondary branches. Comparing the primary root of dao and the secondary branches of service, there is the setting of noble and base, high and low, and one may reach degrees between.”85 Chong’s attitude toward Confucianism and the five classics stands in sharp contradiction to his political philosophy of contingent emergence of everything in and of itself. The latter actually removes the sacred theoretical foundation of the five classics, and moreover, directly attacks the sacredness of the dao of loyalty and filial piety championed by Confucianism, which theoretically provides rational proofs to back up every behavior that is destructive to Confucian discipline. Human being is not the creation of a good-willed highest God, but is only a natural creature: “[h]uman being engages in the transformation of vital energies, not with the desire to produce children; vital energies engage and children are born from it spontaneously.”86 There is also no benevolence between parents and children of which to speak, that is “human being is born between Heaven and Earth like the fish is born in the depths and the louse or flea lives off of human beings.”87 The Confucian characteristic of Wang Chong’s political thought also manifest itself in the employment of promising talent. He formulates the standard for “determining promising talent,” in which the distinguishing standard of “promising talent and unworthy persons” mainly involves “someone to which the 83

Ibid., (5.7). Ibid., (3.1). 85 Ibid., (34.9). 86 Ibid., (54.3). 87 Ibid., (14.2). 84

3 Critical Political Thought in the Two Han Dynasties

233

people return and feel attached, someone guests say is fitting,” someone who “governs people by occupying the proper position, and wins over the people’s hearts by singing,” “successfully sees through effective results by occupying the proper post,” “by being filial to one’s father and fraternal to one’s elder brother,” “by upholding moral rightness for a one thousand li trip and attending to friends without soiling ritual propriety.” Wang Chong’s political thought is deconstructive on the whole. His basic way of thinking still belongs to the discourse on natural and human spheres of being that enjoyed considerable popularity during the Han dynasty. One could say that while Wang Chong did not introduce new concepts and categories, he did undertake a materialist purification of Dong Zhongshu’s and apocryphal political theology’s political logic. Wang Chong’s criticism of both Dong Zhongshu and the popular Han dynasty theory of affective reciprocity of Heaven-or-Nature and humanity is mainly a critique of political philosophy. The focal point of his critique was not the political values championed by Confucianism, but rather the fundamental ground of political values. In other words, Wang Chong did not by any means doubt the basic principles, rules and norms that Confucianism championed for the role of guiding socio-political life, but instead doubted Dong Zhongshu’s method of thought and argument with respect to affective reciprocity between Heaven-or-Nature and humanity for failing to effectively prove the universal necessity of Confucian political values. Considering his method of thought, Wang Chong was influenced by Daoist naturalism and attempted to prove once again the seriousness and sacredness of Confucian political values from the perspective of what is naturally so. Although Dong Zhongshu’s theory of affective reciprocity between the natural and human spheres had some flaws and weaknesses with respect to explaining political life, human beings still gained a certain degree of activity in politics through the interaction of Heaven-or-Nature and human beings, that is human beings could change their own state of being and their political destiny through their own efforts. Wang Chong undertook the deconstructive critique of Dong Zhongshu’s body of thought based on the large quantity of exceptions that Dong Zhongshu’s theory could not explain or basically does not even consider. He thereby eliminates the safeguards of necessity that Dong Zhongshu’s system offers social life. (3) Wang Fu’s Political Criticism and Reformative Thought Combining Confucianism and Legalism Wang Fu, courtesy name Jie Xin, was a native of Lin Jing in An Ding commandery, modern day Zhen Yuan in Gansu province. He was born approximately 85 CE and passed away in 163 CE.88 Wang Fu “enjoyed learning at a young age and had aspirations to grasp it. He made good acquaintance with Ma Rong, Dou Zhang, Zhang Heng and Cui Yuan.” In the Han dynasty “since after the He and An, the realm was tasked with travelling officials, and applicants kept on recommending one another, but Wang Fu alone was upright, differing from the common lot, and for this reason 88

Concerning the date of Wang Fu’s death, there are two hypotheses, one is 162, the other 163; this book adopts the 163 hypothesis.

234

4 The Discourse on the Natural and Human Spheres …

he did not succeed in advancing upward. His aspiring will grew in anger and he lived reclusively, writing over 30 books to criticize the balance of costs and benefits in the current age. He did not desire the articles to show their name, so they are titled Critical Essays of the Hidden Master.”89 These essays were approximately completed during the reign of Emperor Heng of Han and reflect the social contradictions and political maladies of the end years of the Eastern Han. His tendency in exposing and criticizing the socio-political problems of the time is perfectly clear. Wang Fu’s political thought largely belongs to the school of Confucianism, possessing marked characteristics in line with Xunzi. Hence Sa Mengwu’s reasoning for determining Wang Fu as the Xunzi school of Confucianism.90 The awakening of the Xunzi school of Confucianism had already been buried for a long time by the political theology of Dong Zhongshu and other Confucian scholars during the Han dynasty. Most people already either found contentment with political relations or positions determined by the relationship between the natural and human spheres of being or as manifestations of following the mandate of Heaven-or-Nature. Wang Fu’s political criticism presents an empiricist or realist tendency similar to Wang Chong’s. In one respect, he undertook deep reflections on the method of mysticism and its dodging of real political problems. On the other hand, he made bold expositions and profound criticisms of real political problems. Wang Fu’s political criticism did not directly criticize political theology. He mainly used the realist exposition and analysis of political problems as a foil to show the ineffectiveness and indifference of political theological thought. In contrast to Wang Chong’s deconstructive critique, the constructive features of Wang Fu’s political criticism are more apparent. He not only does not challenge the necessary grounds of the political world, but also advocates a strategy in line with Xunzi’s theory, a strategy of boldly reforming politics to realize the Confucian political ideal. There are certain Daoist and Legalist political ingredients in the Confucian political ideal according to Wang Fu’s understanding. On the relationship between the natural and human spheres of being, Wang Fu is roughly similar to Wang Chong. He emphasizes qi as the origin of all beings in the world, arguing that transformations of natural phenomena “are all made by qi,”91 but what he calls qi only refers to the material foundation of the world. The truly decisive factor in the world is understood to be an active Heaven-or-Nature. Wang Fu’s naturalism does not go as far as Wang Chong’s and his reliance upon “fate” is far from as heavy as Wang Chong’s. Wang Fu insists that Heaven-or-Nature and fate can only play a role through human “practice.” In other words, practice is the real condition of realization of Heaven-or-Nature and the mandate of Heaven. Wang Fu neither meticulously proves the universal necessity of humanity’s relation to Heaven-or-Nature like Dong Zhongshu does, nor reduces everything in the human world to effects of contingency like Wang Chong does, but rather considers the needed necessity of political society that Dong Zhongshu demonstrated by every conceivable means to be basic self-evident presuppositions and seeks the “mandated 89

Ye and Xian [6], (vol. 49). Mengwu [23], p. 245). 91 Fu [24], (33.3). 90

3 Critical Political Thought in the Two Han Dynasties

235

fate” of each and every thing. At the same time, he also leaves open a certain leeway for human being’s active efforts and underscores the importance of human “practical activity.” “Any human fortune or misfortune is presided over by practical activity and decided by mandated fate.”92 Although political order and political turmoil imply fate, neither are decided by apocryphal predictions. Fortune and misfortune in the human world is not dependent upon human being’s observation of mysterious predictions, but depend upon the moral practice and moral governance of the monarch who receives the mandate. “The ruler of humanity cultivates and rectifies himself. By discerning rewards and punishments, he governs the state and pacifies the people. Heaven-or-Nature is joyfully surprised by and adds years to the reign which pacifies and delights the people.”93 Wang Fu’s view of “fate” is similar to Wang Chong’s. He also holds that human beings all have a “mandated fate” in themselves, but the decisive significance of what Wang Fu calls “mandated fate” (ming 命) for human being can only be realized through human being’s own “virtue.” Wang Fu’s political thought possesses characteristics of empiricist legalism. It resolutely upholds the tradition of honoring the primary root and suppressing the secondary branches in both legalism and Confucianism and boldly exposes political problems during the late Han society. In the late Eastern Han, the feudal imperial court levied heavy taxes, and together with forced labor, government officials took bribes and stretched the law, invasively cheating the people, who fell into poor predicaments and went bankrupt, one by one devolving into “refugees” without any land. Society faced a fully grave socio-political crisis. “One husband plows the field, and one hundred people eat it, one wife spins silk, and one hundred people wear it. Supporting one hundred with one, who could sustain it? … Hunger and cold arrive together, how could one not do wrong?”94 Wang Fu took aim at the dilapidated social and economic conditions of the late Han dynasty and advocated the putting of state governance first. In effect, he advocated for an all-around Confucianizing reform of each and every sphere of society. In terms of political consciousness, he also combined legalism’s critical consciousness and its thought of building prosperity and strength. He insisted that politics must resolutely uphold the Confucian values of putting people first and championed actively practicing Confucius’s values of wealth, common people and teaching. Wang Fu held that everything has primary roots and secondary branches and asserts that the primary root is the original constitution’s intrinsic properties, while the secondary branches are the mutation of or deviation from the root: “[t]he greater substance of enacting governance is most excellently expressed in suppressing the secondary branches and attending to the primary roots first; it is most poorly expressed in deviating from the primary roots to beautify the secondary branches.”95 “The one who does statecraft puts enriching the people first as the primary root,” and “[t]he one who enriches the people puts farming and spinning first as the primary roots, and puts the wandering industries second as the 92

Ibid., (26.1). Ibid. 94 Fu [24], (12.1). 95 Ibid., (2.1). 93

236

4 The Discourse on the Natural and Human Spheres …

branches.” “The hundred handicrafts put utmost functionality first as the primary root and finds clever ornamentations to be the secondary branches. Merchants put the circulation of goods first as the primary root and the selling of novelties second as the branches.”96 “Three things: when one upholds the primary roots and leaves the secondary branches, the people are enriched; when one deviates from the primary roots and tends to the secondary branches, the people become poor.” “When poor and suffocating, one forgets moral excellence. When rich and joyful, one becomes teachable.” Using the method of primary roots and secondary branches to distinguish the relative importance of things not only underscores the primary importance of the roots versus the secondary importance of the branches, but also underscores the originating power of the roots, emphasizing that things flourish when the primary roots are well-tended first and the principle that things collapse when the secondary branches are pursued. “The one who cultivates teaching puts the rightness of dao first as the primary root, puts clever argumentation second as the branches.” “The one who engages in rhetoric and speech puts following credibility first as the primary root and puts sophisticated ornamentation second as the branches.” “The strong scholarofficial puts filial piety and fraternity first as the primary roots, and puts making friends second as the branches.” “The filial and fraternal son puts utmost nourishing care [for elders] as the primary root, and puts spectacles of extravagance second as the branches.” When it comes to ministers, then one “puts loyalty and uprightness first as the primary roots and puts currying favor second as the branches.” “Five things: when one tends to the primary roots and leaves the secondary branches aside, being humane and acting righteously flourishes,; when one leaves the primary roots aside to tend to the secondary branches, the virtue of dao collapses.” “Use the dao of Heaven-or-Nature, distribute the wealth of the land, make the six livestock grow by seasonal timing and let the hundred creatures gather in the wild. These are the primary roots of enriching the state.” “The secondary affairs of wandering professions are branches feeding off of people’s wealth, which is the origin of impoverishing the state.” Wang Fu’s analysis of roots and branches carries the spirit of Confucianism and embodies the method of legalism and developmentally elucidates the theory of roots and branches. Confucianism’s or legalism’s theory of primary roots and secondary branches in the thought of industry possesses more value and significance at the level of policy and strategy. Confucianism grows industries according to the theory of primary roots and secondary branches, mainly focusing on the metaphysical value judgment of some industry with respect to human ethical constants. It judges whether or not said industry is rational or legitimate in terms of policy by determining whether or not it is beneficial for maintaining constant ethical principles. Legalism’s standard of judgment with respect to the roots and branches of industry focuses on the interests of the state or ruler thereof, that is it determines whether an industry is rational or legitimate in terms of policy on the basis of its relationship with the interests of the state and the interests of the ruler. Wang Fu’s theory of roots and branches is closer to legalism than to Confucianism in terms of industrial policy.

96

Ibid.

3 Critical Political Thought in the Two Han Dynasties

237

Since Wang Fu advocated the all-around Confucianizing reform of each and every sphere of society and made Confucianism’s basic principles and political ideals penetrate each and every facet of society, he raised many important political reform measures, which were substantively thoughts of political criticism expressed in another form. Wang Fu’s political criticism and guiding thought of political reform was the thought of privileging the roots and suppressing the branches just mentioned, and the basic supportive forces promoting it were the rulers and scholar-officials. Wang Fu held that the good governance of the state can only depend on the enlightened ruler, outside of which no other means exist. He also held that the crucial safeguard of the enlightened ruler was in raising worthy talent, the channel to which involved the selection of real talents who were fitting with the titles given them, which firstly relied on the consideration of merit and determining the proper position for worthy talent: “[t]he state becomes well-governed by virtue of the illuminated view of the ruler; the state falls into turmoil by dint of the dim view of the ruler; the ruler sees clearly because of broad consultation and sees dimly because of partial trust.”97 “If the ministers of the court have the ruling principle of comparing many things around, then the law becomes chaotic. If the worthy talents submit respectfully to themselves, concealing pursuits and hiding in the surroundings, then the ruler will become isolated. One capable of surviving under chaotic laws and an isolated ruler has never once existed.”98 “When the selection promotes true talent, the loyal and worthy talents advance. If the selection promotes fake talent, the cheating partisans are recommended.” “The primary root behind the state’s survival and demise, the mechanism behind order and chaos is in enlightened selection.”99 The legalist characteristic of Wang Fu’s political thought is strongly similar to Wang Chong’s, insofar as it insists on maintaining the authority of the court’s laws and ordinances. Wang Fu held “those who grew the realm without methodical institutions, amount to three emperors. Those who educated the four corners by writing rules and principles, amount to five emperors.” “Those who harmonized the four seas by clarifying legal prohibitions, amount to three kings,” but after the first set of three emperors and second set of five emperors, the one who could “carry out rewards and punishments and thereby even out the disparities among the 10,000 peoples brought order to the state. With the ruler legislating but with those under him failing to carry out the laws brought chaos to the state. With the ministers making policy but with the ruler failing to institute them brought demise to the state.” The order of the 10,000 people depends on the government officials, “the reason why the people are not a tumultuous mess is because officials are above them.” The officials fulfilling their duties is dependent upon laws, “the reason why there are no wicked self-seeking ones among the officials, is because the officials have laws.” The laws depend on the ruler, “the reason why the laws are followed in practice, is because the state has a ruler.” The reason why the ruler is reliable then depends on moral rightness, “the reason why the ruler’s status is respected, is because there is moral rightness in himself,” “what is morally right is the 97

Fu [24], (6.1). Ibid. 99 Ibid., (9.2). 98

238

4 The Discourse on the Natural and Human Spheres …

ruler’s policies,” “what is legal is the ruler’s orders,” “when the ruler of man thinks of rectification in the issuing of ordinances, no one from the noble to the base, from the worthy to the stupid dares to go against them. The ruler is properly positioned on top and the people are governed below.” “The legal ordinances are the ruler’s bridle and reigns, and the people are the ruler’s carriage and horses.”100 Laws are the ruler’s indispensable means of ruling the people. Originating from prior kings, they are essentially the policies of prior kings. The prior kings’ intentions behind crafting disciplinary laws was in punishing actions to stop the treachery, “the prior kings in crafting disciplinary laws did not like to harm people’s muscles and tissues, and cut short human fate and longevity, but rather wished to intimidate the wicked and punish the evil, eliminating those harming the people.” “The dao of Heaven-or-Nature is rewarding good and punishing loose morals. The instruments of Heaven-or-Nature are the humans who represent it. Thus any standing king will utilize the killing of evil wickedness and the nurturing of upright goodness.” “There is no eternal order of the state, nor is there eternal disorder of the state. When legal ordinances are carried out, the state is ordered. When legal ordinances are lax, the state is chaotic.”101 Wang Fu’s political criticism indeed implies the appeal to the values of putting people first, but his fundamental feature is a positive critique of efficiency or policy orientation, and the gist of his spirit is similar to that of Zhu Geliang’s and Cao Cao’s. It is marked by the era of combining legalism and Confucianism. Wang Fu’s political criticism in one respect highlights the orientation toward exposing social problems, analytically laying before people’s faces all of the serious social problems brought about by an idle political machinery, and describing a typical picture of political decay. On the other hand, Wang Fu also actively championed reforms, proposing a whole series of pointed reforms and coping measures, all of which show shades of legalism. As regards his criticism, the gist of it obviously differed from the personal critique of political figures popular at the time. What he was investigating was not the philosophical foundation of civilism, nor was it the building of the ideal personality that people were so perplexed about during those times. Rather, the problem he was investigating focused on the policies or political means of making society restore the Confucian ethical code. In this respect, he is closer to Zhu Geliang, not Cao Cao. Many reform measures that Wang Fu proposed were quite practical, carrying neither extremism nor that prejudicial eye which sticks to every form of idealism. His attitude toward industry and business is strongly representative of this. In his view, government should adopt an active attitude that is widely invasive toward society, and bring agriculture, industry and business under the scope of the government’s invasive policies, but he did not insist on one-sidedly adopting measures that privilege agricultural work and that suppress merchants, but rather judged what the primary root and secondary branches were by determining whether or not agricultural, craftsmanship or business operations benefited the state planning of people’s livelihood. Farming, craftsmanship and business each had their roots and branches as well. This understanding nearly reached its peak in the traditional age of China. 100 101

Fu [24], (20.4). Ibid., (16.13).

3 Critical Political Thought in the Two Han Dynasties

239

(4) Taoist Political Criticism at the End of the Han Dynasty Taoism is China’s natively born and grown religion. It was the historical product of Chinese society developing into the Han dynasty. The Han dynasty was the age of flourishing religions. Confucianism became religious, Taoism was born, Buddhism was introduced, and all of this happened during the Han dynasty. This was by no means by chance. It illustrated Han society’s urgent need of religion, and it illustrates Han society’s conducive climate and soil to the production of religion and to the introduction of foreign religions. Taoism inherited the spiritual thought of China’s ancient era, and constantly absorbed many ancient gods as Taoist gods. Taoism also systematized the witchcraft and mystical arts popular during the Qin and Han ages, all of which became the origin of Taoism’s chief means of practicing aestheticism. The Han dynasty’s thought of affective reciprocity between Heaven-or-Nature and humanity and the apocryphal doctrines flourishing from it provided the worldview presuppositions for the genesis of Taoism. The transformation of the Huang-Lao school into a religion at the beginning of the Han dynasty shaped up into the Tao of the Huang-Lao tradition, which centered around the worship of Laozi. The Han dynasty was the age of Taoism’s birth, but Taoism was still very immature during the Han dynasty to the effect that Taoism’s influence on the Han dynasty was mainly on political criticism. The influence of Taoism’s alchemical school by means of aestheticism and pursuing longevity was less significant, but the influence of Taoism’s Fulu talisman school born at the end of the Han dynasty was very significant. It ultimately caused the political turmoil of first calling for an official religion. Taoism’s Fulu school mainly involved the Way of the Five Pecks of Rice and the Way of Ultimate Peace. The former’s founder was Zhang Daoling at the end of the Han dynasty. Hailing from Pei commandery, the latter once entered the Imperial Academy, and mastered Confucianism and the five classics. He was familiar with the Confucian theory of affective reciprocity between Heaven-or-Nature and humanity and the basic way of Confucian thinking. He authored 24 books on the Tao, founded the school of Taoism, taught people to correct errors and worship Tao, to study the five thousand Chinese characters in the Laozi, and he established the ritual of “sacrificing wine” to rule the people. He used curses and water in rituals to treat illnesses. Those joining this religious school had to give out five pecks of rice. Zhang Ling claimed himself to be the master of Heaven (tianshi 天师), and called this sect of Taoism the Tao of the Master of Heaven (tian shi dao 天师道). The Tao of the Five Pecks of Rice mainly promoted interaction between peoples, but had very profound impacts upon political struggles. During the Eastern Jin era, a large scale battle of political resistance against the military once broke out under the banner of the Tao of the Five Pecks of Rice. The founder of the Tao of Ultimate Peace was Zhang Jiao at the end of the Eastern Han dynasty. He believed in the Classic of Ultimate Peace, and treated illnesses with ritual water during the reign of the Ling Emperor of Han. Amidst the people, he engaged in broad secret networking activities, and in the time of ten some years, his followers reached hundreds of thousands, and spread out to eight provinces, Qing, Xu, You, Yi, Jing, Yang, Yan and Yu provinces. In the year of 184 CE, Zhang Jiao launched the Yellow Turban Rebellion, claiming “the pale Heaven must die, the yellow Heaven

240

4 The Discourse on the Natural and Human Spheres …

must stand, and in sixty years, great fortune will rain down from Heaven.” The early classic of Taoism’s Fulu school was the Classic of Ultimate Peace, which consisted of a lot of disordered contents touching on Heaven and Earth, yin and yang, the five phases, disasters and ghosts and spirits, shaded markedly by strong wafts of the theory of affective reciprocity between Heaven-or-Nature and humanity. The Classic of Ultimate Peace neither appeared as an unprecedented Taoist dogma, nor was it spontaneously created by many Taoist disciples at different times and places, but rather synthesized pre-existing Han dynasty theological superstitions with a planned revision into a book form. The Classic of Ultimate Peace is composed of three parts: “[t]he first is the book of the Tao of spirit; the second is the text on core affairs; the third is removing the superficial and remembering the glory.” Among them, “the Book of the Tao of Spirit” is the theological theory acting as the foundation of the entire book’s theoretical thought; “the text on core affairs” includes the art of “rejuvenating the nation of universal heritage,” which is the socio-political thought of said book and the practical measures for “saving” the world; and the part on “removing the superficial and remembering the glory” might refer to the critique of all of the theories and mystical arts of which it does not approve. The Classic of Ultimate Peace altogether contains 170 volumes. It “represents Heaven and Earth as numbers, responds to yin and yang as method, follows the four seasons and five phases with the five phases of qi, and dares not miss the portion of one zhu.” “My Tao is the faith of red and green: the green produces humaneness and possesses the heart; the red is the sun, the proper color of Heaven.” The book is named “Ultimate Peace,” because the purpose of the book is the desire to make “the emperor establish the ultimate peace.” The Classic of Ultimate Peace, from form to title, passed through rigorous planning. It later became the scripture of Taoism, but at the beginnings of its production it was not maintained to be Taoist scripture, and was not a Taoist scripture intentionally authored, but was rather one of many universal theological books proclaiming affective reciprocity between Heaven-or-Nature and humanity at the time, and shares common points of comprehension with the classical works of Han dynasty Confucianism. The guiding thought of the Classic of Ultimate Peace was the five phases of yin and yang in the affective reciprocity between Heaven-or-Nature and humanity. The basic theoretical presupposition was a personified Heaven-or-Nature. “The hundred gods proclaim themselves as emissaries or officials of Heaven, qunjing is the name of the earthly official or emissary of Earth, the hundred ghosts are the emissaries of middle harmony. These three are the makers of middle harmony between yin and yang, assisting Heaven and Earth as principles, collectively flourishing and benefiting the emperor.”102 “Water and drought are inconstant, robbers rise in number … The people all call up to Heaven. … Out of joint and out of whack, all creatures dying and injured, looking up to affectively move the pale Heaven, the three lights drive confusion and numerous changes, the stars travel about disorderly … Once Heaven threatens, it cannot be stopped.“103 ”).” “Heaven is the most godly, so the true gods 102 103

Taipingjing [25], (1.117). Ibid., (1.124).

3 Critical Political Thought in the Two Han Dynasties

241

give out to assist its cultivation.” Nearly all of the theological concepts in the Classic of Ultimate Peace are founded on the highest god “Heaven” like “the Tao of Heaven,” “Heaven’s heart,” “Heaven’s will,” “the intended way of Heaven,” “the intention of Heaven’s mind,” “the heart of Heaven and Earth,” “Heaven’s rule,” “the mandate of Heaven,” “emissaries of Heaven (angels),” “Heaven’s officials,” etc. The teachers of The Classic of Ultimate Peace named themselves “the teachers of Heaven.” “Now the teachers of Heaven are both more affectionate towards and commiserate with the reigning emperor, applying the mind sadly and painfully, not getting Heaven’s will, but initiating speeches for its every capability, which could lead to the highest emperor’s path of ultimate peace.”104 “The teachers of Heaven” transmit “Heaven’s will,” and “for Heaven, resolve the resentments held, and for the later Earth, remove the disasters carried. For the emperor, they resolve the poverty suffered, and for the people, fix the wrongs embraced. For the 12,000 other creatures, they eliminate the guilt held.”105 The teachers of Heaven make Heaven and humanity communicate with the function of affective reciprocity between Heaven-or-Nature and humanity. The teachers of Heaven have Heaven as their teacher, and the son of Heaven has Heaven for a father. The two go by different names but have the same effect of transmitting Heaven’s will to human beings, and thereby possess the highest authority. The political thought of The Classic of Ultimate Peace is actually Confucian political thought appearing in theological form. It promotes “the three cardinal guides” and demands the absolute maintenance of the authority of the ruler, the father and the teacher (the teachers of Heaven, personnel appointed by gods). It advocates the chief duties of loyalty and filial piety. It promotes the highest dignity of the emperor, holy beyond infringement. It propagates the idea that peasant rebellion is greatly against the Tao. It promotes humane love, humane governance, “rejuvenating the emperor” and “reaching ultimate peace,” and serves the solidity of feudal rule. The Classic of Ultimate Peace holds that the politics of the king and the production and life of the people should all make arrangements and changes corresponding to the distribution of yin and yang, rewards and punishments in one year. It holds that all creatures enjoy rewards and fear punishments, love life and are disgusted with killing, for which reason the political governance of the king should prize rewards: “[t]he one who Heaven will rejuvenate, receives signs from rewards; the one who Heaven will determine to fail, takes the law from punishment.”106 The aim of The Classic of Ultimate Peace is removing for the emperor all disasters suffered and seeking “the ultimate peace of the realm under Heaven.” It sets the Han as the virtue of fire and exhaustively sets out to prove that “fire” is the proper status of the ruler as well as that of Heaven, living in a time of flourishing. “Fire can transform the four phases with itself as five, so it earns being called the sign of the ruler. It harmonizes with the nature of wood, and propagates, catching fire and dispersing into ashes. The nature of metal is strong firmness, but it softens in contact with fire. The nature of earth is the greatest softness, by catching fire the hardness becomes clay. The nature of water is cold, but 104

Taipingjing [25], (1.130). Ibid. 106 Ibid., (1.152). 105

242

4 The Discourse on the Natural and Human Spheres …

in contact with fire it becomes warm. Fire is identical with the five phases, and can also transform without constancy, its nature is activity and upward action.”107 The Classic of Ultimate Peace proclaims, the hierarchical order of slaves, people, ministers and ruler in the human world is directly determined by the qi in the universe. The human world only has the differences of emperor, chancellor, ministers, slaves, etc., because there is imperial qi, kingly qi, ministerial qi, noble qi and subtle qi, among which imperial qi and kingly qi are of the “highest dignity.” Persons of each stripe correspond to different forms of qi, “kingly qi is consistent with imperial qi, ministerial qi corresponds with the chancellor, subtle qi corresponds with minor officials, resting qi is identical with the imperial concubines, waste qi corresponds with the people, and punishing, dying and imprisoning qi corresponds with prisoners and criminals.”108 The Classic of Ultimate Peace advocates the superiority of yang and the inferiority of yin as the Tao of Heaven. “The law of Heaven, the number of yang is one, the number of yin is two,” “so what is yang is odd, and what is yin is even,” “hence, the ruler is rare and the ministers are many. What is yang is superior, and what is yin is inferior … Hence, two yin shall together serve one yang, so the number of Heaven is one and the number of Earth is two. Hence, the appropriateness of two females serving one male.”109 The superiority of yang and the inferiority of yin also highlights the authority of the living ruler, “yang is the ruler,” “yin is the minister,” “the serving ministers shall not wrong the ruler,” “serving yin and wronging yang, this the largest of wrongs.”110 The political ideal of The Classic of Ultimate Peace insists that the ruler, ministers and people must converge minds and coordinate forces, and together reach the ultimate peace. It insists that the ruler is inseparable from ministers, that the ruler needs the ministers, that the ministers need the people, and that the people need the ministers and the ministers need a ruler. Only in this way is one affair accomplished. A ruler without people or ministers has no way to take the title of ruler. Ministers and people without a ruler do not become ministers and people. Ministers and people without a ruler fall into chaos, and can neither self-regulate nor become good ministers and people. These three mutually need one another to firmly stand, and obtain one another to grow. Hence, the ruler, ministers and people shall respond to Heaven’s law, and interconnect the three together, combining forces and converging minds into one family, which is markedly social in orientation. It divides society into three levels, the ultimate peace, middle peace and no peace, and accordingly, the ultimate peace is the most satisfying for society: “[i]f one encounters the ultimate peace [of the world], then one may govern resting on pillows; if one encounters the middle peace, then one could carry it out with force; if one encounters no peace, then one could say help yourself and be done with it.” “What is ultimately peaceful, lacks even one injured creature,” “every affair lacks even one person suffering sickness, everyone finds their place, so it is peaceful.” “Balancing and harmonizing peace 107

Ibid., (1.196). Ibid., (1.119). 109 Taipingjing [25], (1.130). 110 Ibid., (1.143). 108

3 Critical Political Thought in the Two Han Dynasties

243

allows each to follow his desires without stealing what contents another.” The world of ultimate peace requires carrying out the public possession of property, everyone must work, and there is no laws of punishment. The people love each other and share everything and anything, co-nourishing all human beings between Heaven and Earth with the wealth between Heaven and Earth. The people no longer have selfish desires, and the selfish heart setting out to profit oneself amounts to a storehouse rat. “Property is owned by the middle harmony of Heaven and Earth to nourish human beings together.”111 “Heaven and Earth create every piece of property to nourish human beings with, each shall gather and depart accordingly, taking enough and never exhausting reserves.” It insists that one cannot neglect or idle one’s forces and shall clothe oneself and find food by oneself. Since “there is no noble and base among human beings, all is created by Heaven,” so everyone should love one another, “the wise shall nurture the stupid like buds,” “those strong in force shall nurture those who are weak,” “posterity born shall care for the elderly.” In the world of ultimate peace “people love one another, and all creatures find their place,” “punishments are destroyed and not used.” Considering the political ideals therein, The Classic of Ultimate Peace is markedly Confucian in color, expressing a thick atmosphere of affective reciprocity between Heaven-or-Nature and humanity. It proposes a Confucian form of political governance based on humane love. At the same time, it also expresses the average thought of traditional society. It was strongly representative of the political ideals and political sentiment of small producers. The Classic of Ultimate Peace adds religious reforms to the political thought of affective reciprocity between Heaven-or-Nature and humanity and the apocryphal theories common at the time of the Han dynasty. It transforms the world into the place of battle between good and evil, emphasizing the exclusiveness between the heavenly state and the mundane world as well as the opposition between spirit and body. It establishes the teachers of Heaven as important roles that embrace the will of Heaven and thereby gives the theory of integral oneness between Heaven-or-Nature and humanity an official religious interpretation. Meanwhile, it also challenges the integral oneness of Heaven-or-Nature and humanity in orthodox Han Confucianism. Both the theory of Heaven and humanity and the role of the teachers of Heaven in The Classic of Ultimate Peace highlight the importance of liberation from worldly pains and the pursuit of spiritual transcendence. However, traditional China’s thought of affective reciprocity between Heaven-or-Nature and humanity was not suitable to the birth of artificial ethical religions. As a religious canon, The Classic of Ultimate Peace’s ethical thought came almost entirely from Confucianism, and only just began when apocryphal teachings and Han dynasty political theology became religious. Thus, at the very most, The Classic of Ultimate Peace can only amount to a heterodox expression of Confucian political thought. Taoist political thought also does not become independent in form. In sum, it can only be the heterodox teaching next to Confucian thought.

111

Ibid., (1.13).

244

4 The Discourse on the Natural and Human Spheres …

References 1. Zehua, L. (2000). Chinese monarchism—an examination of the characteristics of traditional society and thought. Shanghai People’s Publishing House. 2. Tongzu, Q. (1981). Chinese law and chinese society. Zhonghua Book Company. 3. Zehou, L. (1985). Brief discussion of qin and han dynasty thought. In Contained in On the history of ancient chinese thought. People’s Publishing House. 4. Shiwei, Z. (2006). The basic theories of political science. Shanxi People’s Education Publishing House. 5. Levenson, J. (2000). Confucian china and its modern fate (D. Z. Renqing, Trans.). China Social Sciences Publishing House. 6. Ye, F., & Xian, L. (2000). Book of later han. Zhonghua Book Company. 7. Gu, B., & Shigu, Y. (1962). Book of han. Zhonghua Book Company. 8. Xirui, P. & Yutong, Z. (2004). History of classics scholarship. Zhonghua Book Company. 9. Qian, S., & Shoujie, Z. (1982). Historical records. Zhonghua Book Company. 10. Neijing. (n.d.). Basic questions. Chinese Text Project. https://ctext.org/huangdi-neijing/shuwu-guo-lun/zhs. 11. Kuan, H. (2000). Discourses on salt and iron. Huaxia Publishing House. 12. Confucius. (n.d.). Record of rites. Chinese Text Project. https://ctext.org/liji/nei-ze/zhs. 13. Xiaojing. (n.d.). Classic of filial piety. Chinese Text Project. https://ctext.org/xiao-jing/scopeand-meaning-of-the-treatise/zhs. 14. Zhongjing. (n.d.). Classic of loyalty. Chinese Text Project. https://ctext.org/zhong-jing/4/zhs. 15. Zehua, L. (1996). A history of chinese political thought. Zhejiang People’s Publishing House. 16. Yingshi, Y. (1987). Scholars and chinese culture. Shanghai People’s Publishing House. 17. Qing, J. (2003). Political confucianism—the turn of contemporary confucian scholarship. Joint Publishing House. 18. Shiwei, Z. (2008). The political consequences of the idea of monarchical despotism’s necessity. Shanxi People’s Publishing House. 19. Zehou, L. (1994). On the history of ancient chinese thought. Anhui Arts Publishing House. 20. Zhongshu, D. (n.d.). Luxurious dew of spring and autumn annals. https://ctext.org/chun-qiufan-lu/zhs. 21. Zehua, L. (1999). The hierarchy between ruler and ministers: the larger framework of traditional chinese culture of thought—analyzing the writings and memorials of han yu and liu zongyuan. In Contained in review of chinese social history, vol. 1. Tianjin Guji Publishing House. 22. Chong, W. (n.d.). Discourses weighing in the balance. Chinese Text Project. 23. Mengwu, S. (1970). A history of chinese political thought. Sanmin Book Company. 24. Fu, W. (n.d.) Doctrine of the hidden master. Chinese Text Project. https://ctext.org/qian-fulun/zhs. 25. Taipingjing, L. J. (n.d.). Classic of ultimate peace: combined proofs. Chinese Text Project. https://ctext.org/wiki.pl?if=gb&res=110513&remap=gb.

Chapter 5

The Substance of Personality: Humanity’s Awakening and the Sculpting of the Ideal Personality in Politics

The Wei, the Jin, the Northern and the Southern dynasties were a historical period of massive changes political, economic and cultural in Chinese history; they were also a historical period wherein Chinese philosophical thought greatly developed and wherein Chinese political thought went through massive shifts as well. During this period, the social atmosphere and desires of the theoretical world differed widely from the two Han dynasties. Metaphysical “obscurism” and Buddhism as the dominant academic forms in the sphere of Chinese thought possessed overwhelming, absolute superiority1 ; they led the public discourse of this period and guided the theoretical trends of seeking the eternal substance of human personality, while expounding the order of the world grounded in the original constitution intrinsic to human being. Obscurism during the Wei-Jin era and Buddhism which continuously wound its way up to the Tang dynasty were not only extremely lively forms of thought, but also reached the best level in history in terms of the purity and depth of speculative thought.2 (Zehou [1]: 85–89). Li Zehou holds that the theme of Wei and Jin xuanxue was human awakening. The activities and ideas of human beings were liberated from the theological teleology and apocryphal fatalism of the natural/human cosmic system (tianren yuzhou tixi 天人宇宙体系). Human beings were no longer content with the authority of Heaven-or-Nature (tian 天) systematically arranging fate for humanity and began doubting the authority of Heaven-or-Nature. Human beings needed to find their own universally necessary ground from within their own being. The human awakening resulted in deep reflections upon and fierce criticisms of the authority of Heaven-or-Nature. The results of the reflections and criticisms never reached the height of constructing humanist axiology, and the doubts about Heavenor-Nature and criticism thereof resulted in universal pessimism. Universal pessimism then stimulated people’s passion for and attachment to humanity itself. Even though The school of Wei-Jin era metaphysics (xuanxue 玄学) is rendered here as “obscurism,” but sometimes common practice of leaving it in pinyin is followed—Trans. 2 Zehou [1], pp. 85–89. 1

© Tianjin People’s Publishing House 2022 S. Zhang, The Logical Deduction of Chinese Traditional Political Philosophy, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-4376-7_5

245

246

5 The Substance of Personality: Humanity’s Awakening and the Sculpting …

this passion for and attachment to humanity itself came in basic forms of universal pessimism, these sighs out of dispiritedness, sadness and negativity enveloped an obsession with and clinging to life, which visibly moved people even more. The debates over the issues of talent and passion through the persona appraisals of the late Eastern Han dynasty ultimately developed into huge perplexities in the ontology of personality. For instance, should the criteria of human being’s universal value and significance or human being’s eternity be the natural disposition, ethical principle or material desire? The universally valid form of what humanity ought to be should ultimately obey what is natural or the Confucian ethical code of civilism3 ? What should his universal form be? How should Nature ultimately relate to the social code of names or titles? How should the most average human being treat his own relationship to the social code of names? The obscurism of the Wei and Jin dynasties lacked a sufficient method of speculation and was impotent to resolve the complex problems posed by itself, and in this situation, the Buddhism transmitted since early on underwent an epoch-making shift, fusing together the speculative method and conceptual system developed in ancient India with the theme of native Chinese obscurism. The problems of obscurism converted into Buddhist problems, and Buddhism gradually became Chinese in theory under the direction of the native themes of obscurism. Buddhism developed into an ascetic method and ontology about personality, providing needed theoretical nutrients to Song dynasty neo-Confucianism.

1 The Political Ontology of the Obscurism Thinkers and the Political Sculpting of Personality The perplexity of human being’s ultimate value resulted in the perplexity of human being’s universal form, which was always tied tightly to the problem of names or titles in traditional China. Hence, the selection or support of human being’s ultimate value to some degree naturally became a deep problem of political philosophy, a problem of investigating human being’s ultimate form and basic political law. The problem of political philosophy broached by Wei-Jin obscurism has extraordinary significance in the history of Chinese political thought. To some degree, one could even see it as the starting point of the glory of the traditional Chinese humanist political axiology. It is thanks to Wei-Jin obscurism that the system of Chinese political philosophy began shifting from the cosmic systems theory of affective reciprocity between Heaven-or-Nature and humanity toward the axiology grounded in humanist values. The obscurism of the Wei and Jin dynasties did not all-around oppose the Dong Zhongshu system’s arrangement of political order for Chinese society, nor did it propose a new arrangement of socio-political order for traditional Chinese society, but only needed to provide the political order supplied by Dong Zhongshu with new, reliable humanist values, uncovering and requiring the presentation of the 3

The Confucian civil religion of ritual propriety and titles, which was based on Confucius’ doctrine of rectifying names (mingjiao 名教), is rendered here as “civilism”—Trans.

1 The Political Ontology of the Obscurism Thinkers and the Political …

247

humanist significance of human being in the political order, while searching for the most reliable way or method of realizing this humanist significance. Although the obscurism of the Wei and Jin dynasties did not find the answer to such questions and rather unfolded as a series of setbacks in the process of searching for such an answer, and even though typical obscurism thinkers were profoundly depressed and vexed, the thought that they produced still had major theoretical significance and their success at deepening Chinese political philosophy cannot be neglected. Human beings looked again for the support of their own ultimate value, and determining human being’s universally necessary form based on a reliable ultimate value. Even though this could not necessarily be resolved through religion, it did have to undergo a religious baptism, and human being can only truly move toward philosophical maturity and finally find the way home again through such profound and meticulous inner inspection as religious ethics. (1)

The Social and Cognitive Preconditions of the Rise of Xuanxue (Obscurism)

The character xuan 玄 in Wei-Jin obscurism (xuanxue 玄学) takes its meaning from the end of the first passage of the Laozi, “The obscurest of the obscure (xuan 玄), the gateway to the myriad subtleties.” According to the interpretations of the WeiJin era, “obscure” (xuan 玄) means “non-being” (wu 无) and “subtleties” (miao 妙) means “the fetal beginnings, the mother [of all things],” and by extension, “beings.” Famous scholars of the Wei-Jin era utilized such thoughts as those found in the Laozi and Zhuangzi to establish many xuanxue (obscurism) schools around the central themes of primary roots and secondary branches (benmo 本末), being and non-being (youwu 有无). Wei-Jin obscurism was not some simple return to the discourses of Laozi and Zhuangzi, nor was it an absolute revolt against Han dynasty Confucian thought, and even less was it the prolongation or continuation of Confucian thought. Obscurism was rather the product of Confucianism and Daoism converging and combining. Wei-Jin obscurism’s most basic resources of thought hail from the Laozi, the Zhuangzi and the Book of Changes, commonly called “the three obscurities.” Its most basic method of thought was Daoism’s principle of natural spontaneity. The basic developmental form of its thought was commenting on Confucian and Daoist classics. Wei-Jin obscurism’s greatest feature was consistently linking Confucianism and Daoism, combining Daoism’s ontology of being and non-being (youwu 有无) with Confucianism’s civilism of titles and rites (mingjiao 名教), thereby sculpting the Confucian sage who became Daoist—Confucius, and the Daoist sage who became Confucian—Laozi. The rise of Wei-Jin obscurism was backed by deep social causes. Generally speaking, human thought always has to continuously develop. The necessary precondition for the development of human thought is however drastic changes in social life without which the development of human thought loses basic impetus and the source of problems that seed it, but if human though is always stagnating and vacillating at some stage, humanity’s own maturation becomes impossible. Because of this, the most basic social precondition for the rise of Wei-Jin obscurism was the progressive

248

5 The Substance of Personality: Humanity’s Awakening and the Sculpting …

development of Chinese society in the two Han periods, making traditional Chinese thought have no choice but to mature. The pathway of social development catalyzing thought to continuously mature mainly manifests as: one, social development made society’s original system of interpretations entirely or fundamentally go outdated. People need to find new reasons or excuses to make their activity have meaning. The birth of obscurism was an extremely important transformation in the history of Chinese thought. It marks the fall and decline of Han dynasty Confucianism. After the Western Han dynasty set Confucianism as the authority of academic learning, the political-ethical doctrine of Confucianism and that of the five phases of yin and yang blended and interbred to form the all-encompassing cosmic systems theory of Heaven-or-Nature and humanity, which constructed an eternally just political order pinned on the willful arrangement of Heaven-or-Nature with bonds of mysterious links between Heaven-or-Nature and humanity. This acted as the foundation of thought for the grand unity of the Han empire. Following the collapse of the Eastern Han dynasty, the sacred halo surrounding the system theory of Heaven-or-Nature and humanity began to dim and fade away, skepticism flourished in the world, and the stability and development of society required a new theory to provide adequate authority in the world of thought. Secondly, human thought commonly grows and matures through the positive accumulation of social life. As the classicism of interpreting the greater meaning of the subtle messages of the sages became an unbearably tedious form of learning, people discovered a great amount of meaningful problems outside of classicism’s interpretations, and when classicism appeared too destitute to explain the causes of change in the world, it no long found itself to be adequately convincing. The darkness and corruption festering in the ruling echelons of the Han dynasty gave rise to great social turmoil, with war prolonging year after year, with miserable life hanging in the balance without home or wagon to hitch on, or in a word, large-scale death, “white bones covered the fields, “no clucking of chickens to be heard in one thousand li,” a brutal scene, making the pains and pleasures of human life become a problem of value beyond ethics. Thirdly, Han society’s policy of solely authorizing Confucianism spread all over and greatly raised the cultural level of the society, tying the fate of many people to the studying of classics. Scholars becoming government officials in great numbers furthermore accelerated the spread and improvement of culture. Many of them took the growing path of “the troubles beginning with human literacy.” The great social unrest fostered a belief in the local religious estate economics of Confucian culture, and the scholar-officials who were most well-read in the classics and who were emotionally sensitive gradually became the main intellectual sources of obscurism. Their most basic social identity was that of member of influential aristocratic families going back for generations. The rise of Wei-Jin obscurism also required adequate academic resources and certain cultural preconditions of thought. Chinese obscurism was the product of Confucianism and Daoism converging, and the enduring prolongation of Confucianism and Daoism was the cultural precondition of Chinese obscurism. The social culture formed by Han dynasty Confucianism as the mainstream mainly amounted to the culture of the humanist perspective, emphasizing the humanist basis and humanist

1 The Political Ontology of the Obscurism Thinkers and the Political …

249

meaning of human existence, and even establishing the entire cosmos as an objective being of humanist character. The social culture of Wei-Jin obscurism acting as the mainstream mainly manifested as the perspective and methodical orientation of Daoist naturalism, but it also did not reject the humanist pursuits of Confucianism. One could say, Wei-Jin obscurism was pursuing the basic goals of Confucianism by means of the Daoist way of thinking. In this sense, Confucianism and Daoism, these two main types of academic resources, were the most important cultural preconditions of thought for Wei-Jin obscurism. The development of traditional Chinese thought before the Wei-Jin era mainly manifested as Confucianism and Daoism complementarily supplementing one another. Although Confucianism was crowned as the sole authority in the Han dynasty, Daoism was also largely influential in the Han dynasty world of thought. From the earliest thinkers, Lu Jia and Yang Xiong, to the Yellow Turban Revolt guided in thought by Taoism at the end of the Han dynasty, although the Daoist way of thought itself largely also turned into a form of affective reciprocity between Heaven-or-Nature and humanity, the methodology of Daoist naturalism and the basic proposition of spontaneous non-coercive action went on as before. The rise of obscurism should still have discursive preconditions, which encompassed four aspects: one, the prolonged turmoil of war at the end of the Eastern Han dynasty spurred people to think about such problems of human life as those of the times, human affairs, fame and fortune, and enjoyment, hence the sentimental sighs of human life expressed all over the place in the 19 Poems of Classical Poetry, “a life not filling one hundred years, constantly bearing the woes of one thousand years,” “one lives adrift for one’s whole life, blown away in an instant like dust,” “human life is not gold or stone, how could one consider long life.” All similar such verses making sighs about the frustrations of human life, the bitter shortness of life, the rarity of joy and the long and many woes, actually already began the thought and exploration of obscurism’s questions. Secondly, the Eastern Han abided by the principle of “ruling the realm with filial piety,” specifically focusing on the selectee’s reputation and integrity when selecting government officials, and the selectee’s reputation and integrity directly depends on the royal committees, whose main task was to appraise and judge personas, and such rural committees judging personas gradually gave birth to laments about human life, and assisted the growth of discussion about such themes as talent, disposition and emotion; the scholar-officials used such critiques of personas to appraise political and powerful figures, which provided obscurism with the discursive precondition it needed. Many of obscurism’s themes developed out of critiques of political figures. Thirdly, the Yellow Turban Uprising caused the actual collapse of the Eastern Han dynasty, and many political questions of right and wrong more urgently required answers. Political rule requires making adjustments to the guiding thought of the times, so at the juncture between the Han and Wei dynasties, there emerged a confluence of the Confucian and Legalist schools, advocating the verified matching of title and the substance fitting the title, only talent is selected, and official positions were granted according to talent, no official gave up the post, no position was occupied by the wrong person, the famous representatives of which were Wang Fu, Zhong Changtong, Cao Cao and Zhu Keliang. Four, the methodology of Han dynasty classicism

250

5 The Substance of Personality: Humanity’s Awakening and the Sculpting …

already reached the end of the line, both tedious and superstitious, it blocked the path of one’s continuous development, and at the same time, another method and direction of scholarly development was found, prefiguring the basic shape of the next phase of academic thought, obscurism was classicism negating itself; The big classicist of the Eastern Han, Zheng Xuan, opened up the developmental direction for classics scholarship to become argumentation, using Laozi to explain Book of Changes, proposing such categories as “something,” “nothing,” “self-maturation,” “self-emergence,” “self-consistency,” “self-attainment,” “principle,” and “original constitution,” which provided the preconditions in methodology and scholarly trends for the birth of Wei-Jin obscurism.4 (2)

The Basic Problem and Schools of Obscurism

The core problem of traditional Chinese philosophy was always human being. In this sense, traditional Chinese philosophy could be called anthropology, and the most basic task or mission of traditional Chinese philosophy was to establish human being’s universally necessary ground and essence, and confirm what the universally necessary form of human being’s essence was, and this form was always connected together solely with Confucianism’s ethical laws, principles and basic manners of behaving. Because of this, the theme of traditional Chinese philosophy was making Nature political and ethical. The philosophical theme of the two Han dynasties was on the surface the cosmic system of Heaven-or-Nature and humanity, but the core of it was resolving the problems of the purpose and meaning of human life and the universal form of the human being with the system theory of Heaven-or-Nature and humanity. The theme of Wei-Jin obscurism was on the surface the problem of Nature, but its true problem was still tied closely to the purpose, meaning and universal form of the human being. Obscurism’s most fundamental problem was still that of human being. The political order of stable human society could only truly gain authority by establishing it on the foundation of a series of axiological hypotheses possessing necessary logical connections. The necessity of the political order’s axiological hypotheses could only convince people with a complete theory by rigorously proving them in theory. Political values remain unconvincing unless they have adequate reasons and necessary grounds. Once political values lose everybody’s approval and no one obeys them, the political order generated by them will face collapse and risk dismemberment. People’s basic cognition of the objective natural world shapes up into knowledge, and people’s basic cognition of human being shapes up into values. “Theoretical cognition limited to proving the value and essence of the object’s being is not enough, it can only attain depth by revealing the necessarily existing ground of the object. Historical demonstrations ancient and current inside and outside of China can only become more convincing by explaining necessity and its ground more adequately.5 (Zehua [3], 33).” Dong Zhongshu’s political ideology of the Han dynasty constructed 4 5

Chunfeng [2], p. 649. Zehua [3], p. 33.

1 The Political Ontology of the Obscurism Thinkers and the Political …

251

such a system proving the necessity of political values and the necessary manifestation of political values, and formalized human behavior, namely formalized the expression of human being’s political values. But the political ideology that Dong Zhongshu constructed did not by any means focus on proving the political values themselves, but rather spent massive quantities of ink on describing the ultimate source of political values, and saw political values as things deriving from Heavenor-Nature, thereby determining the foundation of the political order as authoritative Heaven-or-Nature. The way of thinking by means of affective reciprocity between Heaven-or-Nature and humanity and the systematic world schema became the foundation and ground of the world political world. The political ideology of the Han dynasty was actually political theology, which could hardly be called penetrating with respect to manifesting the value of human being. Thus, political theology can only deceive people for a time, but cannot by any means deceive them forever. Hence, many political experiences are also repeated attacks on the authority of political theology. As people focused on human first values of humanism, cries for politics to be established on the basis of human first values rose ever higher, and obscurism was the product of needing to establish politics on the foundation of human first values. The basic problem of Wei-Jin era obscurism, expressed academically, was the problem of the relationship between Nature and the Confucian civilism. Nature or what is naturally so of itself (ziran 自然) is Wei-Jin obscurism’s most basic philosophical concept, which originates from the Laozi, but also differs from Laozi’s concept insofar as it simultaneously possesses ontological, genealogical and methodological significance. Although different schools of obscurism diverged significantly with respect to their understanding of what is naturally so of itself, some explained it with the concept of “non-being” (wu 无), while others explained it with the concept of “being” (you 有), yet all of them regarded Nature as the basic ground of all events and all beings and the standard model of something’s being. Confucian civilism was the focal point of obscurist school debates; it directly came from the political ideology of Confucianism popular in the Han dynasty; at the earliest it could be traced back to Confucius’ theory of rectifying names, and the comprehensive achievement in the theory of names or titles during the Han dynasty was the bai hu tong 白虎通 or Treatise of the White Tiger Pavilion. Civilism insisted on some kind of universal behavioral norms intrinsic to the human being, whose external manifestation was “observing ritual propriety” (li 礼), the basic behavioral demands were “do not look at anything if it does not observe ritual propriety, do not listen to anything if it does not observe ritual propriety, do not say anything if it does not observe ritual propriety, do not do anything if it does not observe ritual propriety.” The main question debated by Wei-Jin obscurism was the problem of the relationship between Nature and civilism. The mainstream school of obscurism indeed sought the unification of Nature and civilism, thereby illustrating the legitimacy and rationality of civilism. Based on obscurists’ understandings on the problematic relationship between Nature and civilism, we could divide Chinese obscurism into three main schools. He Yan and Wang Bi argued “civilism emerges from what is naturally so,” which could be seen as the first school of obscurism; they understand what is natural from the perspective of combining Laozi and Confucius, explaining what is naturally

252

5 The Substance of Personality: Humanity’s Awakening and the Sculpting …

so of itself (ziran 自然) with the concept of “non-being” (wu 无), emphasizing [the claim in the Laozi] that “being emerges from non-being,” and advocating the establishment of the ideal personality according to the standard of “non-being,” namely the personality of the sage. They did commentary on Laozi, Book of Changes and The Analects. Due to the main activities of He Yan and Wang Bi during the Zhengshi era of emperor Cao of Wei (240–249 CE), the school of obscurism centering around them was called “the voice of the Zhengshi era” (Zehua [3], 33).6 Ruan Ji, Ji Kang and the other so-called “seven worthy men of the bamboo grove” make up the second school of Wei-Jin obscurism. They advocated “transcending civilism and following what is naturally so,” and insisted that “Nature creates all beings.” Aside from researching the Laozi, they found considerable interest in the Zhuangzi. The core kernel of their thought was that of Zhuangzi, and that of opposing the alienation of human being by the false religious discipline of civilism. They insisted that human being should live unrestrainedly according to the innate disposition of what is naturally so, one need not intentionally perform action; they held a negative attitude toward the “Six Classics” and the Confucian sage. Around the Yuan Kang era of Emperor Hui of Jin (291–299 CE), there emerged a group of famous obscurism scholars called “the famous scholars of the Yuan Kang era,” who make up the third important school of obscurism. These famous scholars of the Yuan Kang era partially laid claim to the heritage of the “seven worthy men of the bamboo grove,” both unrestrained and unconventional, they looked down on civilism. Their main representative figures, Xiang Xiu and Guo Xiang tried to realize the convergence of Confucianism and Daoism. Guo Xiang was actually the concluder of obscurism. He elucidated the basic viewpoint of the inseparability between Nature and the civilism, proposing the famous theory of “individualization” (duhua 独化). Although Guo Xiang was the concluder of obscurism, the theory of individualization did not however fully answer the question about the relationship between civilism and Nature. (3)

The Political Philosophy of Civilism Emerging from What is Natural

He Yan and Wang Bi were the universally recognized advocates of Wei-Jin obscurism in the academic world, co-founding the first school of it—the non-being school. He Yan, courtesy name Ping Shu, from Nan Yang, born approximately 190 CE, passing away in 249 CE. He was the grandson of the great general He Jin of the late Eastern Han. He wedded Cao Cao’s daughter, and politically was in the same party as that of Cao Shuang. Cao Shaung’s group lost the north in a battle with Sima Yi’s group, and He Yan got caught up in it, being executed along with his family. Wang Bi, courtesy name Fu Si, from Shan Yang, was born in 226 CE and passed away in 249 CE. His paternal grandfather, Wang Kai, was the brother of one of the seven great scholars of Jian’an. His father, Wang Ye, was Cao Wei’s Attendant Gentleman of Writing (shangshu lang 尚书郎). Wang Bi was appreciated by He Yan and joined Cao Shuang’s group. Later he would get caught up in trouble like He Yan upon defeat in the north, “he took exemption from official affairs, his end was death by 6

The Zhengshi era (240 CE–248 CE) was the era of the reign of King Caofang of the State of Wei during the Caowei period.

1 The Political Ontology of the Obscurism Thinkers and the Political …

253

sickness at the age of 24, no son and no offspring.”7 The theoretical style and thought processes and basic viewpoints of He Yan and Wang Bi follow the same path. They both found great importance in Laozi, Zhuangzi and Book of Changes, so much as to explain The Analects through the Laozi, Zhuangzi and Book of Changes, viewing both Laozi and Confucius as sages, which highlights obscurism’s characteristic of merging Confucianism and Daoism. They constructed the political personality of the Confucian school and Confucius with the Daoist Laozi’s concepts of what is spontaneous or natural (ziran 自然) and non-coercive action (wuwei 无为). They actually constructed the personality of a sage by fusing Daoism and Confucianism into one body, attempting to internalize the ground of Confucian political personality through the method of Daoist naturalism. He Yan’s chief works are Treatise on Dao and De and Comprehensive Explanation of the Analects, the first of which disappeared with only a few passages remaining in the Commentary on Zhuangzi. Wang Bi’s chief works extant today are the Commentary on Laozi and Commenntary on Zhuangzi; parts of his Resolving Questions about the Analects (lunyu shiyi 论语 释疑) remain in Huang Kan’s Annotation to the Analects (lunyu yishu 论语义疏) and Xing Bing’s Commentary on the Analects. Wei-Jin obscurism replaces “Heaven-or-Nature” (tian 天) with “Nature” (ziran 自然) as the basic ground and ultimate source of everything and every entity’s being, attempting to re-interpret Confucian political values and political ideals from the perspective of ontology rather than from the perspective of system theory, and taking the lead at exploring the relationship between civilism and what is natural. Wei-Jin obscurantism without exception advocated explaining the basic ground of all events and all beings with the concept of what is natural, thereby making the explanation of Nature become the most basic philosophical problem of Wei-Jin obscurism. The conceptions of Nature characterizing the views of He Yan and Wang Bi were mostly influenced by the Laozi, insisting on the importance of “non-being,” that is valuing non-being over being. They not only saw “non-being” as the most basic characteristic and destiny of all events and all creatures, but also saw non-being as the origin of the world, insistently holding to the basic Daoist viewpoint that being emerges from non-being. He Yan and Wang Bi like the other obscurists argue that Dao greatly originates from Laozi’s concept of “Nature” (ziran 自然), and not from what the Han dynasty called “Heaven” (tian 天). Dao’s most fundamental inner core is “non-being,” namely “Dao is the name of non-being.”8 What they called “non-being” naturally became the fundamental origin of all entities between Heaven and Earth, proposing the philosophical assertion that “something always begins from non-being.” “The formless and nameless is the origin of all beings.”9 (Structure of Laozi’s Subtle Pointers).” He Yan and Wang Bi’s conception of Nature highlights the ontological status of non-being (wu 无) and stillness (jing 静), seeing both as the universal, original constitution of the universe, and the original constitution that everything should have is without exception “non-being” and “stillness.” 7

Shou [4], (vol. 28, “Biographies of wang, guangqiu, zhuge, deng and zhong”). Yan [5], (ch. “Shu-er”). 9 Bi and Yulie [6], (ch. “Outline introduction to laozi”). 8

254

5 The Substance of Personality: Humanity’s Awakening and the Sculpting …

He Yan and Wang Bi’s ontology of valuing non-being and championing stillness attempts to explain the complex transformations of all events and all entities in the world through the universal original constitution of what is natural, determines for human beings a credible ultimate value, and establishes a way, means and method of reaching that ultimate value. He Yan and Wang Bi establish the world’s universal constitution of non-being, and divides human beings into different levels depending on the degree to which they realize the universal constitution of non-being. The one who can successfully embody the world’s universal constitution of non-being is the sage, and as the standard form of the human being, the sage is basically characterized by valuing non-being, that is He Yan and Wang Bi’s ontological thought of valuing non-being and championing stillness first manifests in politics as the consolidation of ideal personality, from which derives human being’s way, method and guiding principles of living. Wei-Jin obscurism’s construction of the personal ideal had to appropriately handle the relationship between the religious discipline of naming and Nature. The sage was the model of the human being who best handles the relationship between the religious discipline of naming and what is natural. In their view, the sage’s personality is not getting caught up in things, by which they meant to insist that everyone originally possesses non-being and stillness. Nonbeing and stillness mean nothing other than “the sage is without pleasure, anger, grief and joy.” Wang Bi also held that non-being and stillness manifest the sage’s godliness. “the sage excelling in humanity is spiritual illumination, what is the same in human beings is the five passions.” The sage’s “spirit is bright excellence, so he can harmoniously embody the charge [between yin and yang] by penetrating non-being; the five passions are the same, so they cannot but respond to things with grief and joy. Since this is so, the affective disposition of the sage is to respond to things but without getting caught up toiling in things.”10 (Records of the Three Kingdoms, “Biography of Zhonghui”).” He Yan divides “affects” (qing 情) into formless affect, informed affect and deformed affect, respectively possessed by the sage, the worthy human being and the ordinary human being. He held that the sage does indeed have affects, but the sage’s affects of delight, anger, grief and joy have already highly fused into moral norms, and transcending things, it becomes a pure human emotion originating from human being’s universal original constitution, which is basically a dispassionate passion. Below the sage is the worthy human being, who naturally has affects, but can regulate the affects with principle, which is informed affect. Below the worthy human being is the ordinary human being, who “follows the passions, whether in joy or hate, against principle.” This unrestrained passion of the ordinary human being amounts to letting the passions go and going against principle, passions that “miss the point of the passion,” which is actually passionless in failing to understand the true secret of the passion. Wang Bi holds that the genuine human being’s passions should come from the universal, original constitution of every human being—“non-being” and “stillness.” The true sagely personality must always and everywhere embody the basic principle of “being rooted in non-being.”

10

Shou [7], (vol. 28).

1 The Political Ontology of the Obscurism Thinkers and the Political …

255

He Yan’s and Wang Bi’s ontological thought of valuing non-being and championing stillness, although leads to the universal personal ideal having no object of desire, having no intentional purpose of action, preferring stillness, and having no affairs to resolve, they do not resolutely oppose civilism, but rather insist that “civilism emerges from what is natural.” He Yan never explicitly proposed rules for the relationship between civilism and what is natural. Wang Bi explicitly declared the assertion that “civilism emerges from what is natural,” insisting on the harmony between the two. Civilism is originally the normalized form of human being’s social existence, which embodies the universally necessary Dao. If a problem emerges with respect to the universally necessary ground upon which civilism relies, the political significance of civilism is greatly reduced, and will even completely lose its social appeal. Wei-Jin obscurism’s discussion of civilism mainly concentrates on the authoritative ground of civilism; it does not seek a new system of political values to replace civilism and its necessary social form of expression for Chinese society, and even does not completely resolve the crisis of authority in civilism. But Wei-Jin obscurism’s position that civilism must be rooted in the universal ground of human being’s original constitution, and that human being’s universally necessary form of social being can only seek the ground of authority from within human being’s own original constitution, both positions still have important theoretical significance. “Civilism emerges from what is natural” could also be interpreted as what is natural is civilism. The former insists that the existence of civilism already possessed the new authoritative, universal ground of the original constitution, while the latter points out how the objectless desire, non-coercive action and preference for stillness characterizing Nature alienates or estranges what civilism consists of. “Civilism emerges from what is natural” as a proposition had two completely opposite impacts on political society. One impact was that it found a new ground of being for the Confucian civilism names already trembling in the balance, strengthening civilism vis-a-vis the intrinsic dispositions of human being’s original constitution, ritual propriety, filial piety, loyalty and empathy all comes from what is natural. “natural mass, respectively determines the division of names, what is short is not insufficient, what is long does not have excess, how would the balance be added to?”11 “Joy, hate, grief and delight, are natural for people, when acting in response to the affects, it is released in song … So the institution is established in accordance with customs to attain its ritual appropriateness.”12 In another respect, it also undertook the natural reform of the civil institution’s significance, which, in altering civilism to some degree, met with criticism from the orthodox Confucian thinkers. A certain political order always corresponds to a certain personal ideal, which in turn always corresponds to a certain political order. The loyal defenders of Confucian civilism resolutely fought for the personal ideal that Han Confucian scholars established, and they absolutely did not tolerate any form of theoretical provocations or corrections, so the theoretical battle between obscurism and the inheritors of orthodox Han Confucianism was inevitable.

11 12

Bi and Yulie [6], (ch. “Commentary on book of changes”). Ibid., (ch. “Resolving questions on the analects”).

256

5 The Substance of Personality: Humanity’s Awakening and the Sculpting …

He Yan and Wang Bi’s theory of the ideal personality established the basic guiding spirit of the sage’s personality, which, when expressed politically, was to propose a whole series of governing principles and basic strategies advocating objectless desire, non-coercive action, stillness and non-management, otherwise it would have fallen into the predicament of “losing it in direct proportion to how much you act for it.” “Rooted in non-being” was first of all the basic principle of political rule. “For those of higher virtues, only dao is effective. They do not standardize their virtues. They are neither possessive nor controlling, so they can have virtue and act on behalf of everything.”13 “attaining without demanding, accomplishing without effort, although they have virtue, they do not have the fame of being virtuous.”14 For the sage-king to govern the realm, he must emulate the effortlessness of what is naturally so, and this effortless action is but being-humane, “Heaven and Earth do not create grass for animals, but the animals eat the grass; they do not create dogs for human beings, but human beings eat dogs. [Heaven and Earth] does nothing intentionally for all creatures, but each and every creature is adapted to what it uses, each supporting the other.” Governing without coercive intentions distinguishes “coercing” from “complying.” “Complying” is permissible, but “coercing” is not: the former is flexibly connecting; the latter is nothing but the ruler’s “possessive controlling.” Comparing the two, acting in accordance with the nature of things is “complying,” which underscores oneself conforming with things. Action following one’s own desire is “intentional coercion,” which is oneself controlling things. “The disposition of all creatures is what is natural.”15 “It is permissible to comply, but not permissible to coerce. It is permissible to make connections, but not to control things.”16 “Creatures have natural tendencies, and coercively manipulating them will necessarily fail. Things come and go, and possessively holding onto them will necessarily fail.”17 “The heavens do not betray the natural principle (dao 道), but emulate dao to succeed in encompassing all,” “dao does not go against what happens naturally, and emulates what is naturally so to realize the natural tendencies of things.”18 “Whatever emulates what is natural, follows the space in the space……and does not act against anything in what happens naturally.” “Nature creates all creatures, and utilizes nothing for nothing. The sage practices the five teachings. He does not speak but transforms.”19 He Yan and Wang Bi’s sage personality actually becomes the standard form of all human beings; it becomes the intrinsic ground of the original constitution intrinsic to human being qua human. They hold that human beings in political society must all return to the original state of rootedness in non-being, carrying out the basic behavioral rules of objectless desire, effortless action, peace in stillness, and disengagement, that is maintaining the natural state of having no knowledge and having no object of 13

Bi and Yulie [6], (ch. “Commentary on laozi”). Ibid. 15 Ibid. 16 Ibid. 17 Ibid. 18 Ibid. 19 Bi and Yulie [6], (ch. “Commentary on laozi”). 14

1 The Political Ontology of the Obscurism Thinkers and the Political …

257

desire. “Having no knowledge and conserving genuineness is to follow what happens naturally.”20 He Yan’s and Wang Bi’s world of non-being and stillness as the original constitution also naturally launches the autocratic theory of the gentle monarchical ruler who “possesses oneness” by commanding the many,” in which “oneness” means dao as the root of all creatures, while “the many” refers to the derivative products of “the one or oneness,” and he who can “possess oneness” is the sage, but sages are the utmost rare and fewer than few, while the people are nothing but an expression of “the common herd.” The sage is who the people follow. “The common herd cannot rule the common herd, and the ruler of the common herd is utmost alone,” “the utmost rare is what the many value; the lone one is he whom the common herd follows.”21 “Possessing oneness by ruling the many” firstly determines the hierarchical relationship of value between the most rare and most valuable sage on one hand and the people on the other as well as the relationship between “ruling human beings” and “being ruled by human beings” which derives from it. “Dao” is the fundamental “one” among all creatures between Heaven and Earth, and can influence as well as determine the eternal, original constitution of all creatures and everything that is happening in the fashion of “unifying by consistently linking them together.” The eternal, original constitution of all creatures and everything that is happening also determines the fundamental form and developmental direction of everything’s being, making dao become “the one” to which all creatures and all events return. The relationship between dao and all beings and events shapes up into one of ruling. The monarchical ruler is the sage, who can integrate his virtuous powers with Heaven and Earth, connecting to non-being and responding to things, following the heavens and grasping the seasons, grasping the disposition of what is naturally so, that is dao converges with what is natural, becoming the personal incarnation of “the one” and the political role of the only one among men who “possesses oneness.” Dao affirms the monarchical ruler’s duty to “possess oneness by commanding the many,” and meanwhile, dao also affirms the hierarchical relationship of superiority and inferiority between the monarch and those who serve under him along with the political institution of monarchical autocracy. The reason why the human world is ordered is because of the monarchical ruler who produces respect for nobility, and the monarchical ruler is the precondition of order and unity. Without the ruler, there is no order. There can only emerge one and only most noble and most dignified ruler in a certain sphere, otherwise the two rulers surviving side by side would destine their states to chaos; their rule would necessarily be endangered. The direct purpose of unity and order is making all of the people subordinate to the ruler, and making the common many subordinate to the one and only one.

20 21

Ibid. Bi and Yulie [6], (ch. “General remarks on Book of Changes”).

258

5 The Substance of Personality: Humanity’s Awakening and the Sculpting …

(4)

The Political Philosophy of Transcending Civilism and Following What is Natural

Ruan Ji, courtesy name Si Zong, from Chenliu commandery, Weishi county, born in 210 CE, dying in 263 CE, whose “countenance was all around heroic, lofty in aspirations, unyieldingly self-secure, willfully following his own desire without restraint, without delight or anger appearing in his face.” “He either shut the door and read books for many months without going out, or he climbed the mountains to face the waters, passing days forgetting about return,” he was “broadly read in many books and especially took a liking to Laozi and Zhuangzi. He was a lush for alcohol and could howl out. He excelled at playing the qin zither. When he was satisfied, he quickly forgot all restraints.” “He originally had the aspiration to help the world, and at the juncture between the Wei and Jin dynasties, there were many incidents in the realm, and very few among famous scholars lived a full life, because of which Ji did not engage with the world, and sought to drink to his heart’s content as the norm,” “scholars of ritual propriety and rule of law hated him as an enemy,” “following desire, he set out alone, not following the main roads, and where the cart paths ended, he always cried deeply and returned.”22 Ruan Ji’s works were edited into Ruan Ji’s Foot Soldier Collection and circulated. Ji Kang, courtesy name Shu Ye, from Qiao commandery, was born in 223 CE and died in 262 CE. Early on, he had rare “unusual talent, and went far without grouping, he was seven chi and eight cun tall, a virtuoso at the spirit of verse poetry (ci 词). He had an impressive style, but the construction was unconventional. He did not engage in ornate embellishments, and people find it outstanding. It is simple and natural, tranquil and temperate.” Ji Kang “learned without receiving teaching, and became well-read, needing to make sense of everything, and had a long-lasting love for the Laozi and Zhuangzi,” “he married into the imperial house of the Cao family, and was appointed to the post of Grand Master of Palace Leisure. He constantly cultivated and nourished natural tendencies, engaged in a special diet, played the zither and sang rhapsodies, selfsatisfied at heart.”23 Because Ji Kang reproached all of the sages and highly regarded men since ancient times, the orthodox scholars of Confucianism found him “a criminal offender against civilism,” and his treatises unconventional, reproaching him for destroying the classical structure; the emperor and his powerful ministers could not tolerate him, and eventually imprisoned him, where he met the same death as his good friend Lü An. Ji Kang’s works are now edited into the common version Collected Works of Ji Zhongsan. Ruan Ji and Ji Kang often wandered on the riverside by the bamboo groves with Shan Tao, Xiang Xiu, Liu Ling, Wang Rong and Ruan Xian, and hence were named “the seven worthy men of the bamboo groves,” of which Ruan Ji and Ji Kang were the chief thinking representatives. The seven worthy men of the bamboo groves all held the Laozi and Zhuangzi in very high regard, holding Nature or what is natural as the universal ground of everything’s original constitution. In political philosophy, they proposed the viewpoint of “transcending civilism and 22 23

Xuanling [8], (vol. 19). Ibid., (vol. 21).

1 The Political Ontology of the Obscurism Thinkers and the Political …

259

following what is natural,” which obviously had a deconstructive impact on civilism names and the political order at the time, and for which it met fierce attacks from the orthodox Confucian thinkers at the time. The basic difference between each school of Wei-Jin obscurism was their different conceptions of Nature, which naturally led to different understandings of the universal, original constitution of the Universe and differences with respect to the ideal personality. This ultimately determined their basic attitudes to political authority. Ruan Ji and Ji Kang’s conception of Nature differs from He Yan’s and Wang Bi’s. He Yan and Wang Bi understand Nature mainly from the perspective of valuing non-being or non-possessiveness. What they call Nature or what is natural (ziran 自然) is actually non-being or not-possessing (wu 无), from which they derive the sage’s personality of non-coercive or effortless action (wuwei 无为) and objectless or selfless desire (wuyu 无欲) as well as the governing art of privileging stillness and uncoercive action along with civilism emerging from what is natural. Ruan Ji and Ji Kang’s conceptions of Nature are more influenced by Zhuangzi, emphasizing the thought of “not getting encumbered by other things,” which they directly interpret as a being’s original constitution uninfluenced by anything outside of it. Each and every individual possesses an original, independent, self-sufficient constitution. Every constraint from outside of it is unnecessary and harmful. Ji Kang held that Heaven, Earth and all beings originate from the coagulation of original matter-energy (qi 气). Human being, as one kind of being, is also a derivative of the original matterenergy. Each being is distinctly given some portion of dimness or brightness in accordance with how much original qi is gifted to it. “The molding and melding of original matter-energy generates the endowment of all life forms. A life form’s natural disposition is dim or bright [conscious or unconscious—Trans.] in accordance with how much it is endowed with.”24 “Heaven and Earth combine virtues, all beings value life, winter and summer alternatively come and go, and the five phases hence come about.”25 Ruan Ji and Ji Kang almost entirely understand the emergence of all beings in the world from the naturalistic perspective of Daoism. They view human being as a common natural entity. With respect to defining human nature, they directly equate human nature with the natural disposition of the human being. The true natural constitution intrinsic to human being is not the principle (li 理) upon which Confucian civilism depends to exist, but is rather the human passions and desires of liking, hating, grieving and enjoying. Ruan Ji and Ji Kang’s conception of Nature also seeks and inquires after the universal, original constitution of the world and human being. They determine the universal, natural, original constitution of the world and all beings as absolute freedom of the will entirely uninfluenced by coercive external forces and internal self-conscious constraint. Ji Kang holds that, “what is hard to get in the world is not material wealth, nor is it glory, but is satisfaction of will.” Satisfaction of will is precisely “self-satisfaction.” The will “which is unsatisfied, although is nurtured by the external world and involved with all things, it is always unsatisfied … The will which is satisfied needs nothing outside of itself. 24 25

Kang and Mingyang [9], (ch. “On brightness and guts”). Ibid., (ch. “On sadness and joy in music”).

260

5 The Substance of Personality: Humanity’s Awakening and the Sculpting …

Everything the will which is unsatisfied needs is outside of itself. Needing everything, [the unsatisfied will] lacks everything moving away from it. Needing nothing, [the satisfied will] is not satisfied by anything that is moving toward it.”26 What Ji Kang calls “satisfaction of the will” includes the person’s freedom of will, which rejects the external world’s constraint upon subjective will; it also includes the self-satisfaction of the will, which does not demand any more material conditions of survival upon the external world. Ruan Ji and Ji Kang fiercely criticized Confucian civilism based on the doctrine of natural humanity. They brought up the viewpoint of transcending civilism and allowing what is natural to unfold, a major attack on the Confucian theory of civilism. Ji Kang held that “the affective mind” (xin 心) should seek natural satisfaction of will, and should not trap itself in the moral snares of right and wrong. Hence, moral rightness so championed and prescribed by Confucian civilism is prison for the affective mind, not the destiny of the affective mind. Human being can only reach satisfaction of the will by “transcending civilism and allowing what is natural to unfold.” “The affective mind of he who is called the ruling master (junzi 君子) does not make any use of right and wrong, but his actions never go against the natural way of things (dao 道).”27 Not going against the natural way of things (dao 道) is precisely transcending the civil morality of titles and duties by allowing what is natural to unfold. “Transcending titles and following the affective mind means appealing in no way to right and wrong.” What Ji Kang calls ming jiao 名教 [civilism]), “arrogant highness” (jin shang 矜尚), right and wrong (shi fei 是非), and titles or names (ming 名) all refer to the rituals and moral norms prescribed by Confucianism. Naturally unfolding (ziran 自然), following the will (ren xin 任心), not appealing in any way to right and wrong, along with “stilling the spirit and the emptying the mind” describe the state of the affective mind when it frees itself from the constraints of the Confucian morality of titles and duties. Ji Kang’s concepts of self-satisfaction, letting what is natural to oneself unfold and freeing the affective mind were all mainly aimed at the constraints of Confucian morality. Ever since the sole authorization of Confucianism in the Western Han dynasty, Confucian dogmatism only grew in popularity across society, everyone repeated the stereotypes, and the world of thought was flush with the most repetitive hackneyed clichés. “Letting what is natural unfold” in Ji Kang’s thought aimed to resist and undo the constraint of all these dogmatic clichés upon the freedom of human nature. Ji Kang held that Confucian morality was in direct opposition to what is natural for human nature. “The Six Classics mainly suppress and restrain, while human nature enjoys following what it desires.”28 Han dynasty Confucianism saw the Six Classics as the theorization of human nature and the hallmarks of humanity. Many Confucian scholars repeatedly asserted that betraying the Six Classics is to betray human nature, which is also to lose the qualifications of being human.” Ji Kang fought back against this idea and proposed a theory in opposition to it. He held that the suppressing and restraining function of the Six 26

Ibid., (ch. “Answering difficulties in the theory of nourishing life”). Kang and Mingyang [9], (ch. “On releasing from selfishness”). 28 Ibid., (ch. “On the difficulties of learning what is natural”). 27

1 The Political Ontology of the Obscurism Thinkers and the Political …

261

Classics betrayed human nature. The central core of what Ji Kang called human nature was “desiring” and “willing” in alignment with what is natural. Although it was not libertine, it easily led to libertinism. Ji Kang bitterly attacked Confucian civilism. He insisted that the root of social turmoil stemmed from the competition for titles and gain, which in turn stemmed from the Confucian religion of titles or names. The latter fixes human being’s social activity to a set format, and adds authority to this format, the most important result of which was fully politicizing human being’s social activity, judging the legitimacy or illegitimacy of human behavior according to political standards, thereby suffocating the rich inner wealth of the human being with rigid political dogmas. Ji Kang proposed the famous argument that music is itself neither intrinsically sorrowful nor joyful through clarifying the relationship between music and politics, which was a counter-attack against the Confucian norms and the rationality of constraining social action. “Transcending civilism and letting what is natural unfold” further developed into reproaching the sages of Confucianism, “belittling Yao and Shun and laughing at Yu the great.”29 Ruan Ji and Ji Kang’s understanding of Nature or what is natural centers around the willing-satisfaction of pursuing internal and external freedom, the basic core of which was letting the passions free and freeing the affective mind. They saw the universal, original constitution of every being in the world as the internal and external state of free self-satisfaction found by freeing the affective mind and letting the passions free. Whether it is the entire cosmic world or just one blade of grass or log of wood within it, the universal constitution of all beings is originally without any exception the willing satisfaction of internal and external freedom. This conception of the universal, original constitution of all beings in the world views each being as a rational being naturally coming into being through the natural process of the universe, and possessing an original constitution of internal and external freedom in self-satisfaction of will. It thereby places the rational ground of existence of everything and every being entirely in the very hands of the thing itself. External authority is unnecessary and indeed impossible. Every external constraint produced by authority is excessive, and the rewards and punishments meted out by authority are nothing more than illegitimate inducements blocking human being from maturing his or her own original constitution. The moral code of Confucian civilism originally established itself on the theory of the relationship between Heaven-or-Nature and humanity, but the very law of that relationship upon which it depends universally seemed doubtful in the Wei-Jin era. Confucian civilism needed to once again find a universally necessary theoretical ground to establish its own sacred status in political society. Although Ruan Ji and Ji Kang were serious setbacks in the process of Confucian civilism re-establishing that sacred status, logically they were a phase which Confucian civilism could not bypass, because only through this phase of resolving the problems that Ruan Ji and Ji Kang posed for civilism, could the Confucian ritual code of civilism penetrate the world of human nature’s original constitution.

29

Ibid., (ch. “Doubts on divination”).

262

5 The Substance of Personality: Humanity’s Awakening and the Sculpting …

(5)

Confucian Civilism, the Political Philosophy of What is Natural for Humanity

Xiang Xiu, courtesy name Ziqi, from Huai County of Henei commandery, born in 227 CE, dying in 277 CE, he was of “clear comprehension with far-reaching knowledge, when young he was known to Shan Tao, and was truly fond of the learning of Laozi and Zhuangzi.”30 Xiang Xiu, also one of the seven worthy men of the bamboo grove, was a good friend of Ji Kang’s. Guo Xiang, courtesy name Zixuan, from Henan, born in 252 CE, dying in 312 CE, in youth he “had talent and good reasoning, was fond of Laozi and Zhuangzi, and could speak clearly.” He “often dwelled in leisure, entertaining himself with writings and essays.”31 There is a complicated issue between Guo Xiang and Xiang Xiu revolving around the Commentary on Zhuangzi. The Xiang Xiu Biography states, Xiang Xiu wrote Commentary on Zhuangzi, “during the reign of Emperor Hui of Han, Guo Xiang again annotated and expanded it, seeing Confucianism and Mohism as lowly, the words of the Daoists thereupon rose.” The Biography of Guo Xiang states, “Those who first did commentaries on The Zhuangzi were in the double digits, it was impossible to say whether their purposes were unified. In addition to the old commentary, Xiang Xiu did explications of its meaning, making subtle developments and novel conclusions, superbly fluid obscurism style, only two chapters, Autumn Waters and Perfect Enjoyment were not completed before Xiu died.” “When master Xiu was young, his thought was fragmented, but he had quite a different version and changed the school.” “Guo Xiang did not behave virtuously for others, he did not transmit Xiu’s thought to the world, but rather stole it and passed it off as his own commentary. He did do his own commentary on the two chapters Autumn Waters and Perfect Enjoyment, then changed the one chapter, Horse’s Hooves, and the remaining many chapters he may just have set the punctuation and that is all.” “Afterwards, another version of Xiu’s thought came out, so now we have two versions of the Zhuangzi, Xiang’s and Guo’s, whose thoughts are one and the same.” At present, Xiang Xiu’s alternate version of Commentary on Zhuangzi has already disappeared, and only Guo Xiang’s Commentary on Zhuangzi is extant. Our lectures all use Guo Xiang’s as the basic source material to briefly introduce the political and philosophical thought of Xiang Xiu and Guo Xiang. The ontological category of central importance in Guo Xiang’s discussions of political philosophy is still Nature or what is natural. The conception of what is natural is still the core component of Guo Xiang’s ontological philosophy. Guo Xiang’s conception of what is natural emphasizes the theme of ideal personality in Zhuangzi’s philosophy, which is quite similar to the conception of what is natural across the seven worthy men of the bamboo groves; But Guo Xiang’s conception of Nature manifests a fully thoroughgoing advocacy of what is natural, rejecting the necessity of all of human being’s interferences with or intentional influences upon his or her own state of being. He insists that “what is natural” is absolutely not chosen. Guo 30 31

Xuanling [8], (vol. 49). Ibid., (vol. 50).

1 The Political Ontology of the Obscurism Thinkers and the Political …

263

Xiang’s conception of what is natural emphasizes this viewpoint that all searches for ideal personality amount to unnecessarily troublesome self-searching. Every social individual and even every natural individual may realize his or her own natural state in the present moment of being, and the true natural state is the pacific state of being at peace in the present moment without undertaking any purposeful efforts. Every individual may in fully autonomous manner realize his or her own natural state of being under the condition that there are no external influences or interferences whatsoever. This is what Guo Xiang calls “individualization” (duhua 独化). Guo Xiang’s conception of what is natural is called “the theory of individualization.” Guo Xiang’s conception of what is natural considers each individual’s present “being” or “non-being” as what is natural to them. An all-encompassing standard of what is natural does not exist in the world. It is not the case that “being” is necessarily what is natural to all things, nor is it the case that “non-being” is necessarily the natural state of everything. The process of each individual in the world returning to what is natural is by no means simply that of all beings returning to “being” or all beings returning to “non-being.” The world is neither nothing giving birth to something nor nothing emerging from something. Something need not transform into nothing, and nothing need not transform into something. Guo Xiang insists “[s]ince nothing is nothing, it cannot give birth to something; prior to the birth of something, it cannot be alive, but then who is giving birth to life? Life gives birth to itself!”32 “Self-producing” (zisheng 自生) is “self-making” (zizao 自造) and “self-attaining” (zide 自得). The cause of each and every thing’s transformation can only be reduced to what is inside of itself. “There is no lord creator who makes creatures, but each creature does make itself,” “each creature does not depend on anything [outside of itself] to make itself.”33 Anything, “whatever achieves it, externally does not depend upon Dao and internally it does not arise from the self, at bottom, it is self-attaining and individualizing.”34 Life is not decided by oneself, and death is not decided by oneself, whether wealthy and of high standing or lowly and poor, whether rising and flourishing or declining and falling, none of it is decided by oneself, human being or all beings for that matter can only “be at peace with it as natural,” “whatever something is mandated to be, it is not intentionally done, it is all natural spontaneity!”. Guo Xiang’s “individualized” conception of what is natural did have a certain supporting role in relation to the faltering and declining Confucian civilism. Its main effect was roughly equal to that of the school proposing “civilism emerges from what is natural.” Guo Xiang held that monarchy was the natural disposition of human society, “one thousand people gather, and if one person is not taken as dominant, either chaos will ensue or they will disperse, so there are many worthy men but there cannot be many rulers, and without worthy men there must be a ruler.”35 “Therefore, we know the hierarchy between the ruler and ministers closely coordinating domestic and foreign policy is the natural principle of what is natural 32

Xiang and Xiu [10]. Ibid. 34 Ibid. 35 Xiang and Xiu [10]. 33

264

5 The Substance of Personality: Humanity’s Awakening and the Sculpting …

so, is it truly the doing of human beings! … “[t]he most promising one during an era is the ruler, the ones whose talents outmatch the world are the ministers, and just as Heaven elevates himself and Earth lowers herself, just as the head is in-itself higher and the feet are in themselves lower, who does the sending.”36 Since every individual possesses inalterable being in-itself, and since every thing is the product of selfrealizing and self-making through individualization, the ruler may fully implement the ruling strategy of “governing by effortless action,” the sage-king has no will, but rather allows the world to mature of itself. Guo Xiang advocates “the craftsman makes no self-conscious effort in chiseling wood but makes self-conscious effort in applying the axe, the ruler on high makes no self-conscious effort in personally handling affairs but makes self-conscious effort in employing the ministers.”37 The principal aim of “ruling by effortless action” is to make human beings content with what is naturally so. “Those on high are content with higher position, those below are at peace with lower position, the wealthy are content with wealth, the poor are at peace with poverty, the noble are content with nobility, the base are at peace with baseness, those who make it are content with making it, and those who fail are at peace with failure.”38 Everyone must each realize his or her own “genuine nature,” and “anyone who realizes the genuine natural tendency and applies his being initself as if does not consider wrecking his reputation but remains content with his enterprise.” The secular form of manifestation of “the theory of individualization” is the literary figure Ah Q’s mentality of interpreting defeats as victories. Guo Xiang’s theory of individualization dismembers everything in the world into self-sufficient individuals, enabling each and every individual to self-sufficiently exist free of any external influence. They neither need to be controlled by an external authority, nor make their own intentional efforts. Any authority’s interference and any of one’s own efforts may possibly destroy one’s own natural state of being, and by placing oneself under the control of things, those fond of fame die from fame, those fond of profit die from profit, those fond of commerce die from commerce, those fond of battle die in battle, and the moment anyone is seduced by external things, or is driven by one’s own desires, he or she will become the slave of seduction and desire. Guo Xiang’s conception of what is natural in some respects continues the fatalism of those like Wang Fu, who insist on the fatalism of whatever exists as being rational. Guo Xiang’s fatalism argues that each role positioned differently in the civil system is a legitimate being, both fair and reasonable, through first separating each part of the civil disciplinary hierarchy and then absolutely affirming each and every part. The theoretician generally possesses two basic methods for proving the universal necessity of things, one is depicting the various parts of the world as an indivisible organic whole, making the individuals absolutely subordinate to the whole totality, and on this basis, affirming every individual’s universal necessity; the other is dividing the world into absolute particles mutually disconnected from one another, then proceeding from the absolute freedom of each particle, proving the 36

Ibid. Ibid. 38 Ibid. 37

1 The Political Ontology of the Obscurism Thinkers and the Political …

265

legitimacy of each particle’s being. Guo Xiang fully develops obscurism’s practice of trying to illustrate the universal necessity of things from what the thing in-itself originally possesses, and denies interdependence between things. He eliminates the necessity of the problems previously posed by obscurism through declaring already existing things as absolutely rational. Theoretically speaking, Guo Xiang’s theory of individualization indeed fully answers the questions posed successively by all the obscurists, resolving the problems of the world’s universally necessary ground and the universally necessary form of things. But, the questions that obscurism wanted to investigate were not really unnecessary. People also did not by any means stop at theoretical explanation provided by Guo Xiang. Obscurism’s impotence with respect to the rational basis of their answer to the pursuit of value gave Buddhism the chance of a lifetime to expansively promote their dao in China.

2 The Sinosization of Buddhism and Its Significance in Political Philosophy In the Wei-Jin era, the political society of China already developed to the historical age of needing to deal with the relationship between the human awakening of social individuals and the universal ethics that society requires, which made an urgent call for religious thought. An age which needs a god but which cannot produce a god is necessarily an age of depression, and a depressing age is also an age of universal decadence in politics. Peoples in human society who lack a genuine religious tradition, like ancient Greece, the Roman Republic and so on, all must undergo such periods of political decadence. China during the Wei-Jin era found itself precisely within such a period of political decadence. Wei-Jin obscurism found itself unfulfilled with the systematic world schema of affective reciprocity between Heavenor-Nature and humanity, and attempted to make new convincing explanations for Confucian civilism. Obscurism’s chief methodology was the naturalism found in Book of Changes and Laozi. But traditional Chinese naturalist thought without the color of the will of Heaven truly turns the world into a universally godless, empirical world, which inevitably becomes a chaotic world incapable of producing a genuinely universal original constitution of itself, and the necessary result of this was the deep loss of sacred authority and the decadent human desires and worldly disorder arising from it. Wei-Jin obscurism’s poverty, depression, vexing boredom and indifferent persistence with respect to academic style was intimately tied to the lack of true religious thought. Religious thought is an undeniably important tool of thought after social individuals produce the human awakening. The reason why is because manmade religion constructs a massive, systematic, logical world, and the detailed and rational logical analysis that this logical world makes for everything in the world considers human being as the being who embodies the abstract, universal, original constitution. A universal human being is inseparable from the universal necessity of the objectively existing world, and through one’s own efforts, one may realize

266

5 The Substance of Personality: Humanity’s Awakening and the Sculpting …

what is universally and necessarily inside oneself, that is realize the greatest value of one’s own being. Religion illuminates the direction of the ultimate value for human beings, and meanwhile, does detailed philosophical research on the objective world, while logically constructing an ordered and orderly theoretical world, and undertaking rigorous logical processing on the multiplicity and diversity of the world to establish close yet clear logical relations between things and establish what we call an original constitution manifesting universal necessity for everything in the world; it builds an unobstructed bridge between the temporary body of the world and the eternal substance of the world, guiding people with methods and paths for realizing their own underlying substance. The moment humanity establishes the universality of its own original constitution, it finds its own eternal home, finds itself capable of actively dealing with its own worldly life, and seriously engages in political life. The traditional Chinese system of gods lacks the rigorous logical reasoning of religious thought, and also lacks the strictly equal spirit possessed by true religion. Traditionally speaking, aside from “Heaven-or-Nature” or “the Highest Emperor” telling people to equally uphold an unequal system, it could not give human society any other equality. Traditional Chinese gods amounted to the people’s father or big brother, not to the highest god of all sentient creatures in religion. The pure Chinese tradition could be called a godless society lacking any religious tradition. The source of all questions of thought in the Wei-Jin era was the absence of religious thought. People universally conveyed lack of understanding of the world’s strict order and the source of that order, and even expressed doubt. As regards the obvious unfairness of the world with respect to life and death, longevity, fortune, wealth and rank, the people expressed extreme resentment, and the sacred order of human society lost the value presupposition or the latter became groundless. Wei-Jin obscurism, while dismantling the world-schema in the form of Heaven-or-Nature’s relationship to humanity, also attempted to make convincing ontological demonstrations of the value presuppositions of the world order as well as explain the causes of disparity in life and death, longevity, fortune, wealth and rank in relatively rational manner; it tried to establish things possessing equality between people up to a certain scope. But, by dint of Wei-Jin obscurism’s defectiveness with respect to lacking truly ontological thought and methodology, it ultimately returned to the old beaten path of tradition, telling people they could not possibly have other aspects of freedom aside from equally making peace with the current state of affairs, and effectively replacing the transcendental demonstration of the ontological world with the view that whatever exists is rational. Obscurism was already impotent with respect to resolving the problems of the age that itself noticed, and Buddhism won the great opportunity to disseminate and develop its own religious thought after two hundred years within China. From this, Chinese society found the ontological and methodological development that the political order of authority needed through studying Buddhist theory. Confucian culture was not the natural enemy of a crisis in values and society, she herself faced deep crises with respect to axiology and ontology, but such crises also necessarily shaped up into corresponding social crises, and contemporary neo-Confucianism over-emphasize immunity that it has to the crisis of values in Confucian culture.

2 The Sinosization of Buddhism and Its Significance in Political …

267

Every religion attempts to position human being in an absolutely idealized worldschema, and give human being faith and destiny with respect to the ultimate value. Buddhism is no different insofar as it can establish the spirit’s all-around control of the flesh for all of people’s behavior. Buddhism emerged in ancient India, the founder being Shakyamuni in the sixth century BCE. The name means “the sage of the Shakyas.” His family name was Guatama, birth name Siddhartha. After enlightenment he was called Buddha. Buddhism was introduced into China from central Asia at the end of the Western Han and the beginning of the Eastern Han, made contact with the native civilization of China and over many years developed into one of China’s most important ethnic religions. It made a vast and deep impact upon China’s history and culture, and makes up a necessary supplement to traditional Chinese culture. It also importantly supplemented China’s political philosophy. As a religion, Buddhism possesses a systematic view of all creatures in the world, and with it, developed into a logically rigorous body of thought spanning ontology, axiology and methodology, and came into possession of very strong explanatory forces with respect to human being and human affairs. One explanation that was most influential was that of human being. Buddhism’s influence upon traditional Chinese political thought was multi-faceted, especially with respect to the discourse on the universal, original constitution of human nature. The Buddha nature doctrine in Chinese Buddhism was deeply influential upon the rebirth of Confucian political philosophy.39 (1)

The Introduction of Buddhism and Sinosization

Buddhism came into being in ancient India. It is said that the founder, Guatama Siddartha or Shakyamuni in Buddhist mythology, entered the central plains before the common era through middle Asia. His first devotees were merchants from the Western Regions and a small number of aristocrats during the Han dynasty. As Buddhism spread eastward, it was initially considered as nothing more than alchemy, and did not get the attention of the ruling class. It also influenced a portion of landlords from the imperial family and notable figures of the higher aristocratic families, and the prince of Chu was particularly fond of it. Emperor Huan of Han erected the “ancestral hall of Huang-Lao and Buddha” in the Imperial Palace, made sacrifices there and prayed for fortune.40 The Huang-Lao school was promoted in connection with Buddhism, which shows that the rulers of the Han dynasty welcomed this foreign religion with the gaze of someone dealing with old Chinese religious superstition. During the time of the first two hundred or so years when Buddhism was entering China, the people of the central plains had nearly no monks whatsoever, and the small number of temples were for meeting the needs of people coming to the central plains from the Western Regions. A minority of powerful aristocrats during the Han dynasty considered Buddhism as one of the many folk religions popular during the Han, and the parts of Buddhism which the central plains culture could adopt were few, but among the parts that were adopted, the meditation methods and mystical sacrifices were the lion’s share. The popular theory of Heaven-or-Nature’s relation to humanity during 39 40

Yonghai [11], pp. 3–4. Ye and Xian [12], (vol. 7).

268

5 The Substance of Personality: Humanity’s Awakening and the Sculpting …

the Han dynasty met unprecedented challenges at the end of the Han dynasty, and a crisis of authority ensued. Among the theoretical efforts made to tackle this crisis of authority, we first of all find Wei-Jin obscurism, which attempted resolve the universal problem of authority in society as well as that of the location of human life by means of making Confucianism communicate with Daoism. But the problems encountered at the end of the Han dynasty already went beyond the possible space of traditional Chinese culture’s capacity. Merely professing the system theory and control theory could no longer resolve the authority crisis of the times. The basic reason for this was the genealogy of traditional Chinese knowledge which lacked rigorous ontological thought. Wei-Jin obscurism attempted to find the universal substance of the world, but the result was very disappointing. From Wang Bi’s theory of valuing non-being to Guo Xiang’s theory of individualization, no theory could systematically and in detail explain the past and present of the world, much less find the universal, eternal and absolute original constitution for universal social being. After the Western Jin, Buddhism truly began entering the world of Chinese thought with a philosophical attitude. Broadly popular among the intellectuals in the higher stratum who joined obscurism, Buddhism began intimately making contact with the world of Chinese thought. Buddhist philosophy possessed a more meticulous and detailed quality in contrast to Wei-Jin obscurism. Buddhism spoke of the obscure, and later rose to top status. Buddhism and obscurism ultimately began to converge.41 In one respect, obscurism was the precursor of Buddhism, preparing the preconditions of Buddhism’s spread; In another respect, Buddhism deepened and replaced the topics of obscurism. Chinese society since ancient times was a society that put ethics first. The ethical position of society’s members and the entire society itself were always the theoretical themes of Chinese society next to the universal ground of that positioning; they were also the most important problems all of Chinese society’s theories could not but investigate. The precondition of Buddhism’s large scale propagation was Confucian civilism’s value system running into unprecedented difficulties with respect to the universal ground of the original constitution. Buddhism’s propagation did not mean traditional Chinese society had to abandon its own ethical code of civilism long taken as the glory of China. Buddhism had to deal with the problems which the traditional Chinese theoretical discourse found more interesting, but its answer to them also needed to underscore Buddhism’s benefit to civilism. Buddhism’s rapid development was closely tied to how well it processed the its relationship to civilism’s ethical code, and the development of Buddhism’s relationship with civilism’s ethical code spurred on the increasing sinosization of foreign Buddhism, and the principal facet of sinosization is Confucianization.42 There were some phases of scholarly schools, religious sects, religious figures and propositions that emerged in the process of sinosizing Buddhist philosophy. The first important phase to emerge in that process came about in the two Jin eras, namely the prajna scholarly school which was more deeply influenced by obscurism’s thought of valuing non-being, and the religious sects which were obscurist in style, namely the 41 42

Shiwei [13]. Zehou [1], p. 116.

2 The Sinosization of Buddhism and Its Significance in Political …

269

six schools and seven sects of Buddhism. The notable figures of this phase include Dao An, Hui Yuan and Sengzhao, while the themes were the roots and branches (benmo 本末), being and non-being (youwu 有无), movement and stillness (dongjing 动静), truth and falsity (zhenjia 真假). The status of Buddhism rose from the alchemical and magical streams into an important philosophical theory, beginning the long adventure of its sinosization. The second important phase of Buddhism’s sinosization came about in the era of the Northern and Southern dynasties, during which the work of translating the Buddhist canon reached its peak, where Buddhism penetrated more deeply into theory as the schools of Buddhism’s philosophical theory gradually diversified and multiplied. Aside from the school of emptiness continuing to propagate, the school advocating the theory of being (you 有) also successfully propagated, and gradually shaped up into a theoretical system which any religion requires. Buddhism’s color of obscurism gradually weakened, and its independent theoretical creations multiplied as it proposed many deeper theoretical propositions with universality. The third important phase of Buddhism’s sinosization came about in the Sui and Tang empires. Buddhist philosophy reached its pinnacle during this period, when Buddhist sects of all stripes emerged. With respect to Buddhist theory, the achievements of Chinese monks already reached or went beyond the level reached by Ancient India. With respect to ontology and methodology, Chinese Buddhism already rose to a considerably high level as the theory of Buddhha nature became the focal point of debate. Ontology became more exquisite and methodology became more diverse and practical. The theoretical level reached by Chinese Buddhism during the Tang and Sui empires was unprecedented in Chinese history. Many of its important theoretical creations became the essential precondition and essential component of Song-Ming neo-Confucianism, whose many well-known and important propositions and judgments directly emanated from Buddhist philosophy during the Sui and Tang dynasties. After the Sui and Tang dynasties, Buddhism’s philosophical creations already paled in comparison to what it was before, and Buddhism’s status and influence gradually began to fall, which was closely tied to Confucianism becoming more ornate and experienced through having had absorbed the theoretical achievements of Buddhism. These were the four phases of the sinosization of Buddhism. Worth noting is that, as the Yuan and Qing dynasties were political powers established by minority peoples, they were certainly tolerant in terms of religious beliefs, during which time the Tibetan tradition of Buddhism propagated widely in the vast regions of minority peoples. While Tibetan Buddhism shaped up into a tradition fusing religion and politics into one, it also carried this tradition to the regions of minority peoples, which put the political governance of minority regions under the influence of Buddhism, and he Tibetan tradition of Buddhism as a sinosized sect of Buddhism influenced Chinese politics in important ways. (2)

The Mixed Political Philosophy of Dao’an’s Obscurist Buddhism

Dao’an, born in 314 CE, passing away in 385 CE, original family name Wei, from Chang Shan commandery, Fu Liu county (modern Hebei, Yi county), hailing from a powerful Confucian family, he was an expert at obscurism, and at 12 years of age

270

5 The Substance of Personality: Humanity’s Awakening and the Sculpting …

he left home and became a monk. Later he would become the greatest disciple of the famous monk Fo Tucheng of the Western Regions. But his way of attracting people differed from that of his teacher, “changeless techniques could perplex the senses of the average person.”43 He no longer relied on magic arts to win the rulers’ trust and support like Fo Tucheng did. He would rather use the path of Prajna or the emptiness of human nature that he studied. Dao’an accomplished much higher achievements and status than his contemporary Buddhists. Dao’an was proficient in obscurism, and in Buddhism, he combined the study of Chan meditation and Prajna. His early thoughts on Chan Buddhism mainly appealed to He Yan and Wang Bi’s thought of valuing non-being to explain An Shigao’s Chan Buddhism, proposing his “original non-being hypothesis” and founding his “tradition of original non-being.” These two terms for original non-being (benwu 本无) originate from Wang Bi’s statement in Commentary on Laozi, “taking non-being as the origin.” Dao’an’s theory of original non-being does not argue that all things do not exist as phenomena, but rather underscores that the being of all things originates from primordial emptiness. Their intrinsic essence or the original constitution existing in all things is empty nothing. Dao’an urged people to focus on holding fast to their own original constitution of empty non-being, so as not to become confused by the phenomenal existence of all things. Based on the worldview of original non-being, Dao’an drew conclusions on questions concerning human life, insisting that “where human beings stagnate is in ending being, if they house the affective mind in original non-being, alternate thoughts will cease.”44 “If you house the affective mind in original non-being, then this tangle of thoughts will be cut. Cherishing the primary root may eliminate the secondary branches, this is a beneficial proposition.”45 This is to say, acknowledging the existence of all external things is the greatest obstacle in people’s understanding of human life and greatest burden in thought, and people can only put such strange thoughts to rest by resolutely upholding “the primary root of originally not-being,” at which time, the human being is only left with an empty affective mind of absolute sense without any perception. Such an “affective mind” (xin 心) is “original non-being.” The original non-being of the human mind is the universal and eternal substance existing in the human body. Just as things in the world all universally have the original constitution of primarily not-being, all human beings have the original constitution of primarily not-being. Although Dao An’s theory of original non-being employs much of obscurism’s vocabulary and embodies many characteristics of obscurism, Dao An was however the person who self-consciously resisted and opposed the method of obscurism in the developmental history of Chinese Buddhism. He opposed the method of categorizing concepts (geyi 格义) in the field of Buddhism at the time whereby obscurism was used to explain the Buddhist canon. He advocated explaining the Buddhist canon with the Buddhist canon. In this way, Dao An’s theory of original non-being was basically a religious philosopher’s ontology. Wei-Jin obscurism although spoke much specifically about valuing non-being, it explained what is natural with “non-being,” that 43

Huijiao and Yongtong [14]. Ibid. 45 Deng et al. [15]. 44

2 The Sinosization of Buddhism and Its Significance in Political …

271

is “non-being” was the meaning of what is naturally or spontaneously so, and what is naturally so became the universal constitution of the world. “Non-being” actually played a supporting role as a category in obscurism, not a fundamental role. In addition, what Wei-Jin obscurism calls “non-being” (wu 无) much rather stresses that human being’s natural state is the non-self-conscious action of objectless desiring, purposeless doing and unknowing. Obscurism’s hope was that people would try as far as possible to make their own action unconscious or acting without being selfconscious of it. The hope was that human life could truly avoid getting exhausted by being something, and that people could become extra-ordinary sages or genuine human beings free of conventional habit. Dao An’s theory of original non-being describes the universal constitution of the world with the natural spontaneity people are most familiar with. “Non-being” was no longer a subordinate category falling under Nature or “what is natural,” but became the state of the world’s original constitution itself. The original constitution of the world was universally “non-being,” and human being’s original constitution as one of all beings in the world was naturally non-being as well. What was most natural to all beings as well as the destiny of what ought to be was universally returning to their original constitution, and what was most natural to human being as well as the necessary destiny of what humans ought to be was likewise returning to their universal and eternal original constitution. Wei-Jin obscurism’s theory of the primary root and secondary branches was a theory of measurement of importance and urgency, and Dao An’s theory of primary root and secondary branches highlighted the distinction between the universal essence of the world and the phenomenal appearance of all things. To some extent, the secondary branches became something bad blocking to the primary root or original constitution, which made more explicit human being’s tendency in choosing between the primary root and secondary branches, and found for human beings the way back home to realizing the value of their own original constitution. Dao An’s ontology and methodology naturally possessed many obvious shortcomings and flaws in comparison with the senior monks of later dynasties. Dao An’s theory cannot even compare in achievement with Sengzhao as far as degree of depth is concerned, and the impact of his political life was also far from as clear and direct as Hui Yuan’s. But Dao An’s theory of the original constitution was however the true beginning of traditional Chinese ontological philosophy, when Buddhist philosophy overtook Wei-Jin obscurism as the main academic form of questions on universal ontology and human life, and the penetrating introduction and developmental sinosization of Buddhist philosophy provided the chance of a life time for resolving the ontological crisis that the values of civilism ran into. Although Dao An could not match Sengzhao, and in drawing the strict distinction between original constitution and phenomenal appearance for the objective world, he failed to sort out the complex connections between the original constitution and certain phenomena; But Gao An’s tradition of original non-being ultimately proposed that the universal constitution of the world’s being is the Prajna or non-being of emptiness or Sunyata, which both found an original constitution for the phenomenal manifestation of the world to settle down in, and also naturally found an original constitution for everyone’s phenomenal being to settle down in. All of the perplexities everyday human life ran into

272

5 The Substance of Personality: Humanity’s Awakening and the Sculpting …

were not perplexities with respect to the original constitution of life, but were rather phenomenal perplexities. The reason why humans get perplexed is because they still have not found their own universal and necessary original constitution. The reason why humans get frustrated and resentful is because people’s wills are fooled by phenomenal appearances. As long as human beings truly put in the effort of finding and returning to their own original constitution, they may thoroughly eliminate the perplexities, vexations and hesitations in life. The political significance of Dao An’s philosophical thought is mainly concentrated in the discussion of ontology. His political philosophy is basically limited to the ontological facet of political philosophy, which both marked a turning point in the method of traditional Chinese political philosophy and provided a good starting point for a turn in the methodology of Chinese political philosophy. (3)

Hui Yuan’s Theory of Dharma Nature and His Theory of Divine Retribution

Hui Yuan, original family name Jia, born approximately 334 CE, passing away in 416 CE, from Yanmen commandery, Loufan county (modern day Shanxi provience, Yuanping county, Hengyang township), hailing from a family of government officials, his family was especially wealthy, “when young he became a student, eruditely comprehended the six classics, and especially excelled at Zhuangzi and Laozi.”46 In his early years, he followed his maternal uncle, master Linghu, to study abroad in Xuchang and Luoyang of Henan province. He read large amounts of Confucian and Daoist classics. Hui Yuan formally took Dao An as a master when he was 21 years old, left his home to become a monk, excelled at Buddhist scholarship, and was particularly fond of citing the doctrines of Laozi and Zhuangzi and comparing them to explain Buddhist scriptures while answering the listener’s questions. Hui Yuan “mastered the connection between internal and external worlds,” then settled down at Donglin Temple in Lushan, researching Buddhist studies, propagating Buddhist religion, and spurring on the propagation of Buddhism in China and the daily sinosization of the Buddhist religion. Because of this, Hui Yuan became a famous senior monk of Chinese Buddhism, and his theory of Buddhism was vastly richer than Dao An’s in terms of content, touching on many aspects from Buddhist philosophy to Buddhist sociology. He had a multifacted and far reaching historical influence upon Chinese society. In general, Hui Yuan’s theory of Buddhism contains the following few positive influences upon Chinese political philosophy. One, Hui Yuan’s theory of Dharma nature positively influenced traditional Chinese political philosophy and ontology. Hui Yuan’s theory of Buddhism aimed at Prajna or wisdom. On the basis of inheriting Dao An’s doctrine, he absorbed, reformed, developed and advanced the other schools of Buddhist thought. He started out from the idealist notion of “original non-being,” focusing philosophically on publicizing the ontology of Dharma nature, and grounding the religious theory of Buddhist aestheticism in it. After Buddhism’s introduction into China, monks often spoke of Buddhism as a religion similar to a longevity cult due to the influence of traditional Chinese 46

Jun et al. [16], p. 123.

2 The Sinosization of Buddhism and Its Significance in Political …

273

religious thought, and propagated Buddhist thought by comparing it to the Daoist formula of long life and enduring senses. Hui Yuan held that this formula spoke of the highest, most ideal state of mind in Buddhism as “long lasting” and “long enduring” without bringing into relief the Buddha’s “eternally dwelling,” “unchanging” essence, which does not match the purpose of the Buddhist canon. He particularly emphasizes “unchanging,” and proposes the much more refined doctrine of “Dharma nature” instead of the doctrine of “long life.” The central core of On Dharma (faxing lun 法性论) is the view that “the essence of the ultimate state is the unchanging, the purpose of attaining the essence is embodying the ultimate,” where “essence” refers to “Dharma,” which is the true, original nature or embodied essence of all beings in the universe, and by grasping the original substance of the unchanging Dharma nature, one reaches the highest state of the Buddha, which is human being’s or all beings’ “ultimate enlightenment.” The essence of Hui Yuan’s “Dharma nature” is original non-being, which is another name for the Dharma nature. The name Dharma nature not only illustrates the objective being of Buddha’s highest state, and establishes for human striving a certain ultimate goal, but also illustrates that Dharma nature is the original nature or self-nature intrinsic to all beings. The Dharma nature of all beings may perhaps have different forms of expression, but the essence of the Dharma nature of all things is the same original non-being, which describes the content of Dharma nature instead of negating the being of Dharma nature. Everyone in themselves have the universal Dharma nature, which is human being’s essence and destiny. Everyone’s destiny is established on the foundation of the Dharma nature originally in himself. Hui Yuan’s theory of Dharma nature is actually the discussion of the traditional Chinese topic of human nature with Buddhist language at a much higher theoretical level. Two, Hui Yuan’s theory that the mind is not annihilated with the body is a further extension of the thought of Dharma nature; it deals with the problem of the undying original constitution of human being’s Dharma nature. Hui Yuan’s theory of Dharma nature is established on the foundation of Dao An’s theory of original non-being, but develops it further; it deduces that human being’s eternal, original constitution is non-being from the thesis that the original constitution of the world is universally nonbeing, namely human being’s eternal, original constitution is what he calls Dharma nature. Human being’s Dharma nature universally and eternally exists, and will not disappear following the body’s dissolution, which is Hui Yuan’s basic viewpoint that the mind is not annihilated with the body. Hui Yuan and all of Buddhist theory insists that human being cannot possibly live forever without dying, nor ascend to heaven and become immortal. Everyone gets old and dies, and everyone’s body will be annihilated. The theory of the immortal spirit in Ancient Indian Buddhist theory differs entirely from the traditional Chinese theory of the undying soul. Mainstream Buddhist philosophy insists that everything is empty, because of which, human being does not possess an undying spirit in himself, otherwise human being could not transcend the cycle of birth and death. Human being’s becoming Buddha is not some clinging to an undying “ego,” but is rather the transcending of the ego, and the true carrier of transmigration is a universal being without any individual significance or particular worry. Buddha’s highest state is actually Brahma who has completely

274

5 The Substance of Personality: Humanity’s Awakening and the Sculpting …

extinguished corporeal desires, not only the body of the self does not exist, the self’s so-called spirit does not exist either, every being involved in Brahma is annihilated. The Buddhist thought of transmigration propagated in China absorbed the traditional Chinese thought of the undying soul, and made the undying human soul the bearer of transmigration. The theory of the undying spirit became the another theoretical version of the undying soul. Hui Yuan’s theory that the spirit is not annihilated with the body was the main theoretical representative of Chinese Buddhism’s theory of the undying spirit. He combined the traditional Chinese theory of the undying soul, the Indian Buddhist theory of the undying spirit and his own theory of Dharma nature, and elucidated in detail and carefully argued for the theory that the spirit is not annihilated with the body. Hui Yuan’s theory that the spirit is not annihilated with the body uncovers the eternal substance in human being himself, and discovers an undying, eternal being for people’s personality, which resolves the perplexity and vexation felt with respect to questions of human life, and provides the basic theoretical precondition for the reconstruction of the personal order and the re-authorization of the political order. Three, Hui Yuan champions the theory of retribution, and explains all of the unfairness in human life through it, which distracted people’s minds from unhealthy feelings like accumulating resentment and fears building up inside them, and also created personal encouragement for real people, making them kindly deal with life, treat others in friendly fashion, actively pursue the future, and submit to as well as actively deal with the political order. Establishing political order requires certain political and psychological cooperation from people, that is the political order must always be established on the foundation of people’s full confidence in life. People will only universally will to actively deal with politics and the political order on the condition that people willingly accept the necessity of actively putting in effort into society. The universal decadence of social politics during the late Han and Wei-Jin era was closely tied to people’s lack of necessary confidence in life, and people lacked that needed confidence in social life, because people began to majorly doubt the explanations for the order of their own lives. The cause of such doubts was nothing other than the lack of any reliable logically necessary relationship between people’s efforts and people’s behavior. The theory of retribution took aim at this crisis of confidence, and attempted to establish the reliable connection of necessity between people’s efforts and people’s behavior. Hui Yuan grounded his thought in Indian Buddhism’s theory of karma, and combined it to the traditional Chinese thought or religious superstition of affective reciprocity between Heaven-or-Nature and humanity, in order to systematically elucidate the theory of retribution. When traditional Chinese philosophical theory made interconnections between things, it always employed the theoretical method of affective reciprocity (ganying 感应), and in fact only had the theoretical method of affective reciprocity. When people began universally doubting the thought of affective reciprocity, people found it impossible to establish highly effective universal connections between things, and the severing of the chain of universal connections between things necessarily bring about the loss

2 The Sinosization of Buddhism and Its Significance in Political …

275

of political order and the faltering of political authority. The substance of Hui Yuan’s thought of retribution was still the thought of reciprocity expressed in the thought of affective reciprocity, good things summon good things, and bad things summon bad things. “The family which accumulates goodness will necessarily have abundance of rewards, the family which accumulates badness will necessarily be rife with disasters (Book of Changes, “Kun Hexagram”).” However, the category he employs is causation. The theory of causation replaced that of the affective reciprocity, and became the basic concept and method of thought people used to establish the universal connections that the world so badly needed, which amounted to reforming the traditional Chinese method of doing philosophy and political philosophy. The introduction of the thought of causation resulted in a major transformation in the thought of affective reciprocity, particularly with respect to the thought of retribution. The theory of affective reciprocity lacked necessary and adequate intervals of time when making a universal connection between things; it always demanded the immediate display of good and bad like the shadow following the body casting it. As soon as it was slightly out of joint, no reciprocity was affectively communicated, which easily led in theory to the total bankruptcy of the theory of affective reciprocity. When the theory of causation states “the family which accumulates goodness will necessarily have abundance of rewards, the family which accumulates badness will necessarily be rife with disasters,” it permits the retribution to have a certain interval of time, and even permits very long intervals of time to laps. It illustrates the sense of bad causal retribution through a greater interval of time. Hui Yuan held that there were three kinds of karma, present retribution, life retribution and after retribution. Present retribution means good and bad begin in this life, that is retribution is faced in this life. Life retribution means good and bad start in this life, and retribution is suffered in the next life. After retribution means good and bad start in this life, but the retribution only comes after every two generations, three generations or thousand generations. In one respect, Hui Yuan’s theory of the karmic cycle knits human behavior into a system of universal connections such that every action is the effect of a prior cause as well as the cause of a later effect, and the cycle of cause and effect repeats unceasingly. If you want a good fruit, you must plant a good seed. If you do good now, it will necessarily reap a good reward, which universally drives human beings toward good; In another respect, human being possesses an undying Dharma nature and an eternal subjectivity bearing the effects of good and evil. All of human being’s good deeds and good rewards, all of his wicked deeds and the pernicious consequences of them are all borne and carried by an undying subjectivity. Hui Yuan insisted that just as bodies have shadows and sounds have echoes, the goodness or maliciousness of the human heart are seeds which necessarily grow into the fruits of fortune and misfortune. Human being is as if in a big dream, befuddled and lost in a long night that is slowly unfolding, clung to perplexity and greedily hanging on, human being’s gains and losses push him back and forth, misfortune and happiness come and go, accumulating wickedness and meeting disastrous misfortune, committing crimes and entering prison as punishment, human being meets his inevitable fate, undoubtedly.

276

5 The Substance of Personality: Humanity’s Awakening and the Sculpting …

(4)

Sengzhao’s Ontological Thought and Its Major Significance for the Turn in Political Philosophy

Sengzhao, lay Buddhist of the family name of Zhang, from Jingzhao commanderie, Chang’an (modern day Shaanxi province, Xi’an), born in 385 CE, passing away in 414 CE, when young, his family was poor, so he made a living copying books for people, was broadly well-read in the classics and history, and was particularly fond of Laozi and Zhuangzi. In his early years, he studied The Laozi, and sighed, speaking of it, “although it is indeed beautiful, at times it dwells in places of spiritually toiling obscurity, as if it falls short of perfection,” so he made a turn to researching Buddhism, studying under the senior monk Kumarajiva, who taught Prajna and Three Treatises of the Mahayana school, and fully grasped their transmission, around which time he joined several translation circles centered around translating Buddhist scripture, elaborately finished the scriptures and treatises, and became Kumarajiva’s chief helper in translating Buddhist scripture. The theoretical basis that Sengzhao mainly adopted was the middle way doctrine of the great master from the Indian Mahayana emptiness sect, Longshu, and he wrote critical conclusions on the theories about emptiness in all of the schools of Buddhism and obscurism at the time, on which basis he established his own thorough and meticulous philosophical system that was both idealist and metaphysical touching mainly on contents related to ontology and methodology. Sengzhao’s Buddhist philosophical thought marks the new phase of Buddhism entering the stage of theoretical development after its transmission into China. His chief works include Treatise on Unreality and Emptiness (buzhen kong lun 不真空论), Treatise on the Unchanging Nature of Things (wu bu qian lun 物 不迁论) and Treatise on Prajna and Ignorance (banruo wuzhi lun 般若无知论), compiled into the extant collection The Theses of Seng-Zhao (zhao lun 肇论). Treatise on Unreality and Emptiness is a religious work arguing that the world is absolute illusion or “unreal” and hence “empty” from the perspective of ontology. Sengzhao drew on Long Shu’s technique of eclecticism known as the “middle way,” employing ambiguous phrases like “it neither is nor is not” to assert that the phenomenal existence of the world is “unreal” and “empty.” By “it neither is” he means that essentially speaking, the world is an illusion which does not really exist; by “[it neither is] nor is not” he means phenomenally speaking, it also cannot be said that everything in the world does not exist, but what exists is only simulacra and nothing more. This is not to say that the world as simulacrum does not exist, but rather that the existence of everything that is happening is only a simulacrum, and cannot truly count as really being.47 Sengzhao asserts, the universal substance of the world is an unreal void, and people’s perplexity, vexation, uncertainty, depression, etc., all stems from people’s clinging to the simulacrum. He was critical of all the Prajna scholars from all schools, those advocating the non-being of the mind, the non-being of phenomena, original non-being, etc. The school of the non-being of the mind held, “there is no mind in matter, and matter is always there,” “get it in stilling the mind, lose it in voiding matter.” Sengzhao held that the advantage of the school 47

Sengzhao [17], (ch. “Treatise on unreality and emptiness”).

2 The Sinosization of Buddhism and Its Significance in Political …

277

of the non-being of the mind is found in eliminating the interference of external matter, and making the mind peacefully still, yet the mistake this school makes is failing to deny the existence of the external world, that is failing to see clearly that things in the external world are essentially nothing but false images that do not really exist. Everything is originally an illusion; it is not an illusion because people see it as an illusion.48 Sengzhao’s ontological thought, in brief, is “the theory of unreal emptiness,” which is actually Longshu’s theory of the middle way, that is there is the real truth to the existence of the world and the conventional truth, these two levels: really true existence refers to the universal constitution of everything in the world, and the substance of this original constitution is empty; conventionally true existence refers to everything in the world as phenomenal being, which although is essentially a simulacrum, objectively still cannot be said to not exist. Because of this, with respect to the real truth, the being of the world is essentially empty, yet with respect to the conventional truth, the being of the world phenomenally exists; emptiness is not absolute nothingness, but is rather some kind of determinate state of being, but that being is not real being, and the existence that people sense is nothing but a simulacrum. This is to say, emptiness is not truly vacuous, and only emptiness is actually fully there; what is there is not truly there, what is there is actually only the simulacrum. The being of phenomena is empty, there is no substance to it, and it is temporary. The emptiness of the essence then is the eternally unchanging essence of things, and something is only truly being there in the essential sense, and human being is no different. Treatise on the Unchanging Nature of Things, is both the further expansion of Sengzhao’s ontological thought as well as the transition from ontology to methodology. It develops human being’s general attitude and method of dealing with life out of the forms or laws of activity in the existing world. Is the being of the world ultimately changing in nature or not? This is the philosophical problem of concretely distinguishing the basic state of the essential being of the world. Sengzhao holds that saying it is “changing” is the conventional explanation or conventional truth, and saying it is “unchanging” alone amounts to the Buddhist Truth or real truth. “speaking of reality is to go against convention, following convention is to contradict reality, when one contradicts reality, it is to irreversibly mislead belief, when one goes against convention, it is to speak tastelessly devoid of sense.49 (Treatise on the Unchanging Nature of Things).” Treatise on the Unchanging Nature of Things does not break away from the phenomenal existence of the world to declare the Truth of Buddhism, but rather proceeds from the changing of things to discover the reason and expression of “the unchanging.” He insists that to seek the universally unchanging and eternal essence is not to seek the unchanging essence totally disconnected from the objective changing of the world, and can only be knowing the unchanging essence from the changing phenomenon itself. When he demonstrates the delusion of the experienced phenomenal world, he first splits up the unbroken movement of things in time, and exaggerates the aspect of their discontinuity, that 48 49

Ibid. Sengzhao [17], (ch. “Treatise on the unchanging nature of things”).

278

5 The Substance of Personality: Humanity’s Awakening and the Sculpting …

is he rigidifies the temporal past, present and future into three discontinuous stages that are mutually unrelated, namely “something past is already in the past, it does not move from the present into the past; something present is already in the present moment, it does not move from the past into the present.”50 He is insisting here that past things only exist in the past, and will not prolong into the present, and what is present only exists in the present, it cannot possibly contact the past. Future things are no different, “that things do not mutually pass into one another is clear.”51 The crazy wind that reverses the mountain joy is tranquilly still, the gushing river is not flowing, the dirt blowing up, covering the sky is not flying, there is no circuit made by the sun and moon moving the day and night, and what is so strange about that? What Sengzhao calls unchanging things refers to the original constitution of the thing, the treatise on the unchanging nature of things describes the way or form in which the original constitution of things exists, and elaborates the actual existence of the original constitution, the entire world has neither movement nor matter. All is but empty, and all phenomena are nothing more than misleading illusions. Human being should not live in shifting simulacra, but ought to live in the eternal essence. Human thought cannot change with the lures or changes in the colorful social world, otherwise desires would be too many, and the frustration would be too much. Such frustrations would increase by the day, and one’s essence would largely be alienated by one’s own desires. One should retain one’s own universal quasi-essence or quasisubstance in the colorfully changing world, and make oneself maintain the original constitution of human being forever. The phenomenal world changes much, but the essential world is unchanging, and by comparison, the essential world’s positive significance for the political order should obviously be greater than the phenomenal world’s; if the human passions are dragged along by phenomena, human nature will lose the self-constraint of universal necessity and throw the political world into chaos. If human passions are only influenced by the universal essence, human nature will be governed by the universal essence, which would be good for the establishment of a universal and eternal political order. If humans are always lost in the simulacra of experience or seduced by all kinds of sensible stimuli or delights, they will fully devolve into the slaves of material stimuli and sensations, and will only consider human life in terms of material life in utilitarian manner. Passions and human life would be swallowed up in the mud of worrying about the cost and benefit of doing things such that the seriousness, sacredness, justness and fairness that socio-political life requires would have no guarantee. Treatise on Prajna and Ignorance discusses the problem of the self-consciousness and maturation of the universal essence of the world and human beings and the method of maintaining the universal essence. The universal essence of the world and human beings is self-consciousness without “knowledge,” which determines the important problem of the methodology of human life. Generally speaking, if there were “knowledge” of the original constitution of the world and human beings, then human being should embrace the attitude in life of actively willing to do things, one 50 51

Ibid. Ibid.

2 The Sinosization of Buddhism and Its Significance in Political …

279

should self-consciously design one’s own path of life and goal of life, just like the view of the scientific school in [the 20th Chinese] debate between the value of the sciences and that of the humanities, which advocated the scientific conception of human life. If there were no knowledge of the original constitution of the world and human being, then one should submit to Nature and follow one’s fate, and seek momentary peace eking out a living, just muddling along like those following Wei-Jin obscurism who advocated purely following what is natural, or just like Wang Chong, Guoxiang and Fan Zhen who advocated making peace with fate. Sengzhao’s viewpoint was that of eclecticism, and embodied the Buddhist thought of “the middle path.” He advocated “the knowledge of not knowing,” that is “there is no knowledge in the mind of the sage, so he is cognizant of everything.” “if one knows something, then one doesn’t know something, and knowing nothing with the mind of the sage, hence is to know everything.”52 “The cognizance of not knowing is knowing everything.”53 Buddhism always saw all knowledge of subjectively reflecting the objective as obstacles to knowing the Buddhist “Truth”; the so-called “two obstacles” refer to “the obstacle of the known” and “the obstacle of worry,” and “the known” is the source of “worry.” Only one kind of knowledge, he not only does not oppose, but also exhaustively promotes, which is that of what Buddhism calls “Prajna” or wisdom, or viewing the objective world as absolutely empty illusion, “Prajna possesses absolutely no appearance and no appearance of coming into and out of being,” and “Prajna is knowing nothing and observing nothing.”54 He actually engraves an equal sign here between the highest wisdom and thoroughgoing ignorance, insisting that this alone is the path to freeing oneself and becoming Buddha. Sengzhao’s ontological philosophy possessed important and far-reaching theoretical significance and enduring historical influence in the history of Chinese Buddhism’s development. Much ontological thought in the history of Chinese Buddhism is tied in some way to the existence of Sengzhao’s philosophical thought, and many theories straightforwardly come about through reforming Sengzhao’s theory. The philosophical problems that Wei-Jin obscurism solved and never fully resolved found major break-throughs in Sengzhao’s theory. Sengzhao’s philosophy could largely be seen as the philosophical conclusion of obscurism. The problems that Wei-Jin obscurism and Sengzhao’s philosophical theory, and even the majority of traditional Chinese philosophical theories, explored were those about the original constitution, ultimate destination and cultivation methods of human being. The starting point and theoretical aim of their questioning is by no means to develop a set of ways, methods and logical tools for knowing the world, but is rather to find human being’s universal and eternal sense and the substance of its expression. Sengzhao’s philosophical theory whether respect to its ontological content or its methodological content, cannot be appreciated and judged from the perspective of epistemology. The basic reason for this is, Sengzhao had no intention of discussing methods of knowing and the nature of the result of knowing. The problems that interested Sengzhao 52

Sengzhao [17], (ch. “Treatise on prajna and ignorance”). Ibid. 54 Ibid. 53

280

5 The Substance of Personality: Humanity’s Awakening and the Sculpting …

were which guiding principles human being should ultimately live by and what the universal ground of the most basic principles guiding people’s lives should be. Although what concerned Sengzhao was a problem of religious belief, because what directly connects to the destiny of religious belief is a necessary, universal, essential world, it establishes itself by determining what is universally necessary in human social life. It establishes a positive and kind attitude toward human life, and it revives and tries to strengthen the universal responsibility and confidence of social individuals. All of these aspects are good for the establishment of an eternal political order. Furthermore, Sengzhao’s theory of “the middle path” also establishes the way of being of a sinosized world of essence. The universal essence of the world is not outside of the empirical world of experience, but is rather what is necessary in the empirical world of experience. Although his immediate goal was religious, he had a direct impact on the Confucian worldview during the Song-Ming era.

3 The Political Critique of the Wei, Jin, Northern and Southern Dynasties The political thought of the Wei, Jin, Northern and Southern dynasties was mainly political reflection and political critique. Whether it was obscurism, Buddhism or Daoism or some other heretical thinkers or those engaging in political revolt, they all expressed different forms of political criticism; they all made differing degrees of attack on the Confucian ethical theory of civilism. Such political criticism was both the continuation of political criticism at the end of the Han dynasty as well as the deepening of the political criticism made at the end of the Han dynasty. Critique at the level of political philosophy always dominated. To some degree, we could even say that the political thought during the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern dynasties was mainly critical political thought, the chief component of which was the critique of political philosophy. Generally speaking, the critique of political philosophy could very well be ontological as well as methodological, and could also be axiological. On the surface, the critical political thought of the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern dynasties was the critique of political values and political methods of governance, but the fundamental object of crticial political thought was political ontology, and all other forms of critique originate from people’s great confusion and lostness with respect to political ontology. In those times, the majority of political critiques were not entirely divorced from the pursuit of Confucian ethical civilism’s basic political values, but they were deeply suspicious of the universal and essential ground of political values, and the many other suspicions and fierce critiques all stemmed from the crisis of the universal essence that the political system ran into. The main contents of critical political thought during the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern dynasties could be summarized as several “negations,” central among which was “having no ruler.” Wei-Jin obscurism championed the originality of non-being,

3 The Political Critique of the Wei, Jin, Northern …

281

and with respect to the ideal political personality and ideal way of ruling, it advocated valuing non-being and championing stillness, advancing certain forms of noninvasive political governance, and criticizing political governance for interfering too much with society and persons. Fan Zhen inherited Wang Chong’s basic thought of fatalism and contingent arising, opposed the theistic theories and doctrines of immortal spirit like those championed by Buddhism, and even more so opposed the theory of so-called divine retribution. He proposed a famous atheistic theory, and atheism opposing mysterious explanations of political reality does have considerable theoretical rationality; it reflects the materialist and humanistic characteristics of political thought. But atheism expands the target of critical attack, denies the activity of human beings changing their own political fate, dissolves the necessity and seriousness of human being’s relationship to human politics, and attacks the dignity of the political order and civilism’s ethical code. Bao Jing’s “anarchism” directly attacks the Confucian ethical code of civilism, straightforwardly proposes “having no ruler,” and publicly elucidates anarchist political thought. He evolves the reflections on political ontology during the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern dynasties into reflections and refutations with respect to political values. He proposed a heretical political thought that the Confucian ethical code of civilism absolutely could not tolerate in the slightest, but he never faced fierce, large-scale, theoretical attacks from all sides, which largely shows how deeply “the anarchist theory of having no ruler” already seeped into the political sub-conscious of scholars of all classes during the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern dynasties. (1)

Ontology in Political Philosophy

Before the end of the Han dynasty, Chinese political philosophy by no means established the values of civilism on the universal essence of politics, but rather established it on the foundation of the system theory of affective reciprocity between Heaven-orNature and humanity. By rigidifying the way in which the world connected together, and by establishing so-called necessary links between each and every thing, such necessary links are already destined for everything, but such destined, necessary connections are also rational. The political order like all other things is a component part of one unified cosmic order created by Heaven-or-Nature. Its necessity comes from Heaven-or-Nature’s completely rational control over things. Dong Zhongshu’s political philosophy was the most typical representative of the Han dynasty political philosophy of Heaven-or-Nature’s relationship to humanity, but the philosophical crisis that Dong Zhongshu’s political philosophy ran into at the end of the Han dynasty was also a crisis in the Han dynasty political philosophy of affective reciprocity between Heaven-or-Nature and humanity. The systematic political philosophy of affective reciprocity between Heaven-or-Nature and humanity formulated everything in the universe including human beings as one system controlled by a highest personal good-willed authority. It had to make all connections necessary, and making all connections necessary necessarily caused the rigidification of connections, and thereby could not but demonstrate all phenomena as harmonizing with the will of Heaven-or-Nature. But, the connections between the natural world and

282

5 The Substance of Personality: Humanity’s Awakening and the Sculpting …

human society are always diverse and complex, and rigidified connections necessarily fail to explain many exceptional phenomena, and once exceptions drew in people’s attention, the authoritativeness of these rigidified links were heavily attacked and even annihilated. In the end, it made some needed necessary connections between the natural world and human society lose the reliable safeguard of necessity. Once needed necessary connections between people are unsettled, the authoritativeness of political governance is shaken as well, thereby bringing about all kinds and stripes of critical political thought. The reason why more influential trends of political criticism emerged at the end of the Han dynasty was because the connections between people forged by means of affective reciprocity between Heaven-or-Nature and humanity faced an insurmountable challenge with respect to necessity. People during the Wei and Jin dynasties tried to make ontological efforts in political philosophy, and obscurism may have included the earliest group of political thinkers who employed ontological thought to do political philosophy. They tried to establish political seriousness and the necessity of political connections on the necessary constitution possessed universally by things. But traditional Chinese philosophy lacked genuine methods of ontological thought and the resources for it. Aside from the Daoist categories of “non-being,” “effortless action” and “what is naturally so,” they really did not have other, better methods of thought or richer resources of thought, so at most they could only provide or champion some kind of personal ideal or state and method of human life with the basic principle of “effortless action,” but could not provide every single thing with a universal, necessary essence. In actuality, every philosophical ontology cannot but consider two kinds of qualitatively different relations, one being necessary relations possessing the universal causal ground, the other being contingent relations lacking the universal causal ground. The ontology of political philosophy must distinguish the basic ground of qualitatively different relations between people, and establish the political order between people on the foundation of necessary connections with universal causal ground, enabling people to selfconsciously try and realize necessary political connections with a universal causal ground, and suppress contingent connections lacking a universal causal ground, thereby establishing the seriousness of the political order on the universal constitution of human beings. Although obscurism already had a hazy awareness of ontology, and made efforts to construct some kind of ontological thought, ultimately obscurism still could not establish a universal constitution that matched the ethical code of civilism. The basic ground of the ethical code of civilism did not materialize as the universal constitution possessed by everyone. Buddhism had rich ontological thought, and Buddhist ontology’s explanation of phenomena in the world also provided the ontological construction of civilism’s ethical code with some inspiration, and made the ethical code of civilism partially establish itself on the religious theory of essence. However, Buddhism’s theory of immortality of the mind and divine retribution also inspired doubts in those like Fan Zhen. Such doubts in one respect came from the fact that these theories were identical in the aspects of internal content and logical form with the theory of affective reciprocity between Heaven-or-Nature and humanity. In another respect these theories contradicted natural knowledge. Although those like

3 The Political Critique of the Wei, Jin, Northern …

283

Fan Zhen doubted Buddhist ontology and criticized it, he himself did not succeed in establishing an ontology. The sources of critical political thought during the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern dynasties were the perplexity and uncertainty in ontological thought. If the political theory of an age has no determinate ontological theory, the order or relations in the world may become self-evidently rational things, but they may also become self-evidently redundant things, or worse, unimportant or even dispensable things. Between these choices, the comparison of advantages and disadvantages was totally lacking in theory, and any one theoretical choice was no more convincing than any of the others. If the connections between things in the world lacked the most basic guarantee of necessity, then there is no seriousness to the political order we could even speak of, and the choice of political values would lack the necessary common sense and slide into chaos. People either thought that all of the reasons behind political values and the political order were unnecessary, or they thought that things without the guarantee of reliable causes were basically unbelievable, or they thought they could make all possible choices without appeal to any theoretical basis. Such universal chaos in the sphere of political thought led to or caused large-scale trends of critical political thought. If people’s critical political thought neither doubted the choice between political values nor doubted the basic ontological theoretical basis of political values, and merely doubted the political system’s loyalty or representation of political values, then said critical political thought could only be the shallow political criticism of exposing the thinnest layers of real political problems. At the very most it can lead to the re-establishment of the political system, but it obviously cannot influence the type of political values and the ontological ground of political values. Such political criticism did periodically appear at the latest phase of dynastic politics. If the political critique basically supports the integrity of political values or fails to make choices beyond the integrity of political values, or does not have the capacity to make choices, and just doubts the universal ground of political values, then said political critique involves the ontological problem of political values, and as a result it can at the very most help the political ideology gain new life at a higher level. The political ideology will experience massive changes inside and out, but because the choice of political values does not change massively at all, the basic model of relations elucidated by the ontology will not change in any massive way at all, at which point, what the ontological theory is concerned with is mainly what the universal ground of a certain model of relations essentially is, and it will not undertake changes in the ontological model of relations. Such kinds of political critique which touch upon questions of political ontology, but which only investigate reasons without changing the basic model of relations is the necessary path toward maturity under the condition that the political society is not changing qualitatively. The political criticism during the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern dynasties fall under this kind of political criticism.

284

(2)

5 The Substance of Personality: Humanity’s Awakening and the Sculpting …

A Jolt to the Value System of Civilism

Scholars during the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern dynasties raised life-threating doubts to the necessity of civilism’s being. Some straightforwardly denied the rationality of civilism’s being. They thought the ethical code of civilism made all aspects of human life a matter of ethical relations, and human life made so ethical severely betrays and even suppresses human being’s natural essence. The scholars of the Wei-Jin era mostly opposed making human life and human nature a matter of ethical principle, and advocated returning human nature to what is natural for human beings, and the process of returning human nature to what is natural for human beings was inevitably a process of decadence in the Confucian ethical code of civilism and even its gradual dismemberment. The great crisis of survival that civilism faced stemmed from the bankruptcy of the theory of affective reciprocity between Heaven-or-Nature and humanity with respect to explaining the meaning of human life. The theory of affective reciprocity between Heaven-or-Nature and humanity made human life and even the entire universe so thoroughly a matter of ethical relations, but so many natural facts exposed the delusional nature of making the universe ethical, and the ethical patterning of human life that was established on the ethical patterning of the cosmos became a delusional phenomenon in accompaniment. In the eyes of the WeiJin era scholars, establishing the virtuous example of human life, establishing the merit of human life, and establishing the theory of human life became nothing but a farce of deceiving oneself and others. Killing living things to become humane and choosing moral rightness over life itself were nothing but absurd words and absurd theories of hurting others and hurting oneself. They thought human life in the world comes into being as fast as it passes away and dies, and the longevity or shortness of lifespans were nothing more than people’s natural fate without any retribution or compensation. Once someone dies, he or she loses everything, and there is no need to ask about what one’s reputation is like after death, and even if it is asked about, it has nothing to do with oneself. People experience so many hardships and pains in each phase from birth to death, and people’s experience of happiness is really so limited, what would being human have to throw oneself into the mud of inhuman ethical morals and ritual deference. Human beings only need natural humanity in harmony with themselves, and only in this way can humans fully experience happiness and not hollow out this life in vain. “The lengths of one hundred years are roughly equal, there is not one in one thousand who reach one hundred years.”55 (Liezi, “Yang Zhu”),” “one lives through ten some years, comfortably and contented, and the one who forgets the worrying between them, also forgets being in the middle of that time, so one is living, why put in effort? Why enjoy it? (Liezi, “Yang Zhu”)” “There is not one single day of joy in life, but there are ten thousand generations of names who died, a name is inherently not possessed by a reality (Liezi, “Yang Zhu”).” The ethical code of civilism repeatedly tells people’s greater issues to be completely shelved and forgotten here, and the ethical code of civilism repeatedly declares the things it opposes are overly prevalent in life. 55

Liezi [18], (ch. “Yangzhu”).

3 The Political Critique of the Wei, Jin, Northern …

285

There is originally no god in the world, pinning the fate of long or short life upon God is naturally very absurd, and is of course unreliable, the Wei-Jin era scholars believed, the length or shortness of human life all follows what is naturally so. The Wei-Jin era conception of human life by following what is natural champions an attitude toward life which involves contentment with fate and tranquil indifference to fame and gain. A day comes and you pass it, a year comes and you pass it, neither joyful in life nor fearful in death. The human being in the world runs about hurriedly all day, because of having something he or she greedily wants or envies, he or she experiences mood after mood of worrying about gaining or losing it. This mode of worrying about gaining or losing something is the source of frustration in human life. Human being can only truly and joyfully live free by freeing him or herself from the moods of worrying about gaining or losing things, otherwise one lives a long life of painful vacillating uncertainty. Many people remain busy all day, and cannot rest, always for the sake of reputation, money, status and long life, which is to say, “living people do not get to rest for four reasons: one is long life, the second is fame, the third is status and the fourth is wealth,” “there are these four, those who fear ghosts, those who fear men, those who fear the authorities, and those who fear punishment.”56 Guo Xiang’s Commentary on Zhuangzi points out, “Despite differences in size, when placed in the field of self-attainment, things follow their natural tendencies, matters follow their capacities, each tending to its portion, equal in free movement.”57 “How could one include victory and defeat in between them?”58 “When comparing by physical shape, Mount Tai is bigger than an autumn down. If each is measured on the basis of its natural tendency, and something goes to its limit, then bigger body never means having surplus, smaller body never means inadequate amount,” “if you measure greatness by natural tendency, then the fulfillment of the entire realm never surpasses that of an autumn down,” “if something whose natural tendency is fulfilled is considered great, even Mount Tai could be measured as small … If Mount Tai is small, then there is nothing great in the entire realm, and if an autumn down is great, then there is nothing small in the entire realm. Nothing is small and nothing is big, nothing lives long and nothing lives short,” “unworried, satisfying oneself with what is natural, and at peace with what one’s natural tendency mandates, thus even Heaven and Earth are never long-lasting enough, and co-exist with myself. All creatures are never fully unequal, and are equal to myself in attainment. Thus, how could the lives of Heaven and Earth clutch without merging, and how could the attainments of all creatures not be one?” In correspondence with this, pervasive among the Wei-Jin era scholars was the hedonistic conception of human life. They clung to the free and natural attitude toward human life on the basis of naturalism, and among the meanings of human life the only remaining one seemed to be materialistic enjoyment, aside from which there was nothing worth yearning for. The naturalist perspective and method leads values toward acting hedonistically following desire. “Allow the ear to listen to what it wants to hear, let the eyes see what they want to 56

Ibid. Xiang and Xiu [10]. 58 Ibid. 57

286

5 The Substance of Personality: Humanity’s Awakening and the Sculpting …

look at, let the nose follow what it wants to smell, let the mouth say what it wants to say, let the body find comfort where it wants to, and let the will act the way it wants to.”59 (3)

The Anarchism of the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties

Before the Wei-Jin era, Daoism mainly played the critical political role of opposing humane righteousness. Laozi championed the original political order of “the small state with minimal population, was suspicious of the sage and wisdom, demanded eliminating the former and the latter, and purely acting non-coercively, while Zhuangzi opposed the alienating influence of monarchic political governance upon human being, and his suspicion at the politics of empire further evolved into a fierce criticism of the politics of empire. He evaluated rulers like emperors as thieves of the state, but never put forward an official anarchism. After the chaotic politics at the end of the Han during the three states period, what immediately followed was the usurpations of the Cao clan and the father and son of the Sima clan, severe punishments and harsh laws, living like chickens and dogs; add on top of that, the chaos of eight princes during the Western Jin, with the people were living in poverty, and with social order faltering, it truly turned into a dark scene of rulers not being rulers, ministers not being ministers, fathers not being fathers and sons not being sons. In this scenario, those shameless and vengeful scholar-officials of the likes of Jia Chong and He Zeng were still there talking about the rules of ritual propriety for rulers and ministers, how could it not lead to people’s dissatisfaction with the rules of ritual propriety? More intense thinkers would naturally produce overly extreme criticisms of politics, and the world of theory was flooded with all colors and stripes of anarchism. They saw the social turoil, the poverty the people lived in, the decadence of morals, the faltering of social order, all of which were brought about by the politics of monarchical power. Because of this, the thorough reform of society became necessary to help the people, which could not but start with denying and toppling monarchical power. In Biography of a Great Master (daren xiansheng zhuan 大人先生传), Ruan Ji contrasted the dangers of monarchical power with the benefits of having no monarchy, and became one of the earliest to champion anarchism. “Heaven and Earth were open in the past, all creatures lived in conjunction with one another, the big tranquilized their desires, the small rested their bodies,” “Yin stored their energy, Yang expended their vigor, there was no harm to avoid and no profit to struggle for,” “releasing without deficiency and gathering without surplus.” In the human world “fortune was nowhere to be had and misfortune did not befall anywhere,” “the brighter ones did not conquer by being smart and the dimmer ones did not lose by being dumb,” “the weaker ones did not run in fear under pressure, the stronger ones did not kill with force.”60 At this time, there were no monarchs or powerful ministers in the human world, and society objectively did not need them. Society was persistently enjoyable and rule was peaceful without the hierarchy of rulers and ministers. “There was no 59 60

Liezi [18], (ch. “Yangzhu”). Ji [19], (vol. 4).

3 The Political Critique of the Wei, Jin, Northern …

287

ruler and yet all things were stable, there were no ministers and all affairs were in order,” “maintaining oneself and cultivating one’s natural tendency, no one violated their discipline.”61 The emergence of the monarch with powerful ministers and their governance threw the natural order of the human world into turmoil, and Ruan Ji does not hold back in criticizing it. The hierarchy of monarch and ministers ruled the realm, but it resulted in disordering the realm, “the founding of the monarch crushed the spirit, the establishment of ministers deceived life.”62 The strong and weak in politics exacerbated the predatory behavior of the strong against the weak in society, enlarged the greed of powerful groups, and added weight to the hardships and burdens carried by weaker groups. In society, “the strong violate the weak and bully them violently, while the weak serve others haggardly.” The officials “feign conservativism to feed their greed, dangerous on the inside and humane on the outside.” Human nature, originally simple and honest, becomes decadent and corrupted.63 Ruan Ji yearns for a society that unfolds naturally without contentious struggles. He describes an ideal society without nobles, without inferior ranks, without wealth and without poverty: “without nobles, those of base descent do not resent; without the wealthy, the poor do not contentiously compete, everyone finds self-satisfaction without extraneous demands,” “when the favor bestowed by superiors comes to nothing, death and defeat do not lead to revenge,” because “when strange sounds are not produced, the ear does not alter its hearing,” “when excessive colors are not displayed, the eye does not change its vision,” “when the senses and knowledge do not alter each other, there is nothing to disturb one’s spirit.”64 The basic content of the Confucian ethical code of civilism is the hierarchy between ruler and ministers, which Ruan Ji accuses for dismembering that very society, in which contentious competition naturally did not exist, and for throwing all human life into the painful hardship of contentious struggles. The poor then could not tolerate the rich and the nobles could not tolerate the lower class. Contentious battles then recurrently erupted and all sorts of sensuous pleasures were pursued. Strict punishments and harsh laws were then instituted, but they were not enough to stop the wickedness and root out the evil. Rather they brought about the faltering and destruction of the city-states. The Confucian ethical code of civilism and the “great master” acting as its champion, as a matter of natural course, should be morally reprimanded and accused. The anarchistic thought of the Wei-Jin era became fully formulated by the time of Bao Jingyan. His biography disappeared long ago and no traces of it remain. We only know that he was a contemporary of Ge Hong, because the two of them diverged greatly in the sphere of political thought, while writing back and forth in heated debates. Most of Bao Jingyan’s works are no longer extant. Only a very small portion of them have been preserved in Ge Hong’s works, among which Master of Embracing Simplicity (bao pu zi 抱朴子) and Investigating Bao (jie bao pian 诘鲍篇) retain many of Bao Jingyan’s anarchistic views. Everyone from the Han 61

Ibid. Ji [19], (vol. 4). 63 Ibid. 64 Ibid. 62

288

5 The Substance of Personality: Humanity’s Awakening and the Sculpting …

dynasty held that the monarchic ruler of the state was specifically appointed by the Ruler of Heaven (tiandi 天帝) and so was named “the son of Heaven” (tianzi 天子). Since he was the son of Heaven, he was the highest and most noble in the human world. He possessed unlimited authority and enjoyed unlimited privileges. He could do whatever he wanted and the people could not oppose him. To oppose the son of Heaven was to oppose Heaven-or-Nature. However, Bao Jingyan opposed this absurd idea. He held that the monarch is not the son of Heaven, but is simply rather the most vicious human being among humankind, the one who could oppressively force the weak and kind-hearted into submission and establish himself as king. Strong and powerful, violent and thirsty for war, if he succeeds, he becomes king, but if he fails, he amounts to nothing more than an invader. Since the origins of the monarch are such, the monarchs have absolutely nothing to do with the mandate or will of Heaven. Bao Jingyan remarks: “‘Heaven brings people into being and out of being, and establishes their ruler…’—How could this honestly be the words of Heaven the magnificent or the rhetoric of the one he anoints? When the strong bully the weak, the weak submit to them. When the clever trick the dumb, the dumb serve them. They submit to them, and hence the way of the ruler and ministers arises. They serve them, and hence the people of a powerful few is made……That pale one is Heavenly, so he does not serve.”65 Bao Jingyan hold that the monarch brings absolutely no advantage to the people and only disadvantages arise with monarchic rule. Bao Jingyan draws up a rough list of those disadvantages: he lives a life of excessive luxury; he does not think of the hardships people face; he levies heavy taxes and hard labor; and the people have no means of livelihood.66 The founder of a dynasty either wants to make himself emperor or wants to usurp another’s throne. He always appeals to the significance of mysterious symbols and of auspicious signs as coming from the will of Heaven, clouding and confusing the people’s senses.67 The political hierarchy of ruler and ministers does not emanate from the people’s will, but rather violates it. How so? Bao Jingyan explains why, arguing that the hierarchy of ruler and ministers, high and low ranks first emerges in human society, then comes the distinction of poverty and wealth, then the contention of stealing and seizing, then the moral righteousness of punishment and laws. The monarch does whatever he wants on high, and the people suffer in poverty below. This system is fundamentally alien to the will of the people and can only come from someone who possesses a monopoly over violence, someone who violently oppresses the people with military force. Yet, the people have no way to oppose him, and that is all there is to it. In On Having No Ruler, Bao Jingyan meticulously demonstrates the negative political impacts of the monarch on people’s lives. He describes an ideal natural life without a ruler. “Meshing together without distinctions, [the people] ennoble having no fame, and all life forms take joy in satisfaction.” The original nature of all

65

Hong [20], (vol. 48). Ibid. 67 Ibid. 66

3 The Political Critique of the Wei, Jin, Northern …

289

creatures is to achieve what is natural to them, “[h]ence, bark-stripping and pillarmaking, wood-carving and wood-lacquering are not the wishes of the tree.”68 The natural world of humankind once existed in high antiquity: “[t]he world of high antiquity had neither monarch nor ministers, wells were dug out to satisfy thirst, fields were plowed to satisfy hunger;” “the sun came out and people worked, the sun went away and people rested;” “neither competing nor striving, there was neither glory nor disgrace;” “the mountains had no privileged paths, the valleys had no boats or bridges;” “when the rivers and valleys did not connect, [regions] did not merge together; when people did not amass, they did not attack one another.”69 Neither benefit nor harm nor conflict complicated the relation between one another. There were neither military campaigns nor other violent organizations like the police. There were no armed groups battling and attacking one another. Even within the same group, people co-existed harmoniously without contending for one another’s wealth. When no regime of punishment is arranged, “power and profit do not arise, misfortune and chaos are not made, weapons are not used, city walls and moats are not designed,” “all creatures converge in obscurity, and forget one another in Dao.” People universally “do not glorify their words, and do not embellish their actions,” “what’s the point of converging swords to rob the people’s wealth, what’s the point of severely punishing people to entrap them?”.70

References 1. Zehou, L. (1981). The experience of beauty. Wen Wu Chubanshe. (李泽厚:《美的历程》 ,文 物出版社, 1981年版). 2. Chunfeng, J. (1997). History of Han dynasty thought (2nd ed.). China Social Sciences Publishing House. (金春峰:《汉代思想史》 , 中国社会科学出版社, 1997年第2版). 3. Zehua, L. (1996). History of Chinese political thought: Qin, Han, Wei, Jin, southern and northern dynasties volume. Zhejiang People’s Press. (刘泽华:《中国政治思想史》(秦汉魏晋 南北朝卷) , 浙江人民出版社, 1996年版). 4. Shou, W. (2003). Book of wei. Zhonghua Book Company. (魏收 《魏书》 中华书局, 2003出版). 5. Yan, H. (2016).Commentary and sub-commentary to the analects. Zhongguo Zhigong Publishing House. (何宴:《论语注疏》 , 中国致公出版社, 2016出版). 6. Bi, W., & Yulie, L. (2009). Proof and explanation of wang bi’s collected works. Zhonghua Book Company. (王弼、楼宇烈 《王弼集校注》 , 中华书局, 2009出版). 7. Shou, C. (2006). Annals of the three kingdoms. Zhonghua Book Company. (陈寿 《三国志》 中 华书局, 2006年出版). 8. Xuanling, F. (2008). Book of jin. Zhonghua Book Company. (房玄龄 《晋书》 , 中华书局, 2008 出版). 9. Kang, J., & Mingyang, D. (2014). Compilation of and commentary on Jikang’s collected works. Zhonghua Book Company. (嵇康、戴明扬: 嵇康集校注, 中华书局, 2014年出版). 10. Xiang, G., & Xiu, X. (1998). Commentary on Zhuangzi. Huacheng Publishing House. (郭象 、向秀 《庄子注》 花城出版社, 1998年出版). 68

Ibid. Ibid. 70 Ibid. 69

290

5 The Substance of Personality: Humanity’s Awakening and the Sculpting …

11. Yonghai, L. (1988). The chinese theory of the Buddha nature. Shanghai People’s Press. (赖永 海 《中国佛性论》 上海人民出版社, 1988年出版). 12. Ye, F., & Xian, L. (2000). Book of later Han. Zhonghua Book Store. (范晔、李贤 《后汉书》 , 中华书局, 2000年出版). 13. Shiwei, Z. (1997). The rise and fall of ancient Chinese Buddhism. Contained in Historical Pedagogy, No. 5. (张师伟:《中国古代佛教的兴衰》 《 , 历史教学》 , 1997年第5期). 14. Huijiao, S., & Yongtong, T. (1992). Memoires of senior monks. Zhonghua Book Store. (释慧 皎、汤用彤 《高僧传》 中华书局, 1992出版). 15. Anch¯o, Junjiro, T., & Kaigyoku, W. (1924). Annotations and recordings of the middle way. Contained in Taish¯o Tripit.aka. Taisho Shinshu Daizokyo Kanko Kai. 16. Jun, S., Yulie, L., Litian, F., & Shouming, L. (2014). Selections of Material on Chinese Buddhist Thought (Vol. 1). Zhonnghua Book Store. (石峻、楼宇烈、方立天计抗生、乐寿明编:《中 国佛教思想资料选编》(第一卷) , 中华书局, 2014年出版). 17. Sengzhao. (1985). The theses of seng-zhao, Translated by Fandeng, X. China Social Sciences Publishing House. (僧肇、徐梵澄译 《肇论》 , 中国社会科学出版社, 1985年出版). 18. Liezi, B. (2011). Liezi. Zhonghua Book Store. (列子、叶蓓卿 《 列子》 , 中华书局, 2011年出 版). 19. Ji, R. (1978). Collected works of Ruan Ji. Shanghai Guji Publishing House. (阮籍:《阮籍集》 , 上海古籍出版社, 1978年出版). 20. Hong, G. (2018). Master of embracing simplicity: Proofing and commentary on the inner and outer chapters. Shanghai Guji Publishing House. (葛洪 《抱朴子内外篇校注》 , 上海古籍出版 社, 2018年出版).

Part II

Chapter 6

Role Paradigms: The Value of Putting People First and Reflection on the Roles of Ruler and Minister

China during the Sui, Tang and five dynasties underwent complete cycles of order and chaos. Due to the forces of the political terrain and the self-conscious efforts of many Confucian scholars, there were not only many new major creations in the political system during this period. It was also a period characterized by a transition in political thought. However, some scholars believe that the level of thought manifested during the Sui and Tang dynasties was relatively low or even flatly insist that although the Tang dynasty from the beginning of the 7th century to the 8th century reached a period of prosperity politically speaking, intellectual culture at the time exhibited a “prospering period of mediocrity.”1 In actuality, during the prospering period of the Tang dynasty from the early 7th century to the first half of the 8th century, the chief representative of the Chinese world of thought was sinosized Buddhism, which made praiseworthy accomplishments surpassing prior ages not only in terms of the extensiveness of its intellectual content and the diversity of its methods of thought, but in terms of the depth and meticulousness of its intellectual achievements as well. If it were not for a whole series of major creations in thought from the early 7th century to the first half of the 8th century, the rise of Song and Ming dynasty neo-Confucian rationalism would have nearly been completely impossible. Many concepts, propositions and judgments of Song and Ming dynasty neo-Confucian rationalism either directly came from or followed the intellectual achievements of Sui and Tang dynasty Buddhism.2 The achievements of traditional Chinese political thought during the Sui, Tang and five dynasties period were mainly made in political philosophy, in which the development of Buddhist political philosophy was most important. This chapter mainly introduces reflections on political roles under the backdrop of the revitalization of Confucianism during the Sui, Tang and five dynasties period.

1 2

Zhaoguang [1], (vol. 2), pp. 80–85. Zhaowu [2], p. 542.

© Tianjin People’s Publishing House 2022 S. Zhang, The Logical Deduction of Chinese Traditional Political Philosophy, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-4376-7_6

293

294

6 Role Paradigms: The Value of Putting People First and Reflection …

Chinese political philosophy emerged from the rich metaphysical appeals of the WeiJin and Northern and Southern dynasties periods through the making of massive eradividing shifts in philosophical themes during the founding of the imperial orders of the Sui and Tang dynasties. In one respect, political philosophy during the Sui and Tang dynasties continued to investigate metaphysical problems, but also clearly classified such problems under the teachings of Buddhism. Meanwhile it resolved people’s perplexities with respect to existential problems of life and death, the length of life, fortune and misfortune, poverty and wealth, noble and base distinction and guided people to construct a positive, optimistic conception of human life through sinosized Buddhism’s theoretical originality in ontology and worldview. In another respect, secularism rose up and pushed people to think about the problem of the political roles that different people should play. From the perspective of resolving the problems of the secular political order, political philosophy thought profoundly and meticulously about many norms surrounding political roles and pinned down the behavioral paradigm of how the ruler should act, how the ministers should act and how the people should act. Many emperors, prime ministers and Confucian scholars of the Sui, Tang and five dynasties period all profoundly discussed the norms of what political roles ought to be and restlessly debated topics about roles like “the difficulty of being ruler and the unease of being a minister.” In such debates, emperor Taizong’s Norms for the Emperor (difan 帝范), empress Wu Zetian’s Pathways of Ministers (chengui 臣轨) and emperor Xuanzong’s Commentary on the Classic of Filial Piety (xiaojing zhu 孝经注) all made deeper explorations into the problem about the behavioral norms upon which depended the establishment of a traditional, ideal political order, norms such as those stipulating how the ruler should act, how the ministers should act, how fathers should act and how sons should act, etc. The ruler and ministers of the Zhenguan era headed by emperor Taizong of Tang left a paradigm for traditional Chinese political roles through The Political Essentials of the Zhenguan Era (zhenguan zhengyao 贞观政要), which had a deep impact on Chinese political practice thereafter. During the Sui, Tang and Five Dynasties period, reflections on the norms of political roles in the world of thought manifested the guiding thought of traditional Confucianism in putting human beings and the people first. However, when establishing the behavioral norms for different political roles, the basic principles and standards that thinkers referenced were the three cardinal guides and five constant virtues of the Han dynasty.

1 Reflections on Political Roles by the Sui and Early Tang Rulers During the Sui, Tang and Five Dynasties period, many outstanding politicians emerged in the history of Chinese politics. Their political stances and policy programs were both manifestations of the revitalization of Confucian political thought as well as important components of Confucian political thought. Differing from the theory of

1 Reflections on Political Roles by the Sui and Early Tang Rulers

295

Heaven-or-Nature’s systematic relation to humanity during the Qin and Han dynasties no less than from the theory of the original constitution of human character during the Wei, Jin, Northern and Southern dynasties, the political problems chiefly considered during the Sui, Tang and Five Dynasties period were what the behavioral norms of different political roles should be, what kind of roles the ruler, ministers and people should respectively play, what role the Grand Chancellor should play, how the relationship between the central and local governments should be handled, and what degrees of dependence the political order has on Heaven-or-Nature. Such problems were explored both extensively and deeply during this period. The mainstream form of political thought at this stage was the construction of a political order in the empirical world and the normative organization of roles. Although those like Han Yu held “Heaven-or-Nature” (tian 天) to connote a supremely good controller and insisted on its fundamental status in protecting the political order, what he reflected on more profoundly was still the construction of the political order in the empirical world, and this impacted the thought of posterity more than anything. Worth mentioning is that this stage witnessed the polarization of the image of the emperor as emperor Yang of Sui and emperor Taizong of Tang became the symbolic representatives of the despotic king and sage-king respectively, which is to say they became objects of discussion frequently mentioned in traditional Chinese political thought thereafter. These symbolic representatives exerted deep and wide-ranging historical impact on the norms of political roles (for ruler and ministers) and on the maintenance of the political order. They also extensively influenced the sinosization and Confucianization of the political power of the rulers of ethnic minorities from the Liao, Xia and Jin to the Yuan and Qing. Generally speaking, political thought in the Sui and Tang dynasties already escaped the confusing fog of metaphysics and centrally focused on the discussion of political order and behavioral norms for roles, which to some extent seemed like a return to the Han dynasty’s ethical conclusions on the cardinal guides and constant virtues, emphasizing that the ruler shall rule, the minister shall be minister, the father father and the son son. However, in terms of conscious thought, political thought during the Sui and Tang dynasties did indeed experience metaphysical perplexities coming from the Wei and Jin dynasties and although it seemed as if it broke free of metaphysical confusion, nothing more was accomplished than handing over the task of explaining and answering metaphysical problems to sinosized Buddhism, and at the same time, Buddhist theory came to hold strong influence over the political psychology of the masses. Because of this, in some sense, the trend of political thought during the Sui and Tang dynasties did have extremely obvious Confucian characteristics on the surface and Confucianism also seemed to reign supreme as the sole authority at the level of political ideas, but many Confucian viewpoints on political problems all needed some important supports coming from Buddhism and Daoism, and especially at the metaphysical level, Confucianism needed the universal ground of Buddhist categories like causation, and moreover, at the level of governing methodology Confucianism was also clearly influenced by Daoism and Taoism. The revitalization of Confucian political thought was indeed the topmost major affair of this period of political thought, but this revitalization also took place following the rise of obscurism (xuanxue 玄学),

296

6 Role Paradigms: The Value of Putting People First and Reflection …

Buddhism, Daoism and Taoism ever since the Wei and Jin dynasties and did not more perfectly or independently resolve many of the metaphysical difficulties in politics, so Confucianism’s revitalization in the Sui and Tang dynasties only meant that Confucianism rose to equal status with Buddhism and Daoism. Even though many political conclusions also returned to the Han dynasty Confucian ethics of the cardinal guides and constant virtues, the arguments behind these conclusions were basically limited to how the empirical world embodies the universal values of Confucianism. During the Sui, Tang and Five Dynasties period, the parallel standing of Confucianism, Buddhism and Daoism both embodied a balance of power in thought and also presented the integrated thought of Confucianism, Buddhism and Daoism with respect to resolving the problems faced by humanity. The vast majority of thinkers with influence during this period basically all combined the components of the three schools in their thought and all believed that the three schools were different ways of reaching the same goal, that all were beneficial to “the governance of the one who is king.” Most of the infamous politicians simultaneously championed the three teachings of Confucianism, Buddhism and Daoism and pursued the cultural policy of establishing the three schools in parallel.3 Confucianism, Buddhism and Daoism presented complementarity in many people’s thought and thinking at that time. They co-constituted a body of thought and reasoning that reflects much of the style of that age. The revitalization of Confucian thought happened in this context of thought, and the result was to elevate the status of Confucian ethical thought and to secure its function of influencing and standardizing the socio-political order and political roles. During the Sui and early Tang dynasties, the revitalization of Confucian thought firstly involved underscoring the importance of traditional pragmatic reason again after the dissipation of the strongly religious atmosphere, which typically took the form of putting the people first in thought.4 Reflection on political roles in the world of political thought during the Sui, Tang and Five Dynasties period took place in the context of putting humanity and the people first without abandoning the spirit of Buddhism and Daoism. It was reflection on normative roles that took place on the condition of accepting that human society needed gods, which was far different from reflective thought on political roles rooted in the universal constitution of human beings. (1) The Revitalization of Confucian Political Thought Confucian political thought’s influence upon the Chinese political institution was always exceptionally strong. Other forms of political thought could hardly compare with Confucianism in this regard. Even so, the political values and grounds advocated by Confucian political thought were from time to time put in doubt and although the purpose of such doubts was neither to overturn or replace the political values of Confucianism nor to eliminate the decisive influence of Confucian political values over the political institution. Precisely on the contrary, people’s doubts 3 4

Qizhi [3], pp. 238–239. Zehua [4], pp. 194–199.

1 Reflections on Political Roles by the Sui and Early Tang Rulers

297

about some aspects of Confucian political thought were rather hopes for Confucian political thought to further improve. Doubts emerged in aspects most in need of theoretical support and these doubts consequently fueled the continuous deepening and improving of Confucian political thought. During the Wei, Jin, Northern and Southern dynasties, Confucian political thought actually faced the predicament of being suspended in doubt as Confucianism became the political ideology merely in form. The focus of this era’s thought would remain Buddhist theory. That said, Confucian political thought still retained political authority in form even under such circumstances. Even emperor Wu of Liang, who felt deeply about Buddhism, had to adopt measures that revitalized Confucianism. The rulers of the Northern dynasties period even more so fought to revitalize Confucianism for the sake of winning the status of the political orthodoxy. The most typical representatives of this were emperors Xiaowen of Northern Wei and Fujian of Former Qin, but no matter how the rulers praised Confucianism while holding strongly to Daoism, the status of Confucian political thought was still at the lowest point in history. Its influence upon people was relatively weak and Buddhism was far more authoritative in thought. Chinese society during the Wei and Jin dynasties was like the beautiful youth of early springtime. She already passed the childhood years of foolish ignorance and began asking some enigmatic philosophical questions about life in the desire to win a moment of eternity in the passing blip of human life, but before getting satisfactory answers, she lost interest in everything and spent all day with knitted brows, worrying with great intensity on the brink of losing confidence in survival. Much of the time, she sank deeply into religiosity, but just as the period of puberty vanishes sooner or later, the youthful stage of social growth inevitably passes away with the coming of a new stage. During the Sui and Tang dynasties, the revitalization of Confucian political thought was both the continuation of the Confucian political thought that was developing in the Wei, Jin and Northern and Southern dynasties as well as the product of Chinese society finding its way out of the fog of religious infatuation. During the Sui and Tang dynasties, the revitalization of Confucian political thought mainly involved the political values of Confucianism earning people’s faith and civilism’s cardinal relationships and constant virtues becoming the basic guiding principles of social life once again. Meanwhile, the tradition of putting people first found encouragement and the personal ideal of helping the world, saving the people and honoring dao was widely propagated. Many people found encouragement in the ideal personality advocated by Confucianism and took the life path of setting a virtuous example (lide 立德), expounding a theory in writing (liyan 立言) and making a great contribution in practice (jiangong 建功).5 The revitalization of Confucian political thought during the Sui and Tang dynasties did not mean it could recover the status of sole authority and dominance that it once had. It merely meant Confucian political thought’s dominance over human life would run parallel with Buddhism and Daoism, which would still maintain sufficient influence over it as well. Aside from a small number of thinkers, the majority all approved of a scenario where “the three teachings stood together.” Most people had the ability to maintain some 5

Zehou [5], pp. 125–127.

298

6 Role Paradigms: The Value of Putting People First and Reflection …

decent harmony or balance between the three bodies of thought: Confucianism for governing the world; Daoism for nourishing vitality; Buddhism for cultivating human nature. Realistically speaking, the level of thought achieved by Confucian political thought stalled after the Han dynasty. Its basic method of thought was still that of affective reciprocity between humanity and Heaven-or-Nature. What differed was the Confucian political thought of the Sui and Tang dynasties fell more or less under the influence of Buddhism or Daoism, both of which enriched the Confucian method of thought to differing degrees. The political thought of the great Confucian scholars of the Sui empire, Wang Tong, embodied this characteristic. Wang Tong was born in 584 CE and died in 617 CE. He was a native of Longmen county of Hedong commandery, Jiangzhou province. Born of a Confucian family line of government officials, he absorbed Confucian discourse from a young age. By the age of 18, he had “far reaching ambitions” and in 603 CE travelled westward to Chang’an to present himself to Emperor Wen of Sui. He presented the monarch with Policies for Grand Peace (taiping ce 太平策), “at the end of the engagement, he rejected government office and returned home to write books and teach scholarship as an occupation,”6 lecturing around Shanxi until old age. His students gave him the posthumous title of “Wenzhongzi” (文中子), and his works were organized into the ten volumes of Wenzhongzi modelled after The Analects. Wang Tong’s political thought was predominantly Confucian political thought and advocated reverence for the dao of the king. He championed “living to save the times and dying to illuminate dao.” Wang Tong championed the political order of the dao of the king based on Mencius’s doctrine of “humane governance.” While proposing the basic principle of promoting the way of the king, he especially underscored the importance of human being’s moral cultivation, insisting that “being humane and acting righteously” in Confucianism were “the fundamental roots of the teaching.”7 Wang Tong believed Confucianism, Buddhism and Daoism were all good for political order and none could be discarded. He advocated “taking the dao of the Duke of Zhou and Confucius as the main pillar,” “inclusively combining Buddhism and Daoism” and the thought of government “comprehending the principle of changes without corruption.” Wang Tong continued to make use of the Han dynasty Confucian thought of affective reciprocity between Heaven-or-Nature and humanity, insisting that “at the verge of Heaven-or-Nature reciprocally affecting human beings, it is most fearsome.”8 To a certain extent, he was still lost in fascination with the cyclical hypothesis of the five phases, suggesting that the Sui court “succeed fire with earth, …….to take advantage of the mandated order of Heaven-or-Nature.”9 Wang Tong retained the outline of the Han dynasty cosmological system in his structuring of Confucian thought, while adding ingredients of mystification and moralization with the term Heaven-or-Nature. To a large extent, he also accepted Mencius’s revolutionary theory of “assassinating tyrannical lords,” but in terms of political thought he also clearly 6

Xu [6], (vol. 190). Tong and Pei [7], (vol. 6). 8 Ibid. [7], (vol. 7). 9 Ibid. [7], (vol. 10). 7

1 Reflections on Political Roles by the Sui and Early Tang Rulers

299

failed to satisfactorily integrate all of the concepts and propositions of the different schools ever since the Wei and Jin dynasties in thought. Wang Tong’s political thought was not put into practice and did not have any remarkable influence upon thought. Although many of his students emerged as famous officials, and although the political thought of these famous officials was obviously Confucian, these famous officials themselves nearly never mentioned Wang Tong’s influence and even failed to leave detailed records of Wang Tong in the Book of Sui. The Sui dynasty monarchs also maintained a Wang Tong-style structure in the form of their political thought by including the parallel coexistence of the three teachings and Confucianism as the main pillar. It is only that the Sui dynasty monarchs believed more sincerely in Buddhism than did Wang Tong. After Wang Tong, the revitalization of Confucian political thought accelerated and a series of important symbolic events took place, especially the composing of The Correct Meaning of the Five Classics, which straight away became an important mark of the resurgence of Confucian political thought. By presiding over the composition of The Correct Meaning of the Five Classics, Kong Yingda undertook the integration and refinement of different schools and different styles of ideas over the past centuries, which had serious impact in the process of Confucianism’s revitalization during the Sui and Tang. The Correct Meaning of the Five Classics, over which Kong Ying presided, includes The Correct Meaning of the Book of Changes, The Correct Meaning of the Book of Documents, The Correct Meaning of the Mao Commentary on Book of Poetry, The Correct Meaning of the Record of Ritual Observances and The Correct Meaning of the Zuo Commentary on Spring and Autumn Annals. It was promulgated by state decree and became the standard teaching materials of school education in the Tang and Song era. Theoretically speaking, it extensively embraced all doctrines, combining them into one. With respect to philosophical, political and educational thought, it offered many important contributions and it occupies an important position in the history of Confucianism’s development. The Correct Meaning of the Five Classics was the product of the academic integration of the three schools during the Sui and Tang dynasties and embodied the effort to fuse together the southern scholarly tradition and northern scholarly tradition of Confucian thought. It possesses a certain intellectual comprehensiveness and it must be said that it is a politically strong piece of academic writing. In some respects, it represented the code of political thought at the time as well as the mainstream form and highest achievement of Confucianism at the juncture between the Sui and Tang dynasties. As the editor of The Correct Meaning of the Five Classics, Kong Yingda had important influence in the history of Confucian classics scholarship. His political thought was representative of the world of thought at the juncture of the Sui and Tang dynasties. Kong Yingda, courtesy name Zhongda, a native of Jizhou county in Hengshui, was born in 575 CE and died in 648 CE. A descendent of Confucius [Kongzi or “Master Kong”—trans.], Kong Yingda was a famous classics scholar and Confucian thinker at the juncture of the Sui and Tang dynasties. At the beginning of the Daye era of Emperor Yang of Sui, he was recommended to act as scholar in the subject of “Understanding the Classics” (mingjing 明经) due to high placement in the state examinations. He was appointed to the position of “erudite scholar” (boshi 博

300

6 Role Paradigms: The Value of Putting People First and Reflection …

士) of Henei commandery and assistant teacher at the Imperial Academy. He distinguished himself as first rank in Confucian scholarship. He “understood Master Fu’s Commentary on the Spring and Autumn Annals, Master Zheng’s Book of Documents, Book of Poems and Record of Ritual Observances as well as Master Wang’s Book of Changes. He also excelled at writing and was proficient in history.”10 At the beginning of the Tang dynasty, Kong Yingda was successively appointed to the posts of Academician of the Institute of Literature of the Prince of Qin, Supervising Secretary (jishizhong 给事中) and Chancellor of the Directorate of Education (guozi jijiu 国 子祭酒). He was awarded the rank of Viscount of Qufu and was one of the important assistant ministers of Emperor Taizong of Tang, the one who elected him to head the composition of The Correct Meaning of the Five Classics. “The Correct Meaning of the Five Classics was an encyclopedia of traditional political thought, in which one may observe the developmental process of dao ascending from an ethical category to the highest category of political philosophy by way of the Confucian doctrines.”11 In the name of “dao,” Kong Yingda grounded himself in Confucian scholarship and combined civilism together with naturalism. He demonstrated the ethics of the political order through the original constitution of what is natural and then reversed the order to demonstrate the original constitution of what is natural through the ethical principles of the political order, which opened up the path to the distinction between the cohering patterns of Heaven-or-Nature (tianli 天理) and the objectifying desires of human being (renyu 人欲) in Song dynasty neo-Confucian rationalism.12 Kong Yingda attempted to establish a doctrine that would unify the philosophical theory of the original constitution and the political theory of ethical principles, which reflected Confucian thought’s deepening knowledge of the general laws and specifications of Nature, society, human life and human thought. He also brought notions like Heaven and Earth, ethical principle, ritual propriety, being humane, acting righteously, the golden mean and effortless action under the concept of dao, making the intension of dao cover a vast field that included political philosophy, institutional principles, social relations, political principles and all of the political norms and moral norms. With dao as his core concept, he composed a systematic and complete theory of the dao of ruling, integrating imperial power, knowledge, morals, politics and social norms into one and comprehensively demonstrating the rationality and absoluteness of the institution of monarchical rule.13 The Correct Meaning of the Five Classics elaborates a theory of dao which combines the original constitution of what is natural with the original disposition of what is ethical. It elaborates a theory of governing virtues and governing principles that is centered on observing ritual propriety and being humane. By fusing philosophy, politics and ethics into one, it demonstrates the deeper levels and multiple angles of the general principle of the monarchical political order, enabling the Confucian political doctrine to reach new heights.14 10

Ouyang and Qi [8], (vol. 123). Zehua [4], (vol. 3), p. 135. 12 Zehua and Fentian [9]. 13 Ibid. [9]. 14 Ibid. [9]. 11

1 Reflections on Political Roles by the Sui and Early Tang Rulers

301

(2) The Governing Thought of Emperor Wen of Sui in Diligently Pursuing Governance There were several short-lived dynasties with exceptional originality in the history of China, dynasties which had major influence over the formation and development of China’s political institutions. Many important political institutions were founded by these short-lived dynasties, whose impact on Chinese political thought is perfectly obvious. In one respect, a short-lived dynasty was generally the typical reversal of a political order of humane people and aspiring scholars engaging in political thought or reflection, and hence, it became a frequent topic in political thought and directly impacted the richness of discussion topics in Chinese political thought. On the other hand, the chief political institution founded by a short-lived dynasty also fused into people’s political thought and influenced the common political thought in which people participated. In particular, the institution of the emperor instituted by Qin Shihuang straight-away became one of the foremost components of Chinese political thought. Moreover, the rulers of short-lived dynasties also gained symbolic significance in political culture. Their words and deeds were always representative: some of them manifested the political viewpoint of some school; some formulated a strongly influential program of state governance; others set the typical example of some sort of policy; others directly undertook political actions; all of them could serve as objects of research on the history of political thought in the broader sense. The history of the Sui dynasty began in 581 CE and ended in 618 CE for altogether not even 40 years of time. It only experienced the two reigns of Emperor Wen and Emperor Yang, so it could count as a short-lived feudal dynasty. From the perspective of political thought in the broader sense, both Emperor Wen of Sui and Emperor Yang of Sui have important political and cultural significance: one was the emperor who earnestly strived for the prosperity of the Chinese state and founded the Sui dynasty; one was the ruler who decadently sought power without restraint and led to the Sui dynasty’s demise. However, Emperor Yang of Sui appears in people’s memories or conversations as the negative example of the Chinese political tradition. So, with respect to researching the positive development of the history of Chinese political thought, Emperor Wen of Sui has far more research value in political thought than Emperor Yang of Sui has. Emperor Wen of Sui, courtesy name Yangjian, was a native of Huayin county of Hongnong commandery. His father, Yangzhong, supported Yu Wentai. During the Western Wei and Northern Zhou period, he consecutively survived a series of battles, established his military merits as one of the 12 great generals of the Fubing local militia system and was enfeoffed as Duke Guo of Sui. Yangjian inherited his father’s title of Duke Guo of Sui and wedded a daughter of the noble Du Guxin (Xianbei) people. His eldest daughter married Emperor Xuan of Northern Zhou and became empress. Of a distinguished family, high position and estimable power, he took control over the levers of political power in the Northern Zhou after Emperor Xuan passed away, and eliminated all of Emperor Xuan’s corrupt policies and enacted punishments of reduced leniency, which gained the political support of the majority at court and earned him a certain degree of political capital. In 581 CE, Yangjian

302

6 Role Paradigms: The Value of Putting People First and Reflection …

dethroned Emperor Jing of Northern Zhou, assumed the empty throne and established the Sui dynasty. In 589 CE he would go on to eliminate the Chen commandery and unify the entire state. Emperor Wen of Sui lived in Buddhist temples from a young age and was deeply impacted by the teachings of Buddhism. Later he would enter the Imperial Academy to study the doctrine of Confucianism. The three teachings coexisted in his political consciousness and he expressed certain degrees of reverence for all three of them, but this reverence was also in some sense entirely utilitarian. For instance, when he set the era of the new dynasty and new ruler as “the Kaihuang era” [i.e. Era of the Open Luminary—trans.], it “could be called smooth maneuvering, it fully expressed the attitude of utilizing all religions to serve the political order.”15 The dao of filial piety in Confucianism had been the bottom line of governing ethics since the later Han and Western Jin rulers praised the dao of filial piety, but it could hardly cover up the posturing and airs behind the state’s highly exaggerated account of it. The Empress of Emperor Hui, Jia Nanfeng, recklessly trampled over the Confucian dao of filial piety for power and profit, “the chaos of the eight kings” “announced the total bankruptcy of their ethics of rule” as “large-scale unrest and destruction brought about a great collapse of spirit.” “The newly rising ruling class was basically not versed in culture whatsoever and accomplished dynastic change chiefly on the basis of the hard power of military might they wielded in their hands,” “the doctrine of only might is right and money worship pervaded the realm,” “extravagant luxury and brutal slaughter were common phenomena among the ruling classes of the Northern and Southern dynasties,” and “overindulgent despots were more than one could count.”16 After “the chaos of the Yongjia era” of the Western Jin, the values, ideals and political character praised by Han dynasty Confucianism were trampled over to complete extinction and most of the highest rulers of the different historical phases of the Southern and Northern dynasties fell into the traps of avarice and violence due to lacking the guidance of positive values and the constraint of ideal human character. They devolved into despots of twisted character, who either recklessly trampled over the ethics of human relationships or flatly engaged in violence, torture and brutality. “Those who grew up in this age could not avoid being branded by this age,” “even those figures with major historical accomplishments could not entirely escape the shadow cast by this age,”17 and Yangjian, Emperor Wen of Sui was just such an outstanding figure, who “had a fearsome, ruthless, unreasonable and irritable temper,” but he also colorfully displayed the Confucian monarch’s role of putting the people first with humane love to the public, which opened the door to reflecting on the paradigm of the monarch’s role, and in terms of political ideas, he ushered in the first rays of sunlight from the Wei, Jin and Northern and Southern dynasties into the Sui and Tang dynasties. The political thought of Emperor Wen of Sui had bigger impacts in the following several respects:

15

Sheng [10], p. 118. Sheng [10], pp. 15–21. 17 Sheng [10]. 16

1 Reflections on Political Roles by the Sui and Early Tang Rulers

303

Firstly, Emperor Wen of Sui was influenced by the ideas of the three teachings— Confucianism, Buddhism and Daoism—and he formulated the guiding theory of the mandate of Heaven in governing and administrating policies. Yangjian had a strong thought of the mandate of Heaven, which was consistent with the three teachings of Confucianism, Buddhism and Daoism. All three of these teachings provided Emperor Wen of Sui with theoretical resources for the theory of the mandate of Heaven and helped him establish his firm thoughts on it. Yangjian lived in an age with a thick Buddhist atmosphere. Most civil officials and military generals alike worshipped Buddhism in the Northern and Southern dynasties period and Yangjian’s parents and parents-in-law all sincerely believed in Buddhism, so Buddhism’s influence upon Emperor Wen of Sui and his wife, one could argue, came with birth. Yangjian was born in a Buddhist temple and received his very first cultural education in a Buddhist temple. His thought and ideas were deeply influenced by Buddhist faith. He was affectionately named naluoyan, the transliteration of the Sanskrit word N¯ar¯ayana, which in the Buddhist canon refers to an infinitely powerful guardian spirit of the earth. Since youth he had been repeatedly informed that he was the guardian reincarnate and he also believed himself to be “the god N¯ar¯ayana.” The legend of Yangjian’s birth and the era name “Open Luminary” both fit the Buddhist theory of the mandate of Heaven.18 The era name “Open Luminary” also fit the Taoist theory of aeons. Classic Books of the Sui Dynasty: 4 records “every arrival of the beginning of an aeon, whether in the Jade Capital or in the field of hollow mulberry trees, [celestials] impart the secret dao, which is called deliverance from the aeon and the salvation of human beings,” “their deliverance from the aeon is not one age, so there is the age of Extended Vigor, the age of Vermillion Brilliance, the age of Draconic Magnificence, the age of the Open Luminary [Kaihuang], which are their era names,” The Open Luminary [Kaihuang] as a Taoist era name presages the Celestial Lord of the Five Directions and the Transcendent Officers, who “transfer to each other [the dao] and deliver humanity from the apocalyptic aeon.” At the age of 14, Yangjian entered the Imperial Academy and received a Confucian education. The Han dynasty Confucian thought of affective reciprocity between Heaven-or-Nature and humanity also seeped into his idea of the mandate of Heaven. On one hand, he repeatedly indicated that he “received the mandate of Heaven.” On the other hand, he set the first calendar year and clothing color of the new dynasty according to the cyclical hypothesis of the five virtues in the thought of affective reciprocity between Heaven-or-Nature and humanity.19 Secondly, Emperor Wen of Sui had a stronger thought of institutionalization. He also clearly had creativity and more profound historical influence with respect to the construction of Confucianized laws and decrees as well as ritual and musical observances. During the inauguration of the Sui dynasty, he undertook sweeping institutional reforms, which came out of the need to restore the awesomeness of the Han bureaucracy in the pursuit of the legitimacy of the political order. The inauguration of the Sui dynasty “changed the demeanor of the Zhou officials according to 18 19

Shigu [12], (vol. 1). Shigu [12], (vol. 1).

304

6 Role Paradigms: The Value of Putting People First and Reflection …

the Han and Wei dynasties of old,” and, “reviving the institutional culture of China prior to the political power of the minority ethnicities was common sense among the Sui dynasty rulers and ministers alike, the intention being to clean and purify the air of narrow ethnic political power in order to win the orthodox status of broad public approval and reconstruct a powerful, unified state with the Han ethnicity as the major subject.”20 “The hundreds of years of ethnic oppression had passed and history had indeed entered an entirely new age.” “Through this brief court gathering ritual the Sui dynasty won broad support.”21 On the other hand, large-scale reforms to laws and decrees, to ritual and musical observances and to institutions certainly manifested Yangjian’s grand aspirations to reform political institutions along with his astute and pragmatic political style. Laws and decrees and ritual and musical observances were the basic social norms of Chinese tradition. Emperor Wen of Sui abandoned the cruel laws of the past dynasty and legitimized the contents of Confucian ritual education. He created the institution of “the ten evils,” steepened the penalties for disobeying the cardinal guides and constant virtues of Confucianism, and focused on protecting the centralized accumulation of power and the centralization of monarchical rule through the formalization of codes and statutes and ritual and musical observances. He actively created forms of legislation and undertook the all-around systematic reorganization of the legal code of the past dynasty, collating the system of regulations under four main types—codes (lü 律), statutes (ling 令), regulations (ge 格), and ordinances (shi 式): “codes by which to correct punishments and fix criminality; statutes by which to set norms and establish institutions; regulations by which to forbid disobedience and correct wicked conduct; ordinances by which to order things and proceduralize affairs.”22 This initiated a new stage of development for traditional Chinese law. Emperor Wen of Sui also put a considerable amount of focus on rectifying ritual observances, issuing Ceremonies and Rituals of the Sui Dynasty in the fifth year of the Kaihuang era, which added much original content to the traditional institution of ritual observances. It was also a comprehensive synthesis of the study of ritual propriety in the Southern dynasty and Northern Qi at the time. The institution of Three Departments and Six Ministries which had been put into effect during the inauguration of the Sui dynasty continued the institutional tradition of strengthening the centralization of power that had been customary since the Han and Wei dynasties, integrating and absorbing the positive products of the many institutional reforms since the Han, Wei, Southern and Northern dynasties. The old was smashed and the new was erected to streamline the overall arrangement, which realized the major institutional reform of the minister system. Minister positions were filled by the commanding officers of the Three Departments, replacing the institution of privately staffed ministers since the Qin and Han dynasties, which effectively safeguarded against the autocratic rule of powerful ministers. Thirdly, Emperor Wen of Sui exhibited self-restraint and diligent policies aimed carefully at serving the people, something rarely seen in emperors of past dynasties. 20

Sheng [10], pp. 120–121. Ibid. [10], p. 120. 22 Zhongfu [11], (vol. 6). 21

1 Reflections on Political Roles by the Sui and Early Tang Rulers

305

He became infamous for self-restraint and diligent policies. In one respect, he lived simply and did not flaunt extravagant waste, often eating only one meat dish per course. The empress and imperial concubines dressed in clean clothes and the imperial carriages they rode in were continuously repaired. He connected self-restraint theoretically to the way of Nature and the will of Heaven. He taught his sons, his younger brothers and his officials, “I’ve learned that the dao of Heaven-or-Nature holds no one dearest, only virtue is a part of it. Reviewing the emperors of former dynasties in history shows that none survived long with great luxuries.”23 He “praised frugality and championed thrift from the height of the political order, promoting the formation of simple style during the Kaihuang era and management techniques that were helpful to social stability and order.”24 In another respect, Emperor Wen of Sui focused his own vitality on diligent policy-making to serve the people. He was personally involved in many policies and managed governance down to the minutest of details, working his heart out restlessly, often burning the midnight oil to read and comment on documents. No matter how minute, all matters had to be attended to personally. This style of administration was certainly exemplary in the history of Chinese politics. When looking back on his whole life before passing away, he once sighed about his administration: “Just before daybreak, greeting the morning, denying luxury and ease, I mindfully attended personally to the countless affairs of state each day, and whether day or night, hot or cold, minding not fatigue, I meagerly say of myself, that I acted for the people’s sake.”25 Xiao Yu, a famous official of the Zhenguan era of Tang also positively appraised Emperor Wen of Sui for selfrestraint and diligent policy-making, “overcoming himself to restore ritual propriety, diligently exercising thought in policy-making, every seating at court, sometimes until the sun was in the West, officials of the fifth-rank and above were invited to sit and discuss affairs, the night guards would bring him food and although he was not warm-hearted in disposition, he was still a lord who strove for prosperity.”26 Emperor Wen’s self-restraint and diligent policies both manifested an administrative standpoint of deep knowledge about the people’s pains and sympathy with the common lot as well as a method of administration that knew deeply well about the corrupt ills of officialdom. He also embodied that steadfastness to fulfill the mission of eliminating wickedness through the eyes of people with little power. In this respect, Emperor Wen of Sui was most similar to Emperor Taizu of Ming. His diligent policies manifested the governing passion to painstakingly serve the people. Emperor Wen of Sui was the turning-point figure of a transitional age. His political thought fully reflects the overall scenario and basic trend of the three teachings standing on parallel footing. As regards the overall scenario, not only were the roles played by Confucianism, Buddhism and Daoism in political thought all acknowledged to certain degrees. Confucian, Buddhist and Daoist ideas also influenced people’s common understanding of political problems to different extents. 23

Shigu [12], (vol. 45). Sheng [10], p. 209. 25 Shigu [12], (vol. 1). 26 Jing [13], (vol. 1). 24

306

6 Role Paradigms: The Value of Putting People First and Reflection …

Typical evidence of this was Yangjian’s theory of the mandate of Heaven simultaneously connecting Confucianism, Buddhism and Daoism together into one. As regards the basic trend of the age, the Confucianized characteristics of the field of political thought would become increasingly self-conscious as the value judgments consistently asserted by Confucianism gained wider approval, that is values like putting the people first and focusing on humanity. Moreover, political thought would come to unfold around the norms established for Confucianized political roles within a certain historical period and would eventually consolidate into a particularly popular political topic or proposition: being the ruler is difficult, but being a minister is hard too. (3) The Exemplary Significance of the Political Thought of Emperor Taizong of Tang The short-lived rise and fall of the Sui dynasty gave the political figures of the early Tang dynasty food for political reflection. It also gave them impetus to engage in political reflection. Such reflections facilitated the development Confucian, Buddhist and Daoist thought, maturing and unfolding the basic arrangement of thought wherein the three teachings co-existed and interconnected. Such reflections also advanced the all-around revitalization of Confucian ideals in the political realm. When they were grounded in the Daoist method of being natural and acting non-coercively, this created the prosperous age of the Zhenguan era as the model of prosperity for the traditional political order. Political reflection in the early Tang dynasty still did not critically expose the flaws of the Sui dynasty’s institutional framework, but concentrated on reflections over the Sui dynasty’s administrative thought or ideas of governance instead, or more precisely, more reflections were made over the behavioral paradigm of different political roles such as those of Heaven-or-Nature, the ruler, the ministers, the people, etc. Of especial importance were reflections over the paradigm of conduct between ruler and ministers. Emperor Taizong of Song was an outstanding political leader, who organized systematic reflection on the political paradigm of ruler and ministers elaborating dao. Moreover, by setting himself as the principle he brought about a profoundly influential governing team. Emperor Taizong of Tang and his governing team not only created an outstanding model of political governance, deeply impacting the exceptional rulers of surrounding minority ethnicities, but also deeply impacted the outstanding managers of the Confucian cultural circles with respect to how to act as a leader. For Emperor Taizong of Tang to usher in the prosperous Zhenguan era and make it have political influence transcending space and time, he would first have to profit from the intellectual cultural arrangement of communication and co-existence between the three teachings of Confucianism, Buddhism and Daoism. The prosperous Zhenguan era could not have taken shape in an age of more dampened Confucian scholarship, because its emergence was conditioned on making the son of Heaven and powerful ministers respectively uphold the high standards of Confucian political ideals. Without the lofty destiny provided by the political ideals and political values of Confucianism, it would have been impossible to usher-in the prosperous Zhenguan era. The Zhenguan era of prosperity also could not have taken shape in an age when Confucianism was the sole authority,

1 Reflections on Political Roles by the Sui and Early Tang Rulers

307

because the Zhenguan era of prosperity methodologically speaking was influenced by the Daoist thought of natural unfolding without coercion, which prevented political chaos from spilling over and disturbing the people. Secondly, the short-lived rise and fall of the Sui dynasty provided adequate impetus and raw materials. Especially after acknowledging the rationality of the Sui dynasty institution, Emperor Taizong’s thought came to focus on the virtue and art of the ruler by boiling down the short life of the Sui dynasty to the virtue and art of the ruler. Among the two, virtue demanded the ruler to have ideals in the Confucian sense, while art meant the art of how ruler and ministers conduct themselves in order to realize political ideals. By bringing the Chinese tradition of ruling the state by means of virtue into focus, the Zhenguan era of prosperity had exemplary significance and powerful effects. Emperor Taizong of Tang, personal name Li Shimin, was born in 599 CE in Jingzhao prefecture at Wugong, in modern Xiangyang, Shaanxi province, in the old estate of the Li family. According to Chen Yinke’s critical textual research, the Li family name of the imperial house of Tang was either the “dilapidated household” of the Li family in Zhao commandery or the “counterfeit brand” of the Li family in the Zhao commandery.27 His great-grandfather Li Hu was bestowed with the clan name Daye and the official post of the highest military officer by the Western Wei. After Yuwen Tai entered the Guanlong group, he became one of the Eight Pillars of the State and was posthumously invested with the title of Duke of the State of Tang. From the great-grandfather onward, the generations of the Li family were the Guanlong aristocrats. The Li family were military generals closely related to all of the ethnic groups in the Guanlong region [Guanzhong central plains and Gansu—Translator]. Ever since the Western Wei and Northern Zhou period, they continually married with aristocrats of minority peoples. The paternal grandmother of Li Shimin of the Dugu clan and Li Shimin’s mother’s Dou clan were both daughters of the Xianbei aristocratic families. Because of their relationship with the Dugu clan, the Li family became the imperial family during the Sui dynasty and Emperor Wen’s Empress of the Dugu clan was Li Yuan’s aunt. The familial bond between the Li family and Yang family was rather close and Li Yuan always benefited greatly during both reigns of the Sui dynasty, receiving the title of Duke of the State of Tang during the Sui. During the tumultuous period at the end of the Sui dynasty, Li Yuan wielded heavy military power and stayed behind to keep guard in Taiyuan, the capital of Shanxi, as Resident Regent. Li Yuan rose with the military and rode the forces of chaos in the realm, driving straight into Chang’an through military victories to found the Tang dynasty. Li Shimin established much merit for himself in the process of founding the Tang dynasty. As one of the most exemplary officials who ushered the Tang into power, he was crowned King of Qin. Emperor Taizong of Tang went on to fight a whole series of battles at the end of the Sui and beginning of the Tang. He was quite literally the emperor who won the realm on horseback, but his chief political impact was made on the field of political thought. He sculpted the image of an exemplary ruler of bright discernment, proposing and practicing a whole series of principles, virtues and arts of governance. Many of the political institutions of the 27

Yinke [14], p. 194.

308

6 Role Paradigms: The Value of Putting People First and Reflection …

early Tang dynasty directly inherited the political institutions of the Sui, leaving Li Shimin with no room whatsoever to develop them on his ownn. The basic political institutions of the strong Sui and prosperous Tang were already formulated by the father and sons of Yangjian, but Emperor Taizong of Tang drew lessons from the fall of the Sui dynasty. He contentiously thought about the basic political principles advocated by Confucianism and enacted a whole series of policies valuing both the former, while drawing heavily from the resources of Daoism. In terms of practicing politics, he founded many excellent political traditions, enriching and refining the basic content of Confucian political thought while creating an ideal political model for the traditional Chinese age. He also had important impacts on political culture. Overall, the main consideration of Emperor Taizong’s political thought was a series of principle-oriented problems around the question of how the ruler should rule. In particular, to establish behavioral norms for ruler, ministers and bureaucrats, the main focus of his thought concentrated on how to put the people first and offer advice to the ruler, with respect to which Emperor Taizong’s princes and ministers made many quests with important value. They transformed the unbroken ideals of Confucianism into a series of personal symbols with normative significance. The main components exhibited by the princes and ministers of Emperor Taizong of Tang through personal symbols include. Firstly, Emperor Taizong of Tang had exemplary thoughts focused on putting the people first. To some degree, Emperor Taizong was himself the exemplary ruler required by the traditional Chinese thought of putting the people first. The great turmoil at the end of the Sui dynasty were instructive for Li Shimin, who hailed from an aristocratic family. He saw the massive forces hiding among the people and recognized the principle that political rule will only last as long as crimes are not perpetrated upon the people. Emperor Taizong of Tang inherited the thought of fearing the people’s wrath through the thought of putting the people first. “If the son of Heaven holds the dao, the people promote him as lord, but if the son of Heaven lacks dao, the people abandon him as useless. The people are truly worthy of fear.”28 “The boat is to the ruler and the water is to the population in that water can carry the boat but overturn it as well.”29 Emperor Taizong of Tang set nurturing the people as the target of political service, grounded firmly in a fear of the people. He insisted that the mission of the son of Heaven was to sustain and provide for the common people, “the dao of acting as ruler is first needing to safeguard the people. If one harms the people to benefit oneself, it is like cutting off the legs to feed the stomach. Though the stomach fills up, the body dies,” “to pacify the realm, one must first rectify oneself. Never rectifying oneself but rather projecting crookedness, the orders from above will result in chaos below.”30 Emperor Taizong’s thought of putting the people first mainly unfolded into demands upon the ruler to be virtuous and principled. The ruler needed to be humane, act righteously and maintain an ascetic attitude toward desires. He recognized the oneness between sustaining the people, the mindset of 28

Jing [13], (vol. 1). Ibid. [13], (vol. 4). 30 Ibid. [13], (vol. 1). 29

1 Reflections on Political Roles by the Sui and Early Tang Rulers

309

the upright ruler and the ruler overcoming selfish desires from the height of grasping the oneness of the ruler, the state and the people. “The ruler depends on the state, the state depends on the people,” and if the ruler “cuts into the people to hold the ruler up it is like cutting off muscles to fill the stomach, hunger ends, but the body dies, the ruler is enriched, but the state falls.” “Thus, the troubles of the ruler of human beings come not from outside, but often from within himself.” “Overflowing desires means expanding costs, expanding costs means heavier taxes, heavier taxes mean the people’s woes, the people’s woes mean the state is in danger, the state in danger means the ruler is lost.” “I often think about it through this, hence I dare not lose restraint over desires.”31 The ruler must fully recognize that “the people stand prior to the state and the state must come first before the ruler,” and that “without deep compassion there is no way to care for the people,”32 but the ruler must also recognize how extremely important the ruler’s self-cultivation and self-discipline are for the people. He insists that the ruler must “be parsimonious to discipline one’s nature and be calm to cultivate oneself,” “being parsimonious means not overworking the people, being calm means not disturbing those below [one’s rank].” Otherwise, “the people overworking means resentments arise, and when those below are perturbed policy goes awry,” the inevitable result developing from which is “the human spirit is angry and resentful, superiors and inferiors become divorced from one another, joy is continuously lost as the precipitous moment of danger is nigh.”33 When Emperor Taizong of Tang discussed stopping theft and dignifying the law with his ministers, he also exhibited the practical spirit of reflection from the people’s standpoint. His analysis points out that the people engage in theft when pressed by hunger and cold, but the hunger and cold felt by the people comes directly from the ruler desiring too much and the officials demanding too greedily.34 Secondly, Emperor Taizong of Tang practiced the basic principles of Confucian political thought when dealing with the problematic relationship between ruler and ministers and established the image of a model monarch and exemplary ruler. As the paradigm of an ideal monarch, Emperor Taizong of Tang mainly dealt with the following several relationships: firstly, both ruler and ministers were to undertake the mission of governing the realm. The imperial edict Emperor Taizong issued to Wei Zheng mentioned the thought that ruler and minister “ought to govern together” and expressed that the mission of ministers in governing together with the ruler is to personally assess the ruler. “To be minister of men, when presenting considerations, be fully loyal, when withdrawing considerations, fix the mistake made, facilitate his virtues, rectify his vices and therefore perform governance together.” The minister’s personal assessment of the ruler could also be summarized as “directly phrasing and correctly admonishing, discussing the dao to assist the times,” “the controllers of the ministries of the highest rank must be of praiseworthy title and weight in talent to match,” “retreating with something to say behind backs, advancing without 31

Sima [15], (vol. 192). Xueqin and Wenyu [16], p. 1548. 33 Ibid. [16]. 34 Sima [15], (vol. 192). 32

310

6 Role Paradigms: The Value of Putting People First and Reflection …

something to admonish in court, erroneously assuming that it is bright wit, but is it not absurd? … [With the ruler] on dangerous ground but not lending hand, why use another minister?”35 The state being on the edge and society on the precipice about to collapse stems both from the ruler lacking dao and from the ministers sycophantically playing at craft. With the toppling of the Sui dynasty as an example, Li Shimin illustrates that government officials must not shrink from their mistakes, “those who toppled the Sui clan, how could it only have been the senselessness (wudao 无道) of their ruler, for it was also due to the ingloriousness of trusted hands.”36 Powerful officials like “the followers of Yuwen Shu, Yu Shiji and Pei Yun, held high offices, consumed hefty salaries, and received the trust of men to serve, but only executed flattery, blocking intelligence and obstructing clarity, wishing to make their country safe, but failing to achieve it.”37 Secondly, the key to the division of roles between ruler and ministers while governing together in the realm was the monarch employing worthy men of capacity. When Emperor Taizong of Tang discussed how “to hold the realm” with Wei Zheng, he mentioned that the keys to it were none other than employing worthy men of capacity, receiving caution and accepting admonishments. He illustrated the enormous danger of being unwilling or unable to employ worthy men of capacity with Emperor Wen of Sui as an example. Emperor Taizong criticized Emperor Wen of Sui, Yangjian’s “disposition was toward full inspection but [his] mind was not bright, and when the mind is dim, light does not always penetrate, while full inspection implies much skepticism in things,” and [he was] “unwilling to trust all the departments, [leaving him] to decide for himself in every affair. Even so, toiling mentally and physically, [he] could not fully integrate it all into a coherent pattern,” “ministers in court understood his intentions and still dared not speak up straightforwardly. Those below the prime minister did nothing more than receptively comply.”38 He held that the emperor had to strive “in the spaciousness of the realm, the numerousness of the four seas, all of the millions of odds and ends, integrate necessities and link together contingencies, always entrusting the hundred officials to communicate,” “broadly employing worthy persons of integrity, viewing deeply from high position, and with laws and decrees taken seriously, who would dare do wrong?” Thirdly, in employing worthy persons of capacity the monarch must of necessity know who is strong and weak, good and bad, and in seeking to choose the strong over the weak, the monarch must treat human beings with sincerity, but cannot demand total perfection from worthy talent. “The dao of employing human personnel is especially unchanging,” “those whom one calls worthy are not necessarily perfectly good and those whom the majority calls reprehensible are not necessarily all bad,” “when one does not choose [the persons] whom one knows are able, one is losing good material. When one does not dismiss [the persons] whom one knows are vile, calamity begins.” “Talented persons have both strengths and weaknesses too, which may be mutually exclusive,” “reject the weaknesses and select the strengths and only 35

Jing [13], (vol. 1). Ibid. [13], (vol. 10). 37 Ibid. [13], (vol. 10). 38 Ibid. [13], (vol. 1). 36

1 Reflections on Political Roles by the Sui and Early Tang Rulers

311

afterward will the talented become virtuous.”39 Emperor Taizong of Tang opposed controlling the ministers below him with deceitful techniques. He treated people with sincerity, speaking heart-to-heart. “The ruler is the river source and the ministers are the tributaries. Getting their source dirty while hoping for his tributaries to be clean would be futile.” If “the ruler himself is deceitful, why blame the honesty of ministers below,” “I myself govern the realm with total sincerity, looking at the past emperors who preferred to deal with their ministers below by balancing a crafty minority, often secretly shaming them.”40 Thirdly, Emperor Taizong’s open-mindedness and readiness to follow caution from ministers below not only created the model of a bright ruler. He also theoretically elucidated the reason why the monarch should follow caution and admonishments from ministers. At the empirical level, Li Shimin provided the ideal behavioral paradigm for the bright ruler of integrity. The integrity of the bright ruler was found firstly in clearly understanding his own shortcomings and flaws, which although exist inherently, must be exposed through other things illuminating it, “if one wishes to reflect oneself, one needs a bright mirror. If the lord wishes to know the mistake made, he must rely on loyal ministers,” “if the lord considers himself worthy and ministers do not make corrections, the wish to avoid danger and defeat is futile.” “Emperor Yang was violent and cruel, the ministers below him said nothing and servants were ordered not to speak of his transgressions, and what followed was ruin.”41 Emperor Taizong acknowledged the unavoidability of the ruler committing mistakes. The key to the problem was having the bravery to expose them and the willingness to face up to them. The impermissibility of exposing and facing mistakes is the dead end that leads the ruler into danger and ruin. He insists: “the bright lord considers his shortcomings, which refines his excellence: the dark lord hides his shortcomings and remains stupid forever.” For this reason, he actively demonstrated the dao of the bright ruler, and strongly encouraged ministers below him to present admonishments. “The ruler of men requires the assistance of loyal persons of integrity to achieve the safety of himself and the tranquility of his state.”42 Emperor Taizong of Tang very much praised opposing ears and loyal mouths to act as checks on the integrity of the emperor’s eyes and ears. He saw whether or not the emperor’s senses are penetrating and smart as the key to the rise and fall of the state. He argued, “[s]ince I am so high up, I cannot fully perceive the affairs of the realm, so I distribute them to the ducal ministers to act as my ears and eyes.” “No one shall assume there is nothing to attend to in the realm, that the four seas are all calm, then pay no attention.”43 He repeatedly expressed concern to ministers and officials that they need to pay attention to what is going on in the realm and make the emperor capable of seeing clearly and hearing accurately so as to avoid crisis and ruin. He hoped officials would not have weakened resolve because of the tragedies that befell ministers who exhorted and 39

Shouyan [17], (vol. 10). Sima [15], (vol. 192). 41 Jing [13], (vol. 1). 42 Ibid. [13], (vol. 1). 43 Jing [13], (vol. 1). 40

312

6 Role Paradigms: The Value of Putting People First and Reflection …

admonished past emperors. He repeatedly expressed with fervor from the bottom of his heart “being fair but capable of wording straightforwardly and cautioning honestly are beneficial to political discipline, but in the end do not violate decrees to oppose authority, being rash with denunciations and accusations.” Emperor Taizong of Tang also put all effort into keeping his mind open and into creating a space for ministers to caution and admonish him. He straightforwardly expected ministers to admonish and caution him, so ruler and ministers would cooperate for the overall soundness of the state.44 There were several so-called “eras of prosperity” in the history of China: the reign of Emperor Wenjing of Han; the reign of the Zhenguan era of Tang; the Kaiyuan era of prosperity; the High Qing era of prosperity, to name a few. Many prosperous eras are indications of social stability and economic thriving. Perhaps only the reign of the Zhenguan era is exemplary in terms of political culture. The Zhenguan era had farreaching historical influence with respect to the rules and standards of political life. Objectively speaking, the Zhenguan era of early Tang further enriched the symbolic resources of Chinese political thought and turned a whole set of claims in political thought into symbols of personified models, which is to say it transformed systematic claims in political thought into some models of behavior or standardized practices, and all of these had particularly long-lasting historical influence upon the recognition and standardization of roles. The significance of the Zhenguan era in terms of political culture is to be found firstly in the sculpting of a set of roles for the monarch and powerful ministers which were in line with Confucian political ideals and principles, and secondly in the enlisting of a group of loyal believers and practical agents in the pursuit of the ideal Confucian political order. The chief political responsibility and ideal goal of such agents was the realization of humane governance based on the idea of putting people first through striving for the prosperity of the state. Among the emperors or famous ministers of the Confucian ideal, the vast majority were themselves hidden in the early beginnings of civilization’s emergence. Verifiable traces of them have been hard to find in history. What we do have seem like nothing more than unapproachable political myths. The Confucian scholar-officials would of course promote their ideal sage-kings and worthy ministers with great earnestness, but the majority would never truly believe in them. The attitude of the majority amounted to indifference, and hearing out whatever is said without true faith. Yet, the parties involved in the reign of the Zhenguan era were lively social individuals, who emerged at a relatively developed stage of civilization, and although what we know of their basic deeds may include exaggerated elements, more than half of the contents are relatively believable. More importantly, the exemplary models of the Zhenguan era were not perfectly flawless, but were rather spotted by certain deficiencies. The emperors were by no means omnipotent. They would make mistakes, and even with the assistance of many capable and worthy persons, they would still make mistakes, but as long as the emperor was willing to correct the mistakes others pointed out, he could become the ideal king of the Confucian political order. Emperor Taizong of Tang was not always consistent from beginning to end. When he heard things he 44

Ibid.

1 Reflections on Political Roles by the Sui and Early Tang Rulers

313

himself did not want to hear, he unavoidably looked embarrassed and would even burst out angrily. It was only that he still listened to unwelcome messages and could even tolerate harsh attitudes from those cautioning and admonishing him. He still knew that to act as ruler, he absolutely could not do whatever he wanted, because that would result in harm brought to both the people and the state. He also knew that losing his temper was even more inconsiderable as it would alienate himself from the people. Therefore, the ruler’s most important moral deeds were putting the people first and meeting the needs of the people, but even more so, were including worthy and wise persons in the process, employing the strengths and wisdom of others to expose his own mistakes without fearing correction. The ruler had to follow good caution and good advice readily. Emperor Taizong of Tang may have believed in the following principle: if the ruler had done nothing wrong, then why would the ruler fear criticism and accusations from other parties; if the ruler was indeed wrong, then he should invite others to criticize it and point it out. No matter what the social status of the persons were, no matter who the persons were, all persons could say all that they knew and say it without reserve, and as long as there is principle to someone’s admonishment, the ruler should listen to it, and even if some arrangement had already been made, the ruler still had to re-consider it afresh so as to correct possible errors. Emperor Taizong’s excellence at taking in admonishments produced many infamous historical anecdotes. The anecdotes of Emperor Taizong of Tang have even more significance for political culture than do the many anecdotes of governance during the Spring and Autumn period with the statesman Zichan ruling over the state of Zheng. Emperors and remarkable ministers of later eras most admired Emperor Taizong of Tang for his political bearing and air of readily listening to admonishments and his openness to good advice. What carried the significance of the Zhenguan era for political culture was: the practices of bright rulers and worthy ministers and the intellectual components that these practices embodied came entirely from the school of Confucianism since the two Han dynasties, including revolutionary thought and the thought of affective reciprocity between Heaven-or-Nature and humanity. Confucian political thought generated a new reserve of symbols through the positive practices of rulers and ministers during the Zhenguan era, which provided the personalized forms of expression of classical Confucian political principles and political ideals and set a team of followable examples for political society. The political values embodied by rulers and ministers during the Zhenguan era were the political values of the traditional doctrine of putting the people first, which provided a paradigm of collective cooperation between ruler and ministers to plan out the people’s well-being in the realm. This paradigm’s core was the combination of broad wisdom from the monarch and fair honesty from powerful ministers. In one respect, the monarch had to be capable of consulting many differing opinions and tolerating harsh admonishments. The monarch had to make ministers and officials comfortable saying everything they knew without holding anything back, and even if a minister wrongfully admonished the ruler, the ruler did not need to vilify a minister because of it. Treat it as a precaution, and when no admonishment is made, take it as an encouragement. In another respect, a minister had to forget about himself and frankly remonstrate, and by making the most sense

314

6 Role Paradigms: The Value of Putting People First and Reflection …

of the realm, always diligently attempt to clarifying things for the ruler’s mind. Even if the ruler could not gain clarity from broad consultation, the ministers would still have to make all efforts to do so. The key to harmonious relations between ruler and ministers was of course the ruler gaining clarity from broad consultation, but when the ruler gained a partial view from one-sided consultation, a minister had to risk life and limb to admonish him, and those who could risk life and limb among the departments were extremely few in number. With only an extreme minority to admonish him, the ruler could not possibly gain clarity from broad consultation. Unable to gain clarity from broad consultation, the ruler would inevitably act on a partial idea drawn from one-sided consultation and unbearable incompetence would result. Such scenarios could only end in the death of the ruler himself and the demise of the state. Wei Zheng once spoke with Emperor Taizong of Tang. He hoped to be a good minister but not a loyal minister. What he called a good minister was an official who daringly remonstrates, sparing no words, and who thereby gains the ruler’s trust. A good minister is someone who may have merits and virtues, but who does not bring harm, let alone death, to himself, while a loyal minister is someone who daringly advises, sparing no words, but who meets the tragic fate of a foolish ruler. The Political Program in Zhenguan Times describes the political discourse and behavior between ruler and ministers in the Zhenguan era. It concisely and intuitively presented the ideal norm for the ruler-minister roles and successfully made the ruler and ministers in the Zhenguan era become the personified symbols of Confucianism’s ideal political figures. It made people soberly conscious of the ideal political order and ideal political figures that Confucianism praised, such that the latter were no longer vague political myths found in classical texts. It objectively set an example some could realistically study and emulate. It also generated certain encouragement for real political leaders. “Assisting the ruler’s rise above Yao and Shun”45 was no longer just a fictional expectation for oneself or a comforting psychological trope.

2 The Resuscitation of Topics in Political Philosophy During the Middle and Late Tang Dynasty The An-Shi Rebellion was a major turning point in Chinese history. Chinese politics from this point was to experience an important readjustment over a long period of time in both depth and breadth. The variety of ethnicities in the realm were all impacted by this important readjustment. The An-Shi Rebellion was also an important turning point in the history of the Tang dynasty. The Tang dynasty’s strength, prosperity and centralization of power would never return once it disappeared, and the central government would for the moment have to face challenges and battles from forces developing in the localities. The relationship between the developing force of “outlying military governorships” (fanzhen geju 藩镇割据) and the central government was very complicated. In one respect, the Tang empire was standing on 45

Fu and Difei [18], p. 11.

2 The Resuscitation of Topics in Political Philosophy …

315

its last leg for some time and profited from a political balance struck with the outlying military governorships. In another respect, the Tang empire was too weak to endure battle for a long period of time and ultimately collapsed, which were consequences of the outlying military governorships continuously making a run on the currency and putting fiscal pressure on the central government. After the An-Shi Rebellion, the central government’s relationship with the outlying military governorships was crucial to the political arrangement of the Tang dynasty, but the key problem was the weakening political power of the central government. The weakening central political power both suffered from battles with the outlying military governorships and was also the consequence of all kinds of negative factors inside the central government as well. How shall this relationship between the central government and outlying military governorships be understood? How shall the source of the central government’s authority be understood? How shall we understand the seriousness and normativity of the political relations between people under the monarchical political order? How shall we handle the problem of all of the various political complications? Those like Han Yu and Liu Zongyuan considered such political problems in detail during the middle and late Tang dynasty and made deeply significant theoretical explorations with respect to the theories of Heaven-or-Nature, orthodoxy, human nature and the feudal order. On such grounds, they designed ideal models of political relations and ideal paradigms of political behavior in the attempt to make theoretical arguments for centralized monarchical power at the level of political philosophy. Confucian political thought presented some transitional characteristics at this stage, and in terms of the method of thought, it presented some features strikingly different from those of the past. The status and influence of Mencius’s thought elevated significantly. The status and influence of Xunzi’s thought fell in correspondence. Han Yu and Liu Zongyuan were the two great champions of Confucian political thought during the middle and late Tang dynasty. Comparatively speaking, Liu Zongyuan’s political thought appears inclusive and deeply embracing, focusing on institutions and the art of rule. He integrates political experiences from history and his thought is similar in kind to Xunzi’s, whereas Han Yu’s political thought appears rigorous and reserved, focusing on orthodoxy and the form of human being’s original constitution. He deduces the political division of labor between different social roles from the universal, absolute and original nature of the universe and human being. His thought is similar in kind to that of Mencius.

316

6 Role Paradigms: The Value of Putting People First and Reflection …

(1) Han Yu’s Theory of Heaven-or-Nature and Humanity and His Political Philosophy Han Yu, courtesy name Tui Zhi, was a native of Nanyang, modern day Henan.46 He was born in 768 CE and died in 824 CE. He lost his father at the age of three and was raised by his older brother, Han Hui. Han Yu forcefully promoted the Confucian doctrine and the Antiquity Prose Movement. He passed the imperial examination as presented scholar (jinshi 进士) in the eighth year of the Zhenyuan era of Emperor Dezong of Tang (792 CE). In the 19th year of the Zhenyuan era, the Guanzhong region experienced severe draught and Han Yu was demoted in office due to submitting a written request to the emperor for tax relief, falling from the rank of Investigating Censor to that of Magistrate of Yangshan. In the 12th year of the Yuanhe era of Emperor Xianzong of Tang, 817 CE, because Han Yu meritoriously participated in putting down the rebellion of Wu Yuanji in the circuit of Huaixi, he was again elevated in position, but to that of Vice Minister of Justice (xingbu shilang 刑部 侍郎). In the 14th year of the Yuanhe era, Han Yu was once again demoted to a lower post, that of Regional Inspector of Chaozhou for submitting Memorial on Buddha’s Bone Relics to Emperor Xianzong. After the enthronement of Emperor Muzong of Tang (821 CE), Han Yu was summoned back to the capital to perform as teacher, around which time he took on such posts as Director of the Directorate of Education (guozi jijiu 国子祭酒), Vice Minister of Military (bingbu shilang 兵 部侍郎) and Vice Minister of Commandery Personnel (lijun shilang 吏郡侍郎). In Chinese history, Han Yu stands as both famous master of literature, one of the eight great masters of the Tang and Song, and also as famous classical Chinese Confucian thinker, whose works were edited into the Collected Works of Master Changli, in which the most notable are The Origin of Dao, The Origin of Human Nature, The Origin of Human Being, The Origin of Ghosts and The Origin of Slander. Han Yu styled himself as the inheritor of the Confucian orthodoxy, elevated Mencius’s discourse on the natural tendencies of the affective mind and degraded Xunzi’s dao of the outer king. Han Yu once praised his research as centered on the Confucian classics. He promoted “the six classics” and revered the sages, “what I study are all works of sages…… What I write are all written in accordance with the intention of The Six Classics.”47 Could Han Yu truly have read the works of all masters and yet not let their discourses enter his mind? Looking at the objective situation of Han Yu’s academic work, he did indeed focus on researching Confucian theory and did not convert to any other school of thought, but other schools of thought did seep into his mind and even fused into his thought, which imperceptibly transformed his thought 46

There are two opinions on Han Yu’s native town: one is that Han Yu’s native home was Nanyang county of Henei commandery (modern day Meng county of Henan province); the other is that Han Yu’s native home was Nanyang county of Dengzhou commandery (modern day Xiuwu county of Henan province). Changli of Hebei commandery was another branch of the Han clan, a once prominent family, and Han Yu often referred to himself as belonging to it. In the seventh year of the Yuanfeng era of Emperor Shenzong of Song (1084 CE), Hanyu was enfeoffed as the Earl of Changli. See for reference (Guoying [19], p. 1). 47 Yu [20], (vol. 16).

2 The Resuscitation of Topics in Political Philosophy …

317

in important ways. Han Yu’s political thought is strongly distinguished as a political philosophy. It mainly focusses on important political problems such as the necessity of the emergence of politics along with the precondition, basis and forms of politics. It concerns such topics as determining the roles of ruler, ministers and people as well as the dao of Heaven-or-Nature and human nature. His political philosophy has more transcendental characteristics, basing itself on the transcendental dao of the Confucian scholar. Han Yu gave a unique account of the respective political roles of the ruler, the ministers and the people, an account which presents his concrete understanding of the three cardinal guides and five constant virtues of a Confucian scholar-official. Han Yu believes in the existence of a universal and eternal dao between Heaven and Earth. Dao interlinks Heaven, Earth and human beings, and controls Heaven, Earth and all beings. Anything and everything that happens possesses “a natural constant” produced by dao. What he calls “the natural constant” is the universal, eternal and absolute essence of anything and everything that happens, which determines the fundamental law or model of operation for all things. From Han Yu’s perspective, all creatures between Heaven and Earth present the following arrangement, “what forms physically above is called Heaven, what forms physically below is called earth, while that which is mandated to live in between the two of them is called human being,” “the physical formations above, namely the sun, the moon, the planets and stars are all the heavenly sphere. The physical formations below, namely the plants and trees, the mountains and rivers are all the earthly sphere. What is mandated to live in between the two of them, namely the insects, the birds and the terrestrial animals are all the human sphere.” The regular order of Heaven, Earth and all creatures originates from them all possessing their respective dao. If “the dao of the heavenly sphere loses order, the sun, moon and celestial bodies miss their paths. If the dao of the earthly sphere loses order, the plants and trees, mountains and rivers lose their balance. If the dao of the human sphere loses order, insects, terrestrial animals and birds lose their senses.” The dao belonging to Heaven, Earth and humanity respectively establishes the regular order, and the centers of the order are Heaven, Earth and humankind. “Heaven is the master of the sun, moon and celestial bodies. Earth is the master of the plants and trees, mountains and rivers. Humanity is the master of tribes and animals.” A so-called master is the center of the order, “a master, by losing control, loses the dao enabling that very mastery.” “Thus, the sage views all with the same humanity. He is honest and kind to whomever is close no more or less than to recommendations from afar.”48 What Han Yu means by “Heaven” is not strictly defined, Heaven has many significations. Heaven has the double meaning of the natural heavens and a controlling Heaven, but it is affirmable that the signification of the controlling Heaven has more value for Han Yu’s theory. Heaven controls the sun, moon and celestial bodies, human being controls all creatures between Heaven and Earth and although the necessary connection between Heaven and human being was never established, human being’s status as controller of all creatures is already established through emulating the manner by which Heaven controls, the sun, moon 48

Yu [20], (vol. 11).

318

6 Role Paradigms: The Value of Putting People First and Reflection …

and celestial bodies. Han Yu not only views Heaven as the source of humanity’s ethical code of guidelines and constant relationships, but also views Heaven as the safeguard of the human order. The original constitution of the political order that emerges from the monarchical ruler who receives the mandate of Heaven is already implied in the necessary mastery, domination and control of Heaven over all creatures. The human dao is a form of expression of dao. The status and role of the human dao is of course that of controller, but “the human dao” cannot naturally of itself actualize control over human beings. It must borrow the hands of a human being, and this human being whose hands have been borrowed by “the human dao” is the so-called “sage.” The transmission of the “human dao” in the sequence of sages is the orthodox system of dao. Han Yu indicates that the dao of which he speaks is fundamentally different from the dao of the Daoist Laozi and from that of the Buddhists.49 What Han Yu called dao was the dao that had been transmitted continuously dynasty after dynasty through Confucian sages. “Emperor Yao transmitted this dao to Emperor Shun, Shun to the Great Yu, the Great Yu to Tang, then Tang transmitted it to Wen, Wu and the Duke of Zhou, and Wen, Wu and the Duke of Zhou transmitted it to Confucius, who transmitted it to Mencius.”50 The human dao expressed itself before the Duke of Zhou as the deeds of emperors and expressed itself after the Duke of Zhou as the theories of the Confucian thinkers. Unfortunately, the transmission of dao came to a stop after Mencius. Han Yu praises himself as a transmitter of Confucianism’s human dao. “Sending its dao to roughly transmit through Han Yu, absolutely none shall resent it even though he perishes.”51 Han Yu holds that there are mainly three kinds of expression of the human dao: firstly, dao is expressed as the virtuous qualities of being humane and acting righteously, which are inherent in human beings, and these virtuous qualities are the “natural constants” that make human beings human, “universal love is called being humane, acting so things are appropriate is called acting righteously, that from which it comes and to which it goes is dao, adequate to the point of depending on nothing outside of itself is called virtue (de 德).” “humane (ren 仁) and righteous (yi 义) are defining names, dao and de are the places they fill,” and “anything I call dao and de is said in combination with being humane and acting righteously.”52 Secondly, the human dao also expresses itself as the series of creations or inventions of Confucian sages. In everyday life, it concretely manifests itself in the series of necessary demands or constraints on human beings. They originate from the sages, who embody the universal dao of humanity, which is both the ground of human being qua human and the universal norms of human conduct. Anyone who dares transgress it will devolve into an inhumane beast. Thirdly, the human dao is intrinsic to all aspects of social life. It is responsible for making human society gain its proper place in the cosmos and for making it harmoniously coexist with the universe, “if one handles oneself by means of it, then auspicious winds will bring fortune. If one handles others by means of it, then universal love 49

Yu [20], (vol. 11). Ibid. 51 Ibid., (vol. 18). 52 Ibid., (vol. 11). 50

2 The Resuscitation of Topics in Political Philosophy …

319

will bring impartial fairness. If the affective mind is handled by means of it, then harmonious feeling will bring peaceful balance. If the state and the realm are handled by means of it, nowhere on earth will be unjust.”53 When Han Yu discusses the problem of human nature, he separates human nature and human affects. He views human nature as the good and bad attributes that are innate to human being from birth. He views human affects as the states that emerge from contact with external things. “Natural tendencies [human nature] are produced with birth, human affects and produced by contacting other things.” Han Yu insists that human being’s natural tendencies and affects are all ranked and different natural tendencies and affects have different carriers, “[t]here are three ranks of natural tendencies, and in reality there are five natural tendencies. There are three ranks of human affects, and in reality there are seven human affects.” “There are three ranks of natural tendencies, high, middle and low,” “those of the higher rank are good and that is all; those of middle rank may be guided to be high or low rank; those of the low rank are bad and that is all.” “There are really five natural tendencies: being humane, observing ritual propriety, being trustworthy, acting righteously, and being wise.” In human being, “the higher rank is related to the five in the following way: mastery over the first and conduct in the latter four. The middle rank is related to the five in the following way: if the first is not lacking, then there is less opposition to the four, but confusion results. The low rank relates to the five in the following way: opposition to the first one and betrayal of the latter four. Natural tendencies are related to human affects. Looking at their rank, there are three ranks of affects: high, middle and low. There really are seven human affects: joy, anger, sadness, fear, love, hate and sexual desire. The high rank relates to the seven in the following way: affects stir but one manages their equilibrium. The middle rank relates to the seven in the following way: some excess and some deficiency, but seeks to repair their equilibrium. The low rank relates to the seven in the following way: deficiency and excess are straightforwardly felt and enacted.” Han Yu examined the theory of human nature in Xunzi, Mencius and Yang Xiong and pointed out the main flaws in their theories of human nature, “[t]hey all select the middle of them but forget the lower and higher among them. They get one of them but miss two of them.”54 Han Yu holds to a doctrine of three ranks of natural tendencies, which is similar to Dong Zhongshu’s doctrine, “the natural tendency of high rank is to learn and become brighter. The natural tendency of low rank is to fear authority and reduce crime. Thus, the high rank is teachable and the low rank is controllable.”55 Han Yu highlights the important role of the sage in rescuing the people from hardship, assisting them in crisis and helping them in a bind, through which he elucidates the process of production of the political order. At “the initial birth of people, they were inherently like tribes and animal like. The sage arose and thereafter people knew of dwelling in palaces and eating grain, loving family and respecting

53

Ibid. Yu [20], (vol. 11). 55 Ibid. 54

320

6 Role Paradigms: The Value of Putting People First and Reflection …

authority, the living were nurtured and the dead were buried.”56 “As there was no sage in antiquity, human kind had been going extinct for a long time.”57 The basic model of political life that Han Yu describes is mainly the social division of different political roles, “the monarch is the one who issues the commands, the minister is the one who carries out the monarch’s commands, and the people produce millet and rice, fibers and thread, make instruments and vessels, exchange goods and currency in order to serve those of higher rank.”58 The monarch is the central hub of the political order, the controller in the center of it, who assumes responsibility for deciding policy and issuing orders, the ministers below are only instruments who carry out the monarch’s commands and the people are the ruled who have political duties but no political rights. Every rank on the political ladder must safeguard its respective mission and fulfill its respective duties. For instance, if “the ruler does not issue commands, then he loses that which makes him ruler. If the ministers do not carry out the ruler’s commands to the people, the people will not produce millet and rice, fibers and threads, make instruments and vessels, exchange goods and currency in order to serve their higher ranks, and hence will be killed.”59 The natural constant of the ministers and people realizing their universal dao is following orders from above and if they do not willfully follow orders from the monarch, if they do not support and serve their seniors, then they will be killed without pardon, because if “the son does not treat his father as father, if the minister does not treat his ruler as ruler, if the people do not treat their service as service,” then it amounts to “obliterating their natural constant.”60 With the natural constant obliterated, a human being is already inhuman and killing the inhuman is the duty of the sage-king. Han Yu also undertakes a defense of hereditary rule in general and the Great Yu who founded the institution of hereditary rule in particular. He views the hereditary rule passed from father to son as a beneficial invention that reduces political turmoil. “Yao and Shun passed down rule to younger worthy ones in the desire to make the realm find its proper arrangement. Yu passed down rule to a son in the worry that the contentions of the next generation will boil over,” “Yao and Shun benefited the people greatly, Yu considered the people deeply,” “finding the right person and transmitting rule to him is what Yao and Shun did, lacking the right person and fearing the calamity of not transmitting rule is what Yu did,” “instead of failing to pass down rule to a sage and contentions boiling over, why not pass down rule to the sons,” “though someone worthy is not found, at least one could maintain law.”61 Han Yu’s political philosophy is also fairly childish and muddled. Although he reaffirms the monarchical governance of putting the people first, which Confucian masters had underscored over the generations, and describes the division of political roles between ruler, ministers and people, showing some characteristics of integrating 56

Ibid., (vol. 20). Ibid., (vol. 11). 58 Ibid. 59 Yu [20], (vol. 11). 60 Ibid. 61 Ibid. 57

2 The Resuscitation of Topics in Political Philosophy …

321

Buddhist theory, we still regretfully point out that Han Yu’s political philosophy still is not rigorous enough with respect to the definition of important concepts, categories and propositions. The logical connections between his important concepts, categories and propositions are relatively loose. He failed to make valid and rigorous logical deductions of the political order, and thereby failed to effectively maintain the ideal political order of Confucianism in the long term. Han Yu’s political thought insisted on the important status of the six classics of Confucianism and highlighted the importance of “the sage on the inside,” which laid a certain foundation for Song dynasty neo-Confucian rationalism. Moreover, because he championed and promoted “the Antiquity Prose Movement” of “writing to convey dao” and made active efforts to improve the style of learning and style of writing, he also created a formal starting point for the integration of Buddhist and Taoist thought, that is regardless of how one absorbed Buddhist or Taoist thought in terms of content, in terms of form one still had to prevent Buddhism and Taoism from disrupting Confucian thought. Han Yu expended every last bit of effort opposing Buddhism at all costs. His understanding of Buddhist theory was also very limited. He also failed to assimilate Buddhist thought. There is also considerable distance between Han Yu’s academic discipline and the Confucian demand of learning to be a sage on the inside. There should be no wonder why the representatives of neo-Confucian rationalism rejected Han Yu from the orthodox order. However, Han Yu still did make certain contributions to the Confucian orthodoxy, for which reason Su Shi praised Han Yu, arguing his “writing lifted eight generations from decline, and his dao rescued the realm from sinking.” (2) Liu Zongyuan’s Theory of the Natural and Human Spheres and His Political Philosophy Liu Zongyuan, courtesy name Zihou, was a native of Hedong (modern day Yongji of Shanxi province). Others called him Liu Hedong. In his late years he was demoted to the post of Regional Inspector of Liuzhou. Hence he was also called Liu Liuzhou. He was born in the eighth year of the Dali era of Emperor Daizong of Tang, that is 773 CE and died in the 14th year of the Yuanhe era of Emperor Xianzong of Tang, that is 819 CE. He was a famous thinker and master of prose in the middle and late Tang dynasty. Liu Zongyuan’s family had no book archive when young, but his mother taught him to read and write. In the 19th year of the Zhenyuan era, he passed the imperial examination as presented scholar (jinshi 进士). In the 14th year of the Zhenyuan era, he began working as a government official at the post of editor in the palace library of Jixian Academy and then was later moved to the post of Defender of Lantian. In the 19th year of the Zhenyuan era, he took the post of Investigative Censor and joined Wang Shuwen’s political faction. In the first year of the Yongzhen era, he was appointed to the post of outer advisor to the staff of the Department of Rituals. After the political reforms of Wang Shuwen’s political faction failed, since Liu Zongyuan was implicated, he was demoted to the post of Yongzhou Minister of War. In the 10th year of the Yuanhe era, 11 years after Liu Zongyuan took up the post of Yongzhou Minister of War, he was once again demoted to the post of Regional Inspector of Liuzhou. In the 14th year of the Yuanhe era, Liu Zongyuan died acting at that very post. Liu Zongyuan was the leader of the Antiquity Prose Movement of the later part

322

6 Role Paradigms: The Value of Putting People First and Reflection …

of the Tang dynasty. He was one of the eight great prose masters of the Tang and Song dynasties. His articles were written in ornate language with exquisite allusions. He was a prolific writer in all aspects. Posterity would later edit his works into The Collected Writings of Liu Hedong (liu hedong ji 柳河东集), which Zhonghua Book Company published after proofing as The Collected Writings of Liu Zongyuan (liu zongyuan ji 柳宗元集).62 Many of Liu Zongyuan’s expositions in political thought are similar to those of Xunzi and Wang Chong with a tendency toward materialism and opposition to the mystical theory of affective reciprocity between Heaven-orNature and humanity. Liu Zongyuan stressed the experience and objective features of human affairs and did not find much interest in such transcendental categories as human nature. Devoid of so-called “orthodox” ideas, his thought has both atheist and empiricist characteristics. His political thought is mainly Confucian in orientation, but at the same time it does not rigidly adhere to Confucian thought, for it gives certain approval to Buddhist and Daoist thought as well. The ultimate ground of traditional Chinese thought is generally determined as Heaven-or-Nature (tian 天). Whether from the perspective of political practice or that of political thought, Heaven-or-Nature is the most fundamental category of traditional Chinese politics. The wavering and decline of monarchical authority was always combined with various critical opinions expressing dissatisfaction with Heavenor-Nature, but the thought of affective reciprocity between Heaven-or-Nature and humanity and the thought of the integral oneness of Heaven-or-Nature and humanity could also truly provide the political order and political authority with the seriousness and sanctity it requires through meticulous proofs of the unity of human beings and all other beings. People’s doubts about and denials of Heaven-or-Nature would also eliminate the minimum of necessary connections in political society and would eliminate the necessary seriousness and sanctity in political society. Han Yu’s exposition of the transcendental nature and absoluteness of dao were nothing more than for the sake of illustrating the necessary assurance backing up the seriousness and sanctity of the political order, whereas Liu Zongyuan’s expositions of Heaven-or-Nature severed the necessary connection between Heaven-or-Nature and humanity. Human being lost both the support of and checks stemming from Heaven-or-Nature. The ground of humanity was only human being itself and the authority of dao stemmed entirely from the experienced human being. Human being could be the ethical human that Mencius described with words and deeds following the Confucian code of civilism and could also be the natural human that Wang Chong and Kong Rong described, and could even be natural to the point of “transcending civilism and letting what is natural be.” Liu Zongyuan’s view of human being was much closer to Wang Chong’s and Kong Rong’s. He saw the ethical specification of human being to be something natural, but the political order that arises from this would lack the assurance of strict seriousness, sanctity and authority. Considering the aspect of providing politics with a necessary basis of authority, Liu Zongyuan’s works Heaven Responds (tiandui 天对) and The Doctrine of Heaven-or-Nature (tianshuo 天说) have far less significance than Han Yu’s The Origin of Dao and The Origin of Human Nature. Liu 62

See Ouyang and Qi [8], (vol. 168).

2 The Resuscitation of Topics in Political Philosophy …

323

Zongyuan’s Heaven Responds replies in form to the work Questioning Heaven by the Warring States period poet of the state of Chu, Qu Yuan. In Questioning Heaven, Qu Yuan raises many pointed questions, among which the crucial one is the question about the proposition of necessity. Questioning Heaven launches questions at Heaven-or-Nature and adopts the questioning method of romanticism, but the core of the questions concern the relationship between Heaven-or-Nature and humanity. The focal point of the questions is whether or not humanity or all of Nature could be intentionally created. The way in which Liu Zongyuan responds to Questioning Heaven is extremely similar to Wang Chong’s. He adopts a naturalist method and attitude to write Heaven Responds and The Doctrine of Heaven-or-Nature and claims that Heaven and human beings are unrelated and that the many specifications of human being only originate from humanity in-itself and have nothing to do with Heaven. He especially opposes the idea that Heaven may reward and punish or bless and curse human beings. What Liu Zongyuan calls Heaven (tian 天) is in actuality only an existing thing, “[t]hat which is black above us the world calls Heaven. What is yellow below us the world calls earth. What is mixed and resides in the middle the world calls fundamental qi 气. Cold and hot describes yin and yang.” Heaven (tian 天) is no different from a fruit or melon, a carbuncle or hemorrhoid, a plant or tree.” “Can it take revenge?” “Can it have angry outbursts?” Concerning affairs in the human world, “[w]hat helps, helps of itself, and what is disastrous, is disastrous of itself.”63 Liu Zongyuan holds that Heaven-or-Nature is nothing more than a natural being like fruits or melons. It cannot reward or punish human being’s rights and wrongs or successes and failures. Human success and failure, human disasters and fortunes all entirely takes shape by virtue of human beings. However, Liu Zongyuan is by no means a total naturalist like Wang Chong and Kong Rong. He still left some necessary spare room for Heaven-or-Nature to act upon humanity in his article On What Heaven-or-Nature Grants, in which he insists that some kind of controlling relationship between Heaven-or-Nature and human beings still faintly exists, namely human being’s natural endowment originates from Heavenor-Nature and human being’s discernment and will also originate from Heaven-orNature, but when Heaven-or-Nature gifts human being with discernment and will, it does not give something fixed to human being. Rather, it relies on natural qi, namely “each human being follows the flow of qi.”64 Heaven-or-Nature does not directly grant human beings the “heavenly gifts” of “being humane, acting righteously, being loyal and being trustworthy,” but rather does so through qi 气. “If Heaven-or-Nature were to ennoble this human being, then [it] would invest purely strong and sound [qi] into his body, as striking as the most intelligent, as grand as the spirit of a sage. The second grade is the worthy man of capacity, whom we call noble.” “Qi of the highest purity focuses in human being as discernment.” If we were to examine the expressions of human being, then we would easily discover that “those who acquire it grasp brightly and presciently, nothing hides from the light of their discernment. They are sincere in their unique views and profound in their tacit understanding, hence those 63 64

Zongyuan et al. [21], (vol. 16). Zongyuan et al. [21], (vol. 3).

324

6 Role Paradigms: The Value of Putting People First and Reflection …

of discernment are but wholly fortunate.” “The light of discernment is the function of Heaven-or-Nature and constant endurance is the way [dao 道] of Heaven-or-Nature. The one who holds these two fulfills what human relationships need,” “[t]hus to speak perfectly of the gifts of Heaven-or-Nature one must not appeal to morality and virtue or loyalty and trustworthiness, but only to discernment and will.” To become sages, human beings cannot merely rely on the aspiration to learn, but must also rely on the “discernment” and “will” gifted to them by Heaven-or-Nature. “The ability to discern is a gift from Heaven-or-Nature.” “The sage says: ‘be sensitive in seeking it,’ that is the meaning of discernment; ‘will it without giving up,’ that is the meaning of will.” In social practice, “there are people who tirelessly love to learn but lose their way (dao 道) and hinder their will, which is imperfection of discernment and that is all. There are those who expose everything about something but waver in their will and let the thing escape their grasp, which is imperfection of will and that is all.” “Discerning to shed light on things, willing to achieve things, employing the root of their moral potential, expanding the essence of their five constant virtues, fully acting them and bridging the six directions, broadcasting them and inspiring one hundred generations, this is the affair of worthy sages.” “Thus the worthy sage differs from the ordinary by undertaking this and that is all.” Discernment and will have decisive influence with respect to whether or not one can become a worthy sage. If “the discernment and will of Confucius could be acquired and stolen, then he would have been a mediocre person.” “If granted to the mediocre person, he would be Confucius.”65 Liu Zongyuan insists that moral potential and the five constant virtues are things that inherently come with “the capacity to discern and constantly endure” which everyone “receives from Heaven-or-Nature.” The source of these inherently existing things is dao. Dao was already recorded in such classics as Book of Poetry, Book of Documents, Book of Rites, Book of Changes and Spring and Autumn Annals. If people were to study these classics, they could act in equilibrium with dao (zhongdao er xing 中道而行). “Be rooted in The Book of Documents to seek its quality. Be rooted in The Book of Poetry to seek its eternity. Be rooted in The Book of Rites to seek its appropriateness. Be rooted in The Spring and Autumn Annals to seek its decisiveness. Be rooted in The Book of Changes to seek its movement. These are the sources from which I’ve acquired dao.”66 “Dao” demands everyone to be able to act in equilibrium with dao. What acting in equilibrium with dao means is firmly adhering to the “three cardinal guides” and “five constant virtues.” The sage’s main responsibility and task is to cultivate the people. He must make their actions follow in line with “dao.” “The sage’s enactment of cultivation establishes an equilibrium with dao to show to posterity. Being humane, acting righteously, observing ritual propriety, being wise and being trustworthy are what we call the five constant virtues, words that may constantly become deeds.”67 The so-called dao of governing the state is but establishing the three cardinal guides, upholding the five constant virtues, 65

Ibid. Ibid., (vol. 34). 67 Zongyuan et al. [21], (vol. 3). 66

2 The Resuscitation of Topics in Political Philosophy …

325

being humane and acting righteously, namely what he calls “establishing the grand equilibrium and dispelling the big confusion.” Since Heaven-or-Nature gifts human being with “discernment and will,” Heaven-or-Nature can rely upon it to endow people with “purely strong and sound [qi]” and achieve control over humanity, which means it does not require, as Dong Zhongshu insists, affective reciprocity between Heaven-or-Nature and humanity to strictly keep watch over humanity. The most direct and real motivating force behind human civilization is humanity itself and the chief factor behind the successive rise of dynasties is humanity as well, which transforms the traditional system of “receiving the mandate from Heaven” into one of “receiving the mandate from humanity,” that is “the Zhengde Emperor of the Tang imperial family receives the mandate from living human beings.”68 In actuality, Liu Zongyuan’s notion of “receiving the mandate from Heaven” follows Mencius’s thought of “winning over the people to become the son of Heaven.” It insists on becoming the lord of the realm by means of humane and virtuous conduct.69 Liu Zongyuan attributes the cause of the long or short-lived nature of a dynasty’s political fate to the rulers being virtuous or not and being humane or not. This is of course the viewpoint of a political realism or empiricism, but there is obviously a logical break between “higher power” and “higher virtue.” Liu Zongyuan may have simply opposed the idea of affective reciprocity between Heaven-or-Nature and humanity, while not denying the decisive role of Heaven-or-Nature in social politics, because the sanctity of humanity already exists in something which Heaven-or-Nature gives to humanity, but here so-called Heaven-or-Nature (tian 天) also does not necessarily just refer to Nature, for it obviously contains the implications of controller and controlling. The most obvious evidence of this is the ruler’s virtue. Although it is the most important and most decisive factor behind the ruler’s longevity, it is clearly not naturally formed, but is rather Heaven-or-Nature’s partial generous treatment of that human being. That which functions for government rule mostly comes from dao. “Officials are the vessels of dao,”70 that is officials are the carriers of the universal dao, and the people obey the ruler and indirectly obey dao. The separation of Heaven-or-Nature and humanity ultimately results in Liu Zongyuan’s political philosophy losing its force, but his obvious and intense political realism or empiricism also adds some new characteristics and contents to his political thought. Liu Zonngyuan insists on the limited nature of political choices, and even though the sage-king cannot make political choices as he wishes, whether or not something political maintains existence or not depends on an already-formed political arrangement and objective tendencies of development. The political choice of the feudal institution and commandery system was no different. “Neighbors gather and become a group. As the groups differentiate, their contentions must enlarge. After contentions enlarge there are military battles and prestigious men,” “if another leader of even greater prestige emerges, the leaders of the groups again head [to this arbiter] and obey his orders to pacify those belonging to their groups. Hence there 68

Zongyuan et al. [21], (vol. 1). Ibid. 70 Ibid., (vol. 3). 69

326

6 Role Paradigms: The Value of Putting People First and Reflection …

emerges the rank of dukes and marquises, the scope of whose contentions becomes even larger. If there emerges men of even greater prestige, the rank of dukes and noblemen head [to this arbiter] and obey his orders to pacify their fiefdoms, hence there emerges the class of regional earls (fangbo 方伯) and alliance commanders (lianshuai 连帅), whose contentions become even larger. If men of even greater prestige emerges, the regional earls and alliance commanders again head [to this arbiter] and obey his orders to pacify their populations, and only thereafter does the realm gather in unity.” He insists that the emergence of political order begins from the bottom level and gradually but progressively develops into the noble ranks and emoluments and hierarchical order of the realm. “[First] there are the neighborhood leaders, and afterward there is the county official. There are county officials, and only afterward there is the duke and marquis. There are dukes and marquises, and only afterward there is the regional earl and alliance commander. There are regional earls and alliance commanders, and only afterward there is the son of Heaven.” From the son of Heaven to the neighborhood leaders, their prestige lies in the human beings themselves, who die, and must demand their heirs to honor it. Thus, the feudal establishment was not of the intention of the sages, but of powerful positions.”71 Liu Zongyuan’s political thought focuses on human affairs and insists on the significance and value of positive human activity. In one respect, he advocates the actual capability of those occupying government office to care for the people and prudently formulate policy. In another respect, he also undertakes criticism and castigation of the inadequacies and wickedness in political reality. Through a series of fables and stories he elucidates the principle and method of performing government office. This principle and method embodies both the idea of putting people first and that of non-coercive action, merging the traditional ideas of Confucianism and Daoism respectively. Confucianism’s ideas of putting the people first, being humane and acting righteously manifest themselves as governing by following the people’s wishes with non-coercive action. Mr. Guo “Tuotuo cannot make trees live long and at the same time grow fast, he can only follow what is natural to the trees, in order to make it grow according to its natural tendencies. The natural tendencies of plants and trees in general are: their roots wish to expand; they wish earth to be level; they wish their soil to be native; that the soil be crushed finely.” “After that, there is no need to move them or worry about them, you may leave and not look back.” Here, Liu Zongyuan expresses Daoism’s traditional Idea of natural non-coercive action and says the secret to performing government office is to “do no invasive harm.” In Guo Tuotuo’eyes, “his planting was not so,” he “cared overly great, worried too diligently, observing [them] at dawn and grooming [them] at night, and once he left, he would look back concerned,” “peeling their bark to examine how live or withered they were, pulling at their roots to observe the spacing between them,” … “[a]lthough one may say he loved them, he actually invasively harmed them. Although one may say he worried for them, he actually took revenge upon them.”72 Liu Zongyuan both criticized indolent officials, accusing them for not putting the people first, and also 71 72

Zongyuan et al. [21], (vol. 3). Ibid., (vol. 17).

2 The Resuscitation of Topics in Political Philosophy …

327

criticized officials who interfered too deeply, accusing them of not understanding the subtlety of governing by non-coercive action. Liu Zongyuan’s Tale of the Woodworker uses the metaphor of a woodworker who “excels at gauging materials” to express the principles of acting as minister. The charge of the prime minister is to “choose the officials of the realm and issue them their missions, settle the population in the realm and enable them to secure their trades. By observing the capitals, one understands the countryside, by observing the town trades, one understands the state, and by observing the states, one understands the realm. For all affairs near and far, small and great, one may decide how to handle them with blueprint in hand as the carpenter sketches the palace on a wall, and [according to the sketch], sees it to completion…… Do not personally attend to the minor chores and do not interfer with the many officials…… Then the dao of ministers is grasped and all states are in managing order.”73 (3) Liu Yuxi’s Theory of Heaven-or-Nature and Humanity and Liu Yuxi’s Political Philosophy Liu Yuxi, courtesy name Mengde, native of Wuji county of Zhongshan, was born in the eighth year of the Dali era of Emperor Daizong of Tang, namely 772 CE and died in the second year of the Huichang era of Emperor Wuzong of Tang, namely 842 CE. In the 9th year of the Zhenyuan era, Liu Yuxi passed the imperial examination and was granted the title of presented scholar along with Liu Zongyuan. He then similarly passed the literati examination and acted as Investigating Censor along with Han Yu and Liu Zongyuan. After the enthronement of Emperor Xianzong of Tang, Liu Yuxi was also implicated along with Liu Zongyuan in “the two princes of Wang and eight ministers of war” event and was demoted to the Langzhou Minister of War. After Liu Yuxi lived in exile in Langzhou for 10 years, he was summoned along with Liu Zongyuan during the 11th year of the Yuanhe era of Emperor Xianzong of Tang to enter the capital, but was again demoted to the post of Regional Inspector of Lianzhou province for the offence of satirizing powerful aristocrats in the poem The Prince Who Plays with Presents and Looks at Flowers. Four years later, Liu Yuxi was ordered by the Regional Inspector of Hezhou as the Advisor to Hosts and Guests, but gain offended powerful noblemen of the court because of Quatrain Poem on Revisiting the Obscure Capital. In the second half of his life, Liu Yuxi lived to outclass Liu Zongyuan, acting in posts such as Gentleman of the Interior of the Department of Rites, Academician of the Hall of Worthy Scholars, Guest of the Heir Apparent and Additional Proofreader of the Minister of Rites. He passed away at 72 years of age and was granted the posthumous title of Minister of Revenue (hubu 户部). Liu Yuxi’s view of humanity’s relation to Heaven-or-Nature was similar to Liu Zongyuan’s, but he was more radical than Liu Zongyuan. His political positions were mostly similar to those of Liu Zongyuan as well. Liu Yuxi summarized all previous theories of humanity’s relation to Heaven-orNature and put forward his own understanding of it, clearly formulating the proposition that Heaven-or-Nature and humanity “prevail over one another.” “There are 73

Zongyuan et al. [21], (vol. 17).

328

6 Role Paradigms: The Value of Putting People First and Reflection …

two ways of formulating Heaven-or-Nature in the world.” One formulation is that of “those who hold on to consciousness,” i.e. the ones who champion the theory of affective reciprocity between Heaven-or-Nature and humanity, asserting “Heavenor-Nature and human beings are actually body and shadow: misfortune must befall by committing crime and fortune must come by doing good, in deep difficulty the call must be audible, in hidden pain pleas must be answerable,” “hence the doctrine of pacifying shadows succeeds”; the second is that of “those who hold to the unconscious,” who insist “Heaven-or-Nature and human beings are actually separate from one another. Lightning strikes from a concealed origin and never strikes on the criminal. Spring bursts forth in purple tea leaves and never decides moral good,” the world is “boundless and without master,” hence “the doctrine of natural occurrence succeeds.” “Master Liu’s profound work, The Doctrine of Heaven-or-Nature, refutes Han Yu’s formulation. His writing is truly graceful. Overall, however, he speaks out of passion and therefore does not fully explicate the juncture between Heaven-orNature and humanity.”74 Liu Yuxi’s The Doctrine of Heaven-or-Nature serves as a supplement to Liu Zongyuan’s viewpoint and fully elucidates their common theory of how humanity relates to Heaven-or-Nature. On the substance, Liu Zongyuan and Liu Yuxi’s theories of humanity’s relationship to Heaven-or-Nature do indeed share fundamental points in common. Both of them insist on the separation of human beings from Heaven-or-Nature and argue that human affairs hinge on human beings and not on Heaven, but the two also have points of divergence with respect to the theory of humanity’s relationship with Heaven. Liu Zongyuan’s skepticism and denial of Heaven do not nearly go as far as Liu Yuxi’s, which are total. To some degree, Liu Zongyuan still acknowledges Heaven’s fundamental purposive influence upon politics, whereas Liu Yuxi not only fully frees human affairs from the influence of Heaven as authority or a controlling Heaven, but also makes a thoroughgoing affirmation of humanity’s positive activity. He holds that humanity prevails over Heaven-or-Nature. Heaven-or-Nature and human being are both objective beings with respective capacities, but there is no hierarchical relationship of superiority and inferiority, noble and base between one and the other, and there is no governing connection of controlling and controlled between the two. Liu Yuxi points out that “[i]n general the human body and organs all have some things they can do and some things they cannot do,” “Heaven-or-Nature is of the largest physical form. Human beings are the most special of animals.” “What Heaven-or-Nature can do, human beings inherently cannot do. Among what human beings can do, Heaven-or-Nature likewise cannot do some of it.” “Heaven-or-Nature and human beings prevail over one another.”75 In society’s rises and falls and periods of order and disorder, Liu Yuxi fully values the role of human beings. He insists that right and wrong depend on human law, not on Heaven’s will. “Human beings can conquer Nature with law,” “[w]hen the law is enacted at grand scale, right is impartially right and wrong is impartially wrong. When people in the realm follow dao, they are of necessity rewarded. When disobeying it, they are of necessity punished.” Fortune and misfortune come about because of human 74 75

Yuxi [22], (vol. 1–4). Ibid.

2 The Resuscitation of Topics in Political Philosophy …

329

law, “[f]ortune, alas, may be gained by doing good, misfortune, alas, may befall for doing wrong. How could it be predetermined by Heaven?”76 Human affairs and not the mysterious will of Heaven play the crucial role in human politics. Liu Yuxi’s Doctrine of Heaven-or-Nature concentrates on criticizing the thought of affective reciprocity between Heaven-or-Nature and humanity. It denies all ideas of Heaven-or-Nature having the ability to reward and punish or bless and curse human beings. It champions the idea of conquering Nature with human [activity]. “When the distinction of right and wrong survives, even in the wild, the principle of humanity prevails. When right and wrong dies, even in the city-state, the principle of Nature prevails. That said, Heaven-or-Nature does not task itself with prevailing over humanity. Why so? Wherever human control is not, control returns to Heavenor-Nature.”77 If human beings cannot actively execute their own mastery and activity and cannot positively legislate to conquer themselves, human beings then hand over the entirety of their own fate to Nature, namely humanity then obeys Heaven-orNature by means of a fate that hinges on the comparison of who is stronger.78 Liu Yuxi’s Doctrine Heaven-or-Nature is much closer to Xunzi’s theory of Heaven-orNature and humanity than is Liu Zongyuan’s Doctrine of Heaven-or-Nature. Liu Yuxi not only advocates for human beings to determinately conquer Heaven-or-Nature, but also positively champions employing Heaven-or-Nature. What they call Heavenor-Nature (tian 天) refers to the material natural world outside of humanity. Liu Yuxi’s denial of Heaven as authority, Heaven as person, implies that he outwardly insists on the active mastery and total self-control of human beings, freeing humanity from a dependence upon Heaven-or-Nature. His denial of Heaven as authority and Heaven as person was always an implicit attack on the necessity that political events required in the traditional Chinese age. To a certain extent, this necessarily amounted to a shallow and indeed destructive or subversive political thought. If a theory of Heaven-or-Nature merely restricts itself to speaking to questions concerning the relationship between Nature and humanity, then Heaven-or-Nature only signifies the natural world. If Heaven-or-Nature were only Heaven-or-Nature in the sense of the natural world, then the political seriousness and dignity of human society could only originate from human beings. If the sage-king were only grounded in human being per se, then the sage-king would not have the power to successfully convince people to whole-heartedly and willfully accept his own lordship and would thereby generate a conclusion that is damaging to the Confucian ethical code of civilism. A human political order is originally founded on the universal commonality of the individual members of humankind. The seriousness and sanctity of a political order comes from the commonality between people, but when political thinkers prove the commonality among the individual members of humankind, they often expand this commonality to cover the cosmos and all beings, which makes commonality become something sacred that is purposefully constructed, and the origin and guarantor of this sacred something was called Heaven-or-Nature in traditional China. 76

Ibid. Ibid. 78 Ibid. 77

330

6 Role Paradigms: The Value of Putting People First and Reflection …

Liu Yuxi insists that “human law” is the universally valid “dao of the three kings,” that is the standard anywhere and everywhere, which cannot be abandoned, but the dao of the three kings also need not succumb to rigid adherence. Rather he advocates the expedient enactment of “the dao of the three kings” by means of combining strictness and flexibility. Liu Yuxi argues, “the dao of the three kings even goes through cycles, and one need not arbitrarily change it, but should carefully examine what should be corrected and that is all,” and “was not the fault of the Sui between titles and proprieties?” “The concern was that the system of titles and factual reality were at odds,” “what harm would come from acting according to it?”79 Liu Yuxi insists “the dao of the three kings” that the sage-kings established unfolded in reality as a systematic series of “titles,” and when “titles” contradict and conflict with the factual reality of rule, the political system must undertake major changes, and the power of appropriately handling these changes falls on the ruler, but the ruler’s appropriate handling of these changes did not have fixed standards and procedures, but rather fell entirely upon the ruler’s own intelligence and conscience, “[t]he excellence of application rests entirely on one affective mind.” In one respect, he insists the objective situation is always in the process of changing, and the political system must always handle corresponding problems appropriately in accordance with the specificities of the place and time in which they occur. The political system cannot lifelessly stagnate by taking measures that do not change in accordance with circumstances. Governance necessarily requires excellence at analyzing the propensities of the times and seeking order appropriately, “[t]he different political outcomes of prosperity and famine depend on timing,” “the specific laws of the Yi and Xia were tied to customs,” “acting timely involves excellent ministers, acting customarily involves conveniently not upsetting the order.” On the other hand, he held that governance also required understanding what is essential and what is secondary along with how to distinguish relative importance. He held that excellence at emulating prior worthy ministers required understanding the eternal classics of governance, “without understanding the dao of applying the law by examining relative importance, although the yearly cycle unfolds smoothly, one still faces flood and draught,” “without understanding the significance of everyday joyful completion, although the customs prescribe abundance and security, one still faces uncertain harvest.”80 “Trustworthy words are necessarily put in deeds, so the people are not vexed. This is the first element of politics.” Governance also requires viewing respect as the root of politics, “put faith in the purest waters and the people know respect. This is fundamental in politics.” In addition, governance also requires being good at appropriately adjusting, “worthy ministers of antiquity who governed each differed in title,” “there are two aspects of not reaching an appropriate outcome, considering timing and experiencing the seasons differ,” “when the people are satisfied, worries are put to rest, when secure, one values oneself and fears the law,” “when there is shortage, thoughts are of excess, and when thoughts are of excess, people are driven to profit and treat prohibitions

79 80

Yuxi [22], (vol. 5). Yuxi [22], (vol. 5).

2 The Resuscitation of Topics in Political Philosophy …

331

lightly.” “The people of Emperor Wenjing [of Han] were serious about their livelihood and those acting as government officials commanded by exhibiting humane compassion. The people of Empress Wuxuan were urgent in battle and those acting as officials commanded with the title of martial strength,” “relaxed consideration and vigorous concentration were repeatedly employed like a cycle of questioning and studying diligently,” “one must investigate one’s mistakes and correct them, which is to suitably examine one’s investigations and decisions.”81 (4) Li Ao’s Theory of Human Nature and the Value of his Political Philosophy Li Ao, courtesy name Xizhi, a native of Longxi, Chengji county, modern day Gansu province, southwestern Weiyuan county, was born in the eight year of the Dali era of Emperor Daizong of Tang, namely 772 CE, and died in the first year of the Huichang era of Emperor Wuzong of Tang. In 842 CE, he passed the imperial examination as presented scholar (jinshi 进士). In the early years of the Yuanhe era of Emperor Xianzong of Tang, he acted as Erudite Scholar of the Directorate of Education and Senior Editor of the Historiography Office. Li Ao married the daughter of Han Hui, who belonged to Han Yu’s clan. His positions academic and political were in the most part similar if not identical to Han Yu’s. He advocated for reviving antiquity and carrying on the orthodoxy. He gave a detailed elucidation of the constitution of human nature and universally rejected Buddhist theory. He was a loyal and true follower of Han Yu in thought. Li Ao’s political thought mainly concentrated on the theory of human nature and the rest of it was in the most part identical to Han Yu’s political thought. Li Ao’s theory of human nature differs from Mencius’s, Xunzi’s, Hanfei’s and Lisi’s no less than it differs from Dong Zhongshu’s and Han Yu’s, but it is even further from the Buddhist theory of Buddha nature and the theory of human nature found in Song and Ming dynasty neo-Confucian rationalism. Mencius, Xunzi and Hanfei did not describe the original state of what human nature ought to be, nor did they connect together the original state of what human nature ought to be with the realization of the universal value of humanity. Instead, they only made hypotheses about the goodness or badness of human nature based on simple life experience. Dong Zhongshu and Han Yu’s theories of human nature took into consideration the diversity exhibited by people in society and divided human nature into three ranks based on what people expressed, but they did not undertake the unified definition of human nature. Since human nature is the fundamental ground of human being qua human, the theory of human nature requires discovering the common nature among human beings which is both universal and at the same time necessary, but the theory of the three ranks of human nature splits up the unity of human beings and hence its theoretical value suffered a drastic decline. Although the Buddhist theory of Buddha nature does give descriptions of the original state of Buddha nature and connects the originally existing Buddha nature to the necessary realization of the value of human being, and moreover, sets sights on the striving to return to the original nature and the universal method for realizing value, its basic tendency is however toward a negative religious liberation, which does not have any necessary connection to 81

Ibid.

332

6 Role Paradigms: The Value of Putting People First and Reflection …

straightforward political ideals and political values. The theory of human nature found in Song and Ming dynasty neo-Confucian rationalism on the other hand was considerably mature and nearly went as far as the traditional Chinese stage could go in laying the universal ground for the construction of the Confucian political ideal. Li Ao’s theory of human nature inherited the positive theoretical achievements of the Buddhist theory of Buddha nature and explored the universal ground of human nature according to the Confucian political ideal. Even though it already had some sort of new beginning, it was obviously still immature. Li Ao genuinely analyzed the subjective structure of social individuals and divided the subjective constitution of the human being into natural tendencies (xing 性) and emotional affects (qing 情). He adequately explains that the universal ground of human being qua human is the natural tendencies of human beings and that the majority of human beings fail to become sages because emotional affects cover up the natural tendencies of human beings. “Human beings therefore become sages because of natural human tendencies. What ends up confusing the natural tendencies of human beings are emotional affects.” “Joy, anger, grief, fear, love, hate and sexual desire are the seven states, all of which are the doing of emotional affects. Since emotional affects dim the mind, natural tendencies hide under this.” “It is not the mistake of natural tendencies,” “if water is muddy, it flows unclearly. If smoke bellows from fire, its light does not shine bright, but neither cases are the fault of water’s clarity and fire’s brightness.” “If sand muddies not the water, it flows clearly. If smoke is not thick, light shines brightly. If the emotional affects are not at work, natural tendencies act sufficiently.” “Natural tendencies are mandated by Heaven-or-Nature. Sages receive them and do not confuse them.” “Emotional affects are the disturbance of natural tendencies, common people drown in them and hence are incapable of understanding their origin.”82 The difference between the wise man [the sage] and the common man is not in having natural tendencies or not, but rather in whether or not one’s natural tendencies are confused by emotional affects. To a certain degree, this illustrates that natural tendencies and emotional affects have precisely opposite status within Li Ao’s theoretical framework. Human being’s natural tendencies originate from Heaven-or-Nature and human being’s emotional affects arise from the disturbance of natural tendencies responsively sensing under the stimulation of external things, in which case the natural tendencies originating from Heaven-or Nature are the innate ground of human being qua human, while emotional affects, which arise from the disturbance of natural tendencies due to sensing [external things] arise from experience. Emotional affects are the disturbance or blockage of human being’s pathway to becoming truly human. The one who is never disturbed by emotional affects is the so-called sage. The common man is drowning in emotional affects and hence cannot become purely human like the sage. Li Ao points out, “[w]ith the irrational emotional affects extinguished and still, the original natural tendencies are clear and bright, fluidly interacting with the surroundings through the six openings, which is called the power to restore one’s natural tendencies.”83 Natural tendencies 82 83

Ao [23], (vol. 2). Ao [23], (vol. 2).

2 The Resuscitation of Topics in Political Philosophy …

333

come from Heaven-or-Nature and are stored within oneself, nothing about which are not good. The reason why one may have something bad in oneself is because one is drowning in human affects. Although emotional affects “emerge from natural tendencies, emotional affects do not come from emotional affects, but by virtue of natural tendencies.” Natural tendencies cannot spontaneously brighten of themselves. They must brighten through emotional affects.”84 Although emotional affects come into being from natural tendencies, they are also the precise opposite of natural tendencies, “emotional affects are the unwholesomeness of natural tendencies.”85 The natural tendencies of human beings are like clear water and the emotional affects of human beings are muddy sand. If human being’s clear and bright natural tendencies are like clear, undisturbed and still water, the emotional affects will not muddy them due to the disturbance of natural tendencies sensing other things. If one’s natural tendencies which have been emotionally affected by the stimulation of external things can calm down in time, the emotional affect will quiet down like silt muddying clear water. With the irrational emotional affects extinguished and put to rest, one returns to the original good-hearted nature of being natural and ordinary people progress toward the sage because of it. Li Ao believes that the sage, far from devoid of passion, does indeed have passion but does not allow it to be affected by external things, rendering passion useless. Passion having no function amounts to functioning in the dispassionate state, which is precisely what Li Ao argues with respect to the sage, who “although has passions, is never impassioned.” The common human being, like the ordinary human being, is not devoid of natural tendencies, it is only that his or her natural tendencies are confused by emotional affects and cannot play an active role. Although he or she has the constitution of natural tendencies, he or she never enjoys the functioning of natural tendencies, because of which, he or she do have so-called natural tendencies but cannot exhibit the functioning of natural tendencies. Li Ao still holds many selfcontradictory views on the relationship between natural tendencies and emotional affects. He has to clearly show that natural tendencies and emotional affects are different and that natural tendencies are higher than emotional affects and moreover control them, and also must illustrate the inseparable and necessary connection between the two insofar as the emotional affects come into being from the natural tendencies and the natural tendencies shine through emotional affect. In ordinary language this is to ask: how is it that emotional affects, which come into being from natural tendencies and exhibit natural tendencies because of it, also necessarily constitute the natural enemy of natural tendencies? Emotional affects are both the necessary means by which natural tendencies show themselves, so how could they also the objects that natural tendencies aim to suppress and eliminate? Li Ao never distinguishes the emotional affects which exhibit natural tendencies from the emotional affects which damage natural tendencies. He also never states that the source responsible for generating the emotional affects that damage natural tendencies are in the natural tendencies of my physical self. On top of that, he fails to 84 85

Ibid. Ibid.

334

6 Role Paradigms: The Value of Putting People First and Reflection …

state that the human nature which produces the sage and determines the sage to become sage is the rationality or coherent patterning of society’s universal being or the natural tendencies of Heaven-or-Nature’s coherent patterning (tianli zhi xing 天理 之性). Even though the natural tendencies of Heaven-or-Nature’s coherent patterning must be exhibited through emotional affects, the human emotional affects that they exhibit are all appropriate, and in actuality, they are Heaven-or-Nature’s cohering patterns choosing and controlling the emotional affects that are generated by the natural tendencies of the physical body. Although Li Ao noticed that the seriousness and sanctity of the political order requires the unity of the natural tendencies that are universal among human beings, he could not or did not entirely grasp this unity. Li Ao’s theory of human nature over-emphasizes the stillness of natural tendencies. If his theory had not specifically indicated his own Confucian strivings, it would have easily been mistaken as the Buddhist theory of Buddha nature. Although human beings are unavoidably going to have passions, as long as their natural tendencies are capable of “awakening and brightening,” good natural tendencies can play their active role and become the universal and necessary ground of human nature in Confucianism’s ideal political society. “Awakening and brightening” means that the natural tendencies of human being return to the undisturbed state of not being emotionally affected, and not being emotionally affected actually means neither worrying nor thinking, devoid of both worries and thoughts. Li Ao argues having natural tendencies and not being emotionally affected requires human beings to accomplish “neither worrying nor thinking, whence emotional affects do not arise. Since emotional affects do not arise, one may engage in correcting thought.” He states, “what corrects thought” is “having no worries and having no thoughts,” “originally there are no thoughts, all noise is gone and undisturbed stillness is fully truthful,” “looking and listening so clearly it does not rise to knowledge of what is seen and heard, this is possible.” “Aware of all and willful in all one does, one’s mind quietly illuminating Heaven and Earth is the brightness of being truthful.”86 Li Ao believes the distinction between the sage and the ordinary mainly consists in whether or not the good natural tendencies given by Heaven-or-Nature are brightly awakened and playing a guiding or controlling role. “The one who is the sage is the first to awaken among human beings. The sage is awakened and consequently bright.” The natural tendencies of the sage “are awake and bright,” “still and undisturbed,” impassioned but unburdened by emotional affects. The ordinary “are confused and hence dim-witted,” “dimmed by emotional affects, which fight one another and never end, so even at the end of life one never ends up seeing the natural tendencies in oneself.”87 The natural tendencies of ordinary persons are already confused by emotional affects. How can they finally put a stop to malignant emotional affects and resuscitate natural tendencies originally in themselves? Li Ao’s method of reviving natural tendencies, in brief, involves, “neither worrying nor thinking and emotional affects never arise. Since emotional affects do not arise, one may engage in correcting

86 87

Ao [23], (vol. 2). Ibid.

2 The Resuscitation of Topics in Political Philosophy …

335

thought, and what corrects thought is having no worries and having no thoughts.”88 Granted, it is impossible for human beings not to see and hear external things, because “not seeing and not hearing is inhuman,”89 but it is however possible to make their looking and listening not arise from empirical knowledge. In his explanation of “examining things to gain consciousness (zhi 知),” Li Ao points out: “things mean all things; examining means approaching and reaching; when something approaches and one’s mind is clear, it brightly distinguishes it; not reacting to something is to gain consciousness, that is being fully conscious.”90 “The superior master is observant of himself even when alone and one who is observant of oneself when alone maintains his focus.”91 What Li Ao calls zhi 知 is a transcendental consciousness of natural tendencies, not what we call empirical knowledge today. His method insists on not being tied up in things, being neither joyful due to external things nor sad because of oneself, and one can only gain consciousness of the universal natural tendencies by freeing oneself of concrete knowledge. However, our empirical knowledge can only be acquired through experience, and if joy does not arise from external things and sadness does not arise from ourselves, if we are neither pulled along by curiosity nor moved by our sensations, we cannot possibly gain empirical knowledge. Although Li Ao insisted on having neither thoughts nor worries and neither thinking nor worrying, he also differed from the aggressively restrained Confucian scholars who advocated not studying at all. He advocated returning to natural tendencies by learning through becoming well-read in the Confucian classics written by sages and worthy scholars. Returning to natural tendencies by learning of course implies effort in experience, but becoming well-read in the Confucian classics written by sages and worthy scholars does not add to one’s empirical knowledge. Rather, the purpose is to revive one’s own transcendental consciousness. The sage reaches humane rightness through the clearing up and brightening of one’s own natural tendencies and expresses the principles of being humane and being right in written compositions. Ordinary people can gradually brighten up and display their natural tendencies through studying the written compositions of sages and worthy scholars who express what is humane and what is right.92

3 Political Critique in the Tang and the Five Dynasties Political critique during the middle and late Tang dynasty as well as during the five dynasties period was predominantly influenced by Daoist thought and unfolded as a series of angrily worded propositions and judgments. Some of the political thoughts expressed in the latter transformed dissatisfaction and anger into military 88

Ibid. Ibid. 90 Ao [23], (vol. 2). 91 Ibid. 92 Ibid., (vol. 8). 89

336

6 Role Paradigms: The Value of Putting People First and Reflection …

revolts and the most extreme among them formulated anarchist positions. During the middle and late Tang, the five dynasties period and the ten kingdoms period, the political mentality of the people was rather complicated and the prosperous age of the feudal establishment had already irretrievably passed away as attachment to and yearning for the prosperous age of the feudal establishment still painfully lingered in people’s minds, but the real political situation was also so ugly that, sparked by massive dissonance between the ideal and the real, the anger fuming in people’s minds gradually spread throughout the realm to the point of becoming a relatively popular political mentality in society. Good-hearted people could not understand the secrets behind the Creator controlling the world and also felt that the Creator intentionally fooled people, that they were helpless and powerless in the face of what the Creator had set out to do, and so could only attribute such bizarre and strange changes in the political realm to mysterious “changes.” Now, Daoist thought naturally becomes popular whenever mysterious “changes,” in the face of which people are powerless, are universally mentioned in society to explain political transformations. Although the role of Daoism in Chinese history during the middle to late Tang and five dynasties period was not as obvious and strong as it was during the end of the Han dynasty, the objective types of roles it played were certainly very similar to one another, and the main role that it played was as an important component part of political critique as trend of thought. There are indeed many coincidences in the process of historical development, but events that are truly coincidences are actually few in number. The majority of coincidences are rather the effect of objective laws playing a controlling role and many events that seem like coincidences have some objective and necessary connection yet to be revealed between each another. The reason why the trend of political critique during the middle to late Tang and Five Dynasties period is worth noting is because it had an extraordinary manifestation at this stage and this extraordinary manifestation also took place nearly at the same time as the Tang empire’s turn from prosperity to decline. Does this amount to pure coincidence? Actually, political critique during the middle to late Tang and five dynasties period was the intellectual reflection of the overall state of affairs in society worsening by the day. Many upright and good-hearted people felt dissatisfied with this worsening decline and when they sensed that there was still hope to make corrections, they did their utmost to point out what was wrong and urge rectification, but once they became conscious of that fact that the increasing intensification of dispiriting decline had become irreversible, their dissatisfaction would transform into indignant criticism, which although seemed like just and righteous seriousness, it actually did not have any positive constructive role of which to speak, because they were mostly handling political “injustice” with the mentality of correcting injustices and rectifying errors, a mentality which could only cause another kind of “injustice,” and moreover, the new “injustice” brought into being would not necessarily be less damaging than the “injustice” that was corrected. The extreme point of indignance in this political critique would produce doubts and distrust with respect to everything political and would embrace enmity and hostile mentality toward every possible political authority, which produced a true anarchism in political thought and the social consequence of every form of anarchism are all firstly negative and lack needed

3 Political Critique in the Tang and the Five Dynasties

337

constructive measures or positions. Political critique at the end of the Tang dynasty was very much lacking in philosophical principle, and tended rather toward cries of pessimism or prophesies of end-of-the-world scenarios. (1) Yuan Jie’s People First Complex and His Pitying Political Critique Yuan Jie, courtesy name Cishan, also went by the self-styled name Langshi. A native of Lushan county of Ruzhou province (modern day Lushan county, Pingdingshan municipality, Henan province), Yuan Jie was born in the 7th year of the Kaiyuan era of Emperor Xuanzong of Song, that is 719 CE. He was a member of the Xianbei clan and descendent of the Tuoba clan who founded the Northern Wei. In the 12 the year of the Tianbao era (that is 753 CE) he passed the imperial examination as presented scholar, but ran directly into the Anshi rebellion and had no other choice but to “sink or float drifting amidst the people.” Emperor Suzong of Tang sought worthy officers in the realm, convened a meeting at the capital and submitted three papers to the discussion, appointed the Right Imperial Insignia Administrators of War, Acting Investigating Censors and Participating Advisors to the Circuit-Level Command of the Western Pass of the Shannan Circuit to participate in putting down Shi Siming’s war and establish a series of serious accomplishments. Yuan Jie passed away in Chang’an in the 7th year of the Dali era of Emperor Daizong of Tang (772 CE). His written works were edited later into The Collected Works of Yuan Cishan. Yuan Jie excelled at writing poetry and his poems were sympathetic to the working people. His representative works include Walking Spring Hills (chunlingxing 舂陵 行) and Thieves Withdraw But Tax-Collectors Appear (zei-tui-shi-guan-li 贼退示官 吏). He advocated for poetry to serve the purposes of political cultivation, demanding that poems “fully express the emperors’ ways of coherent order and chaotic turmoil and tap the ancients’ stream of admonishing satire.”93 Poems should help the world and encourage the populace, repair mistakes and fix losses, “rise to affect the rulers and go down to influence the people.”94 He opposed poetic circles at the time for the unhealthy style of “restraint and sickness of tone, similar to worshipping superiors,”95 and became the forerunner of the New Music Bureau Movement. Yuan Jie undertook a fierce critique of all of the chaotic states of affairs in the realm through the poem Times Transform, where he shows intense anger at the times when excellent things human society requires were being replaced by ugly things. He summarized many decadent changes in the world as “the transformation of the times”: “principle and virtue are transformed by compulsion and desire into brazenness and lack of generosity; humaneness and righteousness is transformed by greed and violence into ruthlessness and chaos; rites and music are transformed by self-abandonment and vice into extravagance and waste; governing discipline is transformed into harsh cruelty by restless irascibility.” “These are the transformations of the times”: “husbands and wives are transformed by looseness and confusion, transformed into dogs and swine; fathers and sons are transformed by darkness 93

Jie [24], (preface). Ibid. 95 Ibid. 94

338

6 Role Paradigms: The Value of Putting People First and Reflection …

and sensuality into birds and beasts; elder and younger brothers are transformed by suspicion and jealousy, transformed into enemies and foes; ancestors and dear relatives are transformed by wealth and profit, transformed into strange passersby on the road; friends are transformed by worldly profit, transformed into market spawn.” “These are the transformations of the times”: “as powerful officials are released from constraints by authority and power, loyal trust is transformed into treacherous deceit; as common officials are restrained by prohibitions and bans, impartial honesty is transformed into malign flattery; as the imperial family is held back by suspicion and jealousy, worthy scholars and wise philosophers transform into mediocre men and idiots; as the people are cut down by military campaigns and taxes, the prefectures and regions are transformed into disaster zone residences; as treachery and violence are urged on by favors and fortunes, servants and runners are transformed into generals and ministers.” These are the transformations of the times”: mountains and marshes are transforming into wells and roads, and some say exhaustively consume the vegetation; primeval wilderness are transforming into prisons, and some say take down all of the birds and animals; waters and lakes are transforming into tripod pots and cauldrons, and some say ruthlessly exploit the fish and turtles; halls and temples are transforming into palaces and chambers, and some say be sparing with offerings and prayers.”96 The Transformations of the World also describes the ugliness taking over mainstream society and the difficult plight of the people behind it, “within the four seas, lane fights and household battles are waged, snapping bones and decomposing flesh, bodies lying on top of one another across 10,000 li,” “are not Heaven and Earth an axe and hatchet, bandits rise amidst the people in the dark of night to prey on food, and when travelling during the day, kill and butcher one another, is not the sun for jackals and the moon for tigers?” “People are throwing each other life and limb over cliffs to the bottom of deep valleys, you can start to hear the voices and screams fade away, are not the mountains and marshes administrative units?” “Where the people run and walk there are no deep forests or luxuriant thickets, they cannot hide for protection, is not vegetation their ancestral clan?” So, the people must endure all kinds of suffering, “the people are leaving the towns and kingdoms and heading into the mountains and onto the seas, resting for a breath every thousand li, with strength exhausted, they rest momentarily, have not the wind and rain become their residence and house? The people lift each other up from death and injury, and walking naked, how the frost and snow have become their clothing and coat.” “Labor and toil do injustice to one another, the pain of boils and sores spread into one another, the old and feeble torture one another with loneliness, venturing not to rescue one another from death and demise, how moans have become the most common sound.” In this case, “the people are mostly starving in ditches and injured on the roads, how sewage has become a delicacy.” “The people flee and hide, the dagger axe and spear grate up against one another, those ahead are injured and those behind are dying, while those who flee and survive, take one breath as if it were an eternity.” “The lord’s body is stiff and the minister’s body rots, laying one

96

Shouyan [17], (vol. 383).

3 Political Critique in the Tang and the Five Dynasties

339

on top of another at the side of the road, the birds and beasts pass up their bones and flesh, is the black dog not the ruling master here?”.97 Yuan Jie’s The First Plans (yuanmo 元谟) selects the ruler’s virtuous powers in history as the topic and asserts that ideal governance ought to effectuate the principle of non-coercive action or reducing coercive measures. There are two sorts of dao in politics: one is “the dao of degradation to propriety,” “the rulers of high antiquity employed sincerity and shamed wisdom. Thus, they empowered the dao to clarify what is pure, which multiplied into perfect virtues, perfect virtues accumulated and rippled out, and the people found pure intentions in themselves,” … “the next grade [of rulers] employed wisdom and shamed understanding, thereby using dao to carry out instructions and cultivating discipline to establish reforms. The discipline and reforms were harmonious and compliantly obeyed, and the people followed and trusted [them].” “The next grade [of rulers] employed understanding and shamed killing, thereby following resurrecting laws in line with the reforms and arranging ordinances in accordance with discipline, the laws and ordinances were simple and essential and the people were obediently disciplined,” “which is the dao of degradation to propriety.” The other sort is “the dao of degradation into demise”: “by the time of eras in decline, the rulers were first sternly reprimanded and afterward killed. They cited the laws to organize punishments. They cited the ordinances to establish penalties. The punishments and penalties accumulated and stiffened, and their inferiors trembled in fear.” “They first [did the dirty work of] killing and then indulged [in pleasures] afterward. Immersed deeply in punishment, they grew violent, brutally penalizing and torturing without restraint. The violent torture became more whimsical by the day.” “Their inferiors who needed to succeed them first indulged [in lewd vices] and then brought turmoil, embracing violence into death and following brutality to the point of extermination, the signs of death and extermination accumulated, and their inferiors grew angry and violent, which is the pathway (dao 道) of degradation into demise.”98 The Plan of Development showcases Daoist political thought’s pursuit of pure non-coercive action and criticizes the practices of “coercively producing morality” and of “beginning to trumpet what is humane and what is righteous.” It also cautions against consciously acting for the sake of what is humane and wise. “The dao of degradation to propriety coercively destroyed pure simplicity since high antiquity, coercively produced morality, and by forcing the revitalization of it in this way, they forced the demise of it as well. They began commencing rituals and music. They began trumpeting what is humane and righteous, and with the distinction of good and evil, they produced truth and falsity,” “afterward the current of industriousness and thrift came blowing in and the flame ever grew, the discipline of seriousness and concern arose and the reforms were repeatedly composed, requiring wit and strategy to cite explanations and requiring trust and deference to strengthen command,” which “requires clear and pure [explanations] to be bequeathed, and requires fairness and standards to be maintained,” “wisdom met scholarship and scholarship wisdom, swallowing 97 98

Shouyan [17] (vol. 383). Ibid.

340

6 Role Paradigms: The Value of Putting People First and Reflection …

one another and dissolving one another, neither freeing nor securing one another,” the people “observed the prohibitions and consequently none killed, [the people] were disciplined and consequently none erred, it obliterated carefree movement, it praised gentle balance,” but “the dao of degradation into demise, from middle antiquity it turned to producing degeneracy and confusion, and in turn wicked deception sprang,” “laughing off ordinances derisively, … hence brutishness and extravagance were observed, which gradually grew into lewdness and wastefulness,” “a fountainhead of angry contentions flowed outward ever expansively by the day, and a root of wretched poison grew up fully into a plant, using cruel torture to threaten [people into] submission, using toady flattery to ensure complicity with one’s desires. Henceforth, all lost restraint and resorted to torture in the dark, which necessarily spawned turmoil and wickedness, or as we say, an encounter between the mediocre and the idiotic, a cacophony of clamor, and with pity and name calling, bitterness expanded into resentment observably as different positions grew into mutual opposition.”99 The sage-king must fully express dao to common officials and worthy men must grow virtues in the mediocre ruler, …… penalize but not stiffly, take precautions against their brutal delusions, reign in their dark indulgences.”100 Yuan Jie’s heart of worry for the people concentrated both on accusations and castigations against bad governances as well as on Daoism’s naturalist conception of ruling with non-coercive action. (2) The Powerless Master Wu Nengzi’s Daoist Style of Political Critique and His Political Ideals The Powerless Master (wunengzi 无能子) is a work by an anonymous person in the late Tang dynasty written during the Wang Chao Rebellion turmoil. Although there are no remaining traces of the name and biography of said book’s author, one point is perfectly clear, which is that the author lived through the chaos of war initiated by Wang Xianzhi and Huang Chao. The Powerless Master is written in radical language from an attitude of indignance, which sufficiently illustrates the author’s attitude toward the rulers. The political thought of The Powerless Master hones in on the Daoist thought of what unfolds naturally without invasive coercion. In one respect, it spares no effort in attacks against society’s hierarchical division of titles, ethical code of relationships and the political order of monarchy, rejecting it all as the fountainhead of disaster and chaos. In another respect, it also positively advocates on behalf of human society’s return to original simplicity, championing the rejection ritual discipline and the abandonment of feudal ethics along with eliminating the hierarchical distinction between noble and base families and ruler and minister roles. From criticizing and negating the ritual discipline of the feudal establishment and the institution of monarchy, it goes to the extreme pole of denying all human social relationships and culture. The powerless master’s conception of society and politics was of exemplary significance and certainly representative of the times. K.C. Hsiao pointed out, “The book The Powerless Master emerged in reaction to the times and 99

Shouyan [17], (vol. 383). Ibid.

100

3 Political Critique in the Tang and the Five Dynasties

341

gives an overall clean account of the criminal wickedness of the despotic ruler’s harsh policies. Its attitude of indignance and impassioned language was unprecedented by its time, and compared with Baosheng [of the Han dynasty], it feels as if it contains far more.”101 The Powerless Master advocates on behalf of a purely naturalist conception of the world along the lines of Wang Chong and Kong Rong. It opposes the existence of an omnipotent and supremely benevolent master in the world. It opposes the theory of human exceptionalism held by all of the teleological theories or mysticisms. It views human beings as natural creatures just like the other animals, namely what it calls naked critters. Human being is a natural being and also must follow natural laws. Purposive human doing and making goes against what is natural and amounts to something excessive and indeed malignant. The first section “The Sage Goes Too Far” states, “Heaven and Earth align properly,” “giving birth to naked critters, scaly critters, hairy crawlers, winged critters and armored crawlers,” and “human beings are naked critters, and together with the scaly, hairy, winged and armored critters, they are all equally born of Heaven and Earth,” “and differ in no way.”102 During the most ancient of times, naked critters lived together amidst a mixture of scaly, hairy, winged and armored critters without separating male and female, husband and wife, without ordering the succession of father to son, elder to younger brother,” “Nest building in the summer and cave dwelling in the winter, eating hairy critters and drinking blood,” “without the will to steal and harm,” “letting what is natural unfold, following their innate innocence without commands to shepherd them,” “among the naked critters, those who bred intelligent and thoughtful offspring went by the name of humanity,” who reform what is natural, “[w]ho bound all critters—scaly, hairy, winged and armored—with the law, and who teach each other to sow seeds to eat hundreds of grains. Hence, there is the function of pitch-fork and spade. There was the assembling of wood and the piling together of earth to build palaces and rooms. Hence, there is the work of axes and hatchets. There was the arranging of marriages by distinguishing the genders of male and female. Hence, there is the separation of husband and wife, the ordered succession of father to son and elder to younger brother,” “those who bred for their intelligent thoughtfulness also selected among them one to rule the many, the name of one being the ruler, the name of the many being officials, the one may coerce work from the many, but the many must not rise up against the one.”103 He opposes the sage-king’s so-called virtuous merits and cultivation. He insists the latter are actually nothing but the mistakes where the sage-king goes too far, “unfolding naturally the critters go, unfolding unnaturally humans go, coercively establishing palaces and chambers, foods and drinks to goad their sensuous desires, coercively separating noble from base and superior from inferior to intensify their contentious struggles, coercively performing the humane and the right, rituals and music to twist their simple fulfillments, coercively executing punishments and penalties, taxes and campaigns to cripple their lives, compulsively pursuing their secondary ends and forgetting their primary roots, entangling their 101

Gongquan [25], p. 294. Ming [26], p. 1. 103 Ibid. 102

342

6 Role Paradigms: The Value of Putting People First and Reflection …

affections and attacking their fates, the lost die from the misled and the misled die from the lost, never recovering from antiquity to today is what we call the sage-king going too far.”104 The Powerless Master, “The Doctrine of Fan Li” forcefully champions “the virtue of doing nothing” and opposes the teleological explanation of the cosmos, “Heaven and Earth have no conscious will. They have no self-control, let alone control other things,” “Heaven and Earth arise from Heaven and Earth, all creatures arise from all creatures. Spring time naturally gives birth with mild weather, Winter time naturally brings death through frigid weather. Heaven and Earth do not make them do so.” “Although the sage-king has conscious will, its functioning is constituted in Heaven and Earth,” “although Heaven and Earth have no conscious will, automatic actions result in reactions, something exerting pressure results in compliance with it, something going too far results in opposition to it. Eliminate pestilences without hate and accomplish things without love,” “[h]ence, pestilences are eliminated without curses and things are accomplished without blessings.”105 “The virtue of effortlessly doing nothing is to embrace Heaven and Earth. The virtue of acting with effort is to initiate something and accomplish something.”106 “Thus, when doing nothing, nothing can impede you. If impeded in the effort to do something, doing nothing is something one cannot do.”107 All intentional efforts to do something are absurd actions. The Powerless Master views “the mindset of doing nothing” as the original state of human life and worldly affairs. “The original state is the mindset of doing nothing, the body stands up on the basis of it, and it acts constantly without exhaustion.” Among human beings, “the ones who understand it, conserve when they can conserve and act when they can act, responding to things and standing among things, free in being emotionally affected by nothing.” “For those ignorant of it, cravings and desires are the drivers, the eyes and ears are the followers, functioning irrationally all day without understanding or knowing it.” “The mindset” of “constancy without exhaustion” “acquires it in not possessing, and stores it in a rock-solid origin. When active, it observes the imperceptible shape of an autumn down and examines the imperceptible sound of a mosquito sucking. When resting, it observes neither mountain nor hill, and does not hear the thunder and hide. It is so grand it can envelop Heaven and Earth. It is so minute it can slip through eyelashes. So sudden and faint, it neither comes nor goes. Inaudible and invisible, it neither increases nor diminishes.”108 “When effortlessly doing nothing, one simplifies and rectifies, acting as the coherent patterning of Nature.” “When purposefully doing something, one craves and desires, distorting the natural tendency of humanity.”109 “Regulations originate from actions, actions originate from the will and the will originates from natural spontaneity. When things happen unnaturally, consciousness emerges. When consciousness emerges, actions 104

Ibid. pp. 2–3. Ming [26], p. 22. 106 Ibid., p. 15. 107 Ibid., p. 16. 108 Ibid., p. 6. 109 Ibid., pp. 17–18. 105

3 Political Critique in the Tang and the Five Dynasties

343

become flimsy. When actions become flimsy, regulations become elaborate. When regulations become elaborate, there is dissemblance. Where there is dissemblance, chaos reigns, and chaos is why the sage-king cannot save the order.”110 The Powerless Master belittles the sage-king and imperial power. In not only points out that the sage-king as the subject who “multiplies his knowledge and thoughts” destroys the natural essence of both universe and human being and makes human society groundlessly engender so many perplexities and hardships, but it also insists that any reference to an emperor is absolutely worthless. “Since antiquity, the title of emperor as well as those of duke, marquis, minister and scholar-official, were all titles granted by sage-kings with power to hierarchically differentiate noble and base ranks and lure stupid people,” “using power to grant titles, is something the common lot of people can all do.” “If everyone can do it themselves, why do nobles exist?” “The power of the emperor is ultimately limited.” “The world since antiquity has been considered of the greatest vastness.” “If one were to cut the world into tenths, mountains and waters would possess five tenths, the barbarian yi tribes and the militant di tribes would have three tenths, and what China possesses would be but one or two tenths.”111 “The noblemen of China are around one or two tenths of the realm.” He insists that the emperors and kings have used violence within a finite range of space to declare themselves king or despot, which is far from being noble. The emperors were neither gods nor sages. They were doing nothing but, within the territory they ruled, “enlarging palaces and chambers, beautifying beverages and foods, finding joys and hates, and lording over life and death, going to extremes to satisfy cravings and desires and that is all. “Nobility in the son of Heaven is hard to find!” The emperor, in order to seize the realm, “wages wars and slaughters, knowing neither discipline nor extremes, ending the lives of others to get what he desires, while the humane ones cannot bear even speaking of it.”112 This role flatly goes against the grain of Nature’s coherent patterning. They not only should not peacefully enjoy superiority and nobility, but on the contrary they are the straightforward criminals of human society. In the view of The Powerless Master, such roles not only do not deserve reverence, but should rather be cast aside and derided. The Powerless Master advocates and champions throwing out all rituals and music and abandoning all laws and decrees. It insists on complying with what is natural, responding to situations, and not intentionally willing to do something. “When situations arise, respond, when something comes, help it. Respond to the situation, but do not scheme for oneself. Help things, but do not labor at meritorious effort.”113 The sage and emperor’s active plotting is like putting fish on dry land and teaching them to swallow each other’s spit. It goes against the natural attributes of human beings and brings great damage to humanity. The Powerless Master advocates eliminating all social relationships, all political arrangements and all social norms. It advocates a return to letting what is natural unfold without controlling or shepherding 110

Ibid., p. 41. Ming [26], p. 28. 112 Ibid., p. 29. 113 Ibid., p. 23. 111

344

6 Role Paradigms: The Value of Putting People First and Reflection …

it. It advocates returning to “the most virtuous world” where humans live together undifferentiated from other animals. The key to realizing this ideal is strengthening people’s practice of non-coercive action. So-called right and wrong, good and evil, corrupt and upright, success and failure are all products of human beings selfishly being unable to respond to things with empty minds devoid schemes and plots. The powerless master wishes to be a “wildling” who rejects civilism and negates wisdom and law, but also denies all words and deeds against irrational society, stripping himself of the activity to participate in social action. The destiny of the rebellious spirit could only have been to cause enmity and anger in the world and passively hiding from it in the age of Chinese tradition. That aside, the rebellious also had no other possible choices. The author of The Powerless Master was unwilling to reveal his name, and although he expressed his indifference, he also expressed all of his helplessness and flights in the face of worldly hardships. The author’s posture was that of fading out of society, not only stripping himself of the rights and duties of a resistance, but also disdained talking about life under the rule of Confucianism’s ideal political order. He directly reduces himself to a purely natural being and sees himself as a completely self-sustainable natural entity. This posture illustrates that he did not harbor delusions about any political order, which therefore positions him as the diametrical opposite of a political being, namely as a thoroughgoing anarchist, a pure critic who fiercely chastises and attacks any political order, but he did not embrace any positive idealism about the status of his own existence either. He did not have a positive self that could be realized in a pre-political or anarchic state. His pre-political or non-political emotional or existential state was rather sad and angry, which shows that his anti-political or anarchistic plea was nothing more than resentfulness, wearisomeness and uneasiness brewing up because an ideal political order could not emerge. (3) Luo Yin’s Political Critique and His Political Ideals Luo Yin, first name Heng, courtesy name Zhaojian, a native of Xincheng county in Yuhang prefecture (modern day Fuyang county in Zhejiang province), was born in the seventh year of the Taihe era of Emperor Wenzong of Tang (833 CE) and died in the third year of the Kaiping era of Emperor Taizu of Later Liang (909 CE). In the span of 30 years, he took the examination for presented scholar ten times without passing. He grew fully despondent and disappointed. So, he changed his name to Yin 隐 [meaning hidden—Translator]. Luo Yin met with a declining era since birth and witnessed the ever growing corruption of the Tang dynasty. He thought with urgency and constructed a system, desiring one day to “wield great authority and determine right and wrong,” “assist what is right in the country and help the crippled many.” He wrote the script hoping to submit it, roaming all over the realm, but there was no door open to his services and his political ambitions could not be realized. Luo Yin lamented to himself “good opportunities are too hard to get, the great path is too hard to walk.”114 He had no other option but to fall back and “write books in private, commenting on what is good and bad, which is for the 114

Yin [27], (ch. 50).

3 Political Critique in the Tang and the Five Dynasties

345

sake of warning the present world and cautioning the future world to come.”115 The worsening of worldly affairs and a checkered life inspired his fiercely critical spirit. Late in life, Luo Yin sought refuge from Qian Liu, the warlord who founded the Wuyue kingdom, where he successively acted in such offices as the Administrative Assistant to the Regional Governor and the Supervising Secretary. There he also wrote The Collected Volumes A and B, The Two Convergent Books and Book on Falsehoods, all of which were included in the Collected Writings of Luo Yin edited and published by the Zhonghua Book Company. Luo Yin reconciled Confucianism with Daoism by using Confucianism as the main backbone and Daoist thought as supplementary support. Luo Yin’s political theory mostly draws on citations of Laozi and bases itself on what is natural from the Daoist perspective. For instance, he cites “the authority of the way (dao 道) and the nobility of virtue (de 德),” the sage “puts himself behind and finds himself ahead” and “puts himself outside of the equation and finds himself sustained.” At the same time, he also cites many of the sayings attributed to Confucius, asserting that “when there is dao in the realm, ritual observances and musical scores, tax levies and military campaigns issue forth from the son of Heaven.” Luo Yin uses Daoism’s thought of what is natural to argue on behalf of the Confucian ethical code of civilism and Confucianism’s hierarchical ethical principle, which is to say he grounds inequality on the foundation of what is natural. What Chinese traditionally called natural could both produce egalitarianism and anarchism as well as hierarchical classism and monarchical despotism. Much of the egalitarianism and anarchism amounted to critical theories expressing anger at the state of affairs and disgust with common customs. Most of them amounted to nothing more than diatribes. The hierarchical classism and monarchical despotism, on the other hand, were more constructive, championing active building. Hence the conclusions drawn from naturalism argued for hierarchical classism and monarchical despotism as the norm, while egalitarianism and anarchism were considered heretical. Luo Yin’s political criticism was but the practice of denouncing theories of monarchy that went against what is natural. Luo Yin held that the institutions of hierarchy and monarchical despotism originate from Nature and are rational insofar as they are natural. Human hierarchies and monarchical despotisms are in line with the natural unfolding of the universe and with the natural unfolding of human nature. The beginning of humanity’s genesis was deeply unequal. People established a political society of “interdependently achieving order” on this foundation. In human society, distinctions of strength are relative, “the powerful are not powerful of themselves, they receive power from [contrast with] the weak,” “the weak are not weak of themselves, they are driven into weakness by the powerful.” There exists or rather there emerges a relationship of ruler and ruled between the strong and weak in human society, “the weak are conquered by the strong and the strong are followed by the weak, the superior and inferior harness each other.” He insists this follows in accordance with “the pattern of what is natural” (ziran zhi li 自然之理).116 Because Nature and all creatures are all “transformed by the union of 115 116

Ibid., (ch. 60). Yin [27], “Strength and weakness.”

346

6 Role Paradigms: The Value of Putting People First and Reflection …

qi, the Yang side of which is superior and the Yin side of which is inferior,” “the three powers begin to divide, Heaven rises above and Earth sinks below,” “the dragon and the turtle are the elders of the scaled and armored, the unicorn and the phoenix are the ancestors of the hairy and feathered, metal and jade are the prized standards of earth and stone, sesame and pine are the outstanding exemplars of grasses and trees. This is the principle of noble and base varieties revealed in what is natural.”117 All creatures are differently endowed and the statuses of their superiority and inferiority differ as well. This natural law that differentiates the hierarchical classes of noble and base similarly controls human society. “Among all creatures, only human beings are noble,” “humans are not self-managing, they must have some acting master and must position the talent of wise discernment above the multitude.” “Thus, the worthy ones of the age are praised as ruler and leaders and those whose talents do not fit the age are debased as the multitude and commoners.”118 Luo Yin believes that when a sageking assumes the throne, great order reigns in the realm, “the Duke of Zhou depended on the doctrines of King Wen and King Wu to claim authority over uncles,” “Heaven also subordinated them with the dao of the sage-king,” “the official positions fully expressed his dao and good order necessarily prevailed in the realm.” Confucius was also a sage. It is just a shame that his “official position could not express his dao and chaos inevitably prevailed in the realm.”119 “Distributing salaries according to reason (dao 道) and positions according to responsibility is balancing,” “distributing grain according to intelligence and titles according to usefulness is employing. If salaries are not line with reason and responsibilities do not fit positions, even a sage-king could not make sense of it with perfect clarity. If the intelligent do not get grain and the useful do not get titles, even the most passionately loyal would fail to risk life or limb.”120 The ruler is the fundamental root of order and chaos alike. The emperor holds the position of highest authority as the first of all chiefs in the realm, “what the one hundred clans rely on is one person, who finds peace in providing for the one hundred clans. Hence, the one hundred clans are the feet of the realm and one man is the head of the realm.”121 The sickness and pains of all of the people in the realm, the worries and concerns of one man in the empire, should all fall on the shoulders of the monarch. He view the emperor as the key to the flourishing and decline of dao in the world. Luo Yin views Yao and Shun on one hand and Jie and Zhou on the other as the two extremes of good and bad among the group of emperors. He insists that the political paradigms represented by these two kinds of rulers along with the consequences thereof have the function of teaching and informing the politics of later generations. The cautioning tales of violent rulers and brutal policies are even more effective, “those who admire [the tale of certain rulers] cannot necessarily reach [their standard], but those who fear [the tale of certain rulers] generally better them. Thus, 117

Ibid., “Nobility and baseness.” Ibid. 119 Ibid., “The sage-king, order and chaos.” 120 Ibid., “The position of the prince.” 121 Ibid., “Cost and benefit.” 118

3 Political Critique in the Tang and the Five Dynasties

347

Yao and Shun emulated Heaven-or-Nature by being humane and wise, while Jie and Zhou found brutality and violence as helping hands.”122 The emperor’s authority and nobility not only came from power and position, but even more so from virtue. The ruler should be the model of moral virtue, otherwise he does not deserve the praise of nobility, “the reason why the ruler of men claims authority is because of his virtuous power.” Luo Yin cautions the emperor, arguing, “[t]he noble are honored, but cannot claim [nobility] without being right. The base are disgraced but cannot avoid [baseness] despite having might. If by cultivating virtue, you do not seek its noble status, nobility naturally finds you. If you wish to divorce from your lowly status with inhumane means, your baseness will not leave you.”123 He argues that power in politics “consists in having virtue, not in more strength.” “Being virtuous” is “nothing but being kind and being humane,” while “the so-called strong men,” “are both violent and militaristic.” The sage-king “knows the will of the many cannot be governed by strength and great honor cannot be achieved by violence. Prepare great virtue by cultivating oneself, be gentle and humane to rule those below,” and by means of this create “a unified city-state of followers, of common people sharing capabilities.” The violent despot, however, “arrogantly spoils the realm, employs might under the banner of virtue, while forgetting his own wrongs and blaming others. The strong can sail boats, but cannot of themselves control their own greedy desires. Their strength may be enough to hold up the [symbolic] tripod cauldrons, but will certainly not fulfill their own natural tendencies. Today, the country is in ruins with no one in charge of the ancestral temples. This will forever be ridiculed by generations to come. Who else could be held responsible for the weakness of the times?”124 In political life, the basic logic of the ruler damaging or helping things is: “when his principle is that of the frugal ruler, all under Heaven act non-coercively. When all under Heaven act non-coercively, the common people receive its gifts, and he himself becomes great in time as well.” “When the people all benefit each other, which ruler would be on bad terms with them?” “When his principle is that of the extravagant prince, all under Heaven have to do unnecessary things.” “When all under Heaven have to do unnecessary things, his poison inflicts all of the people, such that even the cruel and sinister find him unbearable as well.” “When the people all damage each other, which ruler would be on good terms with them?” Because of this, “[t]he wise ruler tasks himself with cultivating the virtue of frugality.” “Benefitting the lives of all people is worth sacrificing the playthings of one man.”125 “In antiquity, the previous brutal rulers aspired to flaunt excess,” “adding to one man’s playthings and subtracting from 10,000 people’s lives.” “Craving and desiring more and more, no one could stop their greedy demands,” “rendering all under Heaven so stricken with poverty, none feared their own death.” “Therefore, bringing peace

122

Yin [27], “Asking for help from emperors xia and shang.” Ibid., “Nobility and baseness.” 124 Ibid., “Strength and weakness.” 125 Ibid., “Cost and benefit.” 123

348

6 Role Paradigms: The Value of Putting People First and Reflection …

to the people is how the son of Heaven finds his security, and bringing chaos to the people is how the son of Heaven meets his tumultuous end.”126 (4) Tan Qiao’s Theory of Transformation and His Political Critique Tan Qiao, courtesy name Jingsheng, was born and died at unknown dates and times. He was born roughly at the end of the Tang dynasty and died roughly during the Kaibao era of Song. He was a native of Quanzhou prefecture (modern day Fujian province, Nan’an county). The son of Tan Zhu, the Supervisor of Studies at the Directorate of Education during the Tang. When young, he was both smart and knowledgeable. He had encyclopedic knowledge and strong retention. He read through the classics and history at a young age. He was a clear and ornate writer, and yearned for neither success nor fame. He loved the sayings of the Huang-Lao school of Taoism. However, he completely concerned himself with repairing the world’s disorder and the bitter suffering of the people. He wrote the six volume and 112 page work The Book of Transformations. Upon completion of the work he handed it to Song Qiqiu of the Southern Tang to read it and asked him to write a preface and circulate it. Song Qiqiu came to claim it as his own, and for a time The Book of Transformations was retitled Master Song Qiu, and by the time of the work by Shen Fen of the Southern Tang, Commentary on the Legends of Celestials, included a biography of Tan Qiao, nothing of the writing of The Book of Transformations was detailed. Later, Chen Tuan exposed the bad conduct of Song Qiqiu in deceiving the world and stealing fame, at which time, the work’s title was corrected to Master Tan’s Book of Transformations, or Book of Transformations for short. The social turmoil at the end of the Tang and during the Five Dynasties period made Tan Qiao unwilling to seek official career advances and conspicuous honors. He concealed himself to study the dao, eventually understudying the Taoist priest Gaoshan. The ruler of the Southern Song state conferred upon him the alias of “True Person from the Purple Cloud.” He believed that the exploitation and repression wrought by the rulers were the basic causes of social turmoil and human suffering, and that the extravagant lewdness and hedonistic corruption of the rulers were the intrinsic factors exacerbating the exploitative repression and intensifying social contradictions. He proposed that the rulers should apply the transformation of dao, the transformation of art, the virtuous transformation, the humane transformation, the culinary transformation and the frugal transformation to heal society’s ills and realize supreme peace in the realm. Tan Qiao rooted himself in the natural thought of the Daoists Laozi and Zhuangzi. He held that everything happening and every being in the world originates from empty potentiality and ultimately returns to empty potentiality. Dao is the ultimate constitution of the world and the origin of everything’s living transformation. Since dao produces all beings and all beings return to dao, Heaven, Earth and all creatures are “inseparable transformations transforming like an endless cycle,” “the supreme void is the unifying emptiness, the supreme spirit is the unifying spirit, the supreme qi is the unifying qi, and the supreme body is the unifying body.” “Naming them, there are four, and rooting them, there is one. Defending the names you gain nothing, integrating them 126

Ibid.

3 Political Critique in the Tang and the Five Dynasties

349

nothing is lost, which is called rectifying the one.”127 He insists that the void, spirit, qi and body are different names for the same reality. All of them are rooted in dao. All of the countless transformations of each and every being are unbroken transformations transforming, which begins in the empty non-being of dao and ends in the empty non-being of dao. All beings are controlled by dao and unify in dao. Tan Qiao insists that social turmoil was brought about by the rulers engaging in such betrayals of the non-coercive action of Nature as hedonistic corruption, the illegal amassing of wealth and endless punitive killing. In Enlarging the Transformation, Tan Qiao lists a series of transformative turns from humility to demise: ever since human society produced the civilization of the mind, “bowing and deference transformed into rising and falling, rising and falling led to superiority and inferiority, superiority and inferiority transformed into the distinctions of rank.” Then there was no end to the rulers’ indulgence in extravagant luxury. Day by day, it grew into an increasingly wasteful liberation from all moral restraint. “The wasteful lack of moral restraint transformed into the amassing of wealth, the amassing wealth transformed into deceit, deceit transformed into punitive killing, punitive killing transformed into disloyalty and defection, disloyalty and defection transformed into armor and weapons, armor and weapons transformed into battles and pillaging, battles and pillaging transformed into defeat and demise.” With respect to this developmental progression, he pleads that “[i]ts future is an unpreventable propensity of development and its past holds forces that cannot be weeded out.” The rulers “protect their wealth and privileges in order to conserve their states,” luring the people with the moral principles of being humane and acting righteously, threatening them with punishments and penalties, maintaining authority with rites and music. This in fact “was to teach the people to malignantly seduce, to make the people wicked and lewd, to transform the people into disloyal rebels, to drive the people to banditry and theft.” In this way, “higher ranks ignorantly weren’t even aware of their illness and the lower ranks suddenly were unaware of their sickness, how is it that one could save them?” Tan Qiao sometimes lays the blame for turmoil on culture and politics, but he also clearly treats the rulers’ extravagant wastefulness, amassing of wealth, punitive killings, militarization and ignorant incompetence as the main causes inciting the social turmoil of resistance and rebellion among the people, which shows the vivid spectrum of his critique. Tan Qiao furthermore accuses the massive gap in wealth as an important cause of social turmoil. The wealthy few dined extravagantly in exquisite luxury, very particular and dissatisfied with anything but the finest dishes, while the massive majority of poor peasants went hungry suffering endless shortages of grain and rice, “the poor decreasingly had enough food, while the rich ate ever more exquisitely. Thus, the slope of extravagance rose steeply by the year and military campaigns began year after year.”128 Eating is the Heaven-or-Nature of human being, “one day without eating leaves one worn out, two days without eating leaves one sick, three days without eating leads one to death. Among the most urgent of peasant affairs, none is more serious than procuring food, but the king seizes his 127 128

Qiao et al. [28], “Rectifying the one.” Qiao et al. [28], “Extravagance and poverty.”

350

6 Role Paradigms: The Value of Putting People First and Reflection …

share of it, the ministers seize their share of it, the military officers seize their share of it, the rank and file of the war campaigns seize their share of it, the artisans seize their share of it, the merchants seize their share of it, the Taoist and Buddhist monks seize their share of it.” After passing through the respective sieves of each exploiting layer of society, the peasant majority nearly had nothing left to eat. Tan Qiao angrily denounced the irrational social reality, “the king’s punitive reasoning is so unfair it is unfair to the extreme. The powerful official’s moral assistance is so unrighteous, it is unrighteous to the extreme,”129 the king and his powerful officials not only cannot rescue the order from the tipping point of unfairness, their punishments and penalties also exacerbate the unfairness and unrighteousness, and the common people rise up against the unfairness and fight back against the unrighteousness.130 Tan Qiao’s position on governance could be reduced to two tracks, one being even distribution of food and the other praising frugality. He insists that food is “the trigger of the rise and fall” [of dynasties]. Whether or not the ruler can secure the basic needs of the people’s lives is the crucial key to order and chaos, flourishing and declining. “By being able to balance their food supply, order is manageable in the realm.”131 “The moral goodness of discipline hinges on feeding, the immorality of discipline hinges on feeding as well.” For human beings, although the rank of edible matter “is so much lower [than human beings], its function is highly revered,” and because “its title is so miniscule and its transformational effect is especially grand, it is called the priceless good.” “Food is the primary root of the five constant virtues and the five constant virtues are the secondary branches stemming from food.”132 Ample food is the foundation of being humane and acting righteously and political discipline as well. If “peasant stomachs are constantly hungry, constant pressure affects the peasants’ mood,” “and orders to be humane and act righteously, how could they trust them?” “Appealing to disciplinary policies, how could they fear them?” “When food is evenly distributed, being humane and acting righteously come into being, when being humane and acting righteously come into being, ritual and musical observances are followed properly, and when ritual and musical observances are followed properly, the people become free from resentment, and when the people are free from resentment, the spirit becomes free from anger, which is the achievement of supreme peace.”133 Tan Qiao insists, the key to evenly distributing food is in the ruler’s hands. The principal measure that the ruler may take to evenly distribute food is praising frugality. “If the king can evenly distribute to the peasants, and allow them to eat, the few and the many will delight in each other, which is the attainment of co-humanity.”134 Tan Qiao ties order and chaos in the realm and the rise and fall of dynasties to the frugality of the ruler, insisting that praising frugality must begin with the emperor himself. 129

Ibid., “Seven exploiting sieves.” Ibid., “Petty rats.” 131 Qiao et al. [28], “Extravagance going too far.” 132 Ibid., “Hawks and predators above.” 133 Ibid., “The supreme peace.” 134 Ibid., “The scavenging predators above.” 130

References

351

References 1. Zhaoguang, G. (2000). A history of chinese philosophy (Vol. 2). Fudan University Publishing House. 2. Zhaowu, H. (2001). Collected criticisms of historical reason. Qinghua University Publishing House. 3. Qizhi, Z., et al. (1993). History of Chinese thought. Xibei University Publishing House. 4. Zehua, L. (2007). On people-first thought in the ruler-ministers dynamic during the zhenguan era. Contained in collected histories of Chinese political thought. People’s Publishing House. 5. Zehou, L. (1981). The path of beauty. Wenwu Publishing House. 6. Xu, L. (2006). Old book of tang. Yuanfang Publishing House. 7. Tong, W., & Pei, Z. (2013). Proof and annotation of the doctrine of the middle way. Zhonghua Book Company. 8. Ouyang, X., & Qi, S. (1975). New book of tang. Zhonghua Book Company. 9. Zehua, L., & Fentian, Z. (1991). Kong yingda’s theory of dao and dao of governance. Contained in Confucian Research (no. 3). 10. Sheng, H. (1998). Biography of emperor wen of sui. People’s Publishing House. 11. Zhongfu, C. (1992). Six departments of tang. Zhonghua Book Company. 12. Shigu Y., et al. (636). Book of sui. 13. Jing, W. (n.d.). Essentials on the politics of the zhenguan era. 14. Yinke, C. (2001). A brief introduction to the origins of institutions of sui and tang dynasties. Joint Publishing. 15. Sima, G., et al. (1084). Comprehensive mirror in aid of governance. 16. Xueqin, L., & Wenyu, L. (1996). Models for an emperor. Contained in Siku dacidian. Jilin University Press. 17. Shouyan, Z. (1992). The complete prose literature of the tang period. Contained in Zhonguo dabaike quanshu, zhongguo lishi. Encyclopedia of China Publishing House. 18. Fu, D., & Difei, X. (1983). Du fu’s 22 couplets dedicated to the left senior deputy. Contained in Selected Poems of Du Fu and Commentary. Shanghai Guji Publishing House. 19. Guoying, L. (1979). Han yu. Beijing Publishing House. 20. Yu, H. (2006). Collected works of han yu. Fenghuang Publishing House. 21. Zongyuan, L., Zhanhua, Y., & Wenqi, H. (Eds.). (2013). Collected works of liu zongyuan. Zhonghua Book Company. 22. Yuxi, L. (2007). Collected works of liu yuxi. Commercial Press. 23. Ao, L. (1936). Collected works of duke wen of li. Shanghai Commercial Printing Press. 24. Jie, Y. (1994). Collection of verse kept in the trunk. Shanghai Book Store. 25. Gongquan, X. (1998). A history of Chinese political thought. Liaoning Education Publishing House. 26. Ming, W. (1981). Proof and annotation of the powerless master. Zhonghua Book Company. 27. Yin, L. (2011). Proof and annotation of luo yin’s works. Zhejiang Guji Publishing House. 28. Qiao, T., Zhenyan, D., & Sizhen, L. (Eds.). (1996). Book of transformations: selected writings from taoist classics. Zhonghua Book Company.

Chapter 7

The Ethical Constitution: Confucian Rationalism’s Consistent Linking of Constitution and Personality in the Two Song Dynasties

Liang Qichao analyzed the mechanism shaped by “the trend of thought representing the times” in Compendium of Qing Dynasty Academics, pointing out the important value of trends of thought representing the times. “Not just any ‘thought’ can become a ‘trend’; if it can become a ‘trend,’ then its “thought” must have considerable value, yet also meet the demands of its time. Not all ‘times’ have a ‘trend of thought,’ and a time with a trend of thought is necessarily a time of cultural advance. In our country, ever since the Qin dynasty, what could successfully trend as thoughts [representing] the times include the classicism [classics scholarship] of the Han dynasties, the Buddhism of the Sui and Tang dynasties, and the Confucian rationalism of the Song and Ming dynasties, and the philology of the Qing dynasty, these four and no more.”1 Liang Qichao insists “the Confucian rationalism of the Song and Ming dynasties” was one of China’s important trends of thought representing the times. For Liang Qichao, “the Confucian rationalism of the Song and Ming” as well as “the Song and Ming times” have very high status in history. “The neo-Confucianism of the Song and Ming” “must have considerable value,” and “meet the demands of its times,” while “Song and Ming times” “must be times of cultural advance.” Compared to Liang Qichao who speaks of Song and Ming dynasties in the same breath, Chen Yanke focuses much more on Song dynasty thought, insisting that “Chinese thought since the Qin dynasty onward to the present day has had a long and complex evolutionary journey. Essentially, only for the involvement of one major issue, which is nothing but the genesis of neo-Confucianism and the development of its traditions.”2 Considering the reflections of Song Dynasty History, edited and written during the Yuan dynasty, upon academic thought, Confucian thinkers are divided into “the rationalist tradition” and “the scholarship tradition,” and the rationalist tradition’s style of accounting separated from the scholarship tradition, which reflects the typical feature distinguishing Confucian rationalism from the Confucian scholarship of the Han and Tang Dynasties. Looking broadly at the development of Song dynasty academic 1 2

Qichao [1], p. 3068. Yanke [2], p. 250.

© Tianjin People’s Publishing House 2022 S. Zhang, The Logical Deduction of Chinese Traditional Political Philosophy, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-4376-7_7

353

354

7 The Ethical Constitution: Confucian Rationalism’s Consistent Linking …

thought, its overall trend was “Confucian rationalism” increasingly yet gradually separating from the Confucianism of the Han and Tang dynasties. The mainstream form of Song dynasty Confucian rationalism was “the Cheng-Zhu school of neoConfucianism” and “the Wang Yangming school of idealism,” but it also was not just limited to Cheng-Zhu neo-Confucianism and “Wang Yangming idealism,” it also included all of the “studies of argumentation” that Song dynasty scholars used to replace “the annotations and commentaries of classicism.”3 The evolutionary journey from Han dynasty learning to Song dynasty learning was a long one. This was because Han dynasty learning and Song dynasty learning present extremely obvious differences in terms of content and method of thought. The Han dynasty form of Confucianism was established on the foundation of more purely Chinese thought, whose methods and components of thought all originated from the pre-Qin philosophers of China, while the Song dynasty form of Confucianism had to effectively absorb Buddhism’s methods and components of thought. Ever since the Han dynasty system of classics scholarship ran into obscurism and Buddhism, yet before the rise of Song dynasty scholarship, the convincing force and authoritative character of Confucian thought continuously suffered setbacks and loss of potency. The Sui dynasty’s cultural policy of authorizing Confucianism in tandem with equal veneration of Buddhism, and the Tang dynasty cultural policy of authorizing Confucianism in tandem with great focus on Daoism, succeeded in maintaining the co-existence of three teachings. The northern Song dynasty continued the Tang dynasty cultural policy of respecting both Confucianism and Buddhism. On one hand, the northern Song set up lecture halls on the classics, venerated Confucianism, and imparted great status to Confucius, commanding by edit to edit and collate the canon of Confucian classics.4 On the other hand, the northern Song also expressed favoritism to Buddhism and Daoism.5 Because of this, although Confucianism began mounting the gradual path to rebirth in thought during the Sui dynasty, Confucianism during the Sui and Tang dynasties only achieved equal status with Buddhism and Daoism, and a scenario of co-equal respect granted to Confucianism, Buddhism and Daoism was continuously sustained up to the beginning years of the northern Song. If Confucianism could not digest and absorb, the components of Buddhist and Daoist thought, its rebirth could only have repeated the classics commentary of the Han dynasty, without any possibility of realizing the metamorphosis of academic form from the Han dynasty to the Song dynasty. Song dynasty scholarship replacing Han dynasty scholarship required two basic conditions: one, the rise of Song dynasty scholarship as the re-excitement of the Confucian field of argumentation (yili zhi xue 义理之学) after digesting Buddhist and Daoist thought, which determined it to presuppose straightening out the decadent writing style and scholarship trends ever since the Wei, Jin and Southern dynasties as a precondition. Without changing the cultural and scholarly trends, there would be no formation of a new mode of scholarship. Two, Confucian scholars needed to fully absorb the beneficial components of 3

Zhaowu [3], p. 542. Qizhi [4], p. 301. 5 Zhen [5], pp. 609–610. 4

7 The Ethical Constitution: Confucian Rationalism’s Consistent Linking …

355

Buddhist and Daoist thought, and the Confucian field of argumentation represented by Song dynasty scholarship not only solely became possible with the adequate development of Buddhist and Daoist thought, it also required Confucian scholars to change their out-of-date attitude toward Buddhist and Daoist thought.

1 The Rise of Song Dynasty Scholarship and the Political Thought of “The Three Masters” The old script movement championed by those like Han Yu and Liu Zongyuan during the late Tang dynasty actually advocated the writing style of “writing to convey dao,” tried to construct an academic system centered around “orthodox Confucianism,” and set the example of scholarship by learning dao, embodying dao and transmitting dao. Through the writing style and scholarship style of mimicking the old script and restoring the ancient form, this actively launched the rebirth of Confucian thought. The cultural and educational policies in the early years of the northern Song dynasty were very similar to those during the early Tang. On one hand, they promoted Taoism with the close connection between the imperial family name and Taoism6 ; On the other hand, they also praised Confucianism and Confucius, re-organizing and promulgating the authoritative Confucian classics.7 The northern Song emperor also worshipped Taoism out of the alchemical and magical arts of Han dynasty apocrypha, fabricated phenomena of affective communication between Heaven-or-Nature and humanity, and decorated the façade a bit, proclaiming himself true realization of humanity, but his cultural and educational policy of venerating Confucianism and worshipping Confucius not only came with even more ideological attributes, but also followed the trend of the times in the rebirth of Confucianism. Song dynasty scholarship gradually came into being through the Confucian revitalization trend of the times, whose distinct turning point was the literary reform movement during the Qingli era of Emperor Renzong of Song, and whose leading figure was Ouyang Xiu, who re-emphasized the theme of the times, the inseparability of “writing” and “dao,” thereby kick starting the rise of Song dynasty scholarship. But what clearly set the foundation for Song dynasty scholarship was found in the academic thought of those hailed as “the three masters of Song dynasty scholarship,” Hu Yuan, Sun Fu, and Shi Jie.

The Tang dynasty promoted Taoism through the family name li 李, which is the family name of the founder of Daoism, Laozi. The Song dynasty also promoted Taoism because the mysterious god of Taoism, Xuanwu, went by the family name zhao 赵. 7 Emperor Zhenzong of Song ordered Confucian ministers to compile all commentaries on Zhou Book of Rites, Book of Ceremonies and Rituals, The Gongyang Commentary, The Guliang Commentary, The Classic of Filial Piety, The Analects of Confucius, and The Er’ya, and further officialize the commentaries and annotations belonging to the Confucian canon. 6

356

7 The Ethical Constitution: Confucian Rationalism’s Consistent Linking …

(1)

The Rise of Song Dynasty Scholarship and the Characteristics of Its Political Scholarship

The rise of Song dynasty scholarship was a major event in the history of Chinese academic thought, which implied that the Han and Tang dynasty Confucian tradition of classics commentary and annotation of sections and sentences would lose dominance, while Song dynasty scholarship, now focusing on the elucidation of argumentation and on the clarification of meaning according to the classical texts, would become the predominant form of Confucian classicism. Song dynasty scholarship was not only the deepening and further development of the cultural arrangement since the Sui and Tang dynasties, which equally privileged Confucianism, Buddhism and Daoism, but was also an elevation of Confucianism’s political thought since the end of the Han into the Wei and Jin dynasties; it replaced the method of explanation by means of Han dynasty Confucian cosmology with that method of explanation by means of the theory of the natural tendency of the affective mind, thereby giving the Confucian ethical code needed ontological and methodological support, while freeing it from the ontological perplexity and methodological confusion that obscurism added to the Han dynasty ethical code explained through the theory of Heaven-or-Nature and humanity.8 Song dynasty scholarship completed the cultural transition that began in the early Sui dynasty whereby equal respect granted to Confucianism, Buddhism and Daoism developed into total synthesis of Confucianism, Buddhism and Daoism into one, which was accomplished through Song dynasty scholarship’s absorption of Buddhism and Taoist theory; this shaped up into academic schools and major thinkers of widely different styles. The rise of Song dynasty scholarship was intrinsic to the logic of traditional academic development. In one respect, the philological Confucianism of classics commentary and annotation during the Han and Tang dynasties which it stemmed from could not meet the needs of socio-political development, and could not continue on any further. In another respect, Han and Tang dynasty classics commentary and annotation gradually gave birth to the new factors that were required for the development of Song dynasty scholarship. Zheng Xuan initiated a new trend of classics commentary and annotation, which “not only brought many rational factors into the commentary on Book of Changes, and pointed out the direction of development from hexagram signs (xiang 象) and numerology to argumentation, but also foreshadowed Wang Bi’s new trend of commenting on Book of Changes with the Laozi by proposing such categories as “non-being,” “being,” “selfemergence,” “self-completion,” “self-comprehension,” “self-manifestation,” “selfattainment,” “principle” and “original constitution” in order to explain the Book of Changes through Laozi.”9 The Correct Meaning of the Five Classics (wujing zhengyi 五经正义) during the early Tang dynasty “made Confucian thought the main pillar, but synthesized it into a whole with the two doctrines of Buddhism and Daoism,” “synthetically elucidating the relationship between ‘metaphysical principle’ (dao 道) and ‘physical energy’ (qi 气),” and each new development of which “opened up a 8 9

Zehou [6], pp. 221–225. Chunfeng [7], p. 642.

1 The Rise of Song Dynasty Scholarship and the Political Thought …

357

pathway for the later Cheng-Zhu rationalists.”10 During the northern Song dynasty, the senior Buddhist monks and the first to grasp the current, Chao Jiong, led the way in academic efforts at making consistent sense of Confucianism, Buddhism and Daoism, and became the harbinger of the rise of Song dynasty scholarship. Chao Jiong was active in the later years of the reign of Emperor Taizong of Song and the early years of the reign of Emperor Renzong of Song. From Qingfeng county of Chan province, he “excelled at art of breathing exercises for maintaining health, comprehended the works of Buddhism and Daoism, and became well-coated in the Confucian canon, for the sake of making one school out of them.”11 He “treated Confucianism, Buddhism and Daoism equally, and never became stuck in any prejudicial preference for one school or other.” His academic tendency was fully in line with the later academic trend of Song dynasty scholarly research.”12 The monk Shi Zhiyuan of the northern Song era did a comparative research of the Confucian principle of the golden mean and the Buddhist path of the middle way, insisting that Confucianism and Buddhism “speak differently but remain consistent in principle,” both inside and out. Shi Zhiyuan took the standpoint of Buddhism, and made the the latter communicate with Confucian thought, combining Confucianism’s “teaching of ordering oneself” with Buddhism’s “teaching of cultivating the mind,” and folding Confucianism in to Buddhism, while supplementing Confucianism with Buddhism, and advocating cooperation between the two, and their co-realization of a “cultivating” role upon the current society.13 The Daoist sage, Chen Tuan, at the end of the Five Dynasties and the beginning of the Northern Song, interpreted the Book of Changes through Han dynasty Confucian style symbolic numerology (xiangshu xue 象数学), and the resultant numerological Book of Changes entered Confucianism once again through Shao Yong and Zhou Dunyi as they became essential components of Song dynasty scholarship, in which Diagram of Heaven and Earth (xiantian tu 先天图) written by Chen Tuan had direct impact on Zhou Dunyi’s Diagram of the Taiji (太极图). The cultural and educational policy of the early and middle Northern Song era provided an excellent environment for the rise of Song dynasty scholarship. The cultural and educational policy of the early Song dynasty manifested the tendency to revere Confucius and Confucian values which revitalized Confucianism. Praising Confucian scholars and revering Confucius led to the rise of schools all-around and the reformation of the examination system. The early period of the Northern Song dynasty a whole series of measures were adopted to raise the status of Confucianism, and a lecture hall was specifically erected for the Emperor to lecture on the Confucian classics, from scholars of the Imperial Academy, the scholars of the Hanlin Academy to scholars of Chongzheng Hall, all assumed the position of lecturing officials; Emperor Zhenzong of Song personally went to Qufu in the first year of the Dazhong Xiangfu era (1008 CE) to pay homage to the Confucian Temple, where 10

Qizhi [8], p. 245. Toqto’a [9]. 12 Guangming [10], p. 170. 13 Xia [11]. 11

358

7 The Ethical Constitution: Confucian Rationalism’s Consistent Linking …

he added the posthumous names of “the Obscure Sage and King of Propagating Culture.” In the fifth year of the Dazhong Xiangfu era (1012 CE), he wrote On ProConfucian Practices (chong ru shu lun 崇儒术论), elucidating the pro-Confucian state strategy, and issued an edict for Sun Shi to check commentaries against the original Rites of Zhou, Book of Ceremonies and Rituals, The Gongyang Commentary, The Guliang Commentary, Classic of Filial Piety, Analects, and the Er’Ya, which officialized and authorized Confucian commentaries once again, as they became the basic contents of school education and the imperial examination. During the reign of Emperor Zhenzong of Song, Sun Shi followed the model of the Academy of Classical Learning and set up locally run/government assisted schools in Yan Province and Zhi Province. Following this, Yan Shu et al. constructed the Central Imperial Academy, and then county officials of each province broadly promoted the establishment of official academies, and official academic education in the Northern Song developed rapidly. Meanwhile, the development of official academies also directly cultivated teams of imperial examination candidates well-versed in the Confucian classics, many of whom emerged as the backbone and vitality behind the rise and development of Song dynasty scholarship. Although the imperial examinations were held frequently during the five dynasties, the Directorate of Sons of the State (guo zi jian 国子监) along with provincial and prefectural academies would go on to exist in name only as most students went to private schools (academies) to learn the classics and take the exams. The formal schools were nothing but organizations where students registered and became qualified to take the examinations, “there were many who never taught but then escorted (to take the examination),” and their local scholars are all carelessly base persons both wanton and excessive.14 The Directorate of the Sons of the State during the early years of the Northern Song acted as the highest educational organization in the nation, but had neither students nor education activities; the provinces and counties had no government run schools, and the educational organizations often set up in the localities were hometown academies. Hometown academies did have those who specifically engaged in enlightening and educating as well as lecturing on the meaning of the classics to prepare students to join the imperial examination. The greater scale and higher level hometown academies were academies of classical learning, “congregating students and professors to provide for themselves.”15 During the early Song dynasty, the earliest local official to found local government-run provincial and county academies was Sun Shi of Yan province and Zhi province, who started up the forerunner of Song dynasty provincial and county academies constructed near the Confucian temple. Emperor Songren’s new policy during the Qingli era was to establish the Imperial Academy in the Center and to widely establish provincial and county academies in local districts. Objectively speaking, this provided the rise of Song dynasty scholarship with a basic platform for the communication and propagation of academic thought. The early Song dynasty imperial examination system followed the old system of the five dynasties, taking mainly the Confucian classics distributed by officials as the teaching materials for 14 15

Duanlin [12]. Toqto’a [13].

1 The Rise of Song Dynasty Scholarship and the Political Thought …

359

the imperial examination. The Northern Song imperial examinations did not register many students during the reign of Emperor Taizu of Song, and only began to register an overflowing number of students during the reign of Emperor Taizong of Song, when the standards and demands of student registration became the forceful guide of scholarly and literary style. In the second year of Emperor Renzong of Song (1058 CE), Ouyang Xiu took on the duty of chief examination officer for the Ministry of Rites. He set the literary style advocated by the poetic writing reform movement as the main criteria of evaluation, and did not enroll any scholars whose literary style was “dangerously odd and strangely obscure” as well as “abstract and superficially showy.” The writing style of articles for the imperial examination “gradually changed from this point on.”16 Aside from the active influence of such factors as the aforesaid changes in the intrinsic logic of academic thought and those in scholarly and literary style fostered by education and the imperial examination, the rise of Song dynasty scholarship was also closely tied to the political attitude and thought of those like Fan Zhongyan and Ouyang Xiu. Fan Zhongyan’s upbringing in classics scholarship, his moral integrity, and tireless efforts to promote and advance it, made him become a key figure in the processual rise of Song dynasty scholarship. Qi Xia held that the formative stage of Song dynasty scholarship was the reign of Emperor Renzong of Song (around the Qingli era), and the central figure in it was Fan Zhongyan.”17 “Fan Zhongyan wasn’t just the central figure in the new policies of the Qingli era, he was also the organizer and leader of the founding stage of Song dynasty scholarship…… Fan Zhongyan not only brought in and assisted many scholars, he also had a huge impact on the scholar-officials at the time due to his own unique manners and way of practicing friendship…… Fan Zhongyan also had a outstanding quality to him academically speaking.”18 “The meaning of making greater sense throughout the six classics! Doing articles and theory must be rooted in the rightness of humanity.”19 Gathering around the famous minister Fan Zhongyan, Ouyang Xiu, Hu Yuan, Sun Fu, Shi Jie, Li Gou and Zhang Zai all investigated such Confucian classics as Book of Changes, Spring and Autumn Annals, and The Doctrine of the Mean; they were the forerunners of Lianjiang river school, Luohe river school and the Guanzhong school. Fang Zhongyan was himself deeply active with respect to creating academic thought, and his works had great creative merit in the rise of Song dynasty scholarship.20 Fan Zhongyan’s efficacy with respect to raising outstanding talent at Song dynasty scholarship will always shine out in history. He “found Sun Shi in Taishan amid destitute poverty, and enabled him see his work to the end; in Yan’an he made Hu Yuan enter the Imperial Academy and act as teacher to scholars,” “ultimately at Mount Tai he made the classics tradition resound loudly for some time, established his following of disciples and talent emerged in great numbers,” “the Cheng brothers 16

Toqto’a [14]. Xia [15], p. 5. 18 Ibid., pp. 13–14. 19 Yangxiu [16]. 20 Wenzheng [17]. 17

360

7 The Ethical Constitution: Confucian Rationalism’s Consistent Linking …

of Henan province especially met with acclaim, which was only so because the duke made talent,” “following him, Master Zhang of Hengqu, felt grand self-responsibility, and the duke again turned him to pick up Confucian civilisim, and gave him Doctrine of the Mean, finally his teaching in Guanzhong (Shaanxi) was the same inside and out with that in Luoyang.”21 Fan Zhongyan’s sense of morality and integrity greatly influenced the world of scholars, and he became an important condition of the rise of Song dynasty scholarship. Fan Zhongyan not only morally reached greater heights, his moral state of being often came with the attitude of “worrying,” “worry if you advance, and worry if you retreat.” He both put forward a classic summation of the scholar’s moral advance to the higher state of mind, which became the sagely state that the scholarly minds of the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties yearned for. He also put forward the standards of harmonizing with the ethical code with respect to the moral content of the scholar, “if you find yourself at the heights where the temple sits, then worry about your populace; if you find yourself in waters far away, then worry about your ruler.”22 Fan Zhongyan had an important role in the rise of Song dynasty scholarship. Ouyang Xiu was also an important figure in the rise of Song dynasty scholarship. Although his influence on political practice was not as big as Fan Zhongyan’s, his influences on the transmission of academic thought and changes of literary style were greater than Fan Zhongyan’s. While Fan Zhongyan’s academic influences were chiefly the core powers of assisting, supporting and inspiring the rise of Song dynasty scholarship in the form of moral practice and professing the Confucian canon; Ouyang Xiu’s impact concentrated on the aspects of literary style and scholarly style with a particularly active influence upon academic thought in the transition from Han scholarship to Song scholarship. Su Shi highly appreciated Ouyang Xiu’s positive status in the revitalization of Confucianism. “From the Han onward, the mystical arts did not come out of the Confucian line, and those messing up the realm have been many,” “the Jin dynasty buried Laozi and Zhuangzi, the Guliang [tradition] buried Buddhism, and none could rectify them. After over 500 plus years, and [we] get Han Yu, scholars supplemented Mencius with Han Yu, because the multitude were closer to him…” “300 plus years after Han Yu, [we] get Master Ouyang, whose scholarship pushed Han Yu and Mencius to reach Confucius, and revealed the actual substance of ritual propriety, music and the rightness of being humane to integrate with the greater way of Nature (dao 道).” ……All promising scholars similarly but unintentionally say in agreement: Master Ouyang is today’s Han Yu…….Proceeding from Master Ouyang, contentions in the realm have smoothened out ever since, to put the highest value on making sense of the classics and learning the ancient ways, to find promise in rescuing the current times and taking the right path, and to find loyalty in challenging authority with better advise.”23 Ouyang Xiu insisted that, “the superior master, in learning, tasks himself with dao,” and “for the sake of dao, one must seek knowledge of the ancient ways,” and “illuminate dao by grasping the 21

Wenzheng [17]. Zhongyan [18]. 23 Shi [19]. 22

1 The Rise of Song Dynasty Scholarship and the Political Thought …

361

ancient ways, but then practice it by oneself and enact it by serving others, then also see to it in writing articles, and publish them to entrust the next generation.”24 He insists the superior master (the ruler) tasking himself with dao is precisely cultivating himself [with dao] and governing others [accordingly], rendering questions about the goodness or maliciousness of human nature unnecessary. “The Confucian scholars in observing the institution of ritual propriety and music, not only recite their writings, but must also be capable of making sense of their function, they not only learn from the past, but must also be capable of enacting it in the present.”25 Ouyang Xiu’s “dao” is what the sages practiced, and what is simultaneously recorded in the six classics of Confucianism, “his dao is that which was followed by the Duke of Zhou, Confucius and Mencius, the ones who constantly practiced and enacted it; his writings are of what is recorded in the six classics; to the present day, he is the one who has gained credibility.”26 The literary style that Ouyang Xiu championed began with Han Yu. Under the drive to champion and magnify Han Yu’s scholarship during the Song dynasty, after his practice of combining “writing” with “dao” became popular in the middle of the Northern Song, it simultaneously became an important condition behind the revitalization of Confucian scholarship and the rise of Song dynasty scholarship. Ouyang Xiu’s thought in classics scholarship and method of studying the classics directly influenced Song dynasty scholarship as well. Some scholars even saw Ouyang Xiu as the founder of the Song dynasty method of classics study. In the process of learning the classics, Ouyang Xiu firmly held to the method of explanation by which the human being is the standard of measurement, and developed a method and thought process of bravely questioning the classics and explaining the classics. He held that dao was concealed in the people’s everyday life and in the political affairs and human affairs of society. He held that what the sages professed was not distantly disconnected to human feelings, and if something existed in The Six Classics which split away from or did not connect to human feelings, one could bravely decline to believe it and follow it. Ouyang Xiu even bravely doubted that not all of the “Xici” commentary on Book of Changes were the words of Confucius, but did not however, abandon them because Confucius did not say them, and still affirmed their positive value. “If the author of the “Xici” calls it the great commentary on Book of Changes, then [I] worry that the commentaries on Book of Documents and Book of Rites are distant [from it in time],” and “if it is called a work of the sage, then it is a counterfeit book posing as authoritative,” “if [we] make scholars know the Great Commentary is a work of many Confucian scholars, and dare to pick out what is true in it while rejecting what is false in it, then at the conclusion of three generations, [we] will not be far from [what] the sage [intended]. The current scholarship by teachers and logicians, the redundant treatises by elders and masters, and the ones mixed up between them there are not necessarily bad for scholarship.”27 Some scholars point 24

Yangxiu [20]. Yangxiu [21]. 26 Yangxiu [22]. 27 Yangxiu [25], p. 1128. 25

362

7 The Ethical Constitution: Confucian Rationalism’s Consistent Linking …

out: “Ouyang Xiu discovered many things his predecessors never discovered and achieved many rich results academically in the process of research on such classics as Book of Changes, Book of Odes and Spring and Autumn Annals with profound grounding in ancient scholarship, with brave skeptical attitude and with the scientific spirit of seeking truth from the facts…….He championed a method of sorting out the classic from the commentary and of weeding out what is counterfeit from what is authentically true, which opened up a new scenario in the development of classics scholarship and Confucian scholarship. In fact, the practice of questioning the classics became a great feature of Song dynasty scholarship after Ouyang Xiu, which not only opened up a new path for the scholarly research of classics, but simultaneously developed a train of thought for Confucians, thereby making many people bravely move beyond the classics in the search for more profound argumentation in Confucian scholarship, and thereby making the birth of Song-Ming neo-Confucian rationalism possible.”28 Ouyang Xiu’s research method in classics scholarship and Confucian standpoint of the superior ruler embracing dao had a major influence in the rise of Song dynasty scholarship. Additionally, Ouyang Xiu’s academic thought was also intimately tied to the rise of Song dynasty as well. Ouyang Xiu both inherited Han Yu’s tradition of literary reform and theory of the superior ruler focusing on moral integrity, while also inheriting Liu Zongyuan’s more practical theory of the relationship between Heaven-orNature and humanity. He carried out the thought and principle of putting humanity, the people and virtue first, and showed the sober style of a realistic thinker. Ouyang Xiu took the writing style of the Spring and Autumn Annals to newly edit the Book of Tang and the History of the Five Dynasties, and clearly expressed a moral appeal to the ethical code of the three cardinal relationships and five constant virtues. Chen Yinke remarks in Preface to Jiang Bingnan’s Works: “Ouyang Yongshu studied the writings of Han Yu when young, and wrote the historical record of the five dynasties in his later years. He wrote the commentaries on the yi’er 义儿 and feng dao 冯道, derogating the power hungry and rejecting the greedy profiteering, while revering the control of moral integrity, and estimating the wrongful degeneracy of morals in each of the five dynasties successively, the reverse of which was loyalty and uprightness. Thus, the culture of the entire Song dynasty ultimately left my people with his treasure.”29 Ouyang Xiu’s “Book of Changes scholarship” aside from opening up a new path of research into Book of Changes also brought about a major transformation in the thought of Book of Changes scholarship, which highlighted the “human affairs” component of Book of Changes scholarship, sometimes using Book of Changes scholarship to theorize on political reforms, sometimes using it to explore the “ruler’s” method and principle of “cultivation” and “enacting governance.” Considering his works, even though he did not approve of the early Song “discourse on the affective mind and human nature,” “human nature is not a matter of urgency for scholars, and

28 29

Xiaojiang [23]. Yanke [24], p. 162.

1 The Rise of Song Dynasty Scholarship and the Political Thought …

363

the sages spoke little about it,”30 he was still very concerned with and spoke demonstratively of “principles” and “the principles of Heaven,” making such formulations as “the natural state of the principles of Heaven,” “the realm being fully principled,” and “the principles of Nature.” But what Ouyang Xiu called “principles” (li 理), “principles of Heaven” (tianli 天理) and “principles of Nature” (ziran zhi li 自然 之理) “still did not have any cosmological or ontological meaning,” and were only “principles” or “common principles” in the ordinary sense, indicating nothing but the thought of a realistic rationalism.31 Ouyang Xiu opposed trying to figure out the mandate of Heaven or the will of Heaven, and insisted that the will of Heaven manifested in human beings, “do not divorce Heaven from human beings, and do not use Heaven to understand human beings.” He insisted “human affairs are the will of Heaven.” “Since emperors Yao, Shun and the Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties, everyone has called upon Heaven to initiate affairs, which Confucius did not delete from Book of Poetry and Book of Documents. Alas, a sage does not divorce Heaven from human beings, nor understand human beings by means of Heaven. If you divorce Heaven from human beings, the way of Heaven collapses; if you understand human beings by means of Heaven, confusion of human affairs is the result, so [the relationship] always exists but does not stand up to probes.” “The sage discussed the extreme poles of the verge between Heaven-or-Nature and humanity, he was the one who was most explicit and clear about it. With respect to Heaven and Earth, ghosts and spirits, he said of them that they are unknowable. The only things he could affirm the possibility of knowing were human beings.” “Human affairs are the will of Heaven.”32 Although the “new policies of the Qingli era” during the reign of Emperor Renzong of Song were led by the key figure in the rise of Song dynasty scholarship, Fan Zhongyan, those like Ouyang Xiu also actively advocated reforms. The measures of their reforms and the political ambitions they contained undoubtedly embodied the values pursued by Song dynasty scholarship during its formation. But by inspecting focal point and effects of the “new policies of the Qingli era,” we see that they were a set of political reforms whose guiding thought was still not pronounced, embodying the values pursued by those like Fan Zhongyan and Ouyang Xiu in focusing on “human affairs,” which was certainly related to the rise of Song dynasty scholarship still existing in inchoate form at the time. The new policies of the Qingli era during the reign of Emperor Renzong of Song without a doubt facilitated the rise of Song dynasty scholarship. In one respect, Fan Zhongyan and Ouyang Xiu’s Idea of revitalizing Confucian scholarship and their efforts in pursuit of it gradually nurtured the basic academic core and thought behind the formation of Song dynasty scholarship; in another respect, the premature death of the new policies halfway in the Qingli era stimulated the class of scholar-officials to more deeply and meticulously think, that “the new policies” merely focusing on “human affairs” were undesirable, and the continuation of the “new policies” required more thorough support from a 30

Yangxiu [25]. Hongxing and Yueqing [26]. 32 Yangxiu [27]. 31

364

7 The Ethical Constitution: Confucian Rationalism’s Consistent Linking …

new theory. Wang Anshi’s “new learning” was the theoretical foundation of Xining’s legal reforms, and Xining’s resolute determination to carry out the legal reforms was intimately connected to the theory of “new learning.” Meanwhile, the maturation and growth of “the Lianjiang school,” “the Luoyang school,” “the Guanzhong school,” and “the Shu school” always accompanied the gradual progression of the reforms or legal reforms. As politicians elevated the scholarly learning of “human affairs” through the explanatory method of classics scholarship known as argumentation (yili 义理) to the abstract level of the principles of Heaven-or-Nature and the natural tendency of the human mind, thinkers gradually brought up to the surface a whole set of reforms aiming at the realization of “the sage on the inside” and “the king on the outside.” Although Fan Zhongyan and Ouyang Xiu supported many of the academic backbones behind the rise of Song dynasty scholarship, their thought still could not have become the growing point for Song dynasty scholarship’s early budding phase of rapid development into the light, not could it have directly led to the birth of the four schools just mentioned, which also would not have held Fan Zhongyan and Ouyang Xiu as the points from which their thoughts grew. Between Fan Zhongyan and Ouyang Xiu on one hand and the four Song dynasty schools on the other, a transitional community bridging them together in the history of thought did indeed exist. This transitional community was both the academic backbone directly supported by Fan Zhongyan and Ouyang Xiu and what the four Song dynasty schools considered as an indispensable source of their thought. Hu Yuan, Sun Fu and Shi Jie composed this transitional community bridging the gap between them. (2)

Hu Yuan’s Book of Changes Scholarship and “the Dao of Striking the Mean”

Fan Zhongyan and Ouyang Xiu were outstanding politicians in combination with being excellent scholars who possessed both academic upbringing and political ambitions. On one hand, they both actively sought for new methods of doing classics scholarship, while opening up a new form of Confucian classics scholarship. On the other hand, they also actively supported and nurtured up-and-coming thinkers following the same path, which most quickly catalyzed a qualitative change in Song dynasty scholarship in terms of classics scholarship hermeneutics, and made an outstanding contribution to the rise of Song dynasty scholarship. But Fan Zhongyan and Ouyang Xiu had no time to pull together their hermeneutic thought on classics scholarship, and the rise of Song dynasty scholarship demanded the possession of a self-consciousness with respect to what the hermeneutic method of classics scholarship was so as to complete the transition of the Confucian hermeneutic method of classics scholarship from the shape it had in the Han and Tang to the shape it took under the Song and Ming. During the Han and Tang eras, although Confucian classics scholarship underwent many shifts in components under the influence of academic thought in the Wei, Jin and Sorthern dynasties, and became somewhat enriched on the foundation of Han dynasty Confucianism, the hermeneutic method of classics scholarship still focused on the philological explanation of sections and sentences. The hermeneutic method of Song dynasty classics scholarship inherited the achievements of Buddhist speculative thought, integrated Confucianism’s two-sided demand

1 The Rise of Song Dynasty Scholarship and the Political Thought …

365

for the human sage on the inside and the social king on the outside and undertook an active transformation. Academically speaking it focused on linking the sage on the inside with the king on the outside, which made the practical rationality of Confucian classics scholarship more pronounced. The term “practical realism” (shixue 实学) emerged first in the Song dynasty to distinguish it from Buddhist and Daoist “theoretical abstractionism” (xuxue 虚学), advocating real (practical) principles, real virtues and really effective work. Cheng Yi pointed out, “learning the classics is practical realism…….As it states in the first volume of Doctrine of the Mean, begin with fully grasping the principle, then carry it out into affairs. As the state possesses nine classics, involving the traces of sages in past dynasties, all of it is practical realism……for learning, learning the classics is best.”33 Professor Ge Rongjin insists: “some of the components of thought in the concept of ‘practical realism’ although already pre-existed for some time, elevating such components into the concept of ‘practical realism’ began with Cheng Yi in the Northern Song dynasty……The practical realists of the Northern Song acted for the sake of rescuing the socio-political state of the middle Northern Song from crisis. Ever since the Han and Tang dynasties, ‘secular Confucianism’s practice of reciting statements and passages’ and the speculative debate in Buddhism and Daoism concerning ‘the teachings of emptiness and nirvana,’ inherited and developed the Confucian learning of ‘the sage on the inside and the king on the outside,’ and moreover, raised the Confucian tradition’s learning of the sage on the inside and the king on the outside into ‘the learning of substantially functioning’ on the basis of absorbing the ontological thought of Buddhism and Daoism from the new perspective of the “unity of substance and function,” which thereby composed the basic theoretical model and framework of Chinese practical realism.”34 Hu Yuan was outstanding with respect to expressing the elevation of the Confucian learning of the sage on the inside and the king on the outside into the learning of substantial functioning. He was not only the first to self-consciously advocate the literary practice of “placing equal importance on substance and function,” he also popularized this literary practice throughout society by means of creating “the pedagogical method of Suzhou and Huzhou provinces,” which established the internal sage of ethical principles that provided Confucian political ideals with subjectivity on the one hand and safeguarded the true beginning of Song dynasty scholarship in terms of literary practices through the king on the outside to which the humane love of the inner sage corresponds on the other. Hu Yuan, courtesy name Yi Zhi, from the Rugao municipality of Taizhou prefecture-level city, was born in the fourth year of the Chunhua era of Emperor Taizong of Song, namely 993 CE, and died in the fourth year of the Jiayou era of Emperor Renzong of Song, namely 1059 CE, always remaining in Hailing county of Taizhou (present day Taizhou city of Jiangsu province). His distant ancestors settled in the Anding fortress of Shaanxi province. Scholars were in the habit of calling him Mr. Anding. He was a famous economist and educator in the Northern Song dynasty. From a young age, Hu Yuan studied the Confucian classics, “at the age of seven he 33 34

Hao and Yi [28]. Rongjin [29].

366

7 The Ethical Constitution: Confucian Rationalism’s Consistent Linking …

excelled at writing, at 13 he penetrated the five classics, that is had hope in himself of becoming a promising wise man.”35 He would later study together with Sun Fu and Shi Jie at Mount Tai, painstakingly reading for ten years without returning home. Upon receiving letters from his family, seeing the two characters pingan 平安 [calm and safe: trans]. written on them, he would throw them into the ravine and stop reading them, fearing that family affairs would mess up his will to study. After he failed to pass the imperial examination consecutive times, he gave up on the examination hall, picked up a professorship in the state of Wu to teach the tradition of Confucian classics, and around 20 plus years later, his disciples would number in the thousands. He became the most influential teachers of his time. In the second year of the Qingli era (1042 CE), Hu Yuan received an invitation from Teng Zongliang to come and manage the prefecture-level school of Huzhou province, because he had a good way of teaching students, and the school regulations he agreed with were selected by the court as the regulations of the Imperial Academy. Beginning in the second year of the Huanghu era (1052 CE), he went out to take up a post directly lecturing as master of the Imperial Academy. Later he also lectured at the Hall of Heavenly Manifestations as edict attendant, and at the Imperial Academy as central arbiter (zhongyun 中允). He was also tasked with school policy, taking on the responsibility of “reorganizing the Imperial Academy,” and was granted the title of erudite under Chamberlain for Ceremonials. Hu Yuan was a famous educator of the Northern Song, who founded two departments at the prefecture-level school of Huzhou province, “the meaning of the classics” and “regulating affairs,” where he taught students according to their talents with the educational aim that he formulated as “illuminating the substance and achieving the function.” He presided over the Imperial Academy for many years, and his disciples dispersed all across the realm. The most famous disciple of his was the grand master of Northern Song rationalism Cheng Yi. Hu Yuan was seen as an essential figure in the Song dynasty establishment of “the dao of teaching,” “it has been long since the dao of teaching has collapsed, since the right way of learning has been clear! 80 years since the rise of the Song, Mr. Hu of Anding, Mr. Sun of Mount Tai, and Mr. Shi of Culai began with their learning how to teach as professors, and Mr. Hu’s disciples from Anding became most plentiful, then the school of Luoyang rose.”36 Hu Yuan eruditely penetrated the five classics of Confucianism, and was particularly strong at Book of Changes scholarship. Today, extant writings include 12 volumes of Oral Interpretation of Book of Changes, two volumes of Oral Interpretation of Spring and Autumn Annals, and Recorded Charts of the New Music of the Huangyou Era, all organized by his disciple Ni Tianyin. His other works, including the 13 volumes of The Essential Meaning of the Spring and Autumn Annals, five volumes of Oral Interpretation of Spring and Autumn Annals, and 1 volume of The Meaning of Doctrine of the Mean disappeared early on and are no longer extant. Considering the materials containing Hu Yuan’s thought existing today, like Ouyang Xiu before him, in terms of his method of explaining Confucian classics, Hu Yuan inherited the tradition of thought since the middle of the Tang dynasty, that 35 36

Zongxi and Zuwang [30]. Zhen [31].

1 The Rise of Song Dynasty Scholarship and the Political Thought …

367

of questioning the classics and problematizing ancient works. When Lu You of the Southern Song touched on questioning the classics and problematizing the ancient works, he said scholars of the Tang and early Ten Kingdoms “dare not comment on Kong Anguo and Zheng Kangcheng, let alone the sage himself,” “since after the Qingli era, many Confucian scholars have discovered references of the classics not touched upon by earlier people; but exclude the Xici, destroy the Rites of Zhou, question the authenticity of The Mencius, mock the Book of Documents’ Expedition of Yin (yinzheng 胤征) and Treasuring Life (guming 顾命), dismiss the preface to Book of Poetry, finding it easy to debate the classics, let alone commentaries thereupon.”37 The great master of classics scholarship during the late Qing dynasty, Pi Xirui also pointed out: “the Song did not trust the commentaries, and followed this habit to the point of questioning the classics; endlessly questioning the classics until they changed the classics, deleted classics and weighed altering the classics to fit their own doctrines, which could not be called exegesis.”38 People distinguished “scholars” during the Northern Song, who “questioned ancient texts and problematized classics into ‘the school of questioning commentaries’ and ‘the school of questioning classics,’ some scholars went even further on this basis, some insisting ‘the school of doubting commentaries’ was mainly active before Emperor Renzong of Song came of age, and ‘the school of questioning the classics’ was mainly active after Emperor Renzong of Song came of age to take the throne; some held Fan Yanzhong and Sunfu were the founders of the ‘school of questioning classics,’ while Ouyang Xiu was the founder of ‘the school of questioning classics.’”39 Hu Yuan’s classics scholarship embodied the literary trend of questioning and altering classics during the early Song. His work Oral Interpretation of Book of Changes altered the classic in over 14 places,”40 insisting “the Ten Wings” section was a classical text, and was not a commentary on the hexagram lines of the Book of Changes. “The sage made the trigrams, the dao to which was most grandly encompassing to the point of reaching the finest and most specific things, that is conveying everything. Although there are judgments of the hexagram line commentaries to explain them, the meaning of their judgments are deeply profound, and their principle is most subtle, reaching such depth as to be completely mystifying, and impossible to understand, hence commoners found them ungraspable. The sage therefore reproduced ‘The Ten Wings’ to explain them, in the desire to make posterity capable of grasping the deep mysteries of the sages and grasp how the sages did things.” Although Hu Yuan asserts “the Ten Wings” of Book of Changes was a written manifest that Confucius used to explain the judgments of the trigram lines of Book of Changes, and called “the Ten Wings” in Oral Interpretation of Book of Changes a classical text, he still boldly filled in the “broken holes” and “leftover disjunctions” in the classical text of “the Ten Wings,” correcting “erroneous” characters” and using the classical text of the “Ten Wings” to correct the original text of Book of Changes itself. Hu Yuan very much 37

Yingling [32]. Xirui [33]. 39 Yuefeng [34]. 40 Furong [35]. 38

368

7 The Ethical Constitution: Confucian Rationalism’s Consistent Linking …

doubted the commentaries by which former scholars explained the classics, directly abandoning them for his own thoughts. He chose a new perspective from which to discuss the meaning of the classics, straightened out Book of Changes scholarship by means of “argumentation” and made the principles of the sages and scholars more pronounced. The exegetical perspective that Hu Yuan chose embodied his concern for placing equal importance on the sage on the inside and the king on the outside, and possessed a strongly political nature as a philosophical perspective. For instance, the fifth line NINE of the “Big Overstep Trigram” in Book of Changes states: “the withered poplar bears fruit, the old maid wins herself a husband, neither shame nor honor.” The emblematic signs states: “the withered poplar bears fruit, but how could it last long? The old maid with husband could also be bad.” When Wang Bi’s commentary and Kong Yingda’s annotation explains the line judgment and emblematic judgment of the fifth NINE, they only concentrate solely on emphasizing “the inability to rescue from danger,” “rare areas of rescue from hardship” and “slimness of rescuing from hardship,” highlighting that they “could not last long” and “could also be bad.” Hu Yuan’s explanation appeals deeply to political philosophy. “Those of sagely character find themselves in the most respected positions, and possess the dao of great focus, when the world slides into decline, they must go beyond limits to take care of things, and hence are capable of rescuing the world from the times. Today the fifth NINE is taken as strong Yang moving to the most respectable position, which is moving to the position one can reach and commanding the resources one could reach, and thereby becoming capable of raising social order out of collapse. Today, on the contrary, the one who is unable to overcome one’s apportioned lot and merely upholds one’s allotted task is the one who maintains the status quo, going to the rescue of a realm sliding into decay with people who maintain the status quo,” “the old maid winning herself a husband who is of no aid, she cannot find livelihood, inferior in all cases to a husband winning himself a wife. In this way, by occupying Yang with Yang and filling the most respected position, the only thing she wins is no shame.” “The emblematic sign states: the judgment that the withered poplar bears fruit could not last long, is to say when the fifth NINE greatly overcomes, she holds herself to the portion already allotted to herself like the withered and decaying poplar tree bearing flowers and fruit, things that change and fall, whose glory cannot be sustained for long,” “the judgment that the old maid finding her husband could also be bad, is to say the withering old maid wins herself a husband who is of no aid, she cannot find livelihood, which is enough to say lowly and bad.”41 Hu Yuan holds that the fifth NINE cannot win any honor, which is the deeper level cause of her situation being possibly bad; “Today, on the contrary, the one who is unable to overcome one’s apportioned lot and merely upholds one’s allotted task is the one who maintains the status quo” means that being a slave to convention, risking nothing and recoiling from enterprising advance is the cause of unsustainability and badness, highlighting the sage-king’s ethical and political pursuit.

41

Yuan [36].

1 The Rise of Song Dynasty Scholarship and the Political Thought …

369

Hu Yuan’s argumentation-based Book of Changes scholarship provided theoretical support both ontological and methodological for the political order of hierarchy between ruler and ministers, father and sons. “That out of which changes are born, changes begin with Heaven and Earth. The division of Heaven and Earth opens up the original chaos, and the condition of each and every creature is born out of the relation between them. Since the condition of each and every creature is born out of the relation between them, the sage looks up to observe the patterns of the heavens, and looks down to examine the patterns of the earth; thusly, he draws them into eight trigrams, to categorize the condition of each and every thing, to fully express the natural way of change for Heaven and Earth and the patterning principle of human affairs……He first speaks of Heaven’s superiority and Earth’s inferiority, because the patterning principle of all processes and the classifying categories of all products begin with Qian and Kun. Therefore, he first speaks of the hierarchy between Heaven and Earth.”42 “Having established the higher superiority of Heaven and lowly inferiority of Earth, the condition of human affairs and all creatures is found amidst them. Thus, the 64 hexagrams and 384 lines each have a status whether noble, base, high or low,” “which is why ruler and minister, father and son, husband and wife, elder and younger each have their separate positions,” “if lowly is not found in the lower position, if the higher is not found in the higher position, if up and down cross over into chaos, then noble and base, high and low, father and son, husband and wife, elder and younger all fail to find their proper order.”43 Politically speaking, the hierarchical order of superiority and nobility between ruler and minister, father and son, is rooted in the universal principles of change, and such virtuous qualities as the sage’s honesty originates from the principles of change as well, emulating the credibility of Heaven and Earth. “Heavenly movement never weakens, so we say Heaven moves with utmost strength, thus in the interval of one day, every [heavenly body] moves over 900,000 li, and the human being who is the superior master should thus emulate them and never cease to strengthen himself until he is the ruler, until he is the minister, the father, the son,” “at the smallest, oneself, second to that, one state, and the largest of all, the realm, each should emulate the virtue of Heaven’s utmost strength, powerfully push himself along, remain thoughtful till sleep and enact one’s full potential without any rest, so that one may accomplish the affairs of the realm, and walk the great path of peace in the realm.”44 He insists that “Heaven is purely Yang qi, accumulating above and rising to superiority; Earth finds herself below as the inferior due to accumulating Yin qi,” “firm Yang is on top with the emblematic sign of superior height, soft Yin is on bottom with the lot of inferior lowliness,” “when the two kinds of energy begin to interact, they are differentiated as firm and soft, therefore by intermixing, they bring all creatures into being, covering and carrying all creatures, grandly all-encompassing, minutely endowing every little thing with a shape,” “Heaven and Earth are the emblematic symbols of Qian and Kun, while Qian

42

Yuan [37], pp. 8–450. Yuan [37], pp. 8–451. 44 Lin [38]. 43

370

7 The Ethical Constitution: Confucian Rationalism’s Consistent Linking …

and Kun are the functions of Heaven and Earth.”45 “The dao of Heaven and Earth brings each and every creature into being, and each possesses constancy,” “if it moves with constancy, then it is firm; if it rests with constancy, then it is soft. Since movement and rest have constant portions of being, birth and growth have constant patterns of becoming, ……. In terms of human affairs, the ruler rises to the top and acts with the virtue of firmness, and the minister sinks below and rests with the dao of suppleness. The ruler issues his order and the minister carries it out, the minister receives his excellence, and the ruler hears it. Since ruler and minister, movement and rest have constancy of pattern, the portions of firm and supple may be divided.”46 “The way of the heavens is always exact and always trustworthy……. Today the promising one of sagely character can promote trustworthiness by means of focusing, without the ill of partisan partiality, so as to win trust from the realm, and make all under Heaven believe in him, which is to yield to Heaven.”47 Emulating Heaven and Earth and winning the trust of the realm, the sage acquires the condition of complying with Nature and yielding to humanity, and comes into possession of the qualifications for ruling the human world. “Heaven and Earth intercross, consequently giving birth to all creatures male and female, with male and female having already come into being, there is husband and wife, with the relationship between husband and wife already set, there is that between father and son, with that between father and son already established, there is that between ruler and minister, with that between ruler and minister already set, there is high and low, with that between high and low, the dao of observing ritual propriety and rightness has some focal point to intercross. This is the great root of rectifying the realm, governing the alliance of states and ordering the relations of man.”48 “Giving birth to and growing creatures of all grades, always follows the pathway of easy change according to what is most natural.” “Since the sage can follow his pathway of easy change, follow his principle for all affairs, make ruler and minister, father and son, husband and wife, elder and younger each find their proper place in the order, all of this stems from the proper positions of Heaven and Earth.” “the greater pathway of change is all-encompassing down to things of the finest detail and specificity, and all species of creatures remain constant without growth or decline.”49 From within Book of Changes scholarship through argumentation, Hu Yuan expounds on the virtue of striking the mean by means of which the sage steers all things, and gives a universal explanation of the ethical sense of “the mean.” He insists Heaven and Earth endows human beings with qi which is originally good, thereby making human beings come into universal possession of good natural tendencies. “Human nature or natural human tendencies, is the disposition Nature gives to human beings,” and human nature is a static, unchanging ground or cause, “the natural tendency of Heaven and Earth is to be still and unmoving, and whatever is such 45

Ibid. Ibid. 47 Shujun [39]. 48 Ibid. 49 Shujun [39]. 46

1 The Rise of Song Dynasty Scholarship and the Political Thought …

371

without knowing why is the natural tendency of Heaven and Earth,” “Yet qi which is originally good, when received by human beings, gives all human beings a good natural disposition, to be completely clear without any dimness, to be completely upright without the slightest crookedness, to be fully impartial without the slightest selfish partiality,” in which case, “the sages acquire the disposition of Nature wholly intact, pure and unmixed, strong and non-reactive,” when they “enjoy they enjoy in unison with the realm, when they are enraged they are enraged in unison with the realm, they care for the population in the realm by being humane, they appropriately treat all creatures in the realm with moral rightness, they inherit the good disposition Nature gives to human beings by accomplishing the natural tendency in themselves. By accomplishing the natural tendency in themselves they also accomplish the natural tendency of all things. By accomplishing the natural tendency of all things, they may participate in the disposition of Nature as such. That which is capable of inheriting the goodness of Nature is human nature.”50 The sage acquires the vital energy of Nature, preserves the natural disposition of goodness, and thereby accomplishes his virtuous power of striking the mean. “The sagely ruler possesses the virtuous power of striking the mean, and unleashes it visibly into the timing of this world. The dao of the superior master, when accumulating within becomes the virtuous power of striking the mean, when enacted outside of himself it becomes the ultimate cultivation of the civilized empire.” The man who is a superior master grasps the art of being humane and morally right, and may use it to aid the realm for the fortunate livelihood of the people.”51 The sage gradually spreads the dao of being humane and morally right, the art of civilizing cultivation throughout the population in the realm, and although the people in the realm are deeply lacking of all knowledge, because they are civilized and cultivated by the higher class, their hearts are healthy and their minds are joyful, dancing and waving, skipping and trotting without consciously knowing why. They dance and wave, skip and trot without consciously knowing why, since they do not consciously know why the dao of the sage is such even though it is so. This is the dao of the sage gradually infecting the people like the work of a mysterious force.”52 The sage upholds the dao of striking the man to govern the state and manage policies, finding the happy medium between, harmonizing and using both firmness and suppleness, to make the people find their respective place in the world and realize the great concordance of the realm. “The dao of governing the state cannot make sole use of firm strength, because total firmness is violence; it cannot make sole use of suppleness, because totally supple means weak,” “being firm and being supple complement one another,” the sage “may accomplish the dao of governing,” “weapons and armor may be used to resist foreign invasion, but cannot be deployed for long; punishment and discipline may be used to stop treachery, but cannot be used alone.”53 “If the dao of the general’s military force is firm strength without striking the mean, it becomes lost to explosive violence, 50

Lin [38]. Shujun [39]. 52 Ibid. 53 Shujun [39]. 51

372

7 The Ethical Constitution: Confucian Rationalism’s Consistent Linking …

and explosive violence necessarily damages things. If it is bright without striking the mean [with being dim], it becomes lost to over-scrupulous examination, which cannot tolerate the people and the soldiers will not follow; all of this is how the dao of the general’s military force is lost.”54 If one errs to the side of being too firm or too supple, one will bring upon the realm ill and destructive policies. “The reason why things in the realm fall badly apart is because the higher class lacks the virtuous power of being firm and bright to decisively govern the lower class, while the lower class lacks a supple and compliant mindset to follow orders from above.”55 Firmness is needed to decisively handle affairs in the realm, while brightness is needed to examine matters of subtlety in the realm. If the ruler possesses the virtuous powers of being firm, bright, moderating and upright, promising and unworthy alike in the realm will all follow and reward him, “the dimmest and most ignorant of people in the realm will all enjoy and appeal to him, who can be all-embracing.”56 The dao of striking the mean demands equitable distribution of wealth, enabling people to find their place in the world. Although finding your place in the world is indeed a typical description of the political ideals in traditional Chinese political philosophy, it still obviously includes the ethical prescription of hierarchically ordered relations and the complacent consciousness of knowing your role and not thinking of overstepping boundaries. Hu Yuan insists: “the great working of change solely takes the meaning of alternating. The dao of alternating is the pattern of the natural and human world. In terms of the dao of what is natural, it means yin and yang alternate and bring all creatures into being, winter and summer alternate and bring the four seasons into being, the sun and moon alternate and bring day and night into being.” What he calls “the dao of striking the mean” demands the political “rulers above” to follow the pattern of change known as alteration when dealing with the alteration of human affairs, rescue the realm from hardship, and revitalize the governing order of the realm. “In terms of human affairs, it means the alternation of gain and loss brings about fortune and misfortune, the alternation of fairness and deception brings about benefit and damage, the alternation of superior ruler and petty man brings about order and chaos. Thus, the alternations of Nature result in becoming and are of itself the constant dao. If an alternation occurs in human affairs, the ruler above knows how to tailor it,” “if the one on the throne knows the superior man and petty man alternate and make chaos out of order, then he should constantly recruit superior masters to get rid of petty men, then constant order in the realm will reign without chaos,” “if their honesty and deception alternate and bring about benefit and damage, then he should purely employ sincere honesty to wipe out the deception, then [the realm] will constantly benefit without damage,” “Thus, the great working of change solely takes the meaning of alternation.”57 Hu Yuan insists, if laws are enforced for a long time, that means there must be something ill at work, if there is something ill at 54

Ibid. Ibid. 56 Ibid. 57 Yuan [37], pp. 8–171. 55

1 The Rise of Song Dynasty Scholarship and the Political Thought …

373

work, there is something inconsistent among things, and since the law is inconsistent with things, human passions multiply to the point of causing disinterest and mental exhaustion.” “If such affairs persist for long, one must change what is ill in it, if organs of state remain obstinately unchanging, one must reform it anew, which is the sage emulating the natural transformation of Heaven and Earth.” Hu Yuan pins the task of reforming bad laws in the realm upon those promising personnel with great virtue, “when the realm declines into misrule, this is the occasion for greatly overstepping. Only the greatest of men can overstep the portion allotted to them so as to accomplish what greatly needs to be done in the realm, if a promising ruler of talent and virtue deviates from the proper course, then it cannot be done, let alone if he is without both talent and virtue entirely.” The sage “facing this occasion in time can go beyond the constant roles, promote the affective mindset of being humane, morally right and intolerant of malice, independently practice uprightness without any sense of fear, without considering danger or hardship, and without recoiling from the petty men, and in this way find the capacity to rescue the realm from withering away and falling apart, while establishing the great enterprise of the realm.”58 He hoped the great mean of promising virtue would realize policies that strike the happy medium in line with the dao of striking the mean, and the ultimate expressions of such policies would be the people finding their place in the world, and getting what they were fit for in line with the hierarchical prescriptions of civilism. “Inside of one family, if everyone finds the happy medium, the father is morally right, the mother is caring, and the children filial, the elder brother friendly and the younger brother respectful. Inside of the court, if the happy medium is found, the ruler is morally right, the ministers are loyal, there are no excessive gangs ruling the four seas, while township and kinship leave no relatives behind.”59 (3)

Sun Fu’s Spring and Autumn Annals Thought and the Theory of Reverence to the King

Confucian political thought always had two wings to it, the sage on this inside and the king on the outside. At the same time, although it put more emphasis on one side rather than another, the two wings always coexisted. Song dynasty scholarship came with two branches, utilitarian Confucianism and rationalism, and the main thread of these two branches of thought may clearly show their respective emphases, but a broad overview of these two branches of Song dynasty scholarship shows the coexistence of the sage on the inside and the king on the outside as two wings which first appeared already in the educational thought of Hu Yuan. During the same period and in nearly the same way, Sun Fu dedicated himself to raising talent that society needed, talents who showed dual consideration for the sage on the inside and the king on the outside. Among the Confucian classics, Book of Changes scholarship expressed the undying vitality of the pattern of alternations and the Ideal of striking the mean, while Spring and Autumn Annals expresses the unchanging constant rule of principles, whose core is ritual propriety, which in turn expresses the basic model of 58 59

Shujun [39]. Ibid.

374

7 The Ethical Constitution: Confucian Rationalism’s Consistent Linking …

ideal political order through the Confucian perspective. One of the core components of this model is the hierarchy of value between superiors and inferiors, the noble and the base as well as close and distant relatives, which centers around the core of reverence to the king. In this sense, the difference between Sun Fu and Hu Yuan is greater than that between Sun Fu and Shi Jie. The Scholarly Annals of the Song and Yuan Period (songyuan xue an 宋元学案) set up the Scholarly Annals of Anding to singly elucidate Hu Yuan’s classics scholarship, but compiled both Sun Fu and Shi Jie under Scholarly Annals of Mount Tai Academy, in which Shi Jie is taken as the successor of Sun Fu; in terms of style and composition, the latter text expresses the judgment of the one who composed and supplemented Scholarly Annals of the Song and Yuan Dynasties about the differences in academic thought between “the Three Masters of the Early Song.” “We owe the flourishing of Song dynasty academics to the first schools of Anding and Mount Tai, masters Cheng and Zhu both thought so. The Anding school was deep and the Mount Tai school was brilliant; the Anding school was critical and honest and the Mount Tai school was firm and assertive; they both matured these respective dispositions, but they were equal insofar as they dedicated their forces to conveying this dao. The Anding school seems richer than the Mount Tai school.”60 Shi Jie’s Scholarly Annals of the Mount Tai Academy highly praises Sun Fu’s accomplishments in classics scholarship, and found the Mount Tai school to be more wise than the Confucian schools of past dynasties. “Looking at history from the Zhou dynasty onward, the ones who have fulfilled the promising potential of humanity include Mencius, Yangzi, Wang Tong and Han Yu of the Board of Civil Office,” “three hundred years after the founding of the Board of Civil Office, the master of Mount Tai also fulfilled the promising potential of humanity.”61 Sun Fu, courtesy name Ming Fu, assumed name Fu Chun, from Pingyang county of Jin province (modern day Linfen municipality of Shaanxi province), one of the three masters of the early Song dynasty, born in the third year of the Chunhua era of Emperor Taizong of Song, 992 CE, died in the second year of the Jiayou era of Emperor Renzong of Song, 1057 CE. He acted as guest lecturer at Mount Tai for many years, so scholars became accustomed to calling him Master of Mount Tai. Sun Fu’s growth benefited from Fann Zhongyan’s help, teaching and support. He not only obtained economic aid from Fan Zhongyan, he also plotted his way into a school post through Fan Zhongyan, and studied Sprinng and Autumn Annals under Fan Zhongyan. After Sun Fu failed the imperial examination many times in a row, he set his will firmly upon passing it, researching the classics in depth. Shi Jie erected a room at Mount Tai, and invited Sun Fu to go lecture there, where Sun Fu lived for eight years, mainly engaging in research and lectures on Confucian classics scholarship. In the first year of the Qingli era of Emperor Renzong of Song, 1042 CE, Sun Fu went on to formally take the posts of Attendant Editing Clerk of the Palace Library and Lecturer at the Directorate of Sons of the State under the recommendation of Fan Zhongyan. In terms of classics scholarship, Sun Fu’s writings include Doctrine of Changes (yishuo 易说), which sadly is no longer extant. 60 61

Ji [41]. Jie [42].

1 The Rise of Song Dynasty Scholarship and the Political Thought …

375

The important works of Sun Fu’s classics scholarship for the scholarly world include Spring and Autumn Annals scholarship, but today the only extant work of his on this topic are the 12 volumes of Discovering the Subtlety of Reverence to the King in Spring and Autumn Annals (chunqiu zunwang fawei 春秋尊王发微). Sun Fu’s Spring and Autumn Annals scholarship manifested the typical features of Song dynasty scholarship by insisting the Spring and Autumn Annals “includes disparagements but no praises,” and highlighting Mencius’ thought that “Confucius completed Spring and Autumn Annals and chaotic ministers and thieving sons trembled in fear.” In the world of thought at the time, it was obviously highly impactful. Sun Fun’s method of classics scholarship was similar to Hu Yuan’s; they both avoided getting stuck in the mud of Han and Tang dynasty scholarship’s commentaries and annotations, and instead decisively used their own ideas to develop independent and complete explanations through argumentation. Sun Fu’s research on Spring and Autumn Annals neither falls into the trenches of classics commentary and annotation, nor wantonly explains chaotic clusters of the classic’s text; it “does not confusedly comment nor twist the doctrine and distort the classic,” “he speaks simply, and brightly aware of the deeds and crimes of the dukes and senior state officials; by examining the flourishing and declining of different times, he promoted insights into the order and chaos of the way of kings, grasping more of the root meaning of the classic.”62 Zhu Xi also highly praised Sun Fu’s accomplishments in research on “Spring and Autumn Annals scholarship,” “although the disciples of Sun Mingfu could not profoundly penetrate the sagely classic, looking at his arguments and studies of dao, they are stern and intimidating, and ultimately get what the sage meant.”63 Studying Spring and Autumn Annals, Sun Fu not only boldly doubted the truth of commentaries on the classic, but also directly supplemented places where the text of this classic was lacking by means of argumentation and explanation. Sun Fu’s classics scholarship inherited the orthodox Confucian thought of Han Yu onward, rejecting Buddhism and Daoism, while insisting on “writing to convey dao,” that is written articles had to “master civilism, and complement the sage.”64 “Writing is the functioning of dao,” “dao is the root of education,” and you “must grasp it in your mind, and then complete it in speech.” In the scholarly world “from the Han dynasty to the Tang dynasty, there have been many who used writing to transmit to the world, but mostly Yangist, Mohist, Buddhist and Daoist things of empty nonbeing and retribution, and the malignantly extravagant, flowery language of Shen, Xie, Xu and Yu. The only ones who were always humane and righteous, and never treacherous and confusing, were Dong Zhongshu, Yang Xiong, Wang Tong and Han Yu.”65 Sun Fu listed the great Confucian masters since the Warring States period, wove the fabric of an academic tradition similar to Han Yu’s Confucian orthodoxy, and acknowledged Dong Zhongshu’s contribution to Confucian scholarship. “Since Confucius, those who have been called great Confucians, include Mencius, Xunzi and 62

Jie [42]. Ibid. 64 Ibid. 65 Ibid. 63

376

7 The Ethical Constitution: Confucian Rationalism’s Consistent Linking …

Yang Xiong. When we get to Dong Zhongshu, we omit him, why? Dong Zhongshu responded strategically to and brightly expanded on Confucius, curbed and dismissed the hundred schools of thought, cut off all the traditions outside of the branches of the six arts, and did not allow them to tag along and advance, which could be called fully exercising the mind along the dao of the sage. After the violence of the Qin dynasty, it was the strength of Dong Zhongshu that was responsible for rescuing the dao of the sage from darkness into light.”66 He not only affirmed Dong Zhongshu, he also affirmed Yang Xiong and Wang Tong, and between Mencius and Hann Yu, he added several transmission points for the Confucian orthodoxy.67 Sun Fu fiercely criticized Buddhism, Daoism, Shen Buhai, Han Feizi and Mozi; he venerated only Confucius and Confucian scholarship, insisting on the utmost importance of the Confucian values of being humane and morally righteous, of ritual propriety and music, and publicly proclaiming “not acting rightly or humanely, not observing the rites or producing music, is it not the disgrace of Confucians!”68 “Being humane and morally right, the institution of rites and music are the roots of governing the world, through which the dao of the king revitalizes, through which ethical human relations are rectified. When we do away with their roots, how could all this be done?”69 The disgrace of the Confucian scholars began in the Warring States,” “ever since the Han and Wei dynasties, it has only deepened,” “the disciples of Buddha and Laozi have spanned across China,” they “annihilate the values of being humane and morally right; they scrap the institution of rites and music, and plug the eyes and ears of the realm with mud,” “their teachings advance at equal pace with Confucianism, standing as three.” They “do away with the rites between ruler and minister, end the dearness between father and son, and annihilate the rightness between husband and wife. When Confucians do not have the will to be humane, act rightly, observe the rites or produce music, all of it ends. If they find the will, shouldn’t we refrain from scathingly indict them?”70 Although he derogates Buddha, Laozi, Shen [Buhai] and Han [Feizi], he still could not break free of the framework of thought of reciprocity between Heaven-orNature and humanity, and instead utilized the theory of reciprocity between Heavenor-Nature and humanity to prove the policies of the sage differ from the policies of those who are not sages. “If there were many natural disasters and calamities during the Spring and Autumn period, it was because the sage-king was inactive.”71 In Discovering the Subtleties of Reverence to the King in Spring and Autumn Annals, Sun Fu also elucidated his thought of “stressing the rites” and “revering the king,” the central core to which was revering the king. In terms of his model of the workings of power, Sun Fu still championed Confucius’ ideal political order of “rites and music and military exhibitions emit from the son of Heaven,” which

66

Ibid. Fu [43]. 68 Jie [42]. 69 Jie [42]. 70 Ibid. 71 Ibid. 67

1 The Rise of Song Dynasty Scholarship and the Political Thought …

377

underscored the legitimacy and rationality of autocratic monarchy in resolute opposition to statesmen establishing policies enabling dukes and senior state officials to independently wage military expeditions. He thereby insisted that the lawfulness of the dukes and earls relied upon the king’s mandate, and not the reverse. Sun Fun repeatedly said “the king is the highest authority unequaled in the realm,” “the dukes receive the state from the son of Heaven, it is not something statesmen may establish.” He also points out, “according to the rites of Zhou, those acting as earls among the nine ranks must be conscripted by marquises alone,” if there are five earls, none may mandate anyone as earl,” “‘when there is dao in the realm, rites, music and military expeditions all issue from the son of Heaven.’ They are not things the marquises can control alone. The marquises taking control alone is still impermissible, let alone the senior state officials! Looking at the juncture of Dukes Yin and Huan, marquises of any size were conducting them alone, after Duke Xuan came about, senior state officials of interior and exterior alike were all conducting them alone, oh how deeply they were lacking a king!” “The title of marquis and the land enfeoffed are received from the son of Heaven and cannot be taken.”72 Sun Fu ruthlessly blames the many marquises during the Spring and Autumn period for conduct breaking the very rule of ritual propriety. “The son of Heaven sacrifices to the highest lord, the marquises sacrifice to the mountain and river gods,” “if Lu were a marquis, sacrificing to the mountain and river gods would be observing ritual propriety,” but if “he were to sacrifice to the highest lord, it would not be the observance of ritual propriety,” “as the house of Zhou was in decline, there were many transgressors among the marquises, and by the time of Lu, you may guess from it how many marquises transgressed [the son of Heaven].” “But, Spring and Autumn Annals was history written by the Lu, and Confucius would not dare repudiate it. Whether it was natural disasters and abnormal calamities or changes not in line with the seasons, he henceforth recorded them to focus on the evil of those transgressing the son of Heaven.” He states, “the marquises do not have affairs belonging to the son of Heaven, they may not set out to gather the marquises,” “the meaning of Spring and Autumn Annals is that the son of Heaven alone may kill.” In the marquises’ states, if “senior state officials commit crimes, then they must ask upon the son of Heaven, the marquises may not take the initiative alone to kill them.”73 He also did not shy away from raising criticism at the son of Heaven for failing to observe ritual propriety. He criticized King Jing of Zhou, “Owing to the superiority of the son of Heaven, mourning for three months is inferior to [the five months of mourning for] the marquises.”74 Sun Fu’s Discovering the Subtleties of Reverence to the King in Spring and Autumn Annals strongly blames Duke Zhuang of Lu for harming the farmers and bringing injury to the people as well as Earl Liang for misusing his people, all of which highlights the political thought of the ruler loving the people and properly using the promising among them, at least through the reversal of it. “It has been on the rise in recent years, now again three large buildings are erected in one month, harming the farmers and people, nothing 72

Ibid. Fu [44]. 74 Ibid. 73

378

7 The Ethical Constitution: Confucian Rationalism’s Consistent Linking …

is worse than this.” Earl Liang safeguarded the land of the son of Heaven with the weight of ancestral temples and sacrificial alters, with masses of military personnel. To participate in governing all the time everywhere, no one has ever heard of such a thing, which is misusing people everywhere. Misusing people everywhere?”… “What hopes would there be for the state not to fall.” “The assistant ministers of the ruler are the ruler’s hands. If a stern duke lost the dao, and killed off three ministers in one day, this is the natural path of self-inflicted disaster, so [Confucius] listed and numbered them to focus on their wrongs.”75 (4)

Shi Jie’s Theory of the Constant Dao and His Thought of Restoring the Ancient Ways

Shi Jie, courtesy name Shou Dao, also Duke Cao, alias Culai, from Fengfu county of Yanzhou province of the Northern Song dynasty, born in the second year of the Jingde era of Emperor Zhenzong of Song, 1002 CE, died in the fifth year of the Qingli era of Emperor Renzong of Song, 1045 CE, family residence was located at the foot of the Culai mountain, scholars called him Master Culai. Shi Jie was a famous Confucian scholar, economist, and literature specialist of the early Northern Song dynasty. Together with Hu Yuan and Sun Fu, he was called one of “the three masters of the early Song” by the neo-Confucian rationalists. Since youth he was energetically enthusiastic to learn, and upon growing up, went abroad to study. While studying at the Yingtian Prefecture Academy, life was exceptionally arduous, but he still took it in stride. At the time, Fan Zhongyan was teaching at the Academy, and found great appreciation for Shi Jie’s enthusiastic learning mentality. Ouyang Xiu pointed out in Master Culai Shi’s Tomb Inscription and Epithet that Shi Jie “the Master had a deep countenance and vital integrity, he studied devotedly with grand aspirations. Even when working the fields, he never forgot the woes of the world! By saying nothing could not be done in time, he always accomplished what he set out to do, and if it is not your job to do something, practice what you preach! If my preaching is useful, and utility is brought to the realm, it need not be actuated by myself. If my preaching is not useful, although I may reap misfortune and blame, and be sent to death, I will not regret it! If anger arose in him upon encountering something, he turned it into written articles, displaying to the utmost the order and chaos, success and failure from ancient to today’s time, in order to point to what touches this generation. Whether promising or idiotic, whether good or bad, he affirmed what was right and blamed what was wrong, never holding anything back! Today’s world is rather afraid of his words, and because of this, slander him noisily, with the petty men particularly despising him, gathering together such forces as to guarantee crowding his words out of existence! The master, peaceful, neither lost himself nor changed course, and said that I, in speaking the way I do, have courage surpassing Mencius!”76 Shi Jie actively joined Fan Zhongyan, waiting until the third year of the Qingli era to undertake the “new policies,” when he wrote the famous Praise of the Sagely Virtue of the Qingli Era, naming names, critiquing public figures, and passing judgment on powerful 75 76

Ibid. Yangxiu [45].

1 The Rise of Song Dynasty Scholarship and the Political Thought …

379

ministers. After “the new policies” failed, he was framed as malicious by others, and could not establish himself in court. He was sentenced to relocate to Puzhou, but couldn’t make it to his post, dying of sickness. Shi Jie configured a constant way (changdao 常道) from the Confucian perspective of right and wrong, and saw any being running counter to the constant way as “abnormal.” “The three powers [Heaven, Earth, Man] are in their proper places, each with a constant way,” “if one goes against its constant way, then it is called abnormal.”77 Shi Jie’s “constant way” involves the hierarchy of relations between Heaven, Earth and all creatures. He was particularly descriptive, listing who was “abnormal” for going against “the constant way.” Among them, Buddha and Laozi were the more remarkably harmful and “abnormal” ones. Through contrasting “the constant ways” and “the abnormalities,” he logically declared that human being’s constant way is the hierarchical social code of ethical relations, “the three lights [sun, moon, stars] alternatively brighten, the four seasons alternatively end, this is the constant way of Heaven,” “the sun and moon eclipsing one another, the five stars becoming comets, abnormal.” “The five sacred mountains are secure, the four sacred rivers are flowing, this is the constant way of the Earth,” “a mountain collapses, a river runs dry, abnormal,” “the prince faces south, the ministers face north, this is the constant way of ruler and ministers,” “the father sits and the son stands, this is the constant way of father and son,” “ministers resist against the ruler, a son is hostile to the father, abnormal.” The constant way of human beings also includes venerating China and devaluing foreigners, “China is governed by dao and virtue, practiced by ritual propriety and music, and exercised by the five constant virtues, but the teachings of foreign barbarians against the classics prevailing and doctrines of evil absurdity and deluded confusion filling the realm is abnormal.” Shi Jie thought the abnormality of Buddha and Laozi did not yet capture the concern of the monarchs, and also failed to rise to the level of self-conscious coping that abnormal celestial phenomena and abnormal earthly phenomena would incite. “when the ruler sees a solar eclipse, one stellar comet, one storm out of the order of the seasons, or plants not growing, that is enough for him to know they are abnormalities of Heaven and Earth, so he retreats to his room, and reduces supper,” “frightened to no end, he corrects the morality of his conduct to exorcise and eliminate them,” but Buddhism and Daoism “destroy the dao of ruler and ministers, eliminate the dearness of father and son, reject morality, trash the rites and music, tear apart the five constant virtues, alter the constant settlement of the four occupations, dismantle the proper attire of the Chinese kingdom, dismiss our ancestral origins and offer sacrifices to minority tribes, the teachings of foreign barbarians against the classics are prevailing, the doctrines of evil absurdity and deluded confusion are filling the realm, while [the rulers] turn their head not recognizing them as abnormal phenomena,” “Buddhism and Daoism have been abnormalities for over one thousand years, and China has been harmed by these pests for over one thousand years now.”78 He insists the constant way of human beings so championed by Confucianism may have been badly damaged 77 78

Jie [46], p. 60. Jie [46], p. 61.

380

7 The Ethical Constitution: Confucian Rationalism’s Consistent Linking …

by Buddhism and Daoism since the Wei-Jin era, and may have been concealed by purely literary scholars like Yang Yi. Shi Jie as the protector of the constant way of Confucianism waged decisive battles against all kinds of abnormal phenomena, maintaining constant guard over the traditional moral principles. He stood on the side of the Confucian ruler who embraces dao, and with considerable self-confidence, spoke on behalf of “the constant way” of Confucianism.” “The dao of the Zhou dynasty and Confucius was not aimed at mere self-refinement but simultaneously aimed at benefiting the realm,” “the dao of the sage is nothing other than the way of humanity. The way of humanity is nothing other than [the constant relation between] ruler and ministers, father and sons, husband and wife.”79 Shi Jie argued “if you do not serve your ruler with the dao of Yao, Shun, Yu, Tang, Wen, Wu and the Duke of Zhou, then it is an unorthodox path you follow.”80 He insists, “Buddha and Laozi were people of foreign tribes, and Buddha and Laozi have brought great mess to the teachings of China with the teachings of foreign tribes, they have brought great mess to the clothing attire of Chinese people with the clothing attire of foreign tribes, they have brought great mess to the Chinese language with the language of foreign tribes, and there is no crime greater than this.”81 Nothing short of denouncing them will bring light to the institutions of the kingdom. Shi Jie pinned everything on “the constant way” in proposing to restore the rule of the sage. “Everything the sage did was institutional. If you do not specifically rescue this moment from chaos, the chaos will necessarily hang over all future generations. Thus, the ritual propriety observed between ruler and ministers does not permit reckless actions, the orderliness observed between father and son does not permit out of line behavior, the ethical relation between husband and wife does not permit deserting it, the separation held between man and woman does not permit mixing, the distinction of higher and lower class displayed by clothing does not permit transgressive blurring, the nobility and baseness of meals does not permit forgetting, the different quantities of land given does not permit seizure by force, the highness and lowness of palace chamber and ordinary rooms does not permit overstepping, teacher and friends have proper positions that do not permit alteration, the relation between superiors and inferiors is fixed and may not be changed, coming-of-age and marriage have proper timing which may not be missed, mourning and sacrifices go by the book and cannot be forgotten; all of these are the inalterable ways of eternally constant action, and altering them brings chaos.”82 In The Origin of Chaos, he analyzes the fundamental causes of “the numerous generations of chaos” since the Zhou and Qin dynasties as “messing up the ancient institutions,” “since the Zhou and Qin dynasties, chaotic generations have been many, ……tracing back whence the chaos emerged, it emerged from messing up the ancient institutions.”83 Shi Jie lists many cases of “messing up the ancient institutions,” combining together such topics as the ritual 79

Jie [47], pp. 95–96. Jie [48], p. 71. 81 Ibid. 82 Jie [49], pp. 89–90. 83 Jie [50], p. 64. 80

1 The Rise of Song Dynasty Scholarship and the Political Thought …

381

institution of ruler and ministers, the institution of taxes and corvée labor, the ninesquare farming institution, etc., and thereby described the complicated relationship between “messing up the ancient institutions” and “the numerous generations of chaos.” He insists the “ancient institutions” have been gradually destroyed by rulers since the Zhou and Qin dynasties, and that “messing up the ancient institutions” is the basic cause of numerous generations of chaos in the realm. “The son of Heaven is the ruler; the marquises are the ministers,” “the ruler faces the south, the ministers face the north, which is instituted by Heaven on high,” “from the Zhou to the foreign kings, the imperial house has become weak, unwilling to assert its own superiority over the marquises, descending to stand on equal ground with the marquises face to face.” In this way, “the ritual propriety observed between ruler and ministers has been messed up by foreign kings. When ritual propriety is messed up between ruler and ministers, the ritual of presenting oneself to the monarch is scrapped, and the marquises do not act as ministers, while the realm goes without a king,” “disorderly mess is what does this.”84 He states that the destruction of the ancient institutions began with the legal reforms when Duke Xiao of Qin employed Shang Yang, the destruction of the nine-square farming system and enfeoffment institution were particularly crucial. “Duke Xiao of Qin tasked himself solely with enriching the state and strengthening the military, used Shang Yang to do planning, who scrapped the nine-square farming system, instituting instead criss-cross paths through the fields, allowing them to plow wherever at will, setting no limits on amounts, hence the nine-square farming institution was scrapped by Duke Xiao of Qin.” “With the nine-square farming system scrapped, paths and boundaries became irregular, and wells did not evenly feed them in accompaniment, so emoluments in grain could not be balanced.”85 According to the ancient institution, “the male is correctly located on the outside, and the female is correctly located indoors, the son of Heaven listened to the teachings of men, and the empress listened to instructions from women, the son of Heaven managed the male principle of Yang, and the empress managed the female virtue of Yin, “the son of Heaven administered government on the outside, and the empress administered occupations on the inside, which was the unaltered dao for three dynasties,” “the empress of King Zhaoxiang of Qin exited the door to the inner chamber and looked out the door of her curtained carriage, and by using a woman to face the ministers, the roles of man and woman were ruined by King Zhaoxiang of Qin.” “When the roles of males and females are messed up, the order of Yin and Yang is lost,” “when the order of Yin and Yang is lost, the sun and moon reverse course and Heaven and Earth overturn.” With the ancient institutions of the Shang, Xia and Zhou as the standards, Shi Jie attempted to restore the ancient system of “the laws of the three great dynasties” and “the institutions of the three great dynasties.”86 He highly praised “the ancients for enfeoffing the marquises, to propagate and control the imperial house,” “when there is order in the realm, give it to the marquises to uphold it; when there is disorder in the realm, give it to the marquises to manage it.” In higher antiquity, 84

Jie [50], p. 64. Ibid. 86 Ibid., p. 65. 85

382

7 The Ethical Constitution: Confucian Rationalism’s Consistent Linking …

“the three great dynasties enjoyed the state, whether for 8–9 hundred years or for 4–5 hundred years, due to this dao.” Shi Jie negatively appraised the commandery and county system, “Emperor Qin Shihuang swallowed up the six states, annexed the marquises, let his thoughts and desires rule unchecked in the realm, put a halt to the feudal enfeoffment system, and set up the commandery and county system, hence the institution of feudal enfeoffment was destroyed by Emperor Qin Shihuang. With the feudal enfeoffment system destroyed, the realm becomes fragile, and with the imperial house weak, the son of Heaven becomes isolated.”87 Shi Jie defined political roles according to the traditional Confucian function of accomplishing humanity. He saw the monarch as the necessary arrangement required to help humans accomplish humanity. He insisted there were two kinds of states under which fell the natural disposition of all creatures in the world, appropriate and inappropriate, and only the state of striking harmonious balance was appropriate in terms of value, while the state of not striking harmonious balance would have to reach the harmonious balance for it to become appropriate, so there objectively existed a power to tailors and corrects. “Creatures are born with disparities in natural disposition, what tailors and corrects the natural dispositions of creatures is the office of Nature; humans are born without certain abilities, the one who grows and nurtures human abilities is the monarchic ruler,” “after tailoring and correcting, the dispositions of creatures become satisfactory, hence the curved, the straight, the sour, the bitter, the falling and the standing all find their harmonious state. ……The rigid, the supple, the violent, the relaxed and the hurried all find their balance. Harmony is what we call perfectly in line with dao; balance is what we call perfectly in line with virtue. By balancing and harmonizing the coherence of the realm is achieved.”88 The monarchic ruler embodies the dao of Qian, and the harmonious balance of the realm depends on the dao of Qian. “The monarch is the utmost noble in the realm; the father is the utmost dear in the realm. Noble, hence the realm admires him, dear, hence the realm loves him. The one who satisfies admiration in the whole state is the ruler; the one who satisfies love in the whole family is the father. Thus, people and ministers find honor in proximity to the ruler, and people and children find joy serving dear family.”89 Although Shi Jie speaks of Heaven’s delegated officers, he does not acknowledge the theory of affective communication between Heaven-or-Nature and humanity, insisting that “whether Heaven feels responsive or not” “is unknowable,” but he also doesn’t agree with Liu Zongyuan’s viewpoint, insisting Liu Zongyuan’s view that “the successful naturally succeed, and the mistake makers naturally make mistakes,” seems not to accord well with the central idea of the six classics of the sages, and instead, insists that Heaven-or-Nature has some kind of political function of “rewarding the success and punishing the mistake,” “bringing fortune to the good and disaster to the excessive” whereby “only virtue is helpful.” Political governance in the human world involves both fortune and disaster from heaven and Earth as well as rewards and punishments from humans and rulers. “Heaven governs from above, 87

Ibid. Jie [51], pp. 66–67. 89 Jie [52], p. 203. 88

1 The Rise of Song Dynasty Scholarship and the Political Thought …

383

Earth governs from below and the ruler governs from the middle, Heaven, Earth and man have different positions but co-govern. The governing of Heaven and Earth is called bringing disaster and fortune, the governing of the ruler is called punishing and rewarding, they come out of one and the same thing, both distribute [disasters and fortunes, punishments and rewards] according to how good or wicked they are. If good and this is rewarded, if wicked and this is punished, this is called yielding to Heaven and Earth. [Humans] yield to Heaven and Earth in harmony with the winds and rains and the hundred grains are good to them. If bad and this is rewarded, if good and this is punished, this is called going against Heaven and Earth.”90 Shi Jie holds that the Prime Minister’s mission is to “stand over the imperial court, cite the regulations, emit a cultivating influence, carry out the imperial mandate, execute rewards and punishments, promote one hundred officials and demote one hundred officials more,” “elect by means of the regulations, and powerful dukes who do not suit the realm dare not announce candidacy, produce by means of cultivation, and powerful dukes who do not suit the realm dare not appear; enact the imperial mandate, and powerful dukes who do not suit the realm dare not enact anything at all; execute rewards and punishments, and powerful dukes who do not suit the realm will dare not execute anything at all.” If “a duke suits the realm, even if he holds someone affectionately dear, people do not call it acting out of selfish interest,” “if he employs someone out of selfish interest, even if he is cold and distant to him, people do not call it impartial.”91 Shi Jie resolutely upholds the Confucian thought of putting people first and heavily valuing human beings, highlights the important role that the people play in the political system, actively champions people-first politics, and takes “the people” as the root of order and chaos, rise and decline. “Those who excel at acting for the realm, do not focus on its order or disorder, but on the people and nothing more. The people are the root of the state. Even if the realm is in chaos, if one remains close to the hearts and minds of the people, he is not worthy of blame; Even if the realm is well-ordered, if one distances himself from the hearts and minds of the people, it is blamable. All the people say: ‘The realm is a family of states.’ Who is the realm? Who is the family of states? It is the people and no one else. When you have a people, you have a realm and you have a family of states; without a people, the realm is an empty void, and the state is in name only. An empty void is unlivable, something in name only is not worthy of protecting. That being the case, how vital are the people to the rise and fall of the realm! How vital are the people to the flourishing and decline of the state!”92 Shi Jie insists the people concern the survival and demise of the state. “since ancient times, the four barbarians could not take down the state, powerful ministers could not take down the state, only the people could take down the state,” “the people are the root of the state, and no one has ever heard of the root disappearing with the branches and leaves surviving intact,” “the fall of Jie of Xia was due to the people; the fall of Zhou of Shang was also due to the people; the fall of Qin was also due 90

Jie [53], p. 126. Jie [54], p. 166. 92 Jie [55], p. 248. 91

384

7 The Ethical Constitution: Confucian Rationalism’s Consistent Linking …

to the people,” “The Han dynasty had the crisis of Pingcheng, the difficulty of the Lü clan, the revolt of the seven states and the seizure executed by Wang Mang, but the Han ultimately did not fall, because the hearts and minds of people were not dismissed.” “Thus, the sons of Heaven in ancient times heavily valued the people, and did not dare bully even widows and widowers.” “Although the people are ordinary people, there are treacherous pretenders, there are heroes, there are the righteous and courageous,” “the sage did not dare insult widows or widowers, because he could not treat the people with [the attitude of] an ordinary man.”93 He also spoke in the voice of the people, and described the ideal of people-first politics with a tone of praise for local officials serving the interests of the people. He demanded that “senior officials submit themselves to frugality, behave themselves honestly, uphold the law fairly, employ care impartially, look after the people’s comfort, and constrain the government official’s to speedily act,” “since the senior state official came, all of us have been content in the world, sleeping late and eating full, the elderly rest and the strong work, depriving us not of our occasion to plant and grow food, harming not our means of life and nutrition,” to the point of “passing the years with the chickens in the fields and alleys unstartled, dogs not barking, thieves not entering, and petty officials not arriving,” “the ones governing our county, nurture all of us, which could be called diligence and even perfection, which could be called righteous and worthy of thanks,” “us people look at the senior officials from below, none have let down Heaven or failed the people, none have walked the crooked path out of deceptive will, and removing the innocent, this is not the misfortune of our senior officials, but the misfortune of us people.”94

2 The Political Philosophy of Northern Song Neo-Confucian Rationalism Song dynasty neo-Confucian rationalism was the product of traditional Chinese philosophical reason tending to reach maturity. It marks Chinese civilization’s advancement toward theoretical self-consciousness. Generally speaking, neoConfucian rationalism budded in the middle and late Tang dynasty, took shape in the middle of the Northern Song dynasty and fully matured in the middle of the Southern Song, but only became lawful at the end of the Southern Song and acquired the status of representing the ideology of the bureaucracy during the Yuan dynasty, when it became the basis of the imperial examination. Neo-Confucian rationalism absorbed much nutrition from Daoist and Buddhist thought; it explored what tradition knew as the theme of Heaven-or-Nature and humanity, and its core proposition was to establish the necessary ground and legitimate form of human being qua human with the ultimate aim of what it calls “accomplishing humanity,” that is the realization of humanity. What neo-Confucian rationalism calls the realization of 93 94

Ibid., pp. 248–249. Jie [55], p. 207.

2 The Political Philosophy of Northern Song Neo-Confucian Rationalism

385

humanity is, at bottom, the total transformation and formalization of human beings into ethical subjects. The theme of accomplishing humanity that neo-Confucian rationalism was discussing although amounted to an anthropological problem, what traditional Chinese people called anthropology also could not have been divorced from the necessary ground and legitimate form of the human being, questions about which, in turn, simultaneously probed the necessity of political governance. This thereby made neo-Confucian rationalism’s anthropology transform into a problem of genuine political philosophy. Neo-Confucian rationalism was Chinese political thought’s highest degree of philosophizing, and just like other forms of political philosophy, neoConfucian rationalism questioned the most basic and fundamental presuppositions of the political realm, provided political life with a universal ground of value and form, established the necessary links between different political things, and constructed a logically rigorous framework of political life in the universal sense. Neo-Confucian rationalism seemed on the surface to hand over the necessary ground and legitimate form of the human being to the inner sage self-sufficient in every human being, and in actuality resolutely affirmed the dominant role of the sage and monarchic ruler. Whether or not humans can become truly human was not completely or purely a question of personal morality in the Chinese tradition, but was first of all a serious political question about the political power of having the unlimited responsibility and power to safeguard and facilitate human beings in becoming human. In comparison with Dong Zhongshu, the neo-Confucian rationalists did not actually find practical political duties very concerning, were not too concerned with the political process, and focusing with great concentration on the necessary ground, legitimate form and necessary destiny of the human being is a purely ethical issue of personal morality. We shall analyze somewhat in depth for a moment the understanding of the human being that the group of neo-Confucian rationalists had, and will easily discover that the neo-Confucian rationalists were actually providing the autocratic power of the monarch with the most basic ontological ground, and the basic contents of this universal ground or original constitution were nothing other than being humane and observing ritual propriety. (1)

Song Dynasty Neo-Confucian Rationalism’s Problems and Theoretical Aims

People’s theoretical needs are rooted in real human needs. Human beings do not have absolute questions that are eternally unchanging, and rather often ask some questions that basically never have ultimate resolutions, but these problems that are never resolved are only those of resolving human being’s own questions, or rather, we could say, it only becomes impossible for human being to ultimately resolve questions when human being asks about some characteristic or attribute of his or her own, and this problem basically does not exist when human being questions about the world of objects. The questions which neo-Confucian rationalism asked were of course not scientific questions in the main, and although there were many learned scholars among the neo-Confucian rationalists who were equipped with plentiful knowledge of natural entities, the main problems that concerned the neo-Confucian rationalists were still those about the universal form and necessary ground of the

386

7 The Ethical Constitution: Confucian Rationalism’s Consistent Linking …

human being as stated before. The neo-Confucian rationalists were most passionate about questioning as to human being’s universal necessity itself and its possibility. There could be many forms of expression of human being’s universal form or necessary attributes that ought to be, and they could also appear as many different concrete questions, but as long as humankind’s historical development finds itself at a turning point or transitional stage, people will be perplexed by such questions. Sometimes, they appear as epistemological questions, and sometimes as ethical questions. Yet other times it may appear as questions both epistemological and ethical. Human being needs to confirm the reliability of the knowledge he or she possesses, and the reliability of knowledge basically depends on the process and method of knowing; Human being also needs to maintain vigilance about his or her own knowledge, and know the objective limits of the existence of knowledge. Kantian theory profoundly and comprehensively discusses the ground of all of human being’s universal and necessary forms, and establishes the necessary guarantee for the reliability of knowledge through the configuration of transcendental categories. He tells people with the universal moral imperative to hold to earnest and pure ethical lives, insisting on the sacredness of human being’s universal rights, and calling upon a universal reason with an enlightenment spirit. The theoretical aims of the neo-Confucian rationalists also mainly concentrated on knowing the universal form and necessary ground of the human being in the attempt to establish the universal form of the human being. However, just like other Chinese thinkers, the neo-Confucian rationalists spoke of the universal form of the human being in ways that only touched on the moral conduct of the human being, but did not touch on scientific knowledge of the human being, that is traditional Chinese anthropology did not by any means concern itself with the universal necessity of human being’s instrumental reason, and only concerned itself with the universal necessity of human being’s value rationality. Neo-Confucian rationalism never posed any purely epistemological questions like Western philosophy did such as “how is universal and necessary knowledge possible,”95 but rather decisively questioned about how human being’s universal, moral constitution transforms into modes of behavior and social arrangements of interpersonal relationships. The methodology of neo-Confucian rationalist thought mainly involved the moral method of accomplishing humanity and becoming a sage. The object of this methodology was limited only to the original constitution of human nature which both originally is and ought to be. What the neo-Confucian rationalists called knowledge (zhi 知) was transcendental knowledge or innate knowledge of the good prior to any experience, and was not empirical knowledge originating from experience. People’s main task was arrange their entire life according to their own transcendental knowledge, and neo-Confucian rationalism’s mission was to help people arrange everything in their lives according to their own transcendental knowledge or innate conscience. Humans always imagine a few most basic presuppositions as self-evident axioms, and that such axioms should originate from a unified thing. Kant postulates a few of such prerequisite axioms with respect to epistemology, morality, aesthetics and religion, and illustrates the grounds and conditions of the universal necessity of 95

Zehou [56], p. 162.

2 The Political Philosophy of Northern Song Neo-Confucian Rationalism

387

knowledge, establishing the universally constraining moral imperative, and proving the necessity of the existence of religion. Neo-Confucian rationalism of course also had to establish the universal a priori axioms of human being, and these preconditions similarly must originate from something unified. The relationship between this unified something and the universal necessity in human being herself, to use neo-Confucian rationalism’s judgement to state it, is “one whole principle dividing into partial manifestations” (liyi fenshu 理一分殊). Neo-Confucianism’s development was a profound achievement of thought that involved the interaction of traditional Chinese thought with Indian Buddhism and it was also the complete unfolding of the logic of Confucian political thought. Even more so, it was a reaction to the decay of socio-political life at the end of the Tang dynasty during the five dynasties.96 Humans create their own history, and already formed cultural heritage will either implicitly or explicitly inform people’s choices. When people run into crisis and hardship, they always look back in search of help, and things that were created before naturally become good teachers for people overcoming hardship. Unable to break with the pattern, civilization will continue marching on forward along a certain path, and the characteristics of a civilization will become more self-consciously reflected. The characteristics of a civilization that are self-consciously reflected often determine the basic form and direction of social development. Human history increasingly becomes the history of self-conscious human creation. The development of Chinese civilization similarly was also accompanied by the characteristics of its civilization becoming increasingly self-conscious, and this self-consciousness not only did not weaken after falling under the influence of Indian Buddhism, but on the contrary became stronger and more self-conscious. The self-consciousness of the characteristics of Chinese civilization of course not only manifested at the level of thought and Ideas, but also manifested at the institutional level. The rise and development of neo-Confucian rationalism was inseparable from the Confucianization of the political institution. At the end of the Tang during the five dynasties, the Confucianized political institution ran into unprecedented troubles of great magnitude; it seemed as if such a political institution already lost the support of universal values; it seemed as if people already lost the entire foundation of human nature which this political institution required. People will only carefully choose and handle their own behavior, when they have universal and necessary knowledge of human nature, and people carefully choosing and handling their own behavior is the prerequisite of political relations gaining the most minimal seriousness and dignity and of political institutions gaining the sacredness they need. If such conditions are not met, human society would have to face major political disasters. (2)

Zhou Dunyi’s Ethical and Ontological Political Thought

Zhou Dunyi, courtesy name Mao Shu, from Yingdao county of Daozhou province (today’s Dao county of Hunan province), born in the first year of the Tianxi era of Emperor Zhenzong of Song, that is 1017 CE, died in the sixth year of the Xining era of Emperor Shenzong of Song, that is 1073 CE. History of Song, Vol. 427 has 96

Zehou [57], p. 221–225.

388

7 The Ethical Constitution: Confucian Rationalism’s Consistent Linking …

the Biography of Zhou Dunyi. Zhou Dunyi’s ancestors settled and lived in Yingdao county, Lianxi fortress, his father Zhou Bocheng, was conferred the title of jinshi, and took office in Guiling of Hezhou province. After passing away, he was conferred the title Senior Officer of Moniter and Investigation. When Zhou Dunyi was five years old, his father passed away, and moved with his mother to the capital, relying on his uncle Zheng Xiang who lectured at the Longtu Pavilion. Zheng Xiang treated him as a son, and picked the name Dunshi for him, then later changed it to Dunyi. Zhou Dunyi never took high office in his life, and his works were few as well. Extant works include Diagrammatic Explanation of the Supreme Ultimate and The All-Embracing Book. Zhou Dunyi was revered as the forefather of Song dynasty neo-Confucian rationalism. His Diagrammatic Explanation of the Supreme Ultimate and The AllEmbracing Book were revered as “not transmitted learning of sagehood,” particularly his Diagrammatic Explanation, which is said to “illuminate the source of heavenly principle and penetrate the ultimate origin of all things.” Zhou Dunyi has always been revered as “the chief of Song dynasty Confucian scholars.” His Diagrammatic Explanation of the Supreme Ultimate clearly retains the Taoist model of cosmology; but importantly, he draws the conclusion from this cosmology that “the sage stabilizes the world by balancing and rectifying, by being humane and being righteous, and consequently privileges stillness, establishing the human pole.” The All Embracing Book also underscores the importance of “being sincere” (cheng 诚), adopting this Confucian category as the core concept in his system of thought. All of this shows that he began the combination of the actual ethical constants of Confucianism with the cosmological schemata of Taoism in the attempt to build a bridge that would enable the passage from cosmology to ethics.97 Zhou Dunyi’s doctrine is interlinked with Shao Yong’s. After it explores the great origin of the world, it strongly and clearly makes everything in the world and the master of the world Confucian and ethical, establishes the necessary connection between the universal dao and the universal essence intrinsic to human being, explicates the method of conduct cultivation by means of which human being reaches the original constitution, and establishes the necessary ground of the sacred legitimacy of the political order. Zhou Dunyi’s political philosophy begins with “the supreme ultimate” and ends with the ideal state of everyone’s “sincerity.” Zhou Dunyi demonstrates the world’s process of emergence, and by absorbing the resources of Confucian thought, he more completely elucidates the systematic cosmological schema, while massaging Confucianism’s appeal to ethics into cosmology. Zhou Dunyi realized the major shift from the Han and Tang dynasty cosmological learning of the relationship between Heaven-or-Nature and humanity to the Song and Ming dynasty ontological theory of personality and human character, substantively acting as the creator of bad precedent in Song dynasty scholarship. With respect to the theory of the world’s origin, he held that the transformation of the universe originated from the extreme pole of non-being, “the extreme pole of non-being is the ultimate pole, the ultimate pole activates and generates Yang, activity rests when it reaches the extreme pole, resting generates Yin, and when rest 97

Zehou [57], p. 222.

2 The Political Philosophy of Northern Song Neo-Confucian Rationalism

389

reaches the extreme pole, activity returns,” “activity and rest alternate, each as the root of the other.” The transformation of movement and rest, “divides Yin and divides Yang,” “Yang transforms by integrating with Yin, generates water, fire, wood, metal and earth,” “the five material energies follow the distribution, and the four seasons proceed.” In the sculpted model of world-relations, the five phases are subordinate to Yin and Yang, “the five phases are all Yin and Yang; Yin and Yang are one ultimate pole,” “the pathway of Qian becomes male, the pathway of Kun becomes female,” “the two energies sense each other and interact, and transforming, generate all creatures, all creatures reproduce life and transform endlessly.”98 He insists that the root of the necessary evolution of all creatures in the world is the stillness of the extreme pole of non-being, and the starting point of evolution is the activity of the ultimate pole. After the two standards, Heaven and Earth, come into being, “Yang transforms by integrating with Yin,” producing the five phases of materials that create all creatures, and creating the climactic conditions suiting living things. Humans who get Yang energy become men, those who get Yin energy become women; living entities that get Yang energy become male, and those that get Yin energy become female,” “the two energies sense each other and interactively mix, transforming to give birth to all creatures,” and “all creatures reproduce, transforming endlessly.”99 “Human beings are born by virtue of an endowment of the refined energy of the five phases of Heaven and Earth’s Yin and Yang.”100 The five phases of Heaven and Earth’s Yin and Yang not only generate the human body, but also inject “the genuine reality of the extreme pole of non-being,” which is “the ultimate pole,” into the human soul, becoming human being’s natural, constant, original disposition, that is “to be humane and righteous, to observe ritual propriety, to be wise and trustworthy” or “the five constants.” The ultimate source of the “five constants” is “being sincere.” “Being sincere is the root of the five constants, the source of all actions.”101 Human being’s innate disposition is good, but through the living practice of experience, human being comes into contact with external things, and receives external sensations, which is why “the five constants” tend to deviate and err, and why human being becomes both good and bad.102 If the “five constants” do not err by going too far or falling short, and the rigid and supple “find the balance between the extremes,” they “are righteous, straightforward, decisive, firm and resolute,” which are virtues. If the rigid does not find the mean between the extremes, it becomes “vicious, dangerous and brutal.” If the supple does not find the mean between the extremes, it becomes weak, indecisive and the maker of illness,” which are vices. You have to wait for the “five constants” to act, to see whether they are good or bad, which is to say, to see whether or not the rigid and the supple strike a balance between the extremes. “Only that which strikes the balance is harmonious, …….The realm attaining dao is the work of the sage.

98

Dunyi [58]. Ibid. 100 Ibid. 101 Dunyi [59]. 102 Dunyi [58]. 99

390

7 The Ethical Constitution: Confucian Rationalism’s Consistent Linking …

Thus the sage establishes the teaching, holds humanity to alter their wickedness, from which point he reaches their balance and stops there.”103 What he calls “a sage” is the one who preserves “the sincerity” innately given to him, that is “the five constants,” and because he preserves the innately pure natural dispositions, he can always strike the mean each time he pulls the trigger. In the the sage’s affective mind there is a bundle of absolutely sincere natural principles; when not encountering external things, he silently does not act, and upon encountering external things, his responses are acute, making sense of things as soon as he contacts them; even when external things are in a nearly imperceptible state, he can make a response according to the grain of the “natural principles” in his affective mind. Someone only succeeds in being human when he or she has the brightness of sincerity, otherwise he or she is but a beast or fowl. Human being’s clear sincerity is selfclarifying, but in actuality only “the sage” is “clear because of sincerity,” and one can only achieve sincere clarity through the instructions of the sages or by studying the sages. The ancient sages already wrote the “natural orderly patterns” acquired from Heaven-or-Nature into the classics. The natural orderly patterns or the cohering patterns of Heaven-or-Nature are precisely what the Confucian classical texts edited by Confucius discuss, including Book of Changes, Book of Documents, Book of Poetry, Book of Rites and Spring and Autumn Annals, but especially Book of Changes, whose 8 trigrams and 64 hexagrams clarify the secrets of Heaven and Earth and of ghosts and spirits. “The refinement of the sage is shown by drawing the hexagrams; the profundity of the sage is expressed by the hexagrams. Without drawing out the hexagrams, the refinement of the sage would remain invisible; short of the hexagrams, the profundity of the sage would nearly be impossible to completely grasp and hear.”104 The five classics of Confucianism are “the statements of Heaven-or-Nature,” while Book of Changes is the natural stating of the statements of Heaven-or-Nature. By conscientiously studying “the five classics,” common people may understand the “the cohering patterns of Heaven-or-Nature” and behold the gift of “sincerity” that the highest ruler universally gives to everyone’s affective mind. Commoners learning the method and secret of the sages involves, “one essential element, that one element being objectless desire. Without any object of desire, one rests in emptiness and acts straightforwardly. By resting in emptiness, one becomes bright and clear. By becoming bright and clear, one makes sense of the connectivity [between things]; By acting straightforwardly, one becomes impartial and fair; By becoming impartial and fair, one expands. Brightly making sense of the connectivity [between things], impartially expanding one’s grasp [of things], that is about all there is to it!” “The dao of the sage” represents the public interest, humans have to whole-heartedly believe this with their whole will. The concrete method for anyone learning the dao of the sage is “mastering stillness” and “carefully acting.” “The sage stabilizes things by focusing on being just, humane and morally right, and consequently masters stillness, thereby establishing the pole of humanity.”105 103

Dunyi [60]. Dunyi [61]. 105 Dunyi [58]. 104

2 The Political Philosophy of Northern Song Neo-Confucian Rationalism

391

Zhou Dunyi holds that the sage copies the means of Heaven-or-Nature in the undertaking of political rule or social management. This first of all manifests as the sage needing to possess the virtuous powers of being humane and morally right, which Heaven-or-Nature possess. The important function of Heaven-or-Nature in space and time is “generating.” “Heaven gives birth to all creatures by virtue of Yang and completes the growth of all creatures by virtue of Yin,” “giving birth is being humane; completing growth is being righteous,” “the sage is higher, raising all creatures by being humane and rectifying all peoples by being right,” “the way of Heaven-or-Nature proceeds and all creatures follow, the virtue of the sage cultivates and all peoples transform,” “The greater following [of all creatures] and greater transformation [of all peoples] is imperceptible and traceless, and we call it mysterious for no one knows how it is so.”106 “The sage” is the administrator who “enacts dao on behalf of Heaven-or-Nature” and concretely arranges all affairs such as “the rites, music, punishments and policies.” On one hand, Zhou Dunyi advocates “observing ritual propriety first and music afterward,” “Observing ritual propriety is managing patterns! Music is harmonizing. Yin and Yang manage a pattern and consequently harmonize. The ruler rules, the minister ministers, the father fathers, the son acts as son, the elder brother acts as elder brother, the younger brother acts as younger brother, the husband husbands and the wife acts as wife, all creatures grasp their respective patterns to manage and only then harmonize, therefore the observance of ritual propriety comes first and music comes afterward.”107 The cooling and warming of Heaven sets the seasonal timing and brings wind and rain for farming, pushing grain into harmony with demand; human beings all do things in line with “the cohering patterns of Heaven-or-Nature,” and maintain their apportioned lot stipulated by “the rites,” resulting in harmony. On the other hand, he also states “music is rooted in politics,” insisting that “music is rooted in policy,” “when the policies are good and the people are secure, the minds of the realm harmonize,” “the sages made music to fluidly stream their harmonious minds and reach into Heaven and Earth, the energies of Heaven and Earth sympathize and harmonize on the grand scale,” “when Heaven and Earth harmonize, all creatures follow in compliance, hence godly notes fall into patterns, and birds and beasts are tamed.”108 “Purify your affective mind and that is all. We call purity being humane and righteous, observing ritual propriety and being wise—in movement and rest, in speech and bearing, in seeing and listening— without going against these four [virtues].”109 “There is a primary root to governing the realm, it is called oneself. There is a standard to governing the realm, it is called the family,” which is to say, governing the state begins with governing the family, and governing the family is rooted in the affective mindset of sincerity. “The root must be upright, and the upright root is nothing other than the sincere mind; the

106

Dunyi [62]. Dunyi [63]. 108 Dunyi [64]. 109 Dunyi [65]. 107

392

7 The Ethical Constitution: Confucian Rationalism’s Consistent Linking …

standard must be good,” and “the good standard is nothing other than the harmonious family.”110 Zhou Dunyi also asserts the way of governance is “tightening up discipline with punishment,” insisting you “must punish to govern.”111 Ever since Dong Zhongshu in the Han dynasty, punishing and rewarding were used simultaneously, and the tradition of predominantly rewarding with auxiliary punishments still continued on, which shows that Song dynasty neo-Confucian rationalism not only inherited Mencius’ doctrine of the humane inner mind from the very beginning, but also certainly inherited the tradition of Qin dynasty and Han dynasty Confucians in predominantly rewarding virtue with punishments playing an auxiliary role. Zhou Dunyi synthetically kneaded together the cosmology of Daoism, the morality of Confucianism and the methodology of Buddhism, forming a logically rigorous theoretical system and systematically illustrating the necessary ground of human life along with its expressive method and formal problems, thereby establishing a whole series of necessary connections and relations between one human and another. What reliably guaranteed the necessity of these connections or relations were the universal principles and forms confirmed in cosmology. At the same time, these connections or relations formally possessed rigorous logical links, demanding the political authorities to authorize these necessary connections or relations and gurantee them through political means; protecting these necessary interpersonal relations or connections was the precondition or basis behind the existence of political authority as well as the basic task and fundamental purpose behind the existence of political authority. Zhou Dunyi’s philosophical thought is strongly political philosophy in character, or rather we should say, his philosophy was like many important traditional Chinese philosophies, which all focus predominantly on humanity. The main content of traditional Chinese philosophy is anthropology, and traditional Chinese philosophy’s exploration of anthropology is strongly characterized by political philosophy in the main, or rather we should say, most anthropological philosophers are simultaneously political philosophers. When people research political thought, they always focus more on those thinkers who explore concrete political issues, and do not focus too much on those political philosophers who research major problems in the fundamentals of politics. The viewpoints of political philosophers mostly appear as series of necessary propositions, which are far removed from concrete political practices, and their assertions and opinions generally do not have any direct practical value. We could even say that you cannot make out what their political pursuits really are in theory, and could even less say that they form systematic political theories directed at concrete political problems like they do in the West. But what actually ends up being the case is precisely the opposite of what people would expect, for the more in depth anthropological theorists go into systematically researching human being’s original constitution, the greater the political value their theories have. The main field explored by the neo-Confucian rationalists was the study of human beings (renxue 人 学), but what they called the study of human beings could also be termed “the study of wise human beings or sages,” because the neo-Confucian rationalists generally all 110 111

Dunyi [66]. Dunyi [67].

2 The Political Philosophy of Northern Song Neo-Confucian Rationalism

393

saw the sage as the root of humanity and the source of humanity. The philosophical study of wise human beings basically falls under political philosophy, and the problems they investigated basically all concerned the establishment of the universal and necessary basis or foundation of political existence. Researchers of Chinese political thought only rarely explore the political thought of the neo-Confucian rationalists in depth, and even intentionally disregard it and aim to demote it, etc., which all bears directly upon the narrow understanding of political thought that such researchers have. In actuality, the problems that the neo-Confucian rationalists investigated and explored belong to the much more fundamental realm of political philosophy, and their theoretical significance and value is far greater than that of average political opinions. (3)

The Political Framework of Zhang Zai’s Bipartite Division of Pattern and Energy

Zhang Zai, courtesy name Zi Hou, from Chang’an county of the Northern Song dynasty, born in the fourth year of the Tianxi era of Emperor Zhenzong of Song, that is 1020 CE, died in the tenth year of the Xining era of Emperor Shenzong of Song, that is 1077 CE. His biography is found in volume 427 of History of Song. Zhang Zai’s family lineage hails from Daliang. His father was Zhang Di. He became scholar-official in the court of Emperor Renzong of Song, and ultimately acted as Magistrate, Proficient in the Management of the Fu Province, and ultimately died at that post. He was born in the valley port of Dazhen south of the town of Hengqu in Mei county of Fenxiang province. Zhang Zai became fond of discussing military affairs at a young age. At the age of 21, he met Fan Zhongyan, who admonished him saying, “Confucian scholars may naturally find joy in the civil religion of names, why engage in military affairs?” He then urged him to read Doctrine of the Mean. Zhang Zai read Doctrine of the Mean first, then took up the study of Buddhism and Daoism, “laboring for years to get to the bottom of their doctrines only to grasp nothing in terms of knowledge,” so he turned back to seek knowledge in “the six classics.” Zhang Zai and the Cheng brothers theorized on the essentials of the Confucian learning of dao, “vanishing self-confidence states: ‘my dao is self-sufficient, why engage in other pursuits on the side?’ In this case, I fully abandon heterodox learning, and only care for the Confucian learning of dao.” Zhang Zai was politically quite ambitious, but he did not have any grand accomplishments. Zhang Zai was the founding teacher of the Guanzhong scholars, and his school was called the Guan school. He gave lectures at the town of Hengqu, hence later people would call him “Master of Hengqu.” Zhang Zai’s works include Correcting Ignorance (zhengmeng 正蒙), Explanation of Book of Changes (yishuo 易说), Managing the Cave of Classics Scholarship (jingxue liku 经学理窟), and Discourses (yulu 语录), which posterity would eventually edit into Complete Writings of Master Zhang (zhangzi quanshu 张子全书). Whereas Shao Yong was more concerned with the universal form of the world, and Zhou Dunyi’s concern was the form of human being’s original constitution and revealing the main causes of necessity with his basic theory acting to reveal the cause of what human being ought to be qua human, Zhang Zai was more concerned with

394

7 The Ethical Constitution: Confucian Rationalism’s Consistent Linking …

the series of actual difficulties in the process of learning sagehood, among which the greatest difficulty he considered to be the human body’s interference with the sagely and pure self. He used unique categories to explicate the basic rules and methods of handling the contradictory relationship between bodily flesh and the sagely self, all of which illustrated a love-hate attitude toward the two. If people only contemplate the problem of what ought to be and what is natural from the normative perspective of what ought to be, people’s striving for what ought to be and what is natural becomes impossible to actualize in reality; if theorists always dodge actual difficulties, their beautiful desires amount to nothing but strong words with no practical significance. Theorists have to consider the universal, transcendental principles or rules that human beings living in the world actually need, because if humans do not have perfection and purity coming from Heaven, they will inevitably be doomed to a world of pain and hardship without ever finding one day of freedom; at the same time, theorists also must consider the limitations of individual experience, because if the members of the human species did not have experiential limitations brought about by individuality, everyone would be pure angels, and no one in the human world would have either wickedness or flaws. Without wickedness and flaws, all of the things used to prevent and eliminate wickedness and all of the social reforms used to repair flaws would amount unnecessary waste matter; it is not the case that human society is without ugly wickedness, defective flaws and regrets, and people can only truly resolve these problems by understanding the causes of wickedness, defectiveness and regrets in depth. Zhang Zai opposed the viewpoint of Wei-Jin era obscurism that “something emerges from nothing” and also opposed the Buddhist theory that “everything is empty.” He noticed the materiality of the existence of the world, and insisted that the basic matter that composes the world is qi, which indestructibly exists forever, holding that qi exists in the basic forms of “creatures” and “the void.” He opposed understanding the “void” as the Buddhists and Daoists did, namely as “empty nothingness,” and found even less agreement with the conclusions that “nothing can produce something” or “originally nothing exists.”112 Zhang Zai held that the world is unified in qi. He held that the ultimate void without physical form and all creatures possessing physical shape are nothing but different modes of the same material substance.113 There are two kinds of qi in the one qi of the ultimate void, and the one qi divides into two, which begins the movement of everything in the universe. Through movement, qi shapes up into all beings possessing physical form, and between all beings there are necessary “cohering patterns” (li 理). Things always exist in the necessary connection of “cohering patterns” (li 理). “One qi dividing into two” is actually one qi dividing into Yin and Yang qi, whose “dispersion means manifesting innumerable parts, the unity of which no one recognizes,” and whose “integration means a mixture, the parts of which no one perceives.” [Qi] “gathers together into the shapes of beings, and bodily shapes dissolve, restoring

112 113

Zai [68]. Ibid.

2 The Political Philosophy of Northern Song Neo-Confucian Rationalism

395

the original state.”114 Zhang Zai holds that the essence of the world is matter, and that the world is composed of a basic indestructible matter; but it is by no means easy to decide whether Zhang Zai is a so-called materialist in the end. No one can truly understand the core component of Zhang Zai’s worldview without decoding Zhang Zai’s theory of human nature first. Although Zhang Zai by no means denies that human being is a natural creature, he also accepts in the same way that human being is not just a natural creature, that human being is only human because of his unnatural essence. The sanctity and seriousness of human socio-political relations cannot possibly be understood through naturalness, and the result of explaining the human essence with naturalness is always deconstructive. Zhang Zai was by no means a deconstructive thinker, but was rather an actively constructive mainstream thinker. Although all creatures in the world do possess real material attributes, and although there are absolutely no objective beings without materiality in the world, the law of the necessary relation between everything and every event in the world comes however from another source. In other words, the world is not purely a natural being, but is rather a natural being with a high degree of unity and harmonious and purposeful connectivity; moreover, the key factors determining the basic formal characteristics of everything and every event in the world are the unnatural factors of the world. The formal characteristics of human beings are the standard embodiments of the formal characteristics of everything in the world, and the factors determining the human being’s formal characteristics are also the factors determining the formal characteristics of other beings. Zhang Zai like the other neo-Confucian rationalists reduces the form of the human being to a cohering pattern (li 理). Zhang Zai holds that human being exists between Heaven and Earth, and is born by receiving Yin and Yang qi from Heaven and Earth. Heaven is the father and Earth is the mother; the qi filling the interstice between Heaven and Earth gathers together and congeals into the human body; the cohering pattern that commands the movement of qi solidifies into the natural disposition of the human being.115 He divides human nature according to contents into two kinds, “habitual temperament” and “the natural tendency.” “After forming, [an entity] possesses habitual temperament, and the natural tendency is preserved if [the entity] is good at opposing [habitual temperament].”116 Habitual temperament is generated by the human body, which is to say it is produced by the natural matter making up the human being; the natural tendency can come into being only through the practical effort of “opposing it,” which is the concrete manifestation of the universal cohering pattern in human being herself. “Habitual temperament” is not genuine human nature; only the “natural tendency” is genuine human nature. Habitual temperament is the naturalness intrinsic to all creatures. What Zhang Zai calls human nature only refers to the tendency of the universal form toward alignment with natural laws and good ends. Naturalness or spontaneity does not move in alignment with the good ends of the

114

Zai [69]. Zai [70]. 116 Zai [71]. 115

396

7 The Ethical Constitution: Confucian Rationalism’s Consistent Linking …

Universe, and hence isn’t human nature. The origin of the natural tendency is Heavenor-Nature, the basic forms of which are superiority and inferiority, the noble and the base, and the basic contents of which are the three cardinal guides and the five constant virtues. All of these dimensions of the natural tendency are good natural tendencies, and only a good natural tendency can be called a natural tendency. The good natural tendency manifests as the pursuit of ethical principle in humane care and humble reverence. The natural tendency as good tendency originates from the patterning principle of Heaven-or-Nature; habitual temperaments are bad tendencies, generating human desire. “Heaven-or-Nature produces things with appearances of superiority and inferiority, greatness and smallness, humans follow them and that is all, which is thus the observance of ritual propriety. Scholars only assume ritual propriety comes out of humanity, and do not know that ritual propriety is rooted in the spontaneity of Heaven-or-Nature.”117 Zhang Zai asserts that “the cohering pattern of Heaven-or-Nature overcoming the objectifying desire of human being is being human,” “the objectifying desires of human being conquering the cohering pattern of Heaven-or-Nature is being animal,” and human beings all have the duty to “preserve the cohering pattern of Heaven-or-Nature and eliminate the objectifying desires of human being.” The basic goal of politics is precisely to “preserve cohering pattern of Heaven-or-Nature and eliminate the objectifying desires of human being.” “Preserving the cohering pattern of Heaven-or-Nature” actually means preserving the transcendental knowledge of the natural tendency or knowledge of the virtuous tendency everyone possesses; “eliminating the objectifying desires of human being” actually means decreasing the influence of “knowledge of the senses” over the human being as much as possible, and reducing the objectifying desire of human being as far as possible. “Sensing is the spirit of the natural tendency, the natural tendency is the substance of sensations.” The transcendental knowledge of the natural tendency that everyone possesses is the original constitutional ground of empirical senseawareness, and the conscious sensations of seeing and hearing are the means and mediums of the transcendental knowledge of the virtuous natural tendency. Every human being receives stimulation and inspiration from external things through the conscious sensations of seeing and hearing, and through the stimulation and inspiration of external things, humans learn more deeply about knowledge of the natural tendency they themselves already possess, fully exercising the affective mind, fully actualizing the natural tendency, fulfilling the spirit, embodying dao and knowing the standard. Although empirical knowledge of the senses plays an inspiring role, it also gives shape to malignant lures and enticements which mislead human being’s transcendental knowledge of the natural tendency, thereby hampering transcendental knowledge of the natural tendency. “Humans become unwell by exhausting their affective minds with stimulation from the senses and consequently do not attempt to fully actualize their affective minds,”118 “the affective minds of humans in today’s world stop at the narrow limits of hearing and seeing; the sages fully actualized

117 118

Zai [72]. Zai [73].

2 The Political Philosophy of Northern Song Neo-Confucian Rationalism

397

the natural tendency, and did not shackle their minds with sensations.”119 Ordinary human beings are ordinary because they cannot unconditionally possess transcendental knowledge of the natural tendency unshackled by empirical cognition of the senses as the sages can. “Cognition of the senses is cognition resulting from interaction with things, which is not knowledge of the virtuous natural tendency; knowledge of the virtuous natural tendency does not grow from sensing things.” Human being originally possesses knowledge prior to experience, and becomes human by means of that transcendental knowledge. “What matures myself is the spirit of Heaven-orNature. Not knowing how to mature oneself with the natural tendency and contenting oneself to generating wisdom from the body, desiring the work of Nature to be one’s own power, I do not know that it is knowledge. What do the people know,” “on the basis of comparing similarities and differences in the shape of things, comparing the sensation of countless changes, the matching of inner desire and external things with eyes and ears, greedily desiring the work of Heaven-or-Nature and finding contentment with one’s own cognition.”120 Although Zhang Zai finds great importance in the influence of material factors over human being, and although he even goes as far as to draw the conclusion that matter doesn’t perish, he does not boil the cause of why the world is the way it is down entirely to matter, but rather to some kind of universal, eternal and transcendental natural tendency, and moreover, he reduces the decisive factors of the necessary laws or rules of the world to a transcendental knowledge of the natural tendency which exists in every being in the universe. His major direction of development met the needs of society and the times as he proposed a whole series of rationalist propositions with universal theoretical significance and important practical value. Of course, Zhang Zai did not appropriately disentangle the complex relationship between material factors and transcendental factors of necessity. The depth and systematicity of his theory were both relatively insufficient, and the theory could not serve well the need to build the ethical principles of society, and also could not meet the need to establish universal and necessary political relationships nor meet the need to ground the political order on the foundation of logically rigorous political philosophy. Thus, he left adequate spare room for the Cheng brothers to intentionally comb through the relationship between the transcendental knowledge of the natural tendency and the origin of the universe. Zhang Zai’s political philosophy left a good amount of room for repair in terms of logic as well. The chief most flaw in it was that he still could not bring attention to the seriousness of ethical prescriptions themselves, and also could not smoothly discover the universal ground of the sanctity of ethical principles in the original constitution of human being. Thus he could not prove how knowledge of the virtuous natural tendency was more ethically valuable than empirical knowledge of the senses, and moreover, he could not process well the correspondence between habitual temperament and knowledge of the senses on one hand and the natural tendency of natural principle and knowledge of the virtuous natural tendency on the other. The Cheng brothers took one step further on the foundation of Zhang 119 120

Ibid. Ibid.

398

7 The Ethical Constitution: Confucian Rationalism’s Consistent Linking …

Zai’s theory with their in-depth investigation of the connection between the natural tendency of natural principle and knowledge of the virtuous natural tendency. The Cheng brothers denied that habitual temperament was human nature, and only saw human nature as the natural principle in human being, then furthermore abstractly posited the essence of the entire world as the natural principle, which ontologically speaking elevated neo-Confucian rationalism even further, and laid the foundation for the greater development of neo-Confucian rationalism, opening a pathway for it. (4)

Interpretation of the Cheng Brothers’ Political Philosophy of the “Cohering Pattern of Heaven-or-Nature”

Cheng Hao, courtesy name Bo Chun, others called him Master Mingdao, his family was located in Zhongshan, then moved to Henan (Luoyang), born in the first year of the Mingdao era of Emperor Renzong of Song, that is 1032 CE, died in the eighth year of the Yuanfeng era of Emperor Shenzong of Song, that is 1085 CE. Upon orders from his father, he along with his younger brother Cheng Yi studied under Zhou Dunyi. During the Jiayou era, he was awarded the title of jinshi, and acted as a local official, then later under a recommendation by Lü Gongzhu, he acted as Companion to the Heir Apparent, and Student Investigating Censor. Cheng Hao, Sima Guang and Lü Gongzhu were all members of the conservative faction opposing Wang Anshi’s new legal reforms. Cheng Hao thought Wang Anshi “rejects loyalty and dismisses kindness, prevents public consensus and trashes discussions, buries nobility with baseness, and interrupts rightness with wickedness.” In the early years of the Yuanyou era of Emperor Zhezong of Song, Wang Anshi’s new legal reforms failed, and Cheng Hao was summoned to be Chamberlain for the Imperial Clan, but before setting out he died of sickness in Luoyang. In the thirteenth year of the Jiading era, the court conferred upon him the posthumous title “Duke of Purity.” In the first year of the Chunyou era, he was made Earl of Henan, and performed sacrifices at the Temple of Confucius. Cheng Yi, courtesy name Zheng Shu, people called him the Yichuan Master. He was the younger brother of Cheng Hao, born in the second year of the Mingdao era of Emperor Renzong of Song, that is 1033 CE, and died in the first year of the Daguan era of Emperor Weizong of Song, that is 1017 CE. When Cheng Yi was 18 years old, he submitted a petition to the Emperor, “wishing the son of Heaven would ban the vulgar doctrines of the world, and adopt the dao of the King as your majesty’s will.”121 He then went abroad to study greater learning, visiting the master of the previous generation, Hu Yuan, and wrote the thesis “On What Learning Yanzi Preferred,” which won appreciation from Hu Yuan, who “immediately summoned him for a meeting, and offer him a school post.”122 In the early years of the Yuanyou era of Emperor Zhezong of Song, the conservative faction led by Sima Guang came to power, and Cheng Yi was asked to be professor of the Directorate of Education in the Western capital, but “strongly refused,” not long after which he was again asked to be Copyeditor of the Palace Library. After presenting himself to the emperor, he was elevated to “Venerable Lecturer of History 121 122

Toqto’a [75]. Ibid.

2 The Political Philosophy of Northern Song Neo-Confucian Rationalism

399

at the Main Hall of the Palace.” Cheng Yi lived through factional fights in Northern Song officialdom that were exceptionally brutal, and never found satisfaction there. In April of the second year of the Chongning era, word had it that officials sent a memorial to the emperor impeaching him for his “written works not to destroy the sage’s empire,” “there was a decree to track down and destroy his writings.”123 After surviving this severe attack, Cheng Yi retreated to the south of Longmen, “stopping scholars from all over saying: respect what you hear, practice what you know, and that will do, there is no need to come to my door!”.124 The characteristics of all of the beings making up the world ultimately depend on the constitutive problem of basic matter; they also depend on the concrete form of things. The essential characteristic of all beings making up the world of course depends on the concrete matter out of which things are constituted, but considering human being’s social characteristic, the essential characteristic of all beings making up the world may depend much more upon the form of things. Zhang Zai began with material qi, but could neither naturally derive the ethical conclusion of preserving natural principle and eliminating human desire, nor establish the true, universal ground of political authority and the political order. Although he did say some vitally important and conclusive words, he still failed to deliver necessary guarantees, and the logicalness and rigorousness of his entire political thought cannot hide massive flaws. The Cheng brothers began with Heaven-or-Nature and the cohering patterns of Heaven-or-Nature, and after gradual deductions, ultimately derived a whole series of necessary ethical conclusions about humanity. Meanwhile, they also laid the foundation for the political authority and political order of monarchical despotism. Many of human being’s necessary characteristics cannot be explained adequately through experience in the empirical sense, and the assistance needed with respect to this can only be sought in the transcendental realm. Politics requires establishing some kind of pure transcendental principle that is absolutely irresistible, and this pure, transcendental principle comes from absolute need for submission in political life. Whether it is political authority or the political order that is under consideration, both must have some minimum degree of irresistibility, and political philosophy must provide people with this transcendental irresistibility. The ultimate source of this irresistibility has generally been something irresistible, pure and a priori. The ultimate aim of the political philosophy of the Cheng brothers was to discover the pure transcendental principle that political society needs, and to establish the minimum irresistibility that political society requires. The political philosophy of the Cheng brothers adopts a deductive way of making statements, and begins with the pure, abstract transcendental. After gradual deduction, they ultimately derive the presence of the irresistible, pure transcendental in human beings themselves along with what it requires of human beings. The essence of the world is at bottom material or matter along with formal rules, which is both the basic problem of traditional Chinese epistemological philosophy and the most basic problem of political philosophy. If people could accept that the essence of the world is material, they could then not only derive an empiricist 123 124

Ibid. Ibid.

400

7 The Ethical Constitution: Confucian Rationalism’s Consistent Linking …

and positivist method of knowing, but could also derive that the basis of the political order and political authority necessarily comes from human beings’ empirical needs, and thereby drawing the anti-social and anti-human conclusion of naturalism in political philosophy at the very least could have a massive deconstructive influence upon the minimum sanctity and necessary dignity of political authority and the political order. The essence of things and the necessary interconnections between them both come from the transcendental principle which absolutely exists and are the empirical mode of its expression. Human beings are one kind among all beings in the world; their essence and the necessary interconnections between one another similarly come from the absolute transcendental, and the empirical world of human politics should and indeed must be the empirical manner of expression of the transcendental which is both universal and absolute. The theoretical aim of neo-Confucian rationalism is to prove that human being’s universal and absolute essence along with the necessary interconnection between one human and another both equally stem from the cohering pattern of Heaven-or-Nature and embody it, in which case, humanity and politics would both be the empirical modes of expression of the cohering pattern of Heaven-or-Nature. Because of this, mainstream forms of neo-Confucian rationalism all resolutely held that the cohering pattern of Heaven-or-Nature was the universal and absolute transcendental, and that the substance of this transcendental principle was the universal and absolute rule or form. Neo-Confucian rationalism begins with the universal form or universal rule, and proves there is some kind of essence in the world and in human beings. It holds the existence of a certain form is the essence of all beings in the world, which rigidifies the connections between things into a series of necessary connections. The beginning problem of their thought is what the universal essence of everything in the world is. What is the essence of everything in the world? The Cheng brothers claim the world is in essence a cohering pattern that actually exists (shiyou de li 实有的理). They claim that the world neither begins from nothing nor returns to nothing, but is rather always and at every instant expressing an underlying cohering pattern in different forms or ways. Dao and the cohering pattern are fundamental contents that actually exist, while material vessels and qi are only the actually existing carriers of dao and the cohering pattern. The fundamental contents that actually exist will not change by dint of the changing carriers, and actually existing changes are always nothing but the carriers themselves, and no matter how much the form of the carriers change, they necessarily embody the fundamental content that actually exists. For example, the essence of a fan is the cohering pattern of the fan, not the fan’s material. No matter what material is used to make the fan, it is only a fan when it embodies the cohering pattern of a fan. Cheng Hao held that the world begins when the “cohering pattern” or “dao” generates material or qi. Yin and Yang qi and the five phases of qi are only the materials of Heaven, Earth and all beings, which are created by the cohering pattern. The cohering pattern is the reason why qi and the five phases exist. Heaven, Earth and all beings including human beings are all a cohering pattern, metaphysically speaking, but physically speaking, they are all qi, and the physical is produced by the metaphysical. Therefore all beings are ultimately cohering patterns. The differences between different things also express a cohering pattern of Heaven-or-Nature (tianli

2 The Political Philosophy of Northern Song Neo-Confucian Rationalism

401

天理), “animals are conscious, plants are unconscious; they are of different natures, but in receiving physical shape from Heaven and Earth, their cohering pattern is one and the same.”125 The differences between beings arise from the difference between the materials making them up, but the common essence of all beings is the coherent patterning of Heaven-or-Nature, that is the coherent patterning of Heaven-or-Nature exhibits itself through different materials, and, forms all creatures. The difference between the human species and other species hinges on the qi with which they are respectively, endowed, and this is also the case for the difference between one human and another. “The most elegant of the five phases produces the sage.”126 The qi gifted to “the sage” is “pure qi,” and the qi gifted to “the idiot” is “tainted qi.” The natural tendency of human being comes from Heaven-or-Nature, talent comes from qi; if the qi is pure, the gifted talent will be pure, if the qi is tainted, the gifted talent will be tainted.”127 “The sage” and “the idiot” are made with different materials, and naturally have different “material qualities,” which in turn are the key expressions of the difference between the sage and the ordinary human being. Humans are all produced by Heaven-or-Nature, but they are made with different materials, so there will be two kinds of content in human nature, one of which is the “the natural tendency of a natural cohering pattern.” Everyone comes into possession of “the natural tendency of a natural cohering pattern” by virtue of being produced by Heaven-or-Nature, and there is “a coherent patterning of Heaven-orNature” in everyone’s affective mind. This cohering pattern of Heaven-or-Nature includes the “five constant virtues” of being humane, being righteous, observing ritual propriety, being wise and being trustworthy. The genesis of the human being is the result of the circulation of transforming qi between Heaven and Earth, and the circulation of transforming qi cannot possibly avoid excesses and deficiencies, which generates differences in everyone’s endowment of qi. Different people are composed of different qi, and the individualized contents in human nature come from “the tendencies of the qi matter” (qizhi zhi xing 气质之性). At the ontological level, the Cheng brothers assert human “nature is always good,” “whatever is not good is the talent so gifted; human nature is the cohering pattern, and the cohering pattern is one and the same from emperors Yao and Shun to common passers-by.”128 To get to the point, “the natural tendency of a cohering pattern of Heaven-or-Nature” is possessed by everyone alike, namely Heaven-or-Nature puts it into people’s affective minds at the time of birth, but because there are differences of purity in the quality of the qi matter, “if the qi is pure, the talent gifted is good, if the qi is tainted the talent gifted is bad,” “[t]hose born endowed with the purest qi are wise men, those born endowed with the most tainted qi are wicked men.”129 The purity of qi in one respect depends on natural gift, and in another respect depends on the cultivation of learning after birth. The most decisive difference with respect to the purity of qi 125

Hao and Yi [76]. Hao and Yi [77]. 127 Hao and Yi [78]. 128 Hao and Yi [79]. 129 Hao and Yi [80]. 126

402

7 The Ethical Constitution: Confucian Rationalism’s Consistent Linking …

composing the human body is whether or not objectifying human desire is present or not, and a body in which there is objectifying human desire is composed out of tainted qi, while a body in which there is no objectifying human desire is composed out of pure qi. With respect to what is endowed by Nature, all human beings possess pure qi, which is to say all human beings possess a natural cohering pattern. All human beings possess a natural cohering pattern, and insofar as all human beings have the natural tendency of this cohering pattern of Heaven-or-Nature, there is no human being who is naturally bad. The Cheng brothers deny Dong Zhongshu and Han Yu’s view that there will always be a minority of human beings who never have the possibility of becoming good. The Cheng brothers not only affirm that all human beings have both the possibility and necessity of becoming good, they even go as far as to stipulate that moral goodness is the essential determination of every human being. But if the goodness or badness of each and every human being is ultimately differentiated at birth, why would the majority of human beings find themselves born with the vice of objectifying human desire? The explanation that the Cheng brothers give is that the majority of human beings are endowed with pure qi intermixed with tainted qi while the circulating qi forms themselves at birth, and although the pure qi within themselves assures that the natural tendency of the cohering pattern is not entirely gone and that they still have both the possibility and necessity of becoming good, the presence of tainted qi within them directly breeds the vices of objectifying human desire, which obstructs and lures human beings away from the perfectly good cohering pattern of Heaven-or-Nature. Lured away from the latter, this makes one’s words and deeds fall under the vicious control of objectifying human desire, which turns one sadly into an ordinary human being who possesses a mixture of bad desires. The Cheng brothers insist, human beings can only truly attain goodness and become human through “the elimination of objectifying human desire.”130 Every human being possess knowledge of the cohering pattern of Heaven-or-Nature, but if it is obstructed by objectifying human desire, they may forget the goodness of the cohering pattern of Heaven-or-Nature, and devolve into wicked human beings.”131 In the perspective of the Cheng brothers, there are two ways monarchical political rule serves human beings: first, political rule fixes in necessary fashion the prescriptive standards of what humanity ought to be, which gives shape to the political order, and in the philosophy of the Cheng brothers, such prescriptive standards are “the rites or ritual propriety.” “The rites” originate from “the cohering pattern of Heaven-orNature,” and objectively express as well as stipulate the necessary essence of human being and the necessary connections between human beings. The basic principle of “observing ritual propriety” harmonizes with the order of “the natural cohering pattern,” which is eternally unchanging, but the rites should change in detail. “The sages created laws always based on human affects and in total observance of material laws. The two emperors and three kings all had institutions which made additions 130 131

Hao and Yi [81]. Hao and Yi [82].

2 The Political Philosophy of Northern Song Neo-Confucian Rationalism

403

and subtractions to the order they inherited in accordance with the changing times. As to the greater origin of governance, if herdsman needed ways (dao 道), prior sages and the sages that followed would tie different principles together to make them all consistent.”132 They insisted that studying the sages required being good at learning the intention of the sages, that it was by no means enough to follow the tracks left behind by the sages, because such tracks were only “what the sages made for the good of the times,” “the need for the nine-square farming system, the need for the enfeoffment system, the need to institute physical punishment, were not the dao of the sages.”133 The ultimate goal of political authority, to use traditional Chinese language, was to cultivate humanity, namely to make everyone become embodiments of a pure cohering pattern of Heaven-or-Nature, to make all of the people in the realm become people of integrity who are honest and newly reformed. Second, political rule must protect what human beings ought to be with all precautionary or punitive measures, in order to maintain the natural state of human being’s original constitution, that is the state of the natural cohering pattern, “preserve the natural cohering pattern and eliminate objectifying human desire.” “The natural cohering pattern” is expressed in my own behavior as “following ritual propriety,” whereas “objectifying human desire” is expressed in my own behavior as “disobeying ritual propriety.” The distinction between “the natural cohering pattern” and “human desire objectifying” is but “observing ritual propriety” and “contradicting ritual propriety,” the choice between which is actually choosing the desire of my own inner mind; “following ritual propriety” is “the natural cohering pattern,” and “disobeying ritual propriety” is “human desire objectifying.” One must preserve the natural cohering pattern and eliminate one’s objectifying desires, and the optimal way to eliminate one’s objectifying desires is to “maintain calm,” “maintain respect,” “curb desires,” etc. If the moral efforts of human beings are not enough to eliminate the objectifying desires of human beings, the political authority must eliminate what is universally bad for all people in the realm; if people’s moral efforts are not enough to preserve the natural cohering pattern, then the political authority must stimulate the growth of what is universally good for all people in the realm. All peoples in the realm most fundamentally rely upon the sages who embody the pure cohering pattern of Heavenor-Nature in order to “stimulate the growth of what is universally good and eliminate what is universally bad.” The sages rely on their own well-regulated natural cohering pattern to eliminate all objectifying human desires, which is the sages’ political act of “preserving the natural cohering pattern and eliminating the objectifying human desires.”

132 133

Hao [82]. Hao and Yi [81].

404

7 The Ethical Constitution: Confucian Rationalism’s Consistent Linking …

3 The Deepening and Officializing of the Political Philosophy of the Southern Song and Yuan Dynasties The neo-Confucian rationalism of the northern Song era was still just in the rough draft stage. Although many of the important concepts, categories and propositions with great significance and value in political philosophy had already been brought up, they still had not undergone deep and detailed investigation, and the conclusions that had already been proposed still had not been finely proven in time. This was because the growth of theoretical systems was so difficult. In particular, the systematic growth of Song dynasty political philosophy fundamentally presupposed the harmonious fusion of the three traditions of thought at the time, Confucianism, Buddhism and Daoism. The progressive fusion and integration of these three traditions of thought determined the course of Song dynasty political philosophy; in another respect, the deepening of theoretical systems necessarily accompanies contention in academic discourse, and the mainstream of Song dynasty political philosophy was neo-Confucian rationalism. Not coincidentally, the deepening of impassioned contentious debates in neo-Confucius rationalism happened in the southern Song dynasty. It was deepening discussions and impassioned contentions in neo-Confucian rationalism that led to true theoretical differentiation in Song dynasty political philosophy during the southern Song period, which not only gave shape to the basic schools of political philosophy thereafter, but also gave shape to the basic framework and underlying arrangement of traditional Chinese political philosophy for a considerably long period of time. (1)

Zhu Xi’s Culmination of the Political Philosophy of Song Dynasty NeoConfucian Rationalism

Zhu Xi, courtesy names Yuanhui and Zhonghui, self-titled Hui’an and Kaoting, from Wuyuan county of Hui province (today’s Wuyuan county in Jiangxi province), relocated to Jianyang county (today’s Jianyang county in Fujiann province), born in the 4th year of the Jianyan era of Emperor Gaozong of Song, 1130 CE, died in the sixth year of the Qingyuan era of Emperor Ningzong of Song, 1200 CE. He descended from a noble Confucian “family name,” and formally studied under Litong. He was extensively learned in Confucian classics scholarship. He was a profound questioner and penetrating thinker, and was the great culminating scholar of the Confucian rationalism of the two Song dynasties. When Zhu Xi was 18 years old, he was recommended for the county examination, and the next year he passed the imperial examination as presented scholar (jinshi 进士). His official positions were Subprefectural Registrar of Tong’an, Prefect of Nankang Military District, and Senior Compiler of the Imperial Archives. His career in officialdom was always rocky, and in his later years he was subject to “the banning of partisan factions during the Qingyuan era,” when his scholarship was declared false learning. In the sixth year of Qingyuan era, Zhu Xi died, and before the funeral, it was said: “disciples of falsehood from all over expect to gather and attend the funeral of the false teacher, and between the

3 The Deepening and Officializing of the Political Philosophy of the Southern …

405

gatherings, they will either talk absurdly of the strengths and weaknesses of contemporary people or debate irrationally about the successes and failures of the current political rule. I await your majesty’s edict to hold the ministers to constrain it.”134 After Han Tuozhou’s death, the court’s ban on Zhu Xi’s “false learning” gradually relaxed, and Zhu Xi was posthumously granted the title of “Duke of Culture,” then later, he was granted the title of “Great Intermediary Grand Master” and the Baomo Pavilion was specifically designated for the continuing study of the scholar’s thought. In the third year of the Baoqing era of Emperor Lizong of Song, he was granted the title of Grand Preceptor, and was ennobled as Duke of the State of Xin, which then changed to Duke of the State of Hui. In the first year of the Chunyou era, namely in the first month of 1241 CE, the Emperor of the Southern Song dynasty issued the edict: Zhou Dunyi, Zhang Zai, the Cheng brothers and Zhu Xi shall be worshipped at the Confucian Temple. Zhu Xi’s main works include: Collected Annotations on the Four Books (sishu jizhu 四书集注), Explanation of Zhou Dunyi’s Taiji Diagram (taiji tushuo jie 太极图说解), Explanation of Zhou Dunyi’s Tongshu (tongshu jie 通书解), Explanation of the Western Inscription (ximing jie 西铭解), Collected Commentary on Book of Poetry (shi jizhuan 诗集传), Collected Annotations on Chu Poetry (chuci jizhu 楚辞集注), and Outlines and Details of the Comprehensive Mirror (tongjian gangmu 通鉴纲目). His followers compiled them into Collection of Conversations of Master Zhu (zhuzi yulei 朱子语类), composed of altogether 140 volumes, and the Qing dynasty scholar Li Guangdi edited the Grand Compendium of Master Zhu (zhuzi Daquan 朱子大全), altogether composed of 100 volumes. Zhu Xi was the grand culmination of neo-Confucian rationalism. He not only had a major impact on the development of neo-Confucian rationalism, but also earned a status of the highest degree in the history of development of Confucian thought. It is worthy of mention that Zhu Xi had profoundly decisive influence on the sense of thought and basic way of thinking in China after the Song dynasty. Neo-Confucian rationalism was not just an extremely powerful trend of philosophical thought; it was also an extremely powerful trend of socio-political thought. The core of Zhu Xi’s political thought was an integrated system of political philosophy, whose logical starting point was Heaven-or-Nature or the natural cohering pattern and whose logical end point was preserving the cohering pattern of Heaven-or-Nature and eliminating the objectifying desires of human beings. Zhu Xi’s explanation of traditional Chinese political problems was not only systematic and penetrating, but was also strongly convincing theoretically speaking. Traditional Chinese political philosophy developing to the stage of neo-Confucian rationalism naturally resulted in the genesis of a set of theoretical systems explaining the basic laws and necessary forms of socio-political governance. The form of its propositions expresses a necessary combination of a set of necessary transcendental categories, concepts and propositions; it safeguards the sanctity, seriousness and respect that political rule requires through establishing the necessity of connections between things. The Cheng brothers’ made positive contributions to this systematic set of concepts of transcendental necessity, with respect to which, the Cheng brothers certainly earned 134

Toqto’a [75].

406

7 The Ethical Constitution: Confucian Rationalism’s Consistent Linking …

greater importance in the history of development of neo-Confucian rationalism than did Zhang Zai. But, the Cheng brothers failed to adequately think through the logical links in the connection between the cohering pattern of Heaven-or-Nature and the objectifying desires of human beings, and this was precisely the important problem Zhu Xi so earnestly tried to resolve. The interference of the empirical in the transcendental could not be neglected, and even less so overlooked. The problem of how the transcendental manifests in the empirical while remaining free from the influence of empirical factors had to be the focus of any resolution to the problem. The Cheng brothers mainly elucidated the ground and function of the transcendental components in human nature, but Zhu Xi systematically elucidated in great detail the relationship between the empirical and the transcendental in human nature. He also fully demonstrated the process and method of how the transcendental manifests in the empirical. Of course, Zhu Xi chiefly explained such problems in terms of cognition, whereas the true completion of aligning substance and method would have to wait for Wang Yangming. Zhu Xi insists that the being of the world includes two basic elements, cohering patterns (li 理) and material qi (qi 气); the former and the latter depend on one another. The cohering patterns exists within material qi. “There has never existed any qi lacking a cohering pattern in the world, nor has there ever existed any pattern lacking qi.”135 Cohering patterns and material qi “originally have no explicable sequence of prior to and posterior to, but if you need and desire to trace back what comes from what, then we must say the cohering pattern exists prior to [material qi].”136 Not only do the cohering pattern and material qi have no priority or posteriority in time, there is also no relationship of derivation between the two in logic. There is only, logically speaking, the relative importance of the cohering pattern over material qi, affirming that the existence of the world harmonizes with the Good end. Material qi is the cohering pattern’s “arrangement,” attachment site. Without “material qi,” the cohering pattern would not be a “fully actual cohering pattern”; without “material qi,” the cohering pattern would be stuck; qi is the material composing all creatures, and the composition of countlessly diverse creatures would be impossible without the integrated unity of the cohering pattern and material qi. If there is “a cohering pattern,” then there is “material qi,” and if there is “material qi,” there is “a cohering pattern,” which is the same for the relationship between dao and the vessels carrying it. “The existence of dao necessitates the existence of vessels, and the existence of vessels necessitates the existence of dao.”137 “Material qi” fills Heaven and Earth and permeates space and time, and likewise for the cohering pattern. Considering perceptible, concrete things that are ceaselessly changing, coming into being and going out of being, “there is nothing between Heaven and Earth that is not qi,”138 “between Heaven and Earth, it is unifying qi and nothing more,”139 “the qi in the world is also 135

Xi [83]. Ibid. 137 Xi [84]. 138 Xi [85]. 139 Xi [86]. 136

3 The Deepening and Officializing of the Political Philosophy of the Southern …

407

one and no more.” “As one qi circulates between Heaven and Earth, countless entities partially disperse, and although different, they never split apart from the oneness of qi.”140 Considering the universal essence of things, which is imperceptible and eternally unchanging, or put otherwise, considering the fixed relational arrangement between different species of things, “as regards what integrates all creatures along with Heaven and Earth, it is only a cohering pattern.”141 The relationship between cohering pattern and material qi could analogically be compared to the relationship between underlying essence and phenomenal appearance: the cohering pattern is the eternally fixed essence, while material qi is the phenomenon manifesting the essence; the cohering pattern is imperceptible, abstract being, while material qi is perceptible, concrete being. As to the phenomenal expression of the being of the world, the one and only object that we can perceive is material qi, so Zhu Xi argues, there is only material qi between Heaven and Earth; as to the basic specifications of all species in the world and the eternally fixed connection or way of relating between all species of things, the true object we need to determine is the cohering pattern. Only the cohering pattern exists between Heaven and Earth. Zhu Xi systematically elucidated the doctrine of one cohering pattern differentiating into partial manifestations (liyi fenshu 理一分殊), and thereby solved the problem of the unity between the unique cohering patterns possessed by all of the different types of beings in the world respectively. Zhu Xi made Heaven and Earth and all beings communicate through the cohering pattern, folding them all into one harmonious, rational world, obeying the will of a master with an end. “between Heaven and Earth there is only one cohering pattern, yet if the dao of Qian becomes Male, and the dao of Kun becomes female, and the two energies (er qi 二气) sensibly interact, transforming to create all beings, then the division of their sizes, the classification of their proximity and distance, result in numbers growing by multiples that cannot equalize. ……The work of the Western Inscription means roughly this, Master Cheng insists that ‘to make known the oneness of the cohering pattern differentiating into partial manifestations’ could be said to cover it all in one sentence.”142 “The ten thousand things each respectively possess one cohering pattern, and the ten thousand cohering patterns co-emerge from one source, ……Just like when rain falls from the sky, big pits have big pits of water, while small pits have small caves of water, in the trees there is tree water, in the grasses there is grass water, each differs with the place, but it is only one general water. ……Like this mass of people here are only a cohering pattern of dao, but there is Zhang San and there is Li Si.”143 “Someone asked about the oneness of the cohering principle differentiating into partial manifestations. Response: ‘the sage Zhu Xi tried to speak of the oneness of the cohering pattern, mostly only speaking of different partial manifestations. Basically if you can rationally gather the reason why all things and all creatures are such among different partial manifestations, then and only then can you know that the cohering 140

Yuan [87], p. 53. Xi [86]. 142 Zai [88]. 143 Xi [89]. 141

408

7 The Ethical Constitution: Confucian Rationalism’s Consistent Linking …

pattern is originally one consistency. If you did not know that all partial manifestations each have one cohering pattern, and you merely spoke of the oneness of the cohering pattern, wouldn’t you not know where the oneness of the cohering pattern is? The sages teach others with thousands of words and tens of thousands of sayings, the scholars spend their whole lives engaging them, merely to rationally grasp this reason why each and everything is the way it is; and grasping the reason why they are so, only in this is the cohering pattern one.”144 In Zhu Xi’s theory of the oneness of the cohering pattern differentiating into partial manifestations, although the oneness of the cohering pattern insists on the point of all creatures sharing one cohering pattern, and makes the relationship between all creatures equal, the differentiation into partial manifestations also insists on the point that a different being must embody the cohering pattern in a different way, and it unfolds as the relatively fixed and legitimate way in which said thing moves, underscoring the differences in the legitimate ways of movement belonging to different kinds of beings, and thereby expressing the theoretical aim to defend hierarchical privilege. The various social roles in the human world are actually different kinds of beings, and although each role equally embodies the cohering pattern of Heaven-or-Nature, the concrete necessary rules by which they embody the cohering pattern of Heaven-or-Nature differ sharply from one another: ruler and ministers, father and sons, officials and people, foreigners and natives, respectively have their own fixed cohering patterns that embody the cohering pattern of Heaven-or-Nature, and the integration of all the cohering patterns belonging to each and every role does however defend the hierarchical privileges in society. Even if everyone were to become a sage or Confucian master who perfected the good of human nature, human society would still be a society of hierarchical privileges. The content of cohering patterns originates from the rites, and their concrete expressions are thus the hierarchical relationships between superior and inferior, noble and base families, close family and distant acquaintances, man and woman, ruler and minister, etc., or generally speaking, the relationship between yin and yang, and between humans or creatures separately occupying the positions of yin and yang, there are universal, hierarchical relationships of superiority and inferiority, noble and base. The oneness of the cohering pattern folds all beings and Heaven and Earth into a chain of yin and yang, at one end of which is the yin pole’s earthen rock and at the other end of which is the yang pole’s heavenly sky, and from the yin pole to the yang pole, Earth, plants and animals, humanity and Heaven are arranged in order, every single thing faces yang and finds yin behind itself; each and everything possesses the duality of yin and yang. Relative to the yang that is superior to itself, it is yin, relative to the yin that is inferior to itself, it is yang. Different partial manifestations merely confirm the hierarchical relationship of the concrete parties relating as yin and yang, and not only do the parties of different yin and yang relationships differ, what the relationship of yin and yang concretely consists of in each case obviously differs as well, yet the hierarchical relationship of superiority between the two of them, which yin and yang confirms, always exists. The inequality between all beings originates from the one unified cohering pattern of Heaven-or-Nature, that is it originates from 144

Xi [90].

3 The Deepening and Officializing of the Political Philosophy of the Southern …

409

the law of the universal relation of yin and yang confirmed by the cohering pattern of Heaven-or-Nature. This law of the universal relation directly affirms the inequality of both relating parties; it also originates from the willful controller of the natural cohering pattern, which is to say, the cohering pattern of Heaven-or-Nature intentionally engenders the inequality between all roles and all kinds of beings in order to produce the harmony of the world; The cohering pattern of Heaven-or-Nature even fuses inequality into the essence of relating things, which makes this inequality become the essential aim of things themselves, and while it makes this inequality eternal and rational, it also naturalizes it as the original constitution of things, which makes the unequal become the core characteristic of something’s specific essence. At this point, the inequality between the social roles in human society is a matter of necessity intrinsic to the original constitution of society. Concepts like the cohering pattern of Heaven-or-Nature established humanity’s necessary specification, and this necessary specification also intrinsically includes an absolute inequality in content, an absolute inequality which actually only exists at the level of social roles. Human beings are the spirit of all beings. The nobility of human beings is only second to that of Heaven-or-Nature. This specific essence of humankind in one respect comes from the qi with which they are gifted, a material endowment differing from that gifted to other beings, and in another respect it is also intentionally arranged by the cohering pattern of Heaven-or-Nature. Anything other than this arrangement is against the cohering pattern of Heaven-or-Nature. Even the just superiority of the qi that human being acquires is intentionally designed by the cohering pattern of Heaven-or-Nature. The qi that is gifted to human being differs from that gifted to other living beings, “human beings get qi that is correcting and consistently flowing, other beings get qi that is deviating and blocking up,” human beings’ “cohering patterns are consistent, and they have no blockages,” other beings’ “cohering patterns have blockages, and consequently, they know nothing.” Between Heaven and Earth, “it is only qi circulating through Heaven and Earth in five phases of yin and yang, the elite are human beings, the dregs are other beings, the elites among the elite are the sages and the worthy ones, the dregs among the elite are the idiots and the unworthy ones,” the sage’s “quality of qi is clear, illuminating and pure,” “although his physical body is human, he is merely a bundling of natural cohering patterns.”145 Zhu Xi insists “although human nature is one and the same for all, the gifting of qi cannot possibly occur without imbalances of weight, with those who acquire the wooden phase of qi, they employ the affective mindset of compassion more, while the affective mindsets of shameful disgust, deferential compliance, and right and wrong are closed off to them and do not develop. …… only after yin and yang combine virtues and the five tendencies are fully present, does [qi] become correctly balanced and make the sage.”146 “When the gifting of qi is imbalanced, the cohering pattern becomes defective.”147 The natural cohering patterns possessed by each of the creatures between Heaven and Earth is substantively the same, and the natural cohering 145

Xi [91]. Xi [91]. 147 Ibid. 146

410

7 The Ethical Constitution: Confucian Rationalism’s Consistent Linking …

pattern possessed by human beings is also the natural cohering pattern possessed by other beings, the cohering patterns of Heaven, Earth and all beings fully exists in the affective mind of human being, “the 10,000 cohering patterns are present in one affective mind.” Although for human being all cohering patterns are present in one affective mind, human being must still undergo stages of “investigating things and arriving at knowledge,” in order to understand the different expressions of the natural cohering pattern in the bodies of all other beings, and it is only through understanding the different expressions of the natural cohering pattern in the bodies of all other beings that human being can truly understand the overall cohering pattern of Heaven-or-Nature. Human being can only correctly act and appropriately feel in line with natural cohering patterns by understanding the overall cohering pattern of Heaven-or-Nature. Qi possesses knowing intelligence, namely what we call affective mind (xin 心). If the affective mind’s knowledge follows the natural cohering patterns, qi will also express itself in harmony with the natural cohering patterns; if the affective mind’s knowledge is at odds with the natural cohering patterns, qi will express itself out of line with the natural cohering patterns; all beings out of line with the natural cohering patterns lack all legitimacy. Human being’s own qi similarly comes with intelligent mind, and if the affective mind’s knowledge integrates with the cohering pattern of Heaven-or-Nature, said knowledge is human being’s knowledge of the natural human tendency, and the human being who clearly knows the natural human tendency acts in harmony with the cohering pattern of Heavenor-Nature. The human being who follows the cohering pattern of Heaven-or-Nature is the sage who preserves the cohering pattern of Heavenor-Nature and eliminates the objectifying desires of human being; if this affective mind’s awareness does not follow the cohering pattern of Heaven-or-Nature, said awareness amounts to human being’s impassioned awareness, and the human being whose awareness is clearly impassioned acts counter to the cohering pattern of Heaven-or-Nature. The human being who does not follow the cohering pattern of Heaven-or-Nature is the bad actor who preserves human being’s objectifying desire and eliminates Nature’s cohering pattern. (2)

Liu Jiuyuan’s Political Philosophy of Striving to Preserve the Original Constitution of Conscience

Lu Jiuyuan, courtesy name Zijing, self-titled Xiangshan, from Jinxi county of Fu province in Jiangxi, born in the ninth year of the Shaoxing era of Emperor Gaozong of Song, 1139 CE, died in the third year of the Shaoxi era of Emperor Guangzong of Song, 1192 CE. Liu Jiuyuan began studying at early age, he “studied the histories of the three kingdoms and six dynasties, saw the foreign tribes bring turmoil to China, and also asked elders to speak about the events around the Humiliation of Jingkang, sought to remove the source of disease, and studied military affairs,” “but in his heart he felt different from others, and never lost it.”148 In the eighth year of the Qiandao era, Lu took the imperial examination in the spring at Nangong, Lu Zuqian was the examination official, and really appreciated Lu Jiuyuan’s abilities, so Lu passed the 148

Toqto’a [92].

3 The Deepening and Officializing of the Political Philosophy of the Southern …

411

examination, and in the fifth month of the same year, he was granted the degree of presented scholar (jinshi 进士). In autumn, during the seventh month of the year, he returned to his hometown, and all scholars from near and far came to learn from him and seek his teachings, at which point he began to form a school. In the first year of the Chunxi era, when Lu Jiuyuan was 36 years old, he again went to the provisional capital, and received the mandate to act as Gentleman of Meritorious Achievements and Subprefectural Registrar of Jing’an County in the Prefecture of Jiangxing. In the following year, he responded to an invitation from Lu Zuqian, and gathered with his youngest brother Lu Jiuling and Zhu Xi at the E’hu temple in Xin province, where they debated the methods of teaching people as a discipline for ten days. All of them were well-matched and on par with one another. “Yuanhui’s [Zhu Xi’s] thought was to make people observe all around and read extensively, and then reign it in reductively. The two brothers’ thought was to first develop and illuminate the original mindset of human being, and then make students read extensively. Zhu Xi held Lu’s pedagogy to be overly simplistic, while the Lu brothers held Zhu’s pedagogy to be too fragmented.”149 In the eighth year of the Chunxi era, Lu Jiuyuan visited Zhu Xi at Nankang, and they discussed [Confucius’ proposition] “the superior master understands through moral right, the petty man understands through utilitarian good” at the White Deer Grotto Academy.150 Lu Jiuyuan never took high office in his life, and never made a systematic work. What remains of his writings include Record of Sayings (yulu 语录), Miscellaneous Works (zazhu 杂著) and letters. These are the main materials with which we research his thought. Lu Jiuyuan’s positions on such themes as the cohering pattern and qi as well as the affective mind and human nature did not differ in principle from Zhu Xi’s. They both took the universal cohering pattern of all beings between Heaven and Earth as the main target of the discussion; they both insisted on the cohering pattern’s decisive impact upon the existence of everything in the world, that is they confirmed the universal and necessary form through which cohering pattern determines everything in the world along with the necessary connection between each and everything. Lu held “filling space and time is one cohering pattern,”151 “this cohering pattern fills all of space and time, neither Heaven nor Earth nor ghosts nor spirits can transcend it, how could human beings?”152 What makes the world what it is—is not determined by qi, but by pattern. The reason why Heaven, Earth and all creatures have fixed and necessary characteristics, the reason why there are necessary connections or relations between all beings, is because all beings embody the pattern in different modes and ways. Even with respect to the innate goodness of natural tendencies in the discourse on human nature, Lu Jiuyuan’s viewpoint did not differ fundamentally with Zhu Xi’s. “All human beings have this affective mind, an affective mind which has this ideal pattern,”153 “human being is produced by Heaven-or-Nature, 149

Ibid. Ibid. 151 Jiuyuan [93]. 152 Jiuyuan [94]. 153 Jiuyuan [95]. 150

412

7 The Ethical Constitution: Confucian Rationalism’s Consistent Linking …

human nature is commanded by Heaven-or-Nature.”154 However, with respect to the rationalist form of Confucianism, Lu Jiuyuan’s position was even better for the realization of neo-Confucian rationalism’s goal than was Zhu Xi’s. Neo-Confucian rationalism’s aim was by no means to understand the universal cohering pattern of Heaven-or-Nature, and even less so was it to understand the objective laws of things, but was rather to practically actualize the universal cohering pattern of Heavenor-Nature. Although practicing necessarily presupposes some kind of determinate understanding, the object that this understanding presupposes is not objective Nature, but is rather the inner mind’s feeling, and the true goal of neo-Confucian rationalism was to enable human beings to make difficult and vigilant choices in their own inner minds in order to express themselves in line with the cohering pattern of Heaven-orNature. What neo-Confucian rationalism called knowing was knowing the true self inside of the affective mind, rather than knowing some other external thing outside of oneself. That said, the natural cohering pattern universal to human being qua human shares aspects in common with the universal, natural cohering patterns intrinsic to other beings. Thus, when Zhu Xi advocates “investigating things to arrive at knowledge,” “things” refers to the objective world existing outside of the human being. Zhu Xi hoped human being could accomplish a leap from particular to general in the process of universally understanding the natural cohering pattern of each and every species of thing, that is comprehending the abstract cohering pattern of Heaven-orNature through concrete natural cohering patterns, then once again turn from the general to the concrete and comprehend how human society concretely expresses the cohering pattern of Heaven-or-Nature, and how some specific social role should express the cohering pattern of Heaven-or-Nature. Lu Jiuyuan’s assertion that “the mind is cohering patterns” (xin ji li 心即理) affirms that the cohering patterns of the human mind embody the universal cohering pattern of Heaven-or-Nature in the very same sense that Zhu Xi’s assertion does, namely “ten-thousand cohering patterns are present in one affective mind.” The cohering patterns of all creatures are none other than the expression of the cohering pattern of Heaven-or-Nature, and with respect to the common essence of cohering patterns, the cohering patterns of the human mind are precisely the cohering patterns of Heaven, Earth and all beings. With respect to the different modes of expression of the cohering pattern, the natural tendencies of all creatures are all partial manifestations of the cohering pattern of Heaven-or-Nature. That the cohering patterns of the human mind are the same as the cohering patterns of Heaven, Earth and all beings adequately explains how the cohering patterns possessed by the human mind are universal and necessary beings. The human mind’s universal and necessary cohering patterns, which neo-Confucian rationalism sought, exists in oneself or in the human mind. Since this is the case, neo-Confucian rationalism seems to fundamentally have no need of seeking concrete natural cohering patterns outside of human being, and only needs to investigate the natural cohering patterns of the human mind. As such, Zhu Xi’s method could only amount to looking in the wrong direction, [like the Chinese adage] climbing a tree to catch fish. To catch fish, don’t climb a tree, dive 154

Jiuyuan [96].

3 The Deepening and Officializing of the Political Philosophy of the Southern …

413

into the water; to grasp the coherent patterns of the human mind, don’t seek the ways of other creatures, directly seek it from the human mind. Yet, Lu Jiuyuan’s theory was still mostly inferior to Zhu Xi’s. The systematicity and explanatory force of Lu Jiuyuan’s theory still could not compare with Zhu Xi’s. Lu Jiuyuan’s mind was largely colored by ethical considerations, while Zhu Xi’s mind was neutral material beyond good and evil. “All human beings have this affective mind, all affective minds are these cohering pattern,”155 encapsulates the partial significance of Zhu Xi’s claim that “the affective mind encompasses both natural tendency and affect,” but also expresses the ethical significance of the affective mind. Zhu Xi carried on traditional neo-Confucian rationalism’s theory of Nature’s cohering pattern and human being’s objectifying desire, and undertook a systematic theoretical elucidation of it, which rather sufficiently resolved problems concerning the possibility and necessity of studying the sages. Lu Jiuyuan opposed the formulation of Nature’s cohering pattern and human being’s objectifying desire, pointing out “the articulation of the Nature’s cohering pattern and human being’s objectifying desire is of itself an incoherent theory, if Nature were cohering pattern, and human being were objectifying desire, then natural and human diverge!”156 Human mindsets, human dispositions and human affects have by no means dissimilar significations, what differs are only the words or formulations of it, “affect, disposition, mindset, ability, are all one general thing, and the articulation differs on the occasion.”157 “Of the reasons why human beings corrupt the way (bing dao 病道), one is natural endowment, two is gradual habituation.”158 The crux of why there are such differences as good and bad people, worthy and idiotic people, wise men and ordinary folk involve two aspects, “natural endowment” and “gradual habituation.” Natural gift refers to the rarity of getting dao, “human beings getting at dao involves such particularities as rarity and how long it takes, and the prevalence of mishaps, the coincidences of getting and missing it, these are what distinguish great and small, broad and narrow, deep and shallow, high and low, superior and inferior human beings, and what differentiates grades and classes of human beings.”159 The sage gets dao more, his natural endowment is the best, dao fills his mind, the sage’s inner mind is filled with dao. Gradual habituation refers to whether or not someone gets caught up in things in the process of deliberating and reasoning, “human nature is originally good; those who are not good get caught up in things,” only by not getting caught up in things does human nature truly become unselfish and pro-social. Being selfish and being pro-social, cutting a profit and acting righteously are perfect opposites, “selfish intentions and impartial patterns, seeking profit and acting out of moral right, one negates the power of the other to stand.”160 The impartial pattern and moral right are the greater constitution, while selfish desiring and profit seeking are the smaller constitution. Some 155

Jiuyuan [95]. Jiuyuan [96]. 157 Ibid. 158 Ibid. 159 Jiuyuan [95]. 160 Jiuyuan [94]. 156

414

7 The Ethical Constitution: Confucian Rationalism’s Consistent Linking …

people do not follow their greater constitution, but follow their smaller constitution instead, and therefore gradually become corrupt and enter the big herd of those profitseeking establishers of self-interest. Only the few follow their greater constitution, sustain the cohering pattern of Heaven-or-NNature and do away with human being’s objectifying desires, and because of this become prescient sages. Lu Jiuyuan failed to do needed analysis on how human beings may be seduced or the internal individual causes of humans becoming seduced. What of human being do things ultimately seduce or lure to deviate human being from his or her own original goodness; since the human mind embodies the cohering pattern of Heaven-or-Nature, and the cohering pattern of Heaven-or-Nature is in the human mind, how could average people abandon the greater constitution and follow the smaller constitution instead? If everyone were to follow their greater constitution, then everyone would actually be sages, and there would be no distinctions like promising and stupid, wise and ordinary in the world. Once these distinctions disappear, there are no longer any grounds to discuss the necessity and possibility of monarchical political rule. Although Lu Jiuyuan was no anarchist, his theory of human nature could not hide hints of anarchism, and consequently with respect to proving the necessity of the feudal political order, his theory was inferior to Zhu Xi’s. Zhu Xi explained in detail how human beings may be seduced, and consequently deduced the necessity and possibility of political rule. Both neo-Confucian rationalism and discourse on mind argued for absolute monarchical autocracy. They established universal grounds in ontology and the theory of human nature for the traditional Chinese political order of monarchical despotism; at the same time, they also had more intense awareness of putting the people first; they both advocated fairness in the sphere of political values, they both championed common welfare and eliminating common hazards. In one respect, the monarch must embody the public good, selfishness is unbecoming of the monarch, the monarch’s selfish passions and selfish desires must be reined in; In another respect, the public good must also pass through the monarch, what is unbecoming of the monarch is not the public good, it is reining in the people without ritual propriety. The two parties, the monarch and the people, the two aspects of political values and political tools, must all fully observe ritual propriety. The people and the monarch harmonize by means of ritual propriety, the people and the monarch integrate by means of observing ritual propriety. Since the cohering pattern of Heaven-or-Nature is the source and controller of the universal order of the world, it is the unchanging natural regularity of Heaven, Earth and all creatures in space and time as well as the necessary connection between Heaven, Earth and all creatures. The cohering pattern of Heaven-or-Nature establishes a necessary chain from Heaven to Earth, and its guiding principle or core content is the hierarchical relationship between yin and yang, whose formal expression is what the Confucian school calls the observance of ritual propriety.

3 The Deepening and Officializing of the Political Philosophy of the Southern …

(3)

415

The Officialization of Neo-Confucian Rationalism in the Later Southern Song Era

Song dynasty neo-Confucian rationalism began with Zhou Dunyi and culminated with Zhu Xi. It systematically elucidated such problems as the basis of completing human beings, the pathway of completing human beings and the standard of completing human beings; it consists of many aspects indeed, but under the political conditions of the executive power’s control over the entire society, Song dynasty neoConfucian rationalism gave considerable attention to the sage or sage-king who helps humanity. To some degree, we could say that Cheng-Zhu neo-Confucian rationalism made detailed and formalized prescriptions for human life, and in the view of neoConfucian rationalism, the principal means by which these prescriptions materialize in reality is coercive executive power or imperial power. Song dynasty neo-Confucian rationalism in substance proceeded from the perspective of universality and necessity when undertaking systematic expositions of the basis, form and function of imperial power along with imperial power’s demands upon and responsibilities to the individual members of society, which made Song dynasty neo-Confucian rationalism live up to its name as political philosophy; its social function was mainly political; it was similar to what we call ideology today. Ideology must rely upon a certain system of political philosophy; it must rely upon a logically rigorous and convincing body of political thought, and at the same time it must also exist in a conventional or popular form; it could be called a political philosophy that enjoys both refinement and vulgarization in equal parts. There are two principal distinctions between ideology and political philosophy in general: one, the ideological form of narrative is educational not investigative. It neither has concrete problems of political philosophy it needs to resolve, nor does it plan on creating a system of thought. It is only the publicization of a ready-made logically rigorous body of thought for the sake of effectively influencing the process of people’s socialization. It provides people with a formalized and universal way of thinking, and gives shape to the minimal degree of common sense necessary for society. Two, ideology possesses a political authoritativeness that political philosophy in general does not possess; it gains the cooperation of political powers through the ruler’s imperial enfeoffment and approval; it is the most powerful political philosophy among all political philosophies; it either becomes popularized through its monopoly over education or its influence upon thought in examinations, or it is coercively popularized by the ruler himself, or it originates from the popular common sense that is universal among people in society itself. Generally speaking, ideology always develops from political philosophy in general, and once a political philosophy in general develops into an ideology, it immediately loses its investigative character. Even a political philosophy that later develops into an ideology, but still has not developed into an ideology, finds itself in severe conflict with the prevailing ideology of the times; it always finds itself in the straightened circumstance of being suppressed and repressed. After it develops into an ideology, it will always repress and suppress the other political philosophies that are investigating problems. Song dynasty neo-Confucian rationalism was indeed widely propagated among scholarofficials; the content of its thought was also vastly more extensive and profound than

416

7 The Ethical Constitution: Confucian Rationalism’s Consistent Linking …

the other political philosophies of the time; it was extremely convincing in a way that other political philosophies could not compare; there is simply no way of knowing by what multiple its brilliance overshadowed the official ideology of the Song dynasty. But, its existence during the Song dynasty was always arduous; it continuously met resistance and suppression, and even incited fierce political battles; it was criticizes as “false learning,” and those researching and studying it found themselves suffering in torturous circumstances all the way until after the reign of Emperor Lizong of Song, at which point Cheng-Zhu neo-Confucian rationalism’s lot finally changed for the better. Although Cheng-Zhu neo-Confucian rationalism emerged in the Song dynasty, it never had the power to become the official ideology before Zhu Xi’s work; it could not become the core part of official thought before Zhu Xi, that is the central thought of government officials that the official ideology indicated could not reach the standard set by Cheng-Zhu neo-Confucian rationalism; the authoritativeness and systematicity of Cheng-Zhu thought outmatched the official ideology, and due to its extensiveness and profundity it could not but ascend to the heights of the official ideology. Consequently, it became the central thought of the political machinery. The officialization of Cheng-Zhu neo-Confucianism was in following with the tide of neo-Confucian rationalism’s development and was in following with the logic of Chinese history. Song dynasty neo-Confucian rationalism culminated in the more peaceful southern Song, and its officialization during the Mongolian Yuan dynasty presupposed its propagation in the North, and the northern propagation of Cheng-Zhu neo-Confucian rationalism obtained the help of Confucian scholars who drove that propagation, during which time it of course also had the appreciation and approval of the Mongolian rulers of the Yuan dynasty, who diligently strove to govern. At the brink of the face-off between the Song and Jin dynasties, the South cut off from the North, the reputable teachings of the North and South contradicted one another, and even though there were reclusive scholars North of the Yangtze who propagated the doctrine of the Cheng brothers, their influence was limited. The Confucian scholars South of the Yangtze were infatuated with the debate between Zhu Xi and Lu Jiuyuan, while the northern scholars still firmly held to the syntactic and semantic analysis of ancient texts (zhangju 章句), and only knew of “the study of article writing and reciting answers to the policy questions of the imperial examination.” The majority of scholars did not understand neo-Confucian rationalism. In 1235 CE, the Mongol military was ordered to summon a large-scale mobilization of troops to suppress the southern Song, and Kublai Kahn ordered Yang Weizhong and Yao Shu to scout out talent in “Confucianism, Daoism, Buddhism, medical science and divination,” and capture the famous Confucian scholar of the southern Song, Zhao Fu, in De’an prefecture of Hubei province, and escort him to the North. It was from this point onward that doctrines like Zhu Xi’s finally propagated in the North. Zhao Fu, courtesy name Renpu, from De’an prefecture of Hubei province (today, the city of Anlu in Hubei), others called him Master Jianghan, his date of birth and date of death is not clearly known, and most of his works have disappeared. After Zhao Fu reached Yanjing, Yang Weizhong and Yao Shu established the “Taiji Academy,” and requested him to teach Cheng-Zhu neo-Confucian rationalism, “over one hundred

3 The Deepening and Officializing of the Political Philosophy of the Southern …

417

scholars and students followed him.”161 The famous scholars in the North like Hao Jing, Yao Shu, Dou Mo, Liu Yin and Xu Heng all studied neo-Confucian rationalism from him. Zhao Fu’s efforts enabled neo-Confucian rationalism to spread all over the North, “to the Qin city of Yong, then into Yiluo river region, then extended into the three kingdoms of the Jin dynasty, the states of Qi and Lu, and then reached Yan [Hebei], Yun [Yunnan], Liao [the Liao region] and overseas.” He was profoundly praised by contemporaries and later scholars. The Yuan dynasty scholar Hao Jing said “although the return of dao to the North depended on fate, its propagation and illumination, its oral transmission and propagation from mind to mind began with the master [Jianghan],” “the master had meritorious effect on my dao, and virtuous effect on the scholars of the North, moreover how profound.”162 The Qing dynasty scholar Huang Baijia also pointed out: “since the division of the sixteen prefectures of the Later Jin, the North acted as alien territory for a long time, and even though there were Confucian scholars repeatedly emerging in the Song, the reputable teachings [of the territories] were incommunicable,” “our dao entered the North from the time Zhao Fu had been captured as the crown of the South, and the followers Yao Shu, Dou Mo, Xu Heng and Liu Yin listened to the discourses of the Cheng brothers and Zhu Xi for the sake of broadening their propagation, it was from this point that scholarship rose lushly in the North.”163 Zhao Fu was originally an adherent to the former southern Song dynasty, and although he had the ambition to promote the learning of the sages, he ultimately held to the Song dynasty in his heart, and was not willing to serve the foreign rulers, preferring instead to maintain his personal integrity. In the second year of lecturing, namely 1237 CE, he left the Taiji Academy, and returned to hide out in Zhending. After propagating in the North, Cheng-Zhu neo-Confucianism gave shape to a unique style in terms of theoretical form. The Confucian scholars of the North championed “useful learning,” and advocated “using what is native to reform the foreign,” the main representatives of which were the thinkers Hao Jing and Zheng Yu. They held that the value of dao was in “functional usefulness.” Hao Jing argued “Dao gains value from function, without function there is nothing to show dao. The covering and carrying of Heaven and Earth, the shining and reflecting of the Sun and Moon, all have useful functions. The bequeathed teachings of The Six Classics and the established teachings of the sages also have useful functions.”164 The purpose of scholars learning was studying to become functionally useful. Hao Jing said, “scholars begin setting their minds on reciting classics and learning dao, and finally end up useless, how could it be!” “When it is nearest it is oneself, [extended to] sons it is one family, greater than that it is one state, again greater than that it is the realm, it must have some function [in each case].”165 Zheng Yu said “not studying when young,” “there is no way to exhaustively grasp the cohering patterns of the realm and arrive at one 161

Lian [97]. Chuan [98]. 163 Heng [99]. 164 Chuan [100]. 165 Ibid. 162

418

7 The Ethical Constitution: Confucian Rationalism’s Consistent Linking …

knowing; by the time one is old, there is no use of studying,” “why do scholarship.” “Scholars learn in hope of using it, and study because they hope to use it, and if all this studying is useless, how could it be called knowledge?”166 So-called “useful” means it can help the world and save the people, establish merit and build a trade, otherwise it is “useless.” Hao Jing clearly pointed out “beginning to pick up the Six Classics and studying them, although nothing comes naturally, know that the learning of the sages, the function of dao, and the tools with which the two ancient emperors and three sage-kings achieved governance are there and not lost, they are truly the learning of usefulness.”167 Whatever the scholar learns, it is for the sake of using it to deliver for the ruler, enrich the people, comport himself, transform the present, bequeath to the next generation, rescue the realm from chaos, and cure the ills of living people, like being able to “analyze the major affairs of the realm, establish major regulations for the realm and aid in the great difficulties of the realm,” which is to say, being useful, otherwise it is like “our scholars who recite the classics and study dao, when trying [to accomplish] one job, trip up and have no crutch to lean on, and when entrusted with one affair, bend seven chi and never take a stand; anxiously hurrying about, they end their whole lives unable to avoid freezing and starving, and yet attach to the powerful seeking profit, destroy morality and lose integrity, why,” “it is serving useless learning.”168 Hao Jing set his will on aiding the world and carrying out dao, but “did not study useless learning, did not read books of non-sages, did not labor in marginal affairs, and did not do philological Confucianism. Understanding must precede the sorrow of the realm, fulfilling must satisfy all of one’s joy.” Confucian scholars like Hao Jing focused heavily on political matters, actively entered government careers, opposed empty talk, and exhibited rather strong senses of social responsibility, “how to bear looking at the abuse of Heaven’s subjects and none go to the rescue.”169 This academic trend of advocating “learning and being useful” influenced the entirety of the Yuan dynasty, and it was especially impactful upon those Confucian scholar-officials more burdened by a sense of worry. The Cheng-Zhu neo-Confucianism that followed after propagating in the North was, stylistically speaking, weak in argumentation and analysis (yili bianxi义理辨析), but strong in learning to arrive at functional use with emphasis on practice, and thereby aided the socialization process much more in producing results that were good for the rulers and the social whole, which furthermore prepared the conditions for Cheng-Zhu neo-Confucianism to become the official ideology. The main mark of the Yuan dynasty making Cheng-Zhu neo-Confucianism the official ideology was neo-Confucian rationalism entering the country’s highest schools and government offices. The neo-Confucian rationalism of the Yuan dynasty, generally speaking, inherited Song dynasty neo-Confucian rationalism’s most basic principles of thought. Their conception of the way of Heaven-or-Nature, their theory of the human mind and 166

Shi [101]. Chuan [100]. 168 Ibid. 169 Chuan [102]. 167

3 The Deepening and Officializing of the Political Philosophy of the Southern …

419

human nature, their conception of knowledge and praxis, etc., all aimed at proving the universal rationality of the feudal ethical code, namely in line with the pattern of Heaven-or-Nature. The neo-Confucian rationalists of the Yuan dynasty put full emphasis on The Four Books and The Five Classics, they strove to grasp the meaning of the Confucian classics, probed into the scholarship of argumentation, and firmly upheld the traditional Confucian methods of moral cultivation. Yuan dynasty neoConfucianism inherited the pulse of Song dynasty neo-Confucianism. In comparison with Song dynasty neo-Confucianism, the most important feature of Yuan dynasty neo-Confucianism was the confluence of Zhu Xi and Lu Jiuyuan. Among the figures of Yuan dynasty scholarship on Zhu Xi and Lu Jiuyuan, aside from an extremely small minority who firmly upheld the boundary between the respective masters and did not mix the different doctrines, others like Xu Heng, Wu Deng and Zheng Yu saw where the arguments between Zhu Xi and Lu Jiuyuan were at, one was about “being fragmentary,” the other was about “being simple,” with each going to the extreme, to the point of making each’s respective tradition of scholarship hard to continue, for which reason they advocated breaking through the boundaries and synthesizing the strengths of the two masters. The merging of Zhu Xi and Lu Jiuyuan’s doctrines in Yuan dynasty neo-Confucianism resulted in eliminating much abstraction and strengthening the soundness in neo-Confucian rationalism. The figures in scholarship on Zhu Xi in one respect firmly upheld the practical effort of learning, and in another respect absorbed the “simple” theory of the original mindset in scholarship on Lu Jiuyuan, in order to avoid the excessive “fragmentation” of Zhu Xi’s theory. The figures in scholarship on Lu Jiuyuan firmly upheld Lu’s theory of the original mindset, which advocates reflexively seeking self-realization, and meanwhile, absorbed Zhu Xi’s doctrine of arriving at knowledge [of external things] and the practical effort of “great learning,” which enabled Lu Jiuyuan scholarship avoid abstract discussion and obscure argumentation. The neo-Confucian rationalists of the Yuan dynasty all focused on the intensive reading of the Confucian classics. Most of them held that before the sages emerge, dao exists in Heaven and Earth, but when sages exists in the world, dao exists in the sages, and after the sages pass away, dao exists in The Six Classics; to know dao, one has to study the words of the sages, one must “seek the classics out of the commentaries, and seek dao out of the classics.” Song dynasty neoConfucianism supplemented some deficiencies of neo-Confucian rationalism when inheriting and developing the neo-Confucian rationalism of the two Song dynasties, which laid the foundations in thought and society for neo-Confucian rationalism’s further development in the Ming and Qing dynasties. Zhu Xi’s ontology about the necessity of the world, which he parsed out through such concepts as the pattern of Heaven-or-Nature, gradually became society’s common-sense. During the Song and Yuan dynasties, Confucian scholar-officials temporarily called an end to the theoretical effort of seeking the universal and necessary ground of the stable traditional political arrangement, and Cheng-Zhu neo-Confucian rationalism finally broke out of the variety of stylistically different bodies of thought, and became the theoretical axis of this period of history. The neo-Confucian rationalism that Zhu Xi brought to a culmination was indeed extensive and profound, encompassing on the grand scale and powerful with respect to explanatory force. It not only

420

7 The Ethical Constitution: Confucian Rationalism’s Consistent Linking …

could systematically and constructively explain the need, necessity and legitimacy of imperial power and the political order, it could also provide the necessity for the political attitude of active cooperation along with a concrete method for moral effort. Even though Cheng-Zhu neo-Confucian rationalism still had flaws and weak points in its body of thought, it was still more profound and brilliant than the other bodies of thought at that time. The intrinsic reason why Cheng-Zhu neo-Confucian rationalism could stand unrivaled in the literary world was because the content that it reflected met more of the developmental needs of Chinese society. Cheng-Zhu neo-Confucian rationalism could still be seen to some degree as a crystallization of the entirety of Chinese culture in a relatively self-enclosed environment; it self-consciously reflected the basic features and developmental direction of Chinese culture. After the Song and Yuan dynasties, the direction of China’s social and cultural development was to continue deepening, filling-in and growing Cheng-Zhu neo-Confucian rationalism, and as Chinese society developed along the path that Cheng-Zhu neo-Confucianism forebode, the latter gradually fused into every part and parcel of Chinese civilization, and seeped daily into her soul. Chinese society’s gradual ossification during the Ming and Qing dynasties was the result of self-conscious efforts in line with the systematic theories of the Cheng brothers and Zhu Xi. Political society is just like the common human being, logically meticulous thought may develop human knowledge and elevate human capacities overall, and thereby improve the human activity to create history. As it makes the inherent characteristics of civilization become increasingly self-conscious, it thereby creates a civilized world that is nearly 100% man made. But, logically rigorous thought cannot but act as a yoke for thought at the same time, constraining people’s thought like the fabled frog at the bottom of the well, who can only and is only willing to see the world that his power of vision can reach, unwilling to learn new knowledge and even unwilling to know of new information, only willing to arrange one’s own life according to the systematic theory that one already knows, and, lacking the passion and originality to experiment, one falls into conservatism and even stubborn closed-mindedness. Blinded by presumptuous self-conceit, one becomes complacent. A logically rigorous ideology not only makes the propagation and popularization of new knowledge extraordinarily difficult, it also makes the costs of transforming society drastically enlarge. The instigation, maintenance and promotion of social transformation can only rely on environmental stimuli for motivation. Environmental stimuli bring about destabilizing sensational events, which while changing the socio-political arrangement also silently alters the logically rigorous political ideology behind it.

References

421

References 1. Qichao, L. (1999). Compendium of qing dynasty academic work, contained in Complete collection of liang qichao. Beijing Publishing House. (梁启超:《清代学术概论》 ,见 《梁启 超全集》 ). 2. Yanke, C. (1980). History of chinese philosophy review, Jinming library collection, vol. 2. Shanghai Guji Chubanshe. (陈寅恪:《冯友兰中国哲学史下册审查报告》 ,《金明馆丛稿 》 ). 3. Zhaowu, H. (2001). Brief treatise on the origins and historical background of divisions in song dynasty academia, contained in Zhaowu H. Collected critiques of historical reason. Tsinghua University Press. (何兆武:《略论宋学分野的来源及历史背景》 , 见何兆武:《历 史理性批判论集》 ). 4. Qizhi, Z. (1993). History of Chinese Thought. Xibei University Press. (张岂之:《中国思想 史》 ). 5. Zhen, C. (2003). History of the song dynasty. Shanghai People’s Publishing House. (陈 振:《 宋史》 ). 6. Zehou, L. (1985). On the history of ancient Chinese thought. People’s Publishing House. (李 泽厚:《中国古代思想史论》 ). 7. Chunfeng, J. (1997). History of han dynasty thought. Zhonggui’e Social Science Publishinng House. (金春峰:《汉代思想史》 ). 8. Qizhi, Z. (ed.) (1993). History of chinese thought. Xibei University Press. (张岂之主编:《中 国思想史》 ). 9. Toqto’a. Biography of chaojiong In History of song dynasty (p 305). 10. Guangming, D. (1997). Brief discussion of song dynasty scholarship, contained in Deng guangming historical research series. Peking University Press. (邓广铭:《略谈宋学》 ,载 《邓 广铭治史丛稿》 ). 11. Xia, Q. (1999–2003). Confucianism’s dao of the mean and buddhism’s morality of the middle way——double commentary on the buddhist zhiyuan’s thesis about the mean and the middle way, contained in Beijing university scholarly report: Philosophy and social science edition. ( 漆 侠:《儒家的中庸之道与佛家的中道义——兼评释智圆有关中庸中道义的论点》 ,载 《 北京大学学报》(哲学社会科学版). 12. Duanlin, M. Comprehensive examination of literary contributions: School examinations no. 2. vol. 41, (马端临:《文献通考》 卷41 《学校考二》 ). 13. Toqto’a. Biography of wang zhaosu. in History of the song dynasty (p 431). 14. Toqto’a. Biography of ouyang xiu. In History of the song dynasty (p 319). 15. Xia, Q. (1999). The formation and evolution of song dynasty scholarship, contained in Collected explorations of knowledge. Hebei University Press. (漆 侠:《宋学的形成与演变》 , 载 《探知集》 ). 16. Yangxiu, O. Vice-president of advisory hall of scholars and revenue ministry lord wenzheng’s tombstone engraving and epigraph, contained in Collected writings of Ouyang xiu. (欧阳修: 《资政殿学士户部侍郎文正范公神道碑铭并序》 ,载 《欧阳修文集》 ). 17. Wenzheng, F. Collection of lord fan wenzheng: memorial honoring worthy ancestors, Book 2, record of the wenzheng academy. 《范文正公集·褒贤祠记》 ( 卷二 《文正书院记》 ). 18. Zhongyan, F. Memorial to yueyang tower. (范仲淹:《岳阳楼记》 ). 19. Shi, S. Preface to the collection of sixty-one laymen. (苏 轼:《六一居士集序》 ). 20. Yangxiu, O. Second letter with scholar zhang. (欧阳修:《与张秀才第二书》 ). 21. Yangxiu, O. Two policy questions asked to jinshi candidates at the temple during the wucheng era. (欧阳修:《武成上庙问进士策二首》 ). 22. Yangxiu, O. (2001). Complete collection of ouyang xiu. Zhonghua Shuju. ( 欧阳修:《欧阳修 全集》 ). 23. Xiaojiang, Z. (2004–2003). On ouyang xiu’s confucian thought, contained in Jiangxi finance and economy university scholarly report. (郑晓江:《论欧阳修的儒学思想》 ,载 《江西财经 大学学报》 ).

422

7 The Ethical Constitution: Confucian Rationalism’s Consistent Linking …

24. Yanke, C. (1980). Collection of hanliu hall. Shanghai Guji Chubanshe. (陈寅恪:《寒柳堂集 》 ). 25. Yangxiu, O. Second letter responding to lixu, contained in Collection of ouyang xiu. (p 47). ( 欧阳修:《答李诩第二书》 ,见 《欧阳修集》 卷47). 26. Hongxing, X., Yueqing, Y. (1999–1906). Tentative treatise on ouyang xiu and the rise of northern song scholarly thought, contained in Fudan university scholarly report: social science edition. (徐洪兴、杨月清:《试论欧阳修与北宋理学思潮的兴起》 ,载 《复旦学报 》(社会科学版). 27. Yangxiu, O. New history of the five dynasties: second examination on controlling celestial phenomena. (欧阳修:《新五代史·司天考第二》 ). 28. Hao, C., Yi, C. Posthumous works of [the brothers] cheng from henan, Vol. 1, Discourse on teacher zeng duanbo. (程颢、程颐:《河南程氏遗书》 卷第一 《端伯传师说》 ). 29. Rongjin, G. (2005–2005) On the real learning of china, contained in Ningbo party school report. (葛荣晋:《论中国实学》 ,载 《宁波党校学报》 ). 30. Zongxi, H., Zuwang, Q. Scholarly annals of the song and yuan dynasties, Vol. 1, Scholarly annals of anding. (黄宗羲、全祖望:《宋元学案》 , 卷一 《安定学案》 ). 31. Zhen, H. Personal daily notes of huang zhen, Vol. 45, Reading confucian classics. (黄 震:《 黄氏日钞》 卷四十五 《读诸儒书》 ). 32. Yinglin, W. Record of stories from arduous learning: Explaining the classics. vol. 8. (王应麟: 《困学纪闻》 卷八,《说经》 ). 33. Xirui, P. (2004). History of classics scholarship. (皮锡瑞:《经学历史》 ). 34. Yuefeng, L. (2009). On “questioning classics” and “questioning commentaries” during the northern song trend of classics skepticism——through the example of hu yuan’s “oral interpretation of the zhou book of changes,” contained in Seeking. (刘越峰:《论北宋疑经思潮中 的“疑经”与“疑传”——以胡瑗周易口义》 为例》 ,载 《求索》 ). 35. Furong, H. (2000). Brief treatise on hu yuan’s alteration of classics In Z. Qifan, Research on the history and culture of the song dynasty. People’s Publishing House. (黄富荣:《浅论胡瑗 之改经》 , 载张其凡:《宋代历史文化研究》 ). 36. Yuan, H. Oral interpretation of the zhou book of changes, vol. 5. (胡 瑗:《周易口义》 卷五). 37. Yuan, H. Oral interpretation of the zhou book of changes: Xici I, Facsimile of the four branches of literature. (胡 瑗:《周易口义·系辞上》 , 四库影印本). 38. Lin, T. (2001). Commentary on hu yuan’s conception of book of changes scholarship and its influence. In Jianghan seminar. (唐 琳:《评胡瑗的易学观及其影响》 ,载 《江汉论坛》 ). 39. Shujun, Z. (2007). Brief treatise on hu yuan’s “dao of the great middle. Academic Journal of jiangsu academy of political administration (张树俊:《简论胡瑗的“大中之道”》 ,载 《江苏 行政学院学报》 ). 40. Scholarly annals of the song and yuan dynasties: Preface to the scholarly annals of song and yuan dynasty Confucianism. 《宋元学案·宋元儒学案序录》 ( ). 41. Ji, S. Scholarly annals of the song and yuan dynasties: Scholarly annals of the mount tai academy. (石介:《宋元学案·泰山学案》 ). 42. Jie, S. Tales of abnormalities I. In Z Shuju (ed), Collected writings of master culai shi. (石 介:《怪说上》 ,见 《徂徕石先生文集》 ). 43. Fu, S. Small collection of sun mingfu: Letter responding to zhang dong. (孙复:《孙明复小 集•答张洞书》 ). 44. Fu, S. Discovering the subtlety of reverence to the king in spring and autumn annals. (孙复: 《春秋尊王发微》 ). 45. Yangxiu, O. Master culai shi’s tomb inscription and epithet. 46. Jie, S. Illuminating and concealing. In Z Shuju (ed), Collected writings of master culai shi. ( 石 介:《明隐》 ,见 《徂徕石先生文集》 ). 47. Jie, S. Clarifying the four capital offenses. In Z Shuju (ed), Collected writings of master culai shi. (石 介:《明四诛》 ,见 《徂徕石先生文集》 ) 48. Jie, S. Restoring the ancient institutions. In Z Shuju (ed) Collected writings of master culai shi. (石 介:《复古制》 ,见 《徂徕石先生文集》 ).

References

423

49. Jie, S. The origin of chaos. In Z Shuju (ed) Collected writings of master culai shi. (石 介:《 原乱》 ,见 《徂徕石先生文集》 ). 50. Jie, S. Clarifying prohibitions. In Z Shuju (ed) Collected writings of master culai shi. (石 介: 《明禁》 ,见 《徂徕石先生文集》 ) 51. Jie, S. Written statement to the remonstrant and advisor in retinue of Xuzhou. In Z Shuju (ed) Collected writings of master culai shi. (石 介:《上徐州扈谏议书》 ,见 《徂徕石先生文集》 ). 52. Jie, S. On the virtue of yin. In Z Shuju (ed) Collected writings of master culai shi. (石 介:《 阴德论》 ,见 《徂徕石先生文集》 ). 53. Jie, S. Written statement to lord wang zeng. In Z Shuju (ed) Collected writings of master culai shi. (石 介:《上王沂公书》 ,见 《徂徕石先生文集》 ). 54. Jie, S. The roots. In Z Shuju (ed) Collected writings of master culai shi. (石 介:《根本》 ,见 《 徂徕石先生文集》 ). 55. Jie, S. Letters with zhang anshi. In Z Shuju (ed) Collected writings of master culai shi. (石 介:《与张安石书》 ,见 《徂徕石先生文集》 ). 56. Zehou, L. (1979). Critique of Critical Philosophy—Commentary on Kant. People’s Publishing House. 57. Zehou, L. (1985). On the history of ancient chinese thought. People’s Publishing House. 58. Dunyi, Z. Explanation of the Taiji Diagram. 《太极图说》 ( ). 59. Dunyi, Z. Tongshu: Sincerity. Book II. 《通书·诚》 ( 下). 60. Dunyi, Z. Tongshu: Teacher. 《通书·师》 ( ). 61. Dunyi, Z. Tongshu: Refined implications. 《通书·精蕴》 ( ). 62. Dunyi, Z. Tongshu: Following the transformation. 《通书·顺化》 ( ). 63. Dunyi, Z. Tongshu: Ritual and music. 《通书·礼乐》 ( ). 64. Dunyi, Z. Tongshu: Enjoying the middle. 《通书·乐中》 ( ). 65. Dunyi, Z. Tongshu: Governance. 《通书·治》 ( ). 66. Dunyi, Z. Tongshu: Family, betrayal, returning, and doing no wrong in book of changes. 《 ( 通书·家人睽复无妄》 ). 67. Dunyi, Z. Tongshu: Punishment. 《通书·刑》 ( ). 68. Zai, Z. Correcting ignorance: Supreme harmony. (张载:《正蒙·太和》 ). 69. Zai, Z. Correcting ignorance: The addresses of qian. (张载:《正蒙·乾称》 ). 70. Zai, Z. Western inscription. (张载:《西铭》 ). 71. Zai, Z. Correcting ignorance: The clarity of sincerity. (张载:《正蒙·诚明》 ). 72. Zai, Z. The well-ordered cave of classics scholarship: Ritual and music. (张载:《经学理窟· 礼乐》 ). 73. Zai, Z. The well-ordered cave of classics scholarship: Argumentation. (张载:《经学理窟·义 理》 ). 74. Zai, Z. Correcting ignorance: Greater mind. (张载:《正蒙·大心》 ). 75. Toqto’a. History of the song dynasty, vol. 429. 《宋史》 ( 卷四二九) 76. Hao, C., Yi, C. Posthumous works of [the brothers] cheng from henan, vol. 24. (程颢、程颐: 《河南程氏遗书》 卷二十四). 77. Hao, C., Yi, C. Posthumous works of [the brothers] cheng from henan, vol. 15. (程颢、程颐: 《河南程氏遗书》 卷十五). 78. Hao, C., Yi, C. Posthumous works of [the brothers] cheng from henan, vol. 19. (程颢、程颐: 《河南程氏遗书》 卷十九). 79. Hao, C., Yi, C. Posthumous works of [the brothers] cheng from henan, Vol. 15. (程颢、程颐: 《河南程氏遗书》 卷十八). 80. Hao, C., Yi, C. Posthumous works of [the brothers] cheng from henan, Book I. vol. 22 (程颢 、程颐:《河南程氏遗书》 卷二十二上). 81. Hao, C., Yi, C. Posthumous works of [the brothers] cheng from henan, vol. 25. (程颢、程颐: 《河南程氏遗书》 卷二十五). 82. Hao, C., Yi, C. Posthumous works of [the brothers] cheng from henan, vol. 11. (程颢、程颐: 《河南程氏遗书》 卷十一) 83. Xi, Z. Collection of conversations of master zhu, Cohering pattern and qi, Book I, Vol. 1. ( 朱熹:《朱子语类》 卷一 《理气》 上).

424

7 The Ethical Constitution: Confucian Rationalism’s Consistent Linking …

84. Xi, Z. Collection of conversations of master zhu, vol. 75. (朱熹:《朱子语类》 卷 七十五). 85. Xi, Z. Collection of conversations of master zhu, vol. 3. (朱熹:《朱子语类》 卷三). 86. Enlightenment from book of changes scholarship, vol. 1. In Second engraving of master zhu’s posthumous works. (朱熹:《易学启蒙》 卷一 《朱子遗书二刻》 ). 87. Yuan, Q. (1979) Celestial questions, No.3, Collected commentary on chu poetry, Vol. 3. Shanghai Guji Chubanshe. (屈原:《天问》 第三 《楚辞集注》 卷三). 88. Zai, Z. Explanation of western inscription. In Complete works of master zhang, vol. 1. (张载: 《西铭解》 《 , 张子全书》 卷一). 89. Xi, Z. Collection of conversations of master zhu, vol. 18. (朱熹:《朱子语类》 卷 十八) 90. Xi, Z. Collection of conversations of master zhu, Vol. 27. (朱熹:《朱子语类》 卷 二十七) 91. Xi, Z. Collection of conversations of master zhu, Vol. 4. (朱熹:《朱子语类》 卷四) 92. Toqto’a. Dynastic history of the song dynasty, Vol. 434. (脱脱:《宋史》 卷四三四) 93. Jiuyuan, L. Collected writings of lu xiangshan, Vol. 12. (陆九渊:《象山文集》 卷十二) 94. Jiuyuan, L. Collected writings of lu xiangshan, Vol. 11. (陆九渊:《象山文集》 卷十一) 95. Jiuyuan, L. Collected writings of lu xiangshan: Miscellaneous sayings. (陆九渊:《象山文集· 杂说》 ) 96. Jiuyuan, L. Collected writings of lu xiangshan: Record of conversations. (陆九渊:《象山文 集·语录》 ) 97. Lian, S. History of yuan: Biography of zhaofu. (宋濂:《元史·赵复传》 ) 98. Chuan, L. Collected writings of lingchuan: Letters with han shangzhao on human nature 《 ( 陵川集·与汉上赵先生论性书》 ) 99. Heng, X. Scholarly annals of song and yuan dynasties, Vol. 90, Scholarly annals of the luzhai school. (许衡:《宋元学案》 卷九十 《鲁斋学案》 ) 100. Chuan, L. Collected writings of lingchuan: Written statement to master Ziyang on scholarship. (陵川:《陵川集·上紫阳先生论学书》 101. Shi, W. Collected writings of weishi: Meeting instructing scholars of three academies in henan, qi’an prefecture. (惟实:《惟实集·齐安河南三书院训士约》 ) 102. Chuan, L. Collected writings of lingchuan: Letter responding to count fengwen. (陵川:《陵 川集·答冯文伯书》 )

Chapter 8

Utilitarian Confucianism: The Appeal of “Kingliness Without” from the Perspective of the Barbarians (Yi), and the Chinese (Xia)

The utilitarian political thought in the Song Dynasty can be divided into two stages: the Northern Song Dynasty and the Southern Song Dynasty, because of different times. Confucian utilitarianism in the Northern Song Dynasty mainly focused on reform issues. The central focus was to solve the problems of redundant officials, redundant soldiers, and redundant fees. The central issue of the dispute was the relationship between enriching the country, strengthening the army, and encouraging Confucian people-oriented values. During the Southern Song Dynasty, the northern part fell into the Jin and Yuan Dynasty, particularly the long-term confrontation between the Southern Song Dynasty and the Jin Dynasty, the latter of which deeply influenced the Confucian utilitarianism of the Southern Song Dynasty. It was urgent to rehabilitate its homeland and was keen to discuss the problems of people’s wealth, national wealth, and military strength. In addition, the further abstraction of political thinking in the Southern Song Dynasty helps Confucian utilitarianism to explain its own theory, or how it is both Confucian and utilitarian. Confucian utilitarianism in Song Dynasty cannot be equated with today’s political science, but its empirical characteristics are very close to political science. Although they are all contaminated with the idealistic color of Confucian politics, they all emphasize the identification of people-oriented thinking and respecting Xia people’s political value. However, it is obviously different from Mencius’ Neo-Confucianism in empirically thinking towards reality. They can face up to realistic political problems, dare to expose the various shortcomings and problems, and try their best to plan a good way to solve the political problems, and seek to enrich the country and strengthen the army. Generally speaking, utilitarian political thought in the Song Dynasty was inspired by many political problems faced by the Song Dynasty, and also embodied the Confucian value belief behind the utilitarian appeal. Its main content is to expose all kinds of political problems and corresponding political reform propositions under the background of Confucian political ideal.

© Tianjin People’s Publishing House 2022 S. Zhang, The Logical Deduction of Chinese Traditional Political Philosophy, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-4376-7_8

425

426

8 Utilitarian Confucianism: The Appeal …

1 Utilitarianism in the Northern Song Dynasty with Political Reform as the Central Topic The main political problems in Song Dynasty originated from internal affairs and diplomacy. The problems in internal affairs originated from the political system, while the problems in diplomacy originated from internal affairs. Many political problems boiled down to the redundancy of troops, officials and expenses. The capital of the Song Dynasty was on the main road of economic prosperity, which was safe to guard, only depending on soldiers. There were not many soldiers, causing redundancy. In order to prevent the people from becoming poor and chaotic, the capital of the Song Dynasty recruited the poor and impoverished people into the army. It regarded the enlistment as a kind of social relief and formed a large number of redundant troops with weak fighting capacity.1 The experience since the late Tang and the Five Dynasties also reminds the emperor of the Song Dynasty that in order to prevent the frequent changes of Fanzhen regime and dynasty, it is necessary to prevent the centralization of local army, finance, and financial power. The army cannot be dedicated to generals, and the local regime must be shared by all officials. The Song Dynasty’s policy of treating scholar-bureaucrats favorably also focused on the broader selection of scholar-bureaucrats. Once the scholar-bureaucrats passed the Imperial Examination, they could get one official and half positions, resulting in redundant officials. This not only caused redundant expenses, but also reduced the efficiency of the official work. Redundant soldiers and officials naturally form redundant expenses. Another important reason for the aggravation of redundant expenditure is the military weakness caused by the policy of putting mental pursuits above material arts in the Song Dynasty. Not only can we not restore the territory of Tang Dynasty, but also we have repeatedly compromised the military struggle of the peripheral minority regimes. They also spent money to buy a false name, to spend money in the form of so-called “New Year gift” (every year the emperor rewarded the kings, queens, princesses, and honorary relatives with a fixed number of silver, satin silk, sheepskin and other items), or to exchange money for security. Diplomatic issues have always been pressing. The main content of exploring the utilitarian political thought in Song Dynasty involves all the diplomatic issues, and the diplomatic issues are actually how to maintain the order of Yixia. Therefore, Yixia is one of the themes of the utilitarian political thought in the Song Dynasty. The root cause of diplomatic problems is domestic affairs. The fundamental cause of all these problems is the absence of domestic affairs or the flaws in domestic affairs. The utilitarian political thinkers of the Song Dynasty all hoped that the court could improve domestic affairs, restore well fields, consolidate the army, and train soldiers etc. They also hoped that it could improve the combat effectiveness of the army, rectify the local administration of civil officials, improve the efficiency of the government, reduce redundant expenses, improve the people’s livelihood, restore the native places of the Han and Tang Dynasties, and rebuild the order of Yixia. 1

Sa Mengwu. The Water Margin and Ancient Chinese society. Beijing: Beijing Publishing House, 2005, pp. 139–140.

1 Utilitarianism in the Northern Song Dynasty with Political Reform …

(1)

427

Fan Zhongyan’s Reform Political Thought

Fan Zhongyan, whose formal name is Xiwen, was born in the second year of Ruigong, Taizong, Song Dynasty, (A.D. 989), died in four year of Huangyou, Renzong, Song Dynasty, (A.D 1052). He was native of Binzhou (Bin County, Shaanxi Province), Wu County, Suzhou (Suzhou City, Jiangsu Province today), and was a famous statesman, militarist, writer, and thinker in the Northern Song Dynasty. Fan Zhongyan lost his father at the age of two and his family was in decline. He was diligent and eager to learn from his childhood. He had great political ambition and took the world as his duty. He was a Jin shi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations) in the eighth year of Dazhong Xiangfu in Song Zhenzong (A.D. 1015). Fan Zhongyan has been a local junior official for more than ten years since he became an official. Every time he held a post, he will be conscientious and dedicated to the benefit of the people there. Fan Zhongyan served as Privy Deputy to assistant administrator in Qingli three years (1043) of Renzong in the Song Dynasty, he put forward ten proposals for political reform and led the “Qingli New Deal”. After the failure of the “Qingli New Deal”, he went to Dengzhou, Hangzhou, Qingzhou and other places, and finally died of illness in Xuzhou. Fan Zhongyan is well-known academically for Yi Xue and admired by later generations for literature. He has written many works in his life, and his poems, lyrics and essays are excellent. He has many good works reflecting social reality and patriotism. His collection includes The Collection of Fan Wenzheng Gong. His life is detailed in Volume 314 of Song History. Fan Zhongyan’s Commentary Biography, written by Fang Jian, is a comprehensive, indepth study of Fan Zhongyan’s works. It not only examines many controversial points about Fan Zhongyan’s life story in detail, but also explains Fan Zhongyan’s various ideological achievements comprehensively and systematically. It is the main reference book for studying and researching Fan Zhongyan’s ideological system, concept consciousness, ideal and belief, etc. Fan Zhongyan strongly advocated Confucian morality and fully affirmed the utilitarianism contained in Confucian morality. He not only regarded utilitarianism as a necessary embodiment of morality, but also restricted the pursuit of utilitarianism, which embodied the typical characteristics of utilitarianism political thought in Song Dynasty. First of all, he confirmed that “Dao” of Confucianism does not exclude “benefit”, and emphasized that “benefit” is an embodiment or application of “Dao”. “What is benefit?” “It is the concrete form of Dao.” “Benefit” is common in Heaven and earth. It is reflected in “rain falling from Heaven, rivers on earth, in the benefits of the people and everything in the world on human beings, and in benefits for people on the national level. It establishes the market at noon, enriches families and neighbors on the family level, and chickens for people on animals.”2 “These expressions are different, but the principles are the same. In a word, they are the sum of morality.”3 Fan Zhongyan believes that the sage-kings always respected by Confucianism did

2 3

The Four Virtues Theory. Ibid.

428

8 Utilitarian Confucianism: The Appeal …

not exclude “benefit”. Their achievements include “benefit” as “the external manifestation of morality”. For example, “Tang and Wu complied with the laws of heaven and human relations, established political power, and eliminated riots. At the same time they opened benefit.” “That Xia Yu successfully prevent floods by water control is due to the practical practice of Xia Yu.” Fan Zhongyan stressed that the “benefit” pursued by politics must be restricted by the universal “Dao” and “Li”, and must be limited to the scope of “specific moral expression.” “That it is beneficial to the ‘essential ethics’ and ‘the persistence of morality’ makes up the three cardinal guides and the five constant virtues as specified in the feudal society that has lasted since the Han Dynasty.” “It’s a natural ethics that the monarch is in the position of honor and the subjects are in the position of inferiority.” “It’s a moral imperative for men to earn money while women are in charge of household chores.” “Heaven and earth, kings and ministers, men and women, are all in their proper positions. There is no more common ethics than this.”4 The so-called often abstract is to get their own right. As far as the norms of human behavior are concerned, they are the “rites” of the first king. All utilitarian pursuits must be carried out on the premise of abiding by the rites of the first king. There are also “benefits” in the formulation of rites and music by the former king of Confucianism, whose aim is to benefit all generations and people, and to realize “essential ethics.” “If the original intention of the former king to formulate the etiquette system was not for the benefit of all generations, it could not be carried out.” “It’s said that the five emperors did not continue the melody, and the three kings did not inherit the ritual system. How rigidly do they adhere to the ancient system”.5 “I said that the system of rites and music can be adjusted in the process of inheritance and development. The emperor’s name, Heaven and earth have been determined. What can be discussed in the process of inheritance and development?”6 As a utilitarian Confucian, Fan Zhongyan emphasized the decisive role of “rites” in the pursuit of utilitarianism. Fan Zhongyan eagerly called for political reform and elaborated on the necessity of political reform from both theoretical and practical aspects. In his theory, based on the “Zhou Yi”, combined with political practice, he put forward the thinking of flexible reform and prompt correction of abuses. Fan Zhongyan repeatedly quoted the philosophical guiding ideology of the Zhou Yi. “When you reach a desperate situation, you need to think about change. Change will open up the future, and open access will last for a long time.”7 “Thinking about the way of administration and the way of reform for future access” is advocated “in dealing with government affairs.” Zhou Yi can lead the cause of monarchs and solve all kinds of doubts. It can adapt to various internal and external conditions without blocking. It covers a wide range, including up and down situations without omission. “There is no profound reason that can’t be understood in Zhou Yi. We can only adapt to the situation when we are ready.” 4

A Letter to the Senior Administrator: Assistant Minister Yan. A Discussion on the Similarity between Solemn Ceremony and the Regulation of Heaven and Earth. 6 A Discussion on the Combination of Heaven, Earth and Man. 7 On the Discussion of the Book of Changes and it’s Thought of Heaven, Earth and Man. 5

1 Utilitarianism in the Northern Song Dynasty with Political Reform …

429

Fan Zhongyan also advocated that “to deal with government affairs,” we should “combine tolerant administration and strict administration with each other,” and have “the external literary talent and the internal essential folk custom complemented each other.” Political “leniency” and “strictness” are like the “water” and “fire” of nature. “The characteristics of fire and water are diametrically opposed, but the benefits they bring are interlinked.” “Water” and “fire” are “mutually contrary in essence, but their laws of meaning and principle are complementary to each other.”8 “The best governance system is the combination of wide and strict administration.” From the experience of the sages in the past dynasties, they have achieved remarkable results because they have carried out the principle or spirit of “the combination of leniency and strictness.” In the specific process of governance, they always pay attention to taking targeted corrective or compensatory measures. “The sage governs the world. If there is a problem in culture and education, he will use simple thoughts to remedy it. If there is a problem in simple thoughts, he will use culture and education to remedy it.” The sage-kings appeared after the “great upheaval.” “At the end of the previous dynasty, there was no way to save himself, which resulted in the great upheaval.” “There were later sages who rose up to save the world.” The sage-king is the “successor” who rises to save the “great turmoil” of “the end of the previous dynasty.” Their “emergence” does not come from the public opinion, but from the God. Their emergence is God’s love for the “people”, and also a choice for God to implement its governing principles and spirit. The birth of the sage-kings on the basis of the great chaos in the previous generation means that Heaven’s governance of all things also follows the principle of the external literary talent and the internal essential folk custom complementing each other, as well as a combination of tolerant administration and strict administration. Of course, Fan Zhongyan is not an ancient theocrat. He transformed Heaven’s governance of human society into a derivative sage-king to govern the world, highlighting and emphasizing the conscious choice of the sage-king. “Only a sage monarch can remedy culture, education, and simple thoughts with each other, which is fundamentally up to the monarch, not the people.”9 The rise and fall of the world depends on the king. That the king governs the world depend on the law from the Heaven who governs all things. We should make sure that “each is in his own place”, so that the world prospered from chaos. But sageking did not always exist. In an era when sage-kings do not exist, there will be an accumulation of abuses. The administration suffered a setback because of being too loose or being too strict. If the government is lenient, it will cover up its faults, and the general mood of society is increasingly extravagant and decadent. If the government is strict, it will be critical of defects, severe punishment, and eventually the world will be in chaos. Therefore, Heaven sent the sage-kings to rise up in the turbulent times, remedy the malpractice, rectify the chaos, and create a prosperous era. Fan Zhongyan also expounded the necessity of reforming politics from the historical experience of monarchy. From the perspective of historical experience, he analyzed how the past generations did not have a policy that would never be out 8 9

On the Mutual Use of Water and Fire. A Memorial to the Emperor about Recent Events.

430

8 Utilitarian Confucianism: The Appeal …

of date. “The politics of all dynasties will have malpractice after a long time. If we don’t get rid of the malpractice, it will certainly lead to disasters.” This is a rule of experience in the history of politics, which admit of no exception whatsoever. He thinks that the reason is that “the rules and regulations are gradually destroyed. The system is becoming more and more decadent. The rewards are not controlled. The taxes are not limited. Everyone is suspicious and mean, and natural disasters happen frequently.” The bonds, restraints, and institutions were gradually eroded and destroyed. The governance was gradually alienated into wealth collection. The officials became increasingly greedy and extravagant. People became suspicious and mean from trust and benevolence to each other. Additionally, there was the frequent occurrence of natural disasters. How could such a generation not be disordered? Fan Zhongyan thinks that the root of “inevitable disaster” is actually that “some local Heavenly principles are blocked.” The way out lies in “thinking about the ways to make the heavenly principles run smoothly in the world.”10 Sage-kings “can realize the justice of Heavenly principles through reform, and the foundation will be evergreen.” To reform is to “adapt something to circumstance,” which, in fact, is to “connect the heavenly principles between Heaven and earth.” If the situation is bad to the extreme, it will become better, and if it is good to the extreme, it will also become worse, which is also the operation mode of the heavenly principles, just like a cycle.” “The most fundamental purpose of the Zhou Yi written by the sage is to teach heaven’s principles to all living beings in the world. Otherwise, isn’t it in vain?” Fan Zhongyan believes that the Song Dynasty politics have developed to the point where reform must be done. “It has been nearly 80 years since the Song Dynasty abolished the chaos of the Five Dynasties and enjoyed the wealth of the world.” There were signs of disaster and disorder, and “disciplines, ethics, and systems have been eroded and destroyed in the years.” “The officials are arrogant and rude, and the common people are living in difficulties.” The non-Han nationalities in the north, west, and south and other enemies are becoming more and more arrogant and aggressive. It was time for him to “change the system to correct the current situation.” He pointed out in time that the danger of no reform lies in the “great turmoil” that will lead to “hundreds of years of bloodshed.” That is to say, “if we don’t want to change the way of governing the country, but just maintain the status quo, once the root causes happen again, we will plunge the world into a bloody struggle for hundreds of years.” He believed that the conditions for reform had been met, and advocated timely adjustment and the remedy of disadvantages in order to strive for strength. “The land is still complete. If we plan in the morning and execute in the evening, we can still save the current evils. How can we not take measures to save the current situation and wait for disasters to happen!”11 He repeatedly criticized the rulers for “trying to obtain credit for maintaining the status quo” and “forgetting the seriousness of long-standing abuse.” It is easier not to reform. “At that time, Cao Shen strictly abided by the laws and regulations formulated by Xiao He. Because of the long-term turmoil, he adopted the policy of recuperation, and didn’t dare to adopt too many 10 11

Ten Questions in Detail in Reply to the Imperial Edict. A Letter for Your Excellency.

1 Utilitarianism in the Northern Song Dynasty with Political Reform …

431

policies, which was just a temporary measure. Today, the world has been peaceful for a long time. It is the real Dao to rectify the system of politics, religion, rites and music, so as to avoid the minor evils turning into major disturbances.” Fan Zhongyan’s political reform involves all aspects of social politics. In the process of presiding over the “Qingli New Deal,” he proposed ten specific political reform proposals in an effort to be flexible and correct malpractices. In the new deal of Qingli, Fan Zhongyan put forward ten key points of the reform, which are to strictly define the system of official rise and fall, limit the way to get lucky and get promoted, Jinggong Ju, choose officials, equal division of public land, take measures to develop agricultural production, strengthen military construction, reduce the amount of unpaid work forced on civilians, exemption from accumulated taxes and amnesty, and pay attention to the formulation and implementation of laws and regulations. The important part of these reforms is the local administration of civil officials (in feudal China). Strictly defining the system of official rise and falls is to advocate the reform of the old-fashioned assessment and promotion of the old system, which was to be replaced by achievement assessment. It is advocated to highlight the ability of officials in their promotion, while the ability of officials is measured by performance appraisal. The promotion of officials pays attention to ability and performance, which helps to promote the public interest of the world, to eliminate the “common people’s dilemma” and “long-standing political abuse,” to repair the rules and regulations, so as to make the world prosperous. Those who follow the beaten track are subject to the assessment of their political achievements, and the best rewards come to those who excel, after that, the public interest will be enriched, the common people will be free from difficulties, the long-standing abuse in politics will be eliminated, and the corrupt ethics will be reshaped. If everyone works hard, peace and prosperity will be realized.12

To limit the way to get lucky and get promoted is a lot of malpractices caused by advocating reform and abusing En Yin (the treatment given to the next generation as an official for their meritorious service). This was to propose to limit the scope, number of people, and the length of service of the officials and their relatives. A great deal of incompetent officials were created by En Yin, and they can neither promote the common good, eliminate common diseases, cultivate bonds and restraints, nor occupy important positions, which hinders people with achievements to play a role. Such people’s role is completely negative and harmful from the perspective of governance. Therefore, they must strictly limit the scope, number of people, and time of service. Jinggong Ju is to rectify the accumulated shortcomings of imperial examinations in the Song Dynasty, which seriously hindered the outstanding talents to emerge, thus blocking the pace of achieving world prosperity and governance. Fan Zhongyan thinks “nothing is more serious than the lack of talents for a country.” The imperial examination “only selects the scholars through the literary form, through the written answers, the classics and the righteousness. The scholars abandon the real great truth and study the small way. Although all the officials in the court are scholars, 12

On the Establishment of Binzhou School.

432

8 Utilitarian Confucianism: The Appeal …

only one or two tenths of them are really talented.” He advocated the reform of the imperial examination, and proposed that we should pay more attention to discourse on politics and study of Confucian classics, while weakening poetry and rhetoric. “First, we should pay attention to the discourse on politics and then to the literary talent; in addition to the simple answers to the Confucian classics’ argumentation and writing style, we should also examine the understanding of the essence of the classics.” “Let people not only study rhetoric, but also understand the meaning of the article. Then the learning atmosphere will rise in the world, and the frivolous folk custom will be improved, which is the most important thing.” The so-called selection of officials is mainly the careful selection of local officials. Fan Zhongyan believes that “local officials are the assistant ministers of the monarch and the command of tens of millions of people.” “If you do not choose the right person, you will bring troubles to the people. If you choose the right person, you will accomplish the great work of the monarch.”13 The choice of local governors is particularly important because “the situation of a place and the happiness of the people is closely related to the local governors.” “Nowadays, whether the officials are wise or capable are not considered, as long as the accumulated qualifications are sufficient, they will be promoted to the position of local governor.” Many abuses arise from this. “Weak people can’t restrain their officials, resulting in harm to the people. Tough people only value the reputation in front of them, and most of them will damage property.” The result must be “the fundamental root of the state’s decline.” Jungongtian is “a plan to reform the distribution of salaries and cultivate virtuous and honest officials with rich salaries. At the same time, rich salaries can create a clean government and make officials occupy their position and seek their administration.” (2)

Li Gou’s Political Philosophy and Political Ideals

Li Gou, whose formal name is Taibo, known as “Mr. Xujiang”, a native of Jiangxi Nancheng County (now Zixi County), was born in Zhenzong Dazhong Xiangfu in the second year of the Song Dynasty (A.D. 909), died in Song Renzong Jiayou in 1059. He was a famous Confucian utilitarian political thinker and a theoretical supporter of the “Qingli New Deal.” Li Gou has been smart since childhood. At the age of five, he could tune the tone, learn calligraphy and painting, and write articles at the age of 10. He failed the imperial examinations twice, so he returned to his hometown to write, take care of his old mother, establish the “Yujiang Academy of Classical Learning,” and teach students and apprentices. There were as many as 100 people following him. He was keen on Confucianism and diligent in writing. At the age of 23, he wrote Qianshu fifteen piece. At the age of 24, he wrote Li Lun seven piece. At the age of 28, he made Mingtang Customized Maps, and prefaced them. He wrote Pingdu Shu, was the thirty-year-old author Guangqian Shu 15, was the thirty-oneyear-old author Thirty Policies for Rich Countries and Strong Soldiers According to the People. At thirty-five years old, he wrote fifty-one articles of Zhou Li Zhi Taiping Lun. At the age of 43, Fan Zhongyan and others recommended him to serve as an 13

On the Appointment of Officials Who will be Promoted or Recommend as long as They are Virtuous.

1 Utilitarianism in the Northern Song Dynasty with Political Reform …

433

assistant teacher of Taixue in the Dynasty. Later, he became a Zhi Jiang (Official name. Assisted Doctor in Teaching Confucianism). His works were compiled as Zhi Jiang Mr. Li’s Collected Works. Li Gou, a typical monist of Qi, explains Taiji by Qi and the occurrence and movement of the world by Qi. He believes that gan (乾), kun (坤), zhen (震), xun (巽), kan (坎), li (离), gen (艮), and dui (兑), as a reflection of the heavens, are only eight natural phenomena such as heaven, earth, thunder, wind, water, fire, mountains, and zebras produced by Yin and Yang or the Five Elements.14 As a human reflection, it is the excellent quality of people. It is, “strong but not fierce ” (乾), “gentle and decent” (坤), “capable of outstanding achievements but not doing anything wrong” (震), “low status and do not feel oneself inferior” (巽), “mental reservation and inviolable” (坎), “know what’s what and not to be deceived” (离), “like to be indifferent and not to be lured” (艮), be calm, not to be irritated, etc. There are eight universal qualities of excellence. “The truth of the Eight Diagrams is embodied in people!” Li Gou’s political philosophy is to explain the “Zhou Yi” by experiential phenomena. It has the empirical materialistic features, but it is just like the common mistakes made by general materialism within human problems. If we do not want to deduce the destructive or subversive conclusion of deconstruction, we must return to the systematic teleology on the issue of human beings. In this way, the existence of all things in the world is harmonious and purposeful, as if it were the intentional result of the supreme domination. Li Gou’s political philosophy returned to the shallow teleology of heaven-man induction when setting basic premises for people, and set heaven as the supreme dominant human order. “God is the origin of human beings. We can’t help serving the gods.”15 On the basis of expounding the theory of Zhou Yi, Ligou put forward the idea, “that the natural law contains the chance of change” and advocated the political reform. His so-called “common sense” is “the general law of heaven and earth, the nature of all things.” “Quan” means adaptability in tactics and change. He said, “common sense is the discipline of natural law,” and “that natural law can’t operate without adaptation to circumstances.”16 “Adaptation to circumstances is an adjustment to common sense.” “When things change, the situation will change. If you stick to common sense and don’t know how to change, it’s like to play the ‘se’ (an ancient zither-like instrument) with the pegs glued—stubbornly.” “The sage will also conform to the common sense of all things in the world.”17 But “sometimes things will change. Sometimes the current situation will change. If we always use common sense to solve this problem, how can we?”18 “If we want to eliminate disasters and solve disputes and problems according to local conditions, we should not just stick to common sense according to the actual situation.” Li Gou believes that heaven and earth, country and personnel are constantly developing and changing, and people must be good at judging the 14

The Book of Changes, 13. On Rites, 1. 16 The Book of Changes, 8. 17 On the Library of the Wens at Buo Lin, “Qian Zhou”. 18 The Book of Changes, 8. 15

434

8 Utilitarian Confucianism: The Appeal …

hour and size up the situation. Man “is not the most fundamental variable between heaven and earth.” It depends on whether people can know how to change and react to the situation, “Things do not necessarily have to be like this. People should take action according to the situation.”19 “It is reckless to act without changing the current situation. When the situation has changed and no action is taken, it is lazy.”20 Like other Confucian thinkers, Li Gou discussed the issue of human nature in detail. Although his views on human nature are relatively simple and loopholes are obvious, his theory of human nature is still the basis of political order. Li Gou attributes the inevitability of human being’s good to the destiny of heaven, and the possibility of human being’s good to human nature. The separation and aggregation of the two determine the right and wrong of human beings. “Heaven’s destiny is to let people do good deeds; human nature is to let people know what is good.” “Human nature can be seen through its good deeds, and destiny can be seen through human nature.”21 “When it comes back to heaven, it is called destiny. When it comes back to people, it is called human nature.”22 He compromised his predecessors’ views on human nature and agreed with Han Yu’s theory of three qualities of human nature. It is believed that human nature has three qualities, and there are five kinds of human beings. The three qualities of human nature are enough to distinguish sages, average people, and fools. The average person’s nature is divided into three categories according to the different harvests of learning, while human nature has three qualities and human beings have five categories. Li Gou’s theory of human nature is inferior to that of contemporary Neo-Confucians. There are two main aspects: Firstly, the theory of “three qualities and five categories” makes a hard distinction between people’s ranks, and deprives some of them of the right to learn from sages. It violates Mencius’ optimistic mentality that “all people can become a Yao and Shun.” It openly advocates the inequality of human nature, and the theory of the “three qualities” is far less conducive to the expression of Confucian people-oriented spirit than the pure theory of the original goodness of human nature. Secondly, “the three qualities and five categories” of human nature theory do not explain the fundamental reasons for the difference between sages, average people, and fools, nor does it explain the possibility of human nature changing from bad to good. It does not mention stubbornness either. Since it remains unchanged, what is the value of its existence? Does it only have the value of being repressed? The theory of human nature is the same metaphysical level of seeking human nature, but Li Gou’s theory of human nature talks too much about people’s experiential expression. In this way, Li Gou’s so-called human beings have no identity at all, and the necessity of sage education and helping ordinary people also disappears. The purpose of Li Gou’s theory of human nature is very simple. On the one hand, it provides a simple rationalization proof for the sage to obtain the supreme status in the world. On the other hand, it is intended to explain the necessity of the use of penalties. 19

The Book of Changes, 2. The Book of Changes, 6. 21 Preface to the Revised Edition of Zhou Yi Hexagram, Diagram 6. 22 On Rites, 4. 20

1 Utilitarianism in the Northern Song Dynasty with Political Reform …

435

The core of Li Gou’s social and political thought is the Confucian “rites”. His socalled “rites” contains two basic contents, which include not only the ethical “rites” of human inner quality, but also the normative system of “rites”. As far as the ethical level of “rites” is concerned, it mainly refers to the universal moral quality of human beings, that is, the content of ritual is “benevolence, righteousness, wisdom, faith”, which is ubiquitous in “human nature”, “benevolence, righteousness, wisdom and faith” are all governed by “rites.” Those who are generous and benevolent and love all beings are called benevolent. Those who have courage and can take appropriate measures are called righteous. Those who are open-minded and good at strategy are called wise. If we stick to our principles and never shake, we call them faithful.23

Li Gou objected to Zheng Xuan’s view that benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and faith were juxtaposed. He believed that benevolence, righteousness, wisdom, and faith were just aliases of “propriety”, and that “propriety” was the general name of “benevolence, righteousness, wisdom, and faith.” “Benevolence, righteousness, wisdom, and faith are concrete embodiment; fame and wealth are just general terms.”24 Nowadays, some people want to achieve benevolence, righteousness, wisdom, and faith, but they don’t know how to seek it from ethics, which is not to grasp the essence of things!” Li Gou regards “li (ritual)” as the general name of “benevolence, righteousness, wisdom, and faith”, which not only internalizes li (ritual), but also highlights the ethical dimension of li (ritual), and improves the status and weight of “li (ritual)” in human subjectivity. This kind of subject structure, which emphasizes ritual as the center, is obviously different from the NeoConfucianism of the Northern Song Dynasty, and embodies the thinking of Legalism that strengthens “kingliness without.” Li Gou thought that education, punishments, and decrees “were not only the important performances of etiquette”, but also the three branches of etiquette. They “all derived from etiquette and played a role by supporting the etiquette.” “What mediates to make people harmonious is called education. What causes the lazy to act is called politics. What deters the disobedient is called punishment.” These are the three branches of etiquette.25 In this sense, Li Gou clearly advocated the rule of the state by etiquette. The reason why the sages struggle, that sages write books, that monarchs can rectify the world, that princes can govern their country, that ministers and officials are devoted to their duties, and that people can have their lives—there’s nothing that is not due to etiquette.” All politics comes down to etiquette, which is indispensable in any era. You cannot do without etiquette at any time. Everything has its own etiquette, all over the world from time immemorial. We can’t live without etiquette for a moment.”26 Li Gou’s argumentation of li (ritual) is closer to Xunzi’s and tends to start with the normalization of li (ritual) to human beings, based on the discussion of personnel li 23

On Rites, 5. On Rites, 4. 25 On Rites, 1. 26 On Rites, 6. 24

436

8 Utilitarian Confucianism: The Appeal …

(ritual). “The Yin and Yang of Heaven and earth are the appearance of the system of ceremonies and music. Human relations are the essence of systems of ceremonies and music.” “When people talk about appearances, they cannot do more than propagate ethics; when they talk about substance, they can be used to regulate people’s behaviors”. He believes that the “ethics” in the sense of the legal system of the world starts from the “creation of the sages by heaven.” God created the sage and granted him the character of benevolence, righteousness, wisdom, and faith. Benevolence made him worry about the world and strategy made him plan for the world. Considering the power he gained, he could not be unrestrained, so he used loyalty to restrain him. Since the restraint was formed, it should not change, so he used faith to consolidate the restraint.” “If all four are available, the legal system will be established.” “After the establishment of the legal system, it will be named the feudal code of ethics.”27 However, Li Gou did not regard propriety as the subjective product of the sage’s will, but combined the formation of propriety with people’s actual need, the benevolence and righteousness of the sages, and the pursuit of interests of the world. In this way, he became a Confucian utilitarian thinker like Fan Zhongyan. “The reason why people become people is that they have enough food to survive. The reason why countries become countries is that they have enough material basis.” Li Gou advocated that “the foundation of governing the country must be based on finance”, which plays a key role in every link of the ruler’s governance of the country. The establishment of rites, the implementation of decrees, the spread of benevolence, the establishment of the majesty of the emperor, the abandonment of finance, and the restraint of private desires in order to establish a prosperous era—this has never been heard.28

In view of the current situation of the poor people and the poor country, Ligou analyzed the bottleneck of governance caused by the lack of financial use in detail, and concluded that the lack of financial use will inevitably lead to the aggravation of the lack. In this way, the state’s financial situation cannot be improved. Li Gou thought that the key to solve the financial shortage is to solve the land problem. The best way to solve the land problem is the legal system, and the specific measures are “fair distribution of land.” “If the legal system is not established, the distribution of land is not fair, the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. Even if they work hard, there is no food to eat.” If “there is no food, people’s hearts are uncertain. Even if there is courtesy, people can’t learn and be educated.” “Even if Yao and Shun were reincarnated, there was no way, so the way of fair distribution of land was the way that the sages would take first.”29 Fair distribution of land solves the problem of land, and we can do our best. We can open more barren mountains and new lands, increase the production, and increase the wealth of the country at our disposal. The material basis of “rites” is established by sufficient use of wealth. Therefore, educating and enlightening the people by education should be carried out to make people’s words and deeds all belong to “Rites” and realize national governance. Li 27

Guo Yong, 1. Rich Country Policy, 1. 29 Pingtu Shu. 28

1 Utilitarianism in the Northern Song Dynasty with Political Reform …

437

Gou’s thought clearly reflected the transformation social view of material decisive consciousness that “when the warehouse is full of grain, the common people will naturally know the etiquette” and “when they have enough food and clothing, the common people will know what is honor and disgrace.”30 Li Gou adhered to the Confucian people-oriented theory of the origin of monarchy. On the one hand, he traced the origin of sovereignty to heaven, emphasizing the principle of “emperor by Heaven.” On the other hand, he emphasized that the purpose of the emperor’s establishment was to “nourish the people.” “Those who choose to establish a monarch is the god; those who raise the people are the monarchs.” God set up the monarch for the common people, “not for one person, but for hundreds of millions of people.” Public opinion is the will of Heaven. “Public sentiment favors the will of heaven.” The ancient sage-kings were “all conscientious and did their best. They take it as the first priority to make people live and work in peace and contentment.” Only when the emperor “experiences the world’s human body with his own body” and “experiences the world’s human heart with his own heart”, manages money without gathering and hiding, and controls himself without indulgence can he “understand all creatures in the world” and “govern all creatures in the world” from “self-knowledge” and “self-control.” If the monarch is “selfless and impartial,” he will be able to fully develop his authority and command the world. If “the monarch is wise, and the officials are loyal and the people are friendly and harmonious,” then we can achieve social harmony and achieve the great order throughout the land.31 Li Gou particularly discussed the political virtues of the excellent monarchs, emphasizing that the monarchs are mainly good at knowing the truth of change and correcting malpractices. They should be brave in innovating politics, and should pay special attention to encouraging the free airing of views and reporting the feelings of the common people to the higher authorities. He compared the emperor’s acceptance of advice to medical treatment. “If you are angry when you hear death, then the doctors dare not point out the disease. If you are angry when you hear the subjugation, then the officials dare not say the fault directly.” If the monarch “can’t accept advice, is instead headstrong,” “cannot know if he has faults,” “cannot correct if he knows,” then he is not intelligent and brave. “It is for this reason that the country has been overthrown in the past.”32 Only by listening widely, adopting widely, or observing and judging clearly can the emperor know the truth of change and correct malpractices and adjust the politics. In order to achieve this, we must “dare to listen to the admonition and be forthright in admonition,” “not be afraid of evil words,” “listen carefully to all kinds of opinions,” “prevent being hoodwinked,” and “prevent being misled by slander.” In terms of literal explanation, slander is the opposite of admonition. “Slander is against the forces of justice; admonition is against the forces of evil.” All the people like admonition and hate slander. “When it comes to admonition, all know that it is good. When it comes to slander, all know that it is bad.” “But the king can’t help listening to slander.” The reason is that slander and admonition are often confused. The key to 30

Policy to Give Peace to the People, 1. Policy to Give Peace to the People, 5. 32 People’s Words in QingLi Year, “Ditching Taboo”. 31

438

8 Utilitarian Confucianism: The Appeal …

distinguish slander and admonition lies in whether it’s the villain or the the superior man who gives the “advice.” It is slander to use a superior man and be stopped by a villain. It is admonition to use villains and be stopped by a superior man.” The personal virtues and wisdom of the monarch play a unique role in distinguishing admonition and slander. On the one hand, the monarch should be for the superior man and far from villain in virtue. On the other hand, the monarch should have enough wisdom to distinguish the superior man and the villain. The villain often goes for the good of the monarch, while the superior man often criticizes the loss of the monarch, However, if the monarch shows his preference for admonition, the villain often mixes with the superior man. Li Gou believed that the monarch must use the officials as the intermediary to govern the people, so the monarch must select the officials carefully. He regarded the emperor as the parent of the people and the people as the newborn baby. Because the Emperor could not raise the people himself, he had to choose a “nurse” for the people. The nurse who nourished the people on behalf of the Emperor was an official. “The Emperor is the parents of the people. The people are the children of the Emperor. The officials are the nurses.” Parents have no way to raise their children in person. It is the nurse who cares for them. The emperor has no way to govern the people himself. It is the officials who govern the people.” He said that if “the nurses are incompetent, they will make their children hungry and thirsty.” “Although parents are kind, there is no way to make their children survive.” “If officials do not have the ability, then they will exploit, enslave, and maim the people. Even if the Emperor is kind, he can’t protect the people’s safety.” “Therefore, officials can’t be chosen carelessly.” Choosing officials is to entrust the job of raising the people to the nurse. Because the nurse undertakes a different job of raising the people, the nurse needs the name corresponding to the job. This name is the official politically. It is necessary for the official affairs to carry out the corresponding affairs. “The official position is the name,” “duty is the actual thing.” If the officials “only have reputation and don’t do practical things, there will be hidden troubles in the world.”33 Li Gou advocated that the selection of officials should be based on the established name and position under the civil-service examination system, and the reward and punishment should not be based on the seniority, the promotion and dethronion do not depend on the family status. Rather, they should let them try to do things, to test their merits, and to employ people according to their achievements. Li Gou acknowledged the necessity of the Emperor’s execution of punishment against adultery. “To take punishment to prevent treacherous officials is a common principle in ancient and modern times.”34 Li Gou also advocated strengthening the monarch’s intervention in the social economy, and the centralization of social and economic sovereignty under the monarch. “God creates all things, but he does not use them. People use them. People own property, but it should not be dominated by themselves. Rather, it should be handled by the Emperor.”35 He also looked for the rationality of the 33

Guo Yong, 11. Policy to Give Peace to the People, 7. 35 On Reviving Zhou Rites to Realize Peace and Prosperity. 34

1 Utilitarianism in the Northern Song Dynasty with Political Reform …

439

Emperor’s intervention in social economy from the Zhou Yi. “Genealogy says, ‘It’s just to manage property, correct words, and forbid the people from doing evil,’ which is truth.”36 Li Gou emphasized that it is the duty of the Emperor to manage the wealth of the world. “If the monarch does not control it, then the power and right of control belongs to the merchant.”37 If businessmen were allowed to manipulate the market and exploit the people, then the emperor would be guilty of dereliction of duty. The purpose of the Emperor’s financial management is to enrich the country and support the people, and the means of financial management is to strengthen agriculture and strengthen agricultural production and economizing expenditures. “What makes the country rich is not good at calculation, analysis of details, levying heavy taxes on the people, and even incurring resentment. Rather, it is to pay attention to agricultural production and save financial expenditure, so that the people will not be short of food and clothing, and the finance of the imperial court will be in surplus.”38 To strengthen agriculture and strengthen agricultural production is to attach importance to agriculture, which is to divide the land equally to make people live in peace, to make every effort to meet the needs of the country. While strengthening agriculture and strengthening agricultural production, we should also suppress merchants, driving the vagrants to devote themselves to agriculture. Economizing expenditures is to live within one’s means. On the one hand, we should strengthen the management of the emperor’s expenditure. On the other hand, we should control and adjust the consumption of the whole society. Li Gou is a political thinker who pays attention to practice in the face of reality.39 (3)

Wang Anshi’s Political Ideal and His Proposition of Reform

Wang Anshi, whose formal name was Jiepu, was granted Jingguo gong, and people called him Wang Jing gong. He was born in 1006, the fifth year of Tianxi in Zhenzong of Song Dynasty, and died in the first year of Yuanyou in Zhenzong of the Song Dynasty. A native of Linchuan of Fuzhou, he was an outstanding politician, thinker, and writer in the Northern Song Dynasty. Wang Anshi was good at reading and has received a good education since he was a child. In the second year of Qingli (A.D. 1042), as a successful candidate, he passed an imperial examination and later an assistant to the chief local official of Huainan, magistrate in Yin County, assistant prefectural magistrate of Shuzhou, and other local officials. After emperor Shenzong of the Song Dynasty ascended the throne, he ordered Wang Anshi to the Jiangning House and summoned him to be a Hanlin scholar. In the second year of Xining (A.D. 1069), he was promoted to be an assistant administrator. Since the third year of Xining, he has twice held the same office as Zhongshumen (deal with the government affairs through consultation with Secretariat-Chancellery) and other departments, and carried out the new law. During the nine years of Xining, after he was dismissed, he 36

The Book of Changes, 9. People’s Words in Qing Li Year in Sincerity. 38 People’s Words in Qing Li Year, “Listen Carefully”. 39 Rich Country Policy, 1. 37

440

8 Utilitarian Confucianism: The Appeal …

lived in seclusion and died in Zhongshan, Jiangning.40 His works were compiled in the Collection of Wang Wengong’s Works. Wang Anshi traveled north and south with his father from childhood, and had a deep understanding of the hidden social crisis in the middle of the Northern Song Dynasty. When he became a local official, he was able to care about the people’s livelihood. He wrote many times to suggest to promote what is beneficial and abolish what is harmful, and he believed that the people’s burden should be reduced. “Aiming high, he was determined to rectify the common practice of society.” During his time as a political adviser and prime minister, he grasped the two major problems of “financial management” and “military affairs”, and actively promoted a new law, which was known as “Wang Anshi’s reform.” Wang Anshi not only had the fearless spirit of traditional reformers, but also had the mad temperament of Confucianism. He dared to be innovative and despised his predecessors. In theory, it is the creation of “Jing Gong Xin Xue.” “The notes of the classics and biographies of the great Confucians of the previous generation are all abandoned. In reform, it is the belief that the ancestral law is not daunting that shows the boldness of reform. Wang Anshi’s political philosophy, though comprehensive of all kinds of schools of the ancient philosophers, transformed the classics, and developed a school of its own, called “Jing Gong Xin Xue.” Although “Jing Gong Xin Xue” once gained a leading position in the Northern Song Dynasty, it was not brilliant. In fact, compared with the political philosophy of Neo Confucianism, “Jing Gong Xin Xue” was complex, simple, and confusing, and its theoretical explanation was quite limited. The most basic category of Wang Anshi’s political ontology is Dao. His view of Dao is obviously influenced by Huainanzi, but there is almost no trace of Buddhist ontology. On ontological issues, Buddhism has more theoretical advantages than Daoism, so Wang Anshi, who is obviously influenced by Daoism, is far inferior to the Neo Confucianism, which is greatly influenced by Buddhism. Daoism naturally is also inferior in the sense of reason. Wang Anshi’s ontology theory is mainly to actively create theoretical basis for the sages, which is different from the ethical purpose of seeking universal internal norms for each social individual by the Neo-Confucians. Wang Anshi’s metaphysics is political and kingliness without, while Neo-Confucians’ metaphysics is ethical and sageliness within, which are quite different. Wang Anshi’s “natural law” starts from the cosmic flood and ends at the sage-kings, aiming to establish the metaphysical basis for reform.41 While the NeoConfucians’ “natural law” starts from Heaven and reaches everyone in the society, aiming to establish the “seniority in human relationships” of human beings, Wang Anshi thinks that natural law is the origin and general law of the universe, nature, and human beings. The natural law “is fundamental. When there is no heaven and earth, natural law already exists. Nothing is its law.”42 Natural law “came into being 40

The History of Song Dynasty, “Biography of Wang Anshi”. Collection Book, “Integration of Dao”. 42 Collection Book, “Neutralization of Dao”. 41

1 Utilitarianism in the Northern Song Dynasty with Political Reform …

441

before heaven and earth.” “The basis of natural law is unique, but it is reflected in all things.”43 “Natural law existed before the birth of Heaven and earth.” Wang Anshi thinks that natural law is the absolute that precedes and transcends all things, while all things in the world must “take natural law as the criterion” and “obey it.” “Even if Heaven is high, the earth is wide and thick, and the king is supreme, they should take natural law as the rule.” There is no exception to “the natural law of the human body” or “the natural law of family.”44 As a traditional scholar, it is hard for Wang Anshi to get rid of the influence of Confucian kingship. He emphasizes that “the king is the extreme of humanity. When it reaches the extreme, it will reach the Way of Heaven.”45 However, in the conceptual sequence of its construction, “Way of Heaven” is derived from the “natural law” and subordinate to the “natural law,” which is the major source of the world. Wang Anshi’s natural law has the same meaning as Huainanzi’s natural law. It is not only the origin of the world and the general law, but also the existence of materiality, which is different in its function, essence, and existence. Natural law is a kind of concrete material existence as well as the origin and rules. However, between the concrete material existence and the common origin and the universal law, there is no relationship between the principle of reason one and the principle of differentiation, which is more suitable for explaining the natural form, characteristics, and functions of things. Wang Anshi pointed out that “the essence of things is generated from nature, so all things can grow without relying on human beings. The details are related to utensils, so it depends on human resources to create everything.”46 “The nothing” in “the essence of natural law” emphasizes nature, which makes all things come into being without artificial manpower. At this time, sages can let things take their own course without words. The “things” in the details of the natural law refers to the physical form. The production of utensils depends on manpower. At this time, sages can be active and have their own achievements. Wang Anshi drew the conclusion that the sage’s action or inaction is consistent with natural law from the essence of natural law, which provided the general basis of ontology for his reform theory of advocating political action. Wang Anshi’s ontology of “the natural law has its essence and end” explains the rationality of the Confucian sages’ action, and emphasizes the necessity of the sages’ creation of etiquette, music, politics, and punishment.47 He criticizes the inaction advocated by Daoism, and emphasizes that etiquette, music, politics, and punishment are the way to govern the world, and that the specific application of natural law in personnel. Wang Anshi believes that the important basis for Confucian sages to be active and successful also includes the general concept of change, which is regarded as the embodiment and requirement of Way of Heaven. “Advocating change is the way of Heaven.”

43

Collection Book, “Effulgent to the Utmost Point”. Collected Works, “Laozi”. 45 Collected Works the Profound Meaning of He Tu Luo Shu. 46 Collection Book, “Dao can be Expressed in Words”. 47 Collected Works, “On Originality”. 44

442

8 Utilitarian Confucianism: The Appeal …

Change generally exists between Heaven and Earth. The exchange and operation of Promordial Qi and Chong Qi generate a variety of concrete objects. The “nothing” and “having” come in and go out mutually, constantly changing. They are not divorced from the natural law.48

Wang Anshi also has a unique understanding of the theory of human nature. He believes that “human nature cannot be described by good and evil.”49 There is no difference between good and evil in human nature, because human nature of all people depends on the human body as well as the inherent attributes of the human body. There is no difference in the basic characteristics of human body, and of course, there is no difference in the inherent nature of human beings. All human nature is the neutral existence of non-good and non-evil. All good and evil are just the result of postnatal education and experience. The responsibility of education to human beings lies in the sages. The good and evil of human beings does not depend on their own consciousness, but in the compulsion of the sages. The good and evil of human beings do not depend on nature, but on the teaching of the sages, which means that we should attach importance to the decisive role of the sages’ enlightenment in the process of human beings’ return to good. Conversely, the intelligence and self-consciousness of human beings should be reduced to a relatively secondary position. Wang Anshi advocated increasing the influence of monarchy and bureaucrats on society and life, and formed the basis of the view of human nature beneficial to reformers. “Divinity comes from human nature; human nature comes from sincerity; sincerity comes from people’s hearts; people’s hearts comes from Qi; Qi comes from the body; the body is the root of life.”50 That is to say, the good and evil of nature come from the influence of habits. When people get used to good, they become good. When people get used to evil, they become evil. Habits affect human feelings. Good and evil are only on the cover of human feelings, not human nature. Human nature only provides people with the ability to know. It’s just that superior, intelligent people “are used to doing good things,” so they “never do bad things.” The inferior intelligent people “are used to doing bad things,” so they “never start to do good things.”51 The middle intelligent people are both good and evil. Therefore, the middle intelligent people are either good people or evil people. If they are close to good, then they are good. If they are close to evil, then they are evil. The enlightenment of the sages is to let the spirit of human nature learn to be good. Wang Anshi thought that wood was not born to be an instrument, and horses were not born to be ridden. They had to wait for the craftsman to process them with all kinds of axes, rope and ink, and standards. The craftsmen who educate human nature are sages, and the sages’ all kinds of axes and whip are ceremonies and music.

48

Collected Works, “On Ceremony and Music”. Collected Works, “Biography of Hong Fan”. 50 Collection Book, “On Being Good at Being a Scholar in Ancient Times”. 51 Collected Works, “The Master is More Virtuous Than Yao and Shun”. 49

1 Utilitarianism in the Northern Song Dynasty with Political Reform …

443

Wang Anshi thinks that the starting point of politics is the difference between sages and mortals, or between the superior man and villains. The essence of politics is the process of the superior man’s transformation through teaching, restraining, and sanctioning people in the exercise of good. “Those who act according to the natural law and obey Heaven’s orders but do not know the reason are the people. Those who act according to the natural law and obey Heaven’s order but know the reason are the superior men.” “The sages and natural law are merged into a single whole.” It can be seen that knowing or not knowing natural law, and conforming or not conforming to natural law is an important sign to distinguish sages, the superior men, and villains. “Only sages can understand the natural law and integrate it into one.” The sage’s intelligence, wisdom, and virtue are “inherent in his nature” and are “created by God.” The sages, “from the aspect of Dao, can be called gods. From virtue, they can be called sages, and from achievements, they can be called great man.”52 The key to the rise and fall of the order and disorder under Heaven is that the sages are in power and the superior men are in charge. He believed that “when a superior man deals with political affairs, he should establish good laws under Heaven, so that peace and prosperity can be realized. If he establishes good laws for a country, then the country can be prosperous and strong.” Wang Anshi’s ideal political system is a hierarchy and monarchy system, in which the wise govern the foolish, the noble govern the lowly, the holy govern the ordinary, and the superior man governs villains. Wang Anshi’s active reform is not without the need for a retro style learning of the sage-kings, but he believes that learning from the sage-kings should be learn its meaning, rather than simply imitating the system or measures of the sages. He stressed that, Today’s loss lies in those who violate the rule of the first king so that they can act according to their will. Today’s trouble lies in not following the policy of the first king, so I think we should follow the spirit of it.53

From the point of view of reform, Wang Anshi especially emphasized the changing view of history and the flexible embodiment of the spirit of Confucianism. The essence of the change of sage’s power is to advocate the government machine to actively intervene in social political and economic life, but the government machine’s initiative has brought about bad results that had not been estimated. With the courage of reformers, this kind of bad result is inevitable. The main content of Wang Anshi’s reform is financial management. “Using the power of the people of the world creates wealth for the people of the world, and obtaining wealth from the people of the world for them to spend.” Wang Anshi believes that financial management is not unjust, but rather is just a moral requirement and embodiment. Political affairs “are used to sort out property, and sorting out property is what people call righteousness.” “There is about half of the content of financial management in the Zhou Rites.”54 The real purpose of Wang Anshi’s reform is to collect people’s wealth, which is no different from the wealth collection reform advocated by previous dynasties. There 52

Collected Works, “On the Superior Man”. Collected Works, “The Duke of Zhou”. 54 Collected Works, “Zigong”. 53

444

8 Utilitarian Confucianism: The Appeal …

is the decree on regulating transport, decree on irrigation and water conservancy, Green Shoots Law, Muyi law, square land tax system, market exchange law etc. All of these will bring beneficial income to the government. In essence, they are all the methods of collecting money.55 The result of the Xining reform is dramatic. Based on the Confucian principles, the political reform in pursuit of enriching the country and strengthening the army not only failed to achieve the original good purpose of political reform, but also promoted a large number of corrupt elements specializing in speculating monopoly. The reform of enriching the country and strengthening the army naturally evolved into the shameless accumulation of the government and bureaucrats on the people, resulting in the bad situation of the people’s destitution. Almost all the reforms of the traditional Chinese political system, which were carried out by bureaucrats to enrich the country and strengthen the army, degenerated into the double accumulation of the society. This is because the accumulation itself had become the achievements that bureaucrats rely on for promotion.56 If he does not try his best to accumulate, he will have no achievements. If he does not have achievements, he will not be promoted. The achievements depend on the active implementation of new laws, which will surely harm the people. The turning point of the new law becoming a scourge is that the bureaucrats pursue the new law for promotion and wealth. Driven by the motive of officials’ promotion, the new law becomes extremely rigid. There is no principle, no condition, no scruple, but the unconditional acceptance of the new law has become the natural obligation of the people. If the people do not want to accept the new law, they will be regarded as violating the obligation of course. If they violate the obligation of course, they will be severely punished. If the people choose to accept the new law, they will accept all kinds of exploitation and extortion attached to the new law. No matter what happens, the people can only have a tragic ending. With money scattered, leaving their hometown and wandering around. No matter how the officials exploit the people, they will be promoted because of their achievements in carrying out the new law. Only those scholar bureaucrats of Confucian learning who really sympathize with the people’s hearts and minds refuse to implement the new law, and their conscience will inevitably be submerged in the wave of promotion caused by their political achievements. If they are not willing to be submerged, then they have no choice but to degenerate and join the ranks of people who pursue the new law and exploit people.57 The more active the government is in carrying out the new law, the more the people have no way to live, The more the people are in deep distress, the richer the state and bureaucrats are. In all fairness, Wang Anshi is not a bad person, but his understanding of traditional Chinese bureaucrats is still very superficial, so that his utilitarian political reform, which originally embodies the Confucian ideal, has been replaced by bureaucrats as a bad or abusive policy that wrecked the country and brought ruin to the people.

55

Collected Works, “Etiquette which Does Not Conform to Ceremony”. Collected Works, “Ten Thousand Words for the Emperor”. 57 Collected Works, “Response to Zeng Gongli’s Letter”. 56

1 Utilitarianism in the Northern Song Dynasty with Political Reform …

(4)

445

Sima Guang’s Political Thought of Administering the Country by Rites

Sima Guang, whose formal name was Jun Shi, was also known as Yu Sou. He was a native of Wushui Township, Xia County, Shaanxi Province (now xia County, Shanxi Province) was born in the third year of Tianxi of Zhenzong of Song Dynasty (A.D. 1019) and died in the first year of Yuanyou of Zhezong of the Song Dynasty (A.D. 1086). He is called Mr. Wushui. Sima Guang’s family had been officials for generations. He was nurtured by the family to be sincere and studious. At the age of seven, “he could understand the general meaning of Zuoshi Chunqiu when he hears the explanation of it.” From that time, “he could never be seen without a book in hand to the point that he doesn’t know if he is hungry, thirsty, cold, or hot.” The articles written at the age of 15 were praised as a “pure and natural style of writing with the style of the Western Han Dynasty.” In the first year of Baoyuan, Emperor Renzong of Song Dynasty, Sima Guang was a Jin shi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations). He had successively held positions in the Guange collation. In the third year of Xining, because of different political views with Wang Anshi, he resigned from the Privy deputy and took up an official post of Yongxing Jun. The next year, he was renamed Xijing imperial censor, and retired to Luoyang. His special work was the Zi Zhi Tong Jian. After emperor Zhezong of Song Dynasty ascended the throne, Gao queen mother called Sima Guang to take charge of the state affairs and appointed him as the prime minister. After that, he was confered posthumously Tai Shi and was granted the titles of Wen Guo Gong and Yi Wen Gong.58 In line with Confucianism and with a positive attitude for the world, Sima Guang continued to present a memorial to the Emperor and stated his whole set of ideas of governing the country, at that time, it was of positive significance to take the talents, rule by the rites, benevolent government, and the integrity as the fundamental measures to stabilize the country. In addition to presenting a memorial to the emperor, he also adhered to the principles and actively implemented the decision-making strategies that were conducive to the country in the process of his political career, especially in the struggle to recommend the virtuous and denounce the sycophantic. He was known as a pillar of the state because he was able to voice outspoken criticisms that brought a scowl to the emperor’s face and debate before the emperor in court regardless of his personal safety. Although Sima Guang’s idea is conservative, it is actually a reform strategy based on “sticking to the normal law.” The deviation and improper employment in Wang Anshi’s reform proved Sima Guang’s political sophistication and steadiness.59 Sima Guang emphasized that the emperor of keen intelligence and excellent judgment should have “three virtues”: benevolence, holiness and bravery. “There are three most important virtues of being the ruler: benevolence, holiness and bravery.”60 He said, “benevolence does not mean woman’s soft nature, but the cultivation of the people, the cultivation of politics, the raising of the people, and the beneficence of 58

The History of Song Dynasty, “Biography of Sima Guang”. The History of Song Dynasty, “Biography of Sima Guang”. 60 Notes on the Investigation of Historical Events, “Preface to Ancient and Modern History Atlas”. 59

446

8 Utilitarian Confucianism: The Appeal …

all things—these are the benevolence of the ruler.” “Holiness is not to say that it is the holiness of the ruler to observe carefully, understand morality, recognize safety, distinguish wisdom from folly, and distinguish right from wrong.” “Bravery is not to say that he is self-willed, cruel, and fierce, but that he knows where the natural law lies, does not doubt when making judgments, does not get confused by treachery, and does not change his will by a crafty and evil person—that is the king’s bravery.”61 The emperor’s benevolence without holiness is like having good land but not farming. To be wise but not brave is to see that wheat is dirty and unwilling to cultivate. to be brave but not benevolent is to seek harvest without knowing how to cultivate. If we have all three, then our country will be prosperous and strong. If we lack one, the country will decline. If we lack two, the country will be in danger. If we lack three, the country will perish.62

Since the beginning of mankind, this principle has not changed. Sima Guang further demanded that the rulers should strive for the so-called “governing by doing nothing that goes against nature.” A person’s wisdom and energy are limited. It is impossible for one person to do everything. “Depending on one’s intelligence, in dealing with various affairs in the world, if you want to know everything, there is not enough time.”63 Since a person’s wisdom and energy are limited and it is impossible to manage the affairs of the world, it can only be solved by the way of “the people with high status govern more people, and the people with low status govern less people.” “The orders to govern the many have to be brief, and those to govern the few have to be detailed. It is natural for us to list major events in brief and to be as detailed as possible.” Since it is dominated by the natural law to distinguish the primary and secondary and the collective effort, then people can disobey, and disobey will not help. These views seem to be right. “The king sits around the whole country and controls all the people. If everything is handled by himself, he will get little and pay a lot.” Sima Guang is especially opposed to the government’s action of collecting money, which will force the good people to a dead end and make them become thieves. “All kinds of products created by Heaven and earth are not in the hands of the people, but in the hands of the government. The government tries to seize the wealth of the people, which is more harmful than increasing taxes.”64 “Birds will peck when they have no way to go. Animals will catch when they have no way to go. If people are very poor and have no one to help them, and if weak people don’t abandon their bodies in gullies and strong people don’t gather to become thieves, what can they do?” 65 Sima Guang took a clear stand against Wang Anshi’s reform from the point of view of opposing to compete for profits with the world. Sima Guang thought that the most important duty of the wise monarch to the world is to protect the rites, which is to protect the titles of monarchs and bureaucrats, fathers and sons. The core is to maintain the order in which a man of high rank 61

A Document Stating the Importance of Running a Country. Genealogy, 39. 63 Zi Zhi Tong Jian, 1. 64 A Memorial about Serious Common Practice. 65 A Document on the Discussion of Social Class. 62

1 Utilitarianism in the Northern Song Dynasty with Political Reform …

447

commands a man of low rank, and a man of low rank serves a man of high rank. “Of the duties of the son of God, none is more important than to protect the rites. The most important thing in rites is identity, and the most important thing in identity is a person’s status.”66 “The son of heaven commands Three Senior Lords, whom command the rulers, whom command a minister of the lesser feudal lords, whom govern the people. The dignitaries command the people with low status, and the people with low status serve the dignitaries.”67 “A man of high position dominates a man of low position, which is like a man with his heart controlling his hands and feet, and a man with his roots controlling his branches. A man of low status serves a man of high status, just like a man of hands and feet protecting his heart and his roots. In this way, people can protect each other, and the country can have a clear politics and a stable society. Therefore, there is nothing more important in the duties of the son of God than to protect ethics.” The core content of rites is to determine the rank, maintain it, and consolidate the differences between people’s rank and the behavior norms of people of different levels. Etiquette is used to distinguish between the noble and the humble, and to distinguish between the close and the unfamiliar, ruling everything, dealing with affairs, without a certain name. It is not significant. There is no form without concrete things; only when we use the name and position to call each other and the utensils to mark each other can we be in order, which is the essence of ethics.68

According to Sima Guang’s experience, in the development of traditional Chinese history, “the root of the rise and fall of a country lies in ethics.” Sima Guang blamed the collapse of etiquette for all the irregularities in history. For example, the collapse of the three branches of the Jin Dynasty and the Qin Dynasty is considered to be the natural result of the collapse of rites and music. The death of the Tang Dynasty can be traced back to the “connivance politics”69 since Suzong of the Tang Dynasty. Sima Guang’s so-called connivance politics means that the central government allows the local vassals to disobey the rites and lead to the collapse of rites and music. The long-term accumulation result is the collapse of the dynasty. Sima Guang paid more attention to the political role of transformation through teaching ceremonies and music, and regarded transformation through teaching ceremonies and music as a major matter of the country. He tried to change people’s character through transformation through teaching ceremonies and music of enlightened monarch and virtuous official, make them consciously abide by the norms of rites, and make the customs mellow and simple. He thinks that human nature can be transformed through the postnatal transformation, and the way of transformation and transformation is learning and education, especially the education of rites and righteousness plays an important role in changing the evil of human nature and casting the good of human nature. 66

Zi Zhi Tong Jian, 79. Zi Zhi Tong Jian, 7. 68 Zi Zhi Tong Jian, 12. 69 To the Empress Dowager. 67

448

8 Utilitarian Confucianism: The Appeal …

According to Sima Guang, on the one hand, it is necessary to, …appoint officials to value talent, deal with government affairs by virtue of ethics, pacify the people by virtue of benevolence, and stick to faith when communicating with neighbors. Therefore, the official position can be held by the appropriate talents, and the political affairs are controlled by the ethics. The people’s hearts turn to his virtue, and the neighbors attach themselves to him and abide by his faith. In this way, the country will be as secure as a rock… Those who offend it must be smashed, and those who offend it must be burned, even if there are violent enemies, what is to be feared!70

On the other hand, they must be good at receiving advice and employing the people. The Emperor, like ordinary people, also has shortcomings and makes mistakes. Even for the sage-kings, where they go beyond ordinary people is to learn from others and correct their mistakes. It is impossible for human beings to avoid mistakes; only sages can understand them and correct them. In ancient times, sage-kings were afraid that they didn’t know their own faults, so they set up a wooden plate in the traffic fortress. They let people write advice, and also set up a drum in the court. They let people beat the drum to give advice. How could they fear that the people would hear about their faults? From this point of view, the ruler does not regard having no fault as virtuous, but takes correcting fault as virtue.71

The political function of the Emperor is mainly to employ people. the essence of employing people is just to appoint officials. The content of appointing officials also includes the encouragement of rewards and punishments. Sima Guang called appointing officials, believing in rewards and punishments to be “the important task of governing the country.” “The root of national security lies in the appointment of officials.” According to Sima Guang, a wise monarch should, “select talents extensively and carefully, assign appropriate tasks, and appoint talents according to their own specialties.” “The extensive selection of talents means that there are no unavailable talents in the world if you don’t demand perfection or choose their strengths and ignore their weaknesses.” The careful examining and distinguishing of talents means to put an end to the phenomenon of having an exaggerated reputation and making up for the number.” “When listening to their reports, they must observe their behaviors, and when assigning their tasks, they must assess their qualifications, so the officials cannot hide.” We must strive to make use of people’s strengths.”72 Let the kindhearted keep their business, the wise and able people manage politics. If the wise plan, the brave make decisions, then there is no official position that can’t play a role.” “Use the right people. Do not use evil, stupid people to sabotage appointment plans.” Sima Guang’s way of employing people includes reward and punishment. “What is the duty of a monarch? it is the first thing for a monarch to judge a proper official post according to his officials’ wisdom.” “To reward according to merit: this is the second.” “The third is to try cases and punish them.” “The first 70

Notes on the Investigation of Historical Events, “Preface to Ancient and Modern History Atlas”. Memorial on Streamlining the Process of Dealing with Detailed Government Affairs Which is not Necessary for the Emperor to Do it Himself. 72 On Knowing Others. 71

1 Utilitarianism in the Northern Song Dynasty with Political Reform …

449

thing a monarch should do is to distinguish rewards and punishments.” Those who have merit should be rewarded, and those who have corrupt official positions should be punished.” Second, rewards and punishments should be moderate. “There is a difference between high and low merit, so there is a difference between more and less reward. There is a difference between big and small guilt, so there is a difference between light and heavy punishment.” Third, we should be “extremely fair and strict,” “reward for meritorious deeds,” and “punish for mistakes.” Don’t reward or punish with personal likes and dislikes. “Do not affect the reward standard because of personal likes and dislikes, and do not affect the penalty standard because of personal happiness and anger.” Sima Guang’s theory of the wise monarch not only expresses traditional Confucianism’s consistent requirements for monarch, but also contains the reasonable demands of general leadership.

2 The Southern Song Utilitarianism, the Political Philosophy of Confucianism The utilitarian Confucianism in the Northern Song Dynasty had been perplexed by the whirlpool of reform. From Fan Zhongyan who advocated reform earlier, to the aftermath of Wang Anshi’s reform, the political struggle between reform and antireform has always been fierce. It is worth noting that the opponents of Wang Anshi’s reform are not against reform, but only against Wang Anshi’s reform. If the utilitarianism Confucianism in the Northern Song Dynasty is too closely linked with political practice, the utilitarian Confucianism in the Southern Song Dynasty has more theoretical exploration of and contention over utilitarian Confucianism, and has put forward some viewpoints and propositions with political and philosophical significance or value. It has formed a system of Confucian political philosophy which is quite different from Zhuxi’s. As far as human nature is concerned, they neither fall into the so-called legalist stream because they deny human goodness, nor fall into the trap of traditional Confucian abstinence because they deny all human interests and desires. Rather, they try to coordinate between the supreme goodness of human nature and the reasonable desire of temperament, so as to seek the neutralization of the two. At the policy level, they hold a positive attitude towards industry, commerce, and prosperity, closely link human desire with industrial prosperity. They also closely link industrial prosperity with national prosperity, forming a unique Confucian philosophy system. In the traditional discourse system, the main representatives of Confucian utilitarianism in the Song Dynasty came from the regions with strong commercial traditions, their thinking embodied the particularity of the commercial class, but collided with the traditional agricultural thinking, and around whether to recognize the rationality of human desire and the social necessity of social prosperity formed a fierce confrontation of public opinion. Unlike the legalist utilitarianism in Qin and Han Dynasties, the Confucian utilitarianism in the Southern

450

8 Utilitarian Confucianism: The Appeal …

Song Dynasty was not state-based, but still maintained the basic position of Confucianism. Even so, utilitarianism in the Southern Song Dynasty could not get rid of the basic end-result of the three cardinal guides and the five constant virtues since Dong Zhongshu. Compared with the utilitarianism of the Northern Song Dynasty, the utilitarianism of the Southern Song Dynasty had a clearer consciousness of the core political values of Confucianism. They all devoted themselves to the integration of great achievement and morality. They not only regarded great achievement as the inevitable demand of the Confucian core values, but also made a detailed and indepth theoretical explanation. In ideology, a great achievement situation dominated by three powerful rivals has been formed, which is closely related to School of Laws and Mind school. (1)

Chen Liang’s Utilitarianism of Concurrent Righteousness and Benefit

Chen Liang, whose formal name is Tongfu, was also known as Longchuan. He was from Yongkang, Wuzhou, Southern Song Dynasty (now Yongkang City, Zhejiang Province), and was named Runeng at a young age. He was later renamed Liang at the age of 26 and Tong at the age of 36, he was born in Shaoxing, Gaozong, in Song Dynasty, in 1142, and died in Shaoxi, Guangzong, in Song Dynasty, in 1194, outstanding statesmen, thinkers and writers of the Southern Song Dynasty. Chen Liang lived in the Southern Song Dynasty, where national contradictions were extremely acute. His great-grandfather, Chen Zhiyuan, was sacrificed in the Battle of Defence in Bianjing and was educated by his grandparents from an early age. “I hope he can build up his career.” He took resisting the Jin Dynasty and restoring the country as his duty. He wrote to the emperor of the Southern Song Dynasty five times and put forward a series of propositions on the current disadvantages of reform and the revival of China. Chen Liang is a typical Confucian utilitarian in politics, but he also advocates that “Dao is in everything.” He tries to integrate Confucian values and means of governing the country, support sageliness within and kingliness without, and oppose the empty talk of Neo-Confucianism of talking about the king’s way with sageliness within.73 He debated with the Cheng-Zhu school over such important philosophical issues as the business of being a king/ruler, yi and li, Heaven’s principles and selfish desires, and wrote a series of letters. He wrote, A Letter to the Emperor Again in the Autumn of Jiachen, A Letter to the Emperor Again in the Spring of Yisi vigorously advocating great achievement. He constructed a brandnew ideological system with “great achievement” as the core, trying to combine the sageliness within with kingliness without. His ideological works mainly include Longchuan Collected Works. As a Confucian utilitarian thinker, Chen Liang systematically expounded the necessity of utilitarianism for Confucianism and society. He opposed the Confucian scholar Zhu Xi’s view of righteousness and benefit and the business of being a king/ruler, advocating instead the combination of righteousness, benefit, and the business of being a king/ruler. Chen Liang and Zhu Xi, Lu Zuqian, Zhang Shi, Lu Jiuyuan and others had a close relationship. They share a common language both 73

Collected Works of Chen Liang, “A Letter to the Emperor Again in the Autumn of Jiachen”.

2 The Southern Song Utilitarianism, the Political Philosophy …

451

academically and politically. Chen Liang is not fundamentally different from Zhu Xi and Lu Jiuyuan in maintaining the traditional political value of Confucianism. Chen Liang claimed that he always liked The Art of War and The Six Taos, and then read The Doctrine of the Mean and The Great Learning. Chen Liang has repeatedly affirmed the rationality of the combination of righteousness, benefit, and the business of being a king/ruler. He emphasized the non-contradiction between them, and strongly advocated the compatibility of righteousness and benefit or the business of being a king/ruler. Li can be yi, and yi may not always exclude li. Hegemony can also be integrated into the kingly Way, and the kingly Way may not always exclude some means of hegemony, etc. “The most just way is applicable all over the world.”74 Public–private opposition must not coexist. I thought that these doctrines were exhaustive enough and I did not want to set up a new door, so I further expanded the way of being upright and perfected Zhu Xi’s orthodox doctrine with those profound and subtle doctrines. How could I seek for those heretical doctrines outside Zhu Xi’s orthodox doctrine?75

Chen Liang’s proposition that both yi and li should be combined with hegemony calls for recognition of the rationality of “li,” and that “li” should be built on the basis of “desire,” which requires Chen Liang to affirm “human desire” first. Chen Liang believes that human desire comes from human nature and life. Maybe everyone is the same. “Listening, watching, smelling, tasting, and seeking comfort are human nature and life.” “By nature, all the people in the world have the same desire; subject to the destiny of heaven, there must be something that cannot be violated to restrict human desire.” Riches and honors are what people want; dangers and hardships are what people don’t want; three generations of people can’t have no desire for profit; people in the Han and Tang Dynasties are not “half-life and immortal animals” with pure desire for profit. If there are differences between people, the difference is only in quantity but not in quality. Humanity “conforms to the standard demand of Dao, and the non-standard demand is desire.” Dao just wants to remove the “non-standard” desire rather than exhaust the human desire. Chen Liang advocated the centralization of monarchy, believing that people’s desires could not be naturally indulged, but needed to be regulated by monarchy. “People in the world cannot indulge their own desires. Everything must be obeyed by the sovereign’s dignity.” The monarch “compiled the Five Classics, standardized the Five Rites, and allowed the people of the world to read the Five Classics and perform the Five Rites altogether,” exercising rewards and punishments and persuading and punishing, make people self-reliant. “Etiquette is a rule made by Heaven.”76 He highlighted the ontological universality of “ritual,” which was derived from Heaven and embodied the will of Heaven. The “reward of the monarch is the will of Heaven; the punishment is the crusade of Heaven.” “The monarch acts according to providence.” Chen Liang thinks that the monarchy is in the process of reward and punishment, “and seeks for the monarchy besides reward and punishment, which is just “the view 74

Collected Works of Chen Liang, “Greetings and Letters to Zhao Tongzhi”. Collected Works of Chen Liang, “A Letter to the Emperor Again in the Autumn of Bingwu”. 76 Chen Liang Ji, “Question and Answer”, Part 2. 75

452

8 Utilitarian Confucianism: The Appeal …

of the pedantic Confucians.” He advocated the combination of etiquette, music, politics and punishment, among which “restraining people’s hearts with etiquette, uniting people’s hearts with music, implementing government affairs with decrees, and preventing disturbances with penalties.” The four aspects of etiquette, music, politics and punishment are highly developed and mutually unrestrained, which is the achievement of the kingly way. When governing the world by the way of being king, we need to coordinate the use of etiquette, music, politics and punishment, and give full play to their effectiveness. Chen Liang fully affirmed the merits and benefits of Confucianism. He believes that clothing, food, housing, and transportation are necessary for human survival. As long as clothing, food, housing and transportation meet their own requirements, they are reasonable. Reasonable utilitarianism is the embodiment of public and morality. Chen Liang believes that the difference between King and hegemony lies not in whether to pursue utilitarianism, but in the purpose and form of utilitarianism. If it is for the public, and for the purpose of world, it is kingliness. If it is out of selfishness, and for the purpose of oneself, it is hegemony. The three generations of monarchs are completely in line with the kingdom, and the monarchs of the Han and Tang Dynasties are basically out of the mind of Dao rather than selfishness. There is no qualitative difference between the Za Ba, the combination of the king, and the hegemony and the king, but only the quantitative difference. The so-called Za Ba just does not fully reach the level of the king. Chen Liang’s ideal politics, like Zhu Xi’s, are all three generations of politics under the rule of pure moral benevolence and righteousness. Moral goodness is still the essence of human beings. However, he also emphasizes that utilitarianism is not something outside the Dao. It is not only moral, but also an indispensable part of morality. This traces the origin of utilitarianism to the supreme virtue of morality, which not only guarantees that utilitarianism is rooted in the people-oriented value, but also actively promotes the moral development of utilitarianism with the internal drive of morality. The universal moral goodness is the basic core of political ideals. Without this moral goodness, the world of human beings will become the world of demons. However, the human world must also solve some complex and difficult problems. If we cannot effectively solve these complex and difficult problems, people will always be in deep dilemma, which will inevitably be morally evil. Chen Liang and others insist on the world of the supreme good in morality. People are generally kind and with ability, which is an ideal world. In order to prove the necessity of utilitarianism for Confucianism and society, Chen Liang put forward the idea that “truth lies in substance” and “all substance contains truth.”77 He believes that the metaphysical Dao exists in the daily use of people’s livelihood. The Dao must show itself by means of the tangible things that actually exist. Everyone’s practice is the way of experiencing and embodying the Dao. The Dao exists in the form of practice rather than in the form of metaphysical proposition. Man can only grasp Dao in a practical way. The grasp of propositional form is only a transit station for the grasp of practice. If the grasp of propositional form cannot bring about corresponding practical results, then the grasp of the propositional form of Dao 77

Collected Works of Chen Liang, “Interpretation of the Purport of the Scriptures Book of Rites”.

2 The Southern Song Utilitarianism, the Political Philosophy …

453

will be meaningless. The Dao of the Confucian sages is based on utilitarianism for the benefit of the people. Chen Liang’s so-called thing mainly refers to ethics, its system, and practice. For example, “Can Yao and Shun’s idea of governing the world get rid of content of Dao which I said? Benevolence, righteousness, filial piety, rites, music, punishment, and politics are all ethics and systems based on Dao.” Chen Liang admits that Dao is the emperor of all things in the world. Specific implements and numbers are “ruled by Dao.” But he also emphasized the significance of practicing things to body and way, opposed empty talk about the heart-based without the specific moral practice, and opposed empty talk of exhausting all things in the world without the actual utilitarian base. Instead of empty talk about human nature and li, in order to extinguish desire and preserve li, and ensure the kingdom is pure, it is better to practise etiquette and law, pursue the great achievement of telling the truth, and realize the political prosperity of “general prosperity with the three generations of Xia, Shang, and Zhou Dynasties” in concrete moral practice and political operation. Chen Liang’s political thought emphasizes the principle that king is benevolent and the minister is loyal. I heard that the essence of the monarch is benevolence and virtue, and the essence of the minister is loyalty. It is benevolent and virtuous to be as inclusive and broad as heaven and earth; it is loyalty if you know the court’s business, there is no one who will not do it, therefore, the monarch pursues virtue, and the subjects carry out orders.78

The role of the monarch and the minister should be defined as follows: “the monarch is responsible for good governance, and the minister bears the resentment of the people, which are the fundamental duties of the monarch and the minister.” His Majesty holds power, upholds himself, urges ministers to work, reveres heaven, cherishes the people, adheres to virtue, and understands ministers, so that they can assume great responsibilities, make the whole world, adhere to the grace and loyalty of his majesty. Conversely, the enemy obeys his majesty’s virtue, and fears the loyalty of his majesty. His ancestors pacify the people to promote virtue and correct the basis of the monarch and the minister, which is a family motto that will not change after thousands of years. Nothing cannot be done with the concerted efforts of the monarchs and ministers. If they are mutually deceiving and their ambitions are inconsistent, no merit can be achieved.79

His Majesty wishes to establish the foundation of state affairs, to command the world, to distinguish between the virtuous and the evil, and to assume the power of appointment and removal to command the world”, “outstanding figures in the world must work hard to accomplish what we are doing today.” Chen Liang’s political thought is based on the traditional Yixia theory of Confucianism. He emphasized the war of resistance against aggression, consciousness of resisting the enemy, and restoring the soil. He also wanted to encourage the people’s morale and the morale of the Southern Song Dynasty in order to resist enemies and 78

Collected Works of Chen Liang, “Interpretation of the Purport of the Scriptures Spring and Autumn”. 79 Collected Works of Chen Liang, “Question and Answer”, Part 2.

454

8 Utilitarian Confucianism: The Appeal …

rehabilitate the soil, actively making suggestions for the Southern Song. In the First Book of Emperor Shang Xiaozong, he pointed out that China is. …the place where Heaven and earth are right, destiny is gathered, the people’s hearts are gathered, and civilized ethics are gathered together. This is also the reason why emperors can inherit from one generation to another. It is impossible to be disturbed by the evil spirit of the barbarians in the barren land!80

The relationship between China and Yixia is the relationship between good and evil. God’s will and popular feelings are in China, and Yidi cannot invade and seize it. Even if China is “unfortunately invaded by barbarians,” God’s will and popular feelings still depend on China’s partial and peaceful regime. However, for the partial security regime, “although still grasps God’s will and popular feelingsto a certain extent, how can it be long-term peace and tranquility!” For example, Let the emperors and ministers concentrate on enjoying comfort, preferring to be content to exercise sovereignty over a part of the country in a corner. However, everything they think about will put China aside, as if only to inject vitality into one limb, other limbs often withered themselves and did not notice. How can this energetic limb expect it to last forever!81

Chen Liang cited the stories of the restoration of the Central Plains by the partial security dynasty in successive dynasties, and encouraged and warned the rulers of the Southern Song Dynasty not to “leave China out” in order to prevent the loss of “God’s will and popular feelings” and the subjugation of the country, admonishing the rulers of the Southern Song Dynasty with historical experience. “A temporary content to retain sovereignty over a part of the country will cause long-term misfortune.” The society of the Southern Song Dynasty gradually weakened the consciousness of recovering the homeland, and even forgot the war. At the time of the Southern crossing, sovereign and subject were with both heartache and headache—with deep hatred and resentment; and swore that they would not live together under the same sky with the enemy. Only in the end can we defeat the enemy who has fought many times with the remnants of defeat. When Qin Huai vigorously advocated the idea of treachery to prevent aspirants from recovering lost land, loyal ministers and martyrs were not reused in the south. Frustrated to death, people’s aspirations in the world declined accordingly... No one cares about the national feud, if rebelling Chen Liang had not joined in the army in Huainan, people would not have known what war was.82

Chen Liang advised the rulers of the Southern Song Dynasty to shoulder the heavy responsibility of resisting the enemy and restoring the soil. The right spirit between Heaven and earth is suppressed, silted up, and cannot be expressed. Can we say that in the past 50 years, there has not been a hero who can rise up against the enemy in China? These depressed righteousness will surely erupt at some time. If the state 80

Collected Works of Chen Liang, “Answer to your Majesty’s Questions at the Court”. Selected Notes of Chen Liang’s Poems and Essays, Shanghai People’s Publishing House, 1977, p. 129. 82 Collected Works of Chen Liang, “Answer to your Majesty’s Questions at the Court”. 81

2 The Southern Song Utilitarianism, the Political Philosophy …

455

can’t stand up and assume the responsibility of fighting against the enemy to recover its homeland, someone will surely stand up and take the responsibility.83

If no one in China can be fated by God’s will and popular feelings, Yidi is not absolutely destined by God’s will and popular feelings. Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty is a ready-made precedent in the Chinese style. (2)

Xue Jixuan’s Utilitarianism in Meritorious Achievement

Xue Jixuan, whose formal name was Shilong, was also known as Genzhai. He was a native of Yongjia County, Wenzhou. According to his disciples, he was born in Shaoxing, during the fourth year of Song Gaozong (A.D. 1134), and died in Qiandao, during the ninth year of Song Xiaozong (A.D. 1173). His parents died early, and he was greatly influenced by Xue Bi, his third uncle. He learned from Yuan Gai, a scholar of Cheng Men, the foundation of the theory of principles and great achievements had been laid. Xue Jixuan served as Wuchang County Decree of Ezhou with his second uncle Enyin. During this period, he was appreciated by the forces of resistance to war for his active resistance to Jin. He later became an official in charge of a jurisdiction of Wuzhou. He awaited a vacancy in Changzhou the following year, and set up an oldstyle private school. Chen Fuliang and others learnt from school. Xue Jixuan returned home to Yongjia at Qian Dao eight years and died the following year. Xue Jixuan had profound knowledge and his Confucianism went, “beyond the six channels, historical studies, astronomy, geography, military science, criminal law, agronomy and even abstruse works, secular novels. There is nothing he does not collect and study.” He was “especially proficient in the ancient feudal state, well field, xiang sui and military system, and was devoted to applying the ancient system to today’s situation.” “Over the past decades, he read a lot of books, studied and thought deeply, studied all the classics, studied local chronicles and fragments carefully, and there is nothing missing.”84 According to the materials of Song History, Lang Yu Collection and Xue Gong Xing zhuang, Xue Jixuan’s works are abundant, but mostly lost. His main works are compiled as the Lang Yu Collection, which is popular all over the world. The Publishing House of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences has published Xue Jixuan Collection, which Zhang Liangquan collated. 85 Xue Jixuan was deeply influenced by the Song Dynasty’s tradition of giving consideration to both the principles and great achievement, which was a typical feature of the rise of Song learning. In fact, the Neo-Confucianists in the Northern Song Dynasty, such as Zhang Zai, also had a strong tendency of great achievement, and political reformers such as Fan Zhongyan also had a tendency of pursuing the personality of a superior man. Although Neo-Confucianism in the Northern Song Dynasty finally established the authoritative status and influence of Cheng brothers, School of Laws and Mind school in the Southern Song Dynasty benefited from Cheng brothers’ theory of Heaven’s principles, pursued the pure sageliness within of the 83

Collected Works of Chen Liang, “Answer to your Majesty’s Questions at the Court”. Chen Fuliang: Collection of Mr. Zhizhai’s Works Xue Gong’s Deeds. 85 Lv Zuqian, Donglaiji: Epitaph of Xue Changzhou. 84

456

8 Utilitarian Confucianism: The Appeal …

superior man personality, and fostered a superior man is the basis of learning. But it cannot be ignored that the utilitarian Confucianism in the Southern Song Dynasty, which pursued great achievement, was also influenced by Cheng brothers’ theory of the principles. That is to say, the utilitarian Confucianism in the Southern Song Dynasty was not mainly the continuation of utilitarianism in the Northern Song Dynasty. Rather, it is derived from the nourishment and nurturing of the Cheng brothers’ theory of the principles. It has not only typical and complete connotation of the Cheng brothers’ “theory of the principles”.86 Moreover, it tries to integrate the kingly way and hegemony in theory, and regards kingliness without as the natural derivation or necessary constitution of sageliness within, instead of confronting them, as Zhu Xi did. “Real learning” is a new concept put forward by Song Xue to emphasize that writings are for conveying truth and learning in order to practice. However, in the process of development of Neo-Confucianism and Psychology in Song Dynasty, there appeared a tendency of conceptual analysis or moral intuition from concept to concept, and they were keen to discuss the relationship between concepts of li, qi, nature and mind and so on. “Real learning” tends to be conceptually mystery, which is why Xue Jixuan worries about “empty learning”. Although he opposed “empty learning,” he not only thought that Cheng brothers’ sageliness within learning was “as clear as noonday not that kind of empty.”87 Moreover, it firmly takes the “Heaven’s principles” of the Cheng brothers’ as its ultimate value goal. He demands that “after careful study of all things, all things can be treated equally, then Heaven’s principles will show itself.” He taught Chen Fuliang, a disciple and said, History books and systems should naturally be carefully textually studied, and should not be read carelessly. However, the Doctrine of the Mean, the Great Learning, Xi Zhua and the Confucian Analects need to be read repeatedly and even recited. They should not be simply attached. Perhaps they will have their own views over time. It is natural to feel that the connotation of books does not conflict with one’s own ideas, but its profundity is not the realm that can be reached by our own research.88

Xue Jixuan can understand the universal Heaven’s principles as the essential necessity of the world, but he also believes that Heaven’s principles always exist in certain things. He pays more attention to the special manifestations of the reality of Heaven’s principles, and verifies and practices it in things. He believes that as the essential necessity of things, Heaven’s principles are not only the inevitable necessity of the ontology of things, but also the special function and application of things objectively. Dao cannot be separated from implements, and Heaven’s principles are both body and function. Dao exists in the implements. “Dao can’t be approached, nor can it be explained by the theory of body function.”89 He opposes the dichotomy of body function to divide Dao and implements. The metaphysics is the Dao. The metaphysical is implements, and the Tao has no boundaries. Where will Dao reach 86

Xue Jixuan Collection, “Answer to Jun Ju”, Book 1. Xue Jixuan Collection, “Answer to Chen Tong’ Father”. 88 Collection of Xue Jixuan’s Works, “Writing to Zhang Weigong Again”. 89 Collection of Xue Jixuan’s Works, “Write to Minister Tang Again”. 87

2 The Southern Song Utilitarianism, the Political Philosophy …

457

without implements? Dao “often exists in tangible objects”, as for “ignorant people”, they “separated implements from Dao and thought that implements was not Dao and abandoned them. Not only could they not understand implements, but also they could not understand Dao.” On the basis of the world outlook that Dao and implements are inseparable from each other, he puts forward the way of practicing Heaven’s principles by resorting to great achievement. He emphasized that “there is nothing in the world that can’t be done with careful consideration and plan before action.” “Since Yao and Shun, there has been no one who has not been thoughtful in his daily life who can accomplish great things, carry out Dao, and become famous before and after his death.”90 In this way, Xue Jixuan not only opened up a theoretical channel from the Cheng brothers’ theory of Heaven’s principles to the theory of meritorious achievement in the world of affairs in Southern Song Dynasty, but also found a universal Heaven’s principles of restraint for the thought creation of meritorious achievement in the world of affairs. School thinkers in Southern Song Dynasty made the integration of the principles and meritorious achievement in the world of affairs have a theoretical premise. He realized the unity of Heaven’s principles and meritorious achievement in the world of affairs in theory. Meritorious achievement in the world of affairs is based on Heaven’s principles, direction, and aim, while Heaven’s principles have meritorious achievement in the world of affairs as a necessary means of presentation. Xue Jixuan’s so-called “thoughtful and systematic planning in ordinary days” is the key factor from sageliness within to kingliness without. “The thoughtful and systematic planning in ordinary days” must be a righteous and good plot, not a neutral one without motivation. His idea of “thoughtful and systematic planning in ordinary days” is based on the Confucian principles of the kingliness without. With the integrity of the system, especially in the Southern Song Dynasty, “everything is temporary and disposable,” requiring the establishment of a “system of procedure”, emphasizing that “people will have doubts” if there is no “system procedure.” When the times are promising, “if the government does something but does not set up the system, everything will be dealt with temporarily. Sometimes it acts in this way and sometimes it acts in that way. The people will have doubts about the government.” This integrity is reflected not only in Confucian classics, but also in the way and procedure of “thoughtful and systematic planning in ordinary days” carried out by thinkers of meritorious achievement in the world of affairs school in the Southern Song Dynasty. Those who want to govern the country must first govern the family. If they want to govern the family, they must first cultivate their virtues—that is to say, those who govern the world must take the well-thought-out and systematic plan formulated in ordinary days as the starting point of governing the country. The superior man should be honest and sincere, and apply it to governing the country. He should also take the well-thought-out and systematic plan formulated in ordinary days as the starting point.91

90 91

Collected Works of Ye Shi, “Epitaph for Chen Yanjun”. Court Historian Donglai Lv’s Epic Essays, “Write to Zhu Shi Jiang”.

458

8 Utilitarian Confucianism: The Appeal …

Xue Jixuan’s “thoughtful and systematic planning in ordinary days” is not a specific “tactic”, nor is it a campaign or battle plan that passively awaits the opportunity for the rule of the Jin people to emerge, but a “strategy” of systematic social governance. As far as the anti-Jin strategy is concerned, Xue Jixuan’s “thoughtful and systematic planning in ordinary days” is based on the invincibility of the Southern Song Dynasty and seeks “autonomy”. In the absence of gaps between the Jin Dynasty and the Central Plains, he believed that the Southern Song Dynasty’s “method of governing the country is seeking self-government as the top priority, and the enemy’s strength is not the first issue worth exploring.” Therefore, he opposed “the situation between the North and the South is a foregone conclusion, and the Central Plains cannot be recovered”. He thinks of it as “not knowing the right destiny.” He also opposes being “greedy for merit and acting rashly and blindly”, and thinks that “it is not a good idea.” He insisted on sticking to autonomy and then plotted against Jin and restored the Central Plains. Adherence to autonomy requires the planning of a whole set of institutional facilities, which led Xue Jixuan to seek a way to systematically reflect and summarize politics at the institutional level, and open up a “new learning of institutions”, the Yongjia School in the Southern Song Dynasty. Ye Shi summarized “the new system theory” of Yongjia in the Southern Song Dynasty, and pointed out “Xue Jixuan’s new theory system” in the Southern Song Dynasty. The Confucians “copied the different contents of Zhou Guan, Zuo Shi Chun Qiu. The officials and the common people’s troops in the Han and Tang Dynasties, in the course of the evolution of the financial and tax system, prepared plans, collected numerous histories, and imitated each other.” “Its doctrine has achieved great results because only the successful experience of previous generations does meet the actual needs of today’s society. However, most of them are brought by ancient governance experience.”92 Xue Jixuan’s “new learning of institutions” is in fact a comparative analysis method, which extensively involves many institutional norms of social governance and history of entrance and exit.”Many efforts have been made to study various social affairs, such as land tax system, military system, topography and water conservation.” In particular, he paid attention to exploring and sorting out the ancient system resources in the way of researching the Confucian classics, trying to restore and return to the original condition of many laws of the three generations of the sagekings, and on the academic path of Yongjia meritorious achievement in the world of affairs school, which used Confucian classics to reach their goals. Xue Jixuan wrote many classical works such as Shu Gu Wen Xun, The Book of Changes in Ancient Chinese, Interpretation of Zhou Rites, Commentaries on the Classics of Spring and Autumn, Shao Xue of Analects of Confucius, and Direct Interpretation of Analects of Confucius etc. However, except for the 16 volumes of Shu Gu Wen Xun, all the other books have been lost. Xue Jixuan paid special attention to the study of Zhouyi in the Confucian classics and insisted that Zhouyi be regarded as “the source of the Six Classics.” Other classics of Confucianism, even if they are mysterious and exquisite, are derived from the Book of Changes. “Book of Rites and Book of Music are the guiding principles for the 92

Collection of Xue Jixuan’s Works, “Write at the End of Gu Wen Zhou Yi”.

2 The Southern Song Utilitarianism, the Political Philosophy …

459

implementation of the monarchy, and Book of Songs, Shangshu, and Spring and Autumn are books recording military affairs. Among them, all the principles concerning fame and position, rituals, poetry and music, the endowments of all things, and all things on earth can be seen in the Book of Changes. Therefore, other classics are lost and the ideas of the Book of Changes are inherited, and the texts of the Book of Changes are also preserved.93

This shows that Xue Jixuan’s “thoughtful and systematic planning in ordinary days” of making meritorious achievement in the world of affairs by means of classics has a solid Confucian theoretical basis, and shows that his theory of “kingliness without” has a profound Confucian sageliness within connotation. Xue Jixuan’s pursuit of meritorious achievement in the world of affairs adheres to the Confucian people-oriented value. He not only regards people-oriented as the value end-result of meritorious achievement in the world of affairs, but also attaches great importance to the role of the people’s heart in the governance of the country. He emphasizes that the foundation of government lies in the people’s hearts. That is, the so-called “root of the country lies in the people, and the root of the people lies in the people’s hearts.” The traditional people-oriented principle emphasizes that “the people are the foundation of the country”, and emphasizes that the rulers should regard the people’s pleasure, anger, sorrow, and gladness as the criterion to measure the governing performance. However, the Confucian people-oriented value has been contaminated by the merits of the Legalists since Jiayi in the Western Han Dynasty. People-oriented thought naturally incorporates the interests of the rulers. When the ruler accepts the people-based value out of consideration of his own interests, emphasizes the awesomeness of the people, and pursues the policy of benefiting the people because of the awesomeness of the people, the people-based thought of Confucianism has been alienated in fact. Although the emperors of Sui and Tang Dynasties strongly promoted the people-based value, even wise emperors such as Taizong of Tang Dynasty highlighted the view of the awesomeness of the people. This shows that the traditional Confucian people-oriented value in the Sui and Tang dynasties also has the color of utilitarianism. Most monarchs pursue people-based politics because they benefit the people and love the people. But after the rise of the Song Dynasty, Confucian principles gradually occupied an overwhelming position. Confucian scholar-bureaucrats’ pursuit of people-based value focused more on the loveliness of the people, taking love for the people as the foundation of benefiting the people, and love as the basic core of the people. Xue Jixuan’s pursuit of peoplebased value is based on theory of the principles in the Song Dynasty. His pursuit of people-based value is based on the loveliness of the people as the premise, and his sincere love for the people is the moral driving force of benefiting the people. His motive belongs to the moral category of the highest good, not to the calculation to seek advantage and avoid harm. He believed that rulers should get the popular feelings as the basic standard of governance, and that policies and measures should conform to popular feelings and care about the people’s suffering. Love for the people is not abstract and empty, but rather must be embodied in the benefit of the people, and the benefit of the people must rely on the wealth of the world gathered by the 93

Xue Jixuan Collection, “Interpretation of University”.

460

8 Utilitarian Confucianism: The Appeal …

state. The purpose of the country’s gathering wealth is to make the world a success. This kind of accumulation of wealth is to seek the public interests of the world. Public interests are benefits, but also justice. It is the existence of the integration of justice and interests. The so-called benefits mainly consist of both financial and meritorious achievement in the world of affairs. Finance is the wealth of the country. He believes that the role of the state’s wealth lies in “gathering the hearts of the people.” “It is the funds that the country must use to carry out its work”, and it must not be “postponed.” In managing finance, the superior man must “pay attention to the fundamentals of making money, control expenditure for the monarch and the government, and pay attention to agricultural production for the people, so that the state’s financial expenditure” can be infinite. “Only when we understand that profit is a collection of righteousness can we discuss with them the way to make a fortune.”94 Utilitarianism is the utilitarianism of the world. It has the supreme virtue attribute of morality. It embodies the people’s benefits and hearts. The people’s righteousness should be “expressed in meritorious achievement in the world of affairs.” That is to say, concern and love and caring for the people should not be confined to the abstract moral level, but must be seen in the actual work. To learn Daoism, “don’t always make puffery; blowing up statements.” As an important thinker of the East Zhejiang School in the early Qing Dynasty, Huang Zongxi positively evaluated the Yongjia School in the Southern Song Dynasty. “The Yongjia School enabled people to comprehend the truth of things themselves, to practice their knowledge, and to pay attention to the pragmatism of the speeches made, so that people can understand the principles of things in order to do all kinds of things well.”95 This is a brilliant summary of the Yongjia School initiated by Xue Jixuan, which has the characteristics of blending the morality of the Confucian people-oriented value with meritorious achievement in the world of affairs of realizing the people-oriented value.96 (3)

Chen Fuliang’s Political Thought of Classics and History and Statecraft

Chen Fuliang, whose formal name is Jun Ju, was named by other scholars Mr. Zhizhai. He is from Ruian, Wenzhou, of the Southern Song Dynasty. He was born in Shaoxing in the seventh year of Song Gaozong (A.D. 1137), and died in the first year of Kaixi (A.D. 1203). He played an important role in the development of meritorious achievement in the world of affairs school in Yongjia. When Chen Fuliang was nine years old, his parents died. He was brought up by his grandmother Wu Shi, and he studied hard at an early age. When he was young, he was famous for his literary works in the countryside. He lived in the countryside under his literary name. Because of his poor family, he earned a living by teaching. He was well-versed in practical essays in imperial examinations and was very popular with students. He had studied with Xue Jixuan, a famous Confucian scholar. He was the quintessence of Xue Jixuan’s study of meritorious achievement in the world of affairs in classics. He also joined 94

Xue Jixuan Collection, “Answer to Xiang Xian’s Nephew”. Song Yuan Xue An, “Gen Zhai Xue An”. 96 Zhou Mengjiang, Ye Shi and Yongjia School, Hangzhou: Zhejiang Ancient Books Publishing House, 1992, pp. 85–93. 95

2 The Southern Song Utilitarianism, the Political Philosophy …

461

the Imperial University in consulting with famous Confucians such as Zhang Shi and Lv Zuqian, thus gradually establishing his own system in ideology and became an important representative of the Yongjia School. Chen Fuliang became a Jin shi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations). In the eighth year of Emperor Xiaozong Qiandao in the Song Dynasty (A.D. 1172), he immediately embarked on an official career. He then became a professor of Taizhou prefectural school, Xue Lu in the Imperial University, assistant prefectural magistrate of Fuzhou prefecture, Zhi Jun of Guiyang army in Hunan, official of tea and salt in Hunan, assistant prefectural magistrate of transit, Yuan Wai Lang of the Ministry of Official Personnel Affairs in feudal China, and so on. During his tenure in office, he actively performed his duties, was fearless of authority, but he was dismissed for offending local rich families and was deposed for sympathizing with Zhu Xi and others. He was reinstated in the second year of Songning Zong Jiatai, and in the third year of Jiatai, he was appointed as chief of a prefecture of Quanzhou. He was not in office because of his old age and many illnesses. He soon died at home and was 67 years old, He was conferred posthumously as the lesser feudal lords of Zheng Yi. His posthumous title was Wenjie. Chen Fuliang has been lecturing for many years, but his writings are numerous and scattered. His works still exist in 52 volumes of Zhizhai Wenji, 12 volumes of Chunqiu Houzhuan, 8 volumes of Military System of Past Dynasties, 4 volumes of Lunzu, 5 volumes of Aolun, and 13 volumes of Mr. Yongjia’s Eight Faces, as well as some other articles for imperial examinations.97 Chen Fuliang was deeply influenced by Xue Jixuan in his pursuit of knowledge and Daoism. He not only insisted on Xue Jixuan’s pursuit of people-oriented value, but also emphasized the unity of Dao and implements. Xue Jixuan emphasized that Dao is not far away from people and Dao does not leave things, while Chen Fuliang highlighted the unity of Dao and implements, emphasizing and imparting the view that “implements are Dao”. His disciple Cao Qiyuan quoted Chen Fuliang’s philosophical views on “the implement is object.” “There is no difference between Dao and implements,” and “rites, music, law, degree are all reasonable.”98 In reply to Zhu Xi’s inquiry, Chen Fuliang persisted in the principle of the unity of morality and meritorious achievement in the world of affairs, and he tried to implement the universal morality of Confucianism as a practical and effective meritorious achievement in the world of affairs. He studied the history of Confucianism, emphasized its application and pursued the rule diligently, and he became more active in pursuing the rule of the world for his knowledge and Daoism. The motive of meritorious achievement in the world of affairs orientation is also stronger. Chen Fuliang insisted on the unity of merit and virtue of Daoist implements. In the debate between Zhu Xi and Chen Liang, he opposed Chen Liang’s view that merit is virtue, and emphasized that virtue cultivation is indispensable. “If you build up your achievements, you will have virtue.” “If you do a good job, that’s right.” In this way, “the ancient sages” of the three generations of the Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties have wasted their efforts.” He also opposes Zhu Xi’s view that the merit without virtue does not deserve mention. 97 98

Zhuzi Yu Lei, Volume 120. Collection of Mr. Zhizhai’s Works, “Writing to Brother Chen”.

462

8 Utilitarian Confucianism: The Appeal …

If “it happens to build achievements, how can it be said that there is virtue.” “Achievements by chance are not justified.” The emperors of the Han and Tang Dynasties are equal to the “rebels.” “If the achievements of the Han and Tang Dynasties had no half effect on rectifying the Dao, who would believe this theory?” He believed that in the universal theory. “To understand two or three points thoroughly, we can give play to the effect of two or three points. To understand six or seven points, we can give play to the effect of six or seven points.” “There’s absolutely no way not to understand any sense of reason, to push one’s way by shoving or humping, and to occasionally play its role.”99 Chen Fuliang attached great importance to the role of historiography in statecraft. He actively studied traditional historiography, summed up the advantages and disadvantages of the systems and policies of past dynasties, and sough to “make the past serve our present”, searching for lessons to learn from to solve the specific problems of the times. Chen Fu-liang repeatedly emphasized that “the most valuable thing for Confucian scholars is to understand current affairs and apply their knowledge to practical affairs.” This not only embodies his consistent purpose of learning and Daoism, but also reflects his inheritance and persistence of Xue Jixuan’s pioneering tradition of meritorious achievement in the world of affairs. Since Chen Fuliang insists on Yongjia’s tradition of meritorious achievement in the world of affairs, which suggests that combining merit with morality will inevitably lead to political value. This is Xue Jixuan’s Confucian people-oriented theory, especially emphasizing the extreme importance of the people’s hearts. The “sage’s cause takes the people’s hearts as the foundation.” “The monarch gains the popular support and then the world. He also loses the world because it loses the popular support.” Chen Fu-liang wrote the article, On the People, discussing that the key of people-oriented thought is the popular support, expounding the important principle of popular support, revealing many harms if the rulers do not attach importance to the popular support, and pointing out the greatest danger the rulers are facing if they lose the popular support. “It is easy for peace to reign over the land for a ruler who holds popular support in awe and veneration, and hard for a ruler who fears nothing.” The rulers for whom it is easy to achieve world peace are also more inclined to conform to popular support, and the rulers for whom it is difficult to see world peace are bound to be difficult to cope with the people’s hearts well. So the wise monarch is not afraid of the powerful enemy of expansion, but deeply afraid of being unaware of the estrangement from popular support.100

Why is there a gap in popular support more serious than the threat posed by the enemy? Because “the shake of popular support is more serious than the mutiny of the enemy’s soldiers.” “The shake of popular support is slow, but the consequences are significant.” Disasters in enemy countries can also be alleviated, while “disasters within countries cannot be alleviated.” The people are fearful because the monarch slackens the popular feelings. As long as the monarch does not slacken the popular 99

Collection of Mr. Zhizhai’s Works, “Master Wang Ning of Dali Temple recently went to Xinyang”. Collection of Mr. Zhizhai’s Works, “The Memorial to the Throne”.

100

2 The Southern Song Utilitarianism, the Political Philosophy …

463

feelings, he can gain the people’s hearts without fear of the people. “In ancient times, there were monarchs who feared the people”, “so there were no fearful mobs.” Once the monarch decides that the people are not fearful, his slack heart begins to make a fool of him, and the people become fearful. Once the people become fearful, the ruler will have no chance to change his mistake. Chen Fuliang’s popularity does not just make empty promises, but strives to combine moral love for the people with meritorious achievement in the world of affairs for the people, and the popularity begins with leniency for the people. In his analysis of the causes of civil unrest, he regards the plight of the people as the main cause of the unrest, and resolutely opposes the appeal of the root causes of the civil unrest to the people’s unrest. “People live in extreme hardship, resulting in uneven wealth in the world. Some people riot; it’s not that the people like to riot.”101 He attached great importance to building up popular support politically, not only taking the gains and losses of the people’s hearts as the key to the rise and fall of the world, but also taking the gains and losses of the people’s hearts as the power source of national war, peace, attack, and defense. He also advocated that the monarch should actively cultivate the comprehensive strength of national war, peace, attack, and defense, and finally restore the Central Plains. The gains and losses of the Central Plains are not in the military at all, but in the hearts of the people. He believes that the root of Yidi’s entry into China lies in “losing people’s hearts” and “losing God’s blessings” caused by it. He strongly urged the Southern Song Dynasty to administer benevolent government, be lenient with people’s power, save the poor people, and build up the popular support. He emphasized that, “whether we can always be blessed by God depends on whether the people are well-off.” The first point of Chen Fu-liang’s people-oriented and popular support thought is to lighten the burden of the people, which is to leniently save the people from poverty. Saving the people from poverty, we can build up popular support. The key to the popular support is to make the people feel happy. The people are the foundation of the country, and wealth is the heart of the people. If the hearts of the people are hurt, the foundation of the country will inevitably be injured. If the foundation of the country is injured, the various institutional affairs of the country will also be frustrated.102 It can be inferred from this that there is nothing better to care for the suffering of the people today than to reduce taxes and exempt them from arrears. After that, we can make the people feel comfortable and happy, the people are moved, and the heart is in harmony.103

Only when the people’s hearts are happy and stable can peace be restored to the Central Plains and the world.

101

Collection of Mr. Zhizhai’s Works, “On People”. Collection of Mr. Zhizhai’s Works, “The First Answer to Yuan Wai Lang of the Ministry of Official Personnel Affairs”, 2. 103 Collection of Mr. Zhizhai’s Works, “The Memorial to Urge to Expand the Scope of Your Majesty’s Personal Guidance”. 102

464

8 Utilitarian Confucianism: The Appeal …

3 The Political Thought “from Xia to Yi” in the Period of Liao, Xia, Jin and Yuan Dynasties The Song Dynasty never realized the political unification of the Han and Tang Dynasties, and its territory of domination was shrinking day by day. Eventually, the country was destroyed. The regimes established by ethnic minorities in the north and west of China had been expanding. They not only threatened the political and military security of the Song Dynasty, but also gradually encroached on the territory of the Song Dynasty until the Song Dynasty was completely replaced and established by a national regime. These minority regimes were compatible with the Song Dynasty, either as brothers or as uncles and nephews, but in any case, it was the Song Dynasty that was deceived and humiliated. The strategy of suffering unexpected personal financial losses and avoiding disaster cannot avoid disaster. On the contrary, it makes the disaster more and more serious. As one loses both men and money, the hen has flown away and the eggs in the coop are broken—all is lost. Militarily, most of the Minority Regimes which have great physical strength and courage were later infected with diseases of the Song Dynasty. The rate of corruption was alarming and the army’s combat effectiveness was stagnant. The demise of Liao, Jin, and Xia is the same as that of the Song Dynasty, which is weakening day by day and destroying the country. The strength of the minority regime is bound to erode part of the land of the Han nationality. It will rule and digest part of the people of the Han nationality so that the minority regime is influenced by the political culture of the Han nationality. The minority regime consciously learns from the model rulers of the Han and Tang Dynasties, absorbs the political consciousness of Confucianism, and promotes the gradual Confucianism of the regime in nature. Ethnic Minority Regimes actively constructed political myths compatible with Han political culture, regard themselves as descendants of Yanhuang Dynasty, convert to Confucian political culture, and Confucianize the scholar-bureaucrats of ethnic minorities. A number of politicians who pursue Confucian political ideals had emerged. Regarding the tendency of Confucianism in minority regimes, on the one hand, it is because of the influence of Taizong Tang and Zhen Huan Zheng Yao that many outstanding minority politicians took Taizong Tang as a model and Zhen Huan Zheng Yao as a learning material to study and imitate the political ideals, strategies, and methods of the ancient holy kings. Among them, the outstanding ones, such as Queen Xiao and Jin Shizong, can be regarded as the model of Confucian scholars of ancient Chinese emperors, queens, and concubines. On the other hand, Confucian scholar-officials of different nationalities are also guiding the Confucianization of minority regimes. They try to influence the policy orientation of Minority Regimes decisively with Confucianism, and tirelessly guide and teach minority rulers to adopt the rule system in the Central Plains. Or, inspired by the Confucian scholar-bureaucrat’s “from Xia to Yi” theory, they try to instill the Confucian ruling concept into the rulers of minority nationalities with the strength of the group, and realize the ruling of sage king which Confucianism has always pursued.

3 The Political Thought “from Xia to Yi” in the Period …

(1)

465

Confucianization of the Political Thoughts of Liao, Xia and Jin Rulers

The rulers of Liao, Xia and Jin did not leave behind systematic political works, nor did they form a theoretical political ideological system. Like many outstanding politicians, they also mainly expressed their political thoughts through the strategy and policy of governing the country. Once the regime established by minority nationalities has expanded its territory, it will face some common basic problems, such as how to get out of the shallowness of tribal political culture and increase political knowledge in order to maintain the long-term rule of multi-nationalities, as well as how to deal with the relationship between the political privileges of the nation and the people-oriented political culture of Confucianism so as to become the orthodox dynasty that people really agree with. Within the minority regime, there are repeated political debates around these basic political issues, and the results are just two kinds: Firstly, it requires that Hu-Han relations be properly handled, and that the idea of learning advanced political culture of the Han nationality occupies a dominant position, so that the minority regimes can collectively learn Confucian political culture on a large scale, carry out political reforms in accordance with the principles of Confucian political thought, and increase the openness of the regime to other nationalities so as to rule the multi-ethnic areas for a relatively long time and eventually melt into the Han nationality. Secondly, ethnic standardization occupies a dominant position. Although it has accepted a little influence of Confucian political culture, the tendency of exclusion has always prevailed, and even the regime has long held a hostile and contemptuous attitude towards the advanced Han nationality in political culture. The diffusion of Confucian political culture in the ruling nation had been relatively difficult. Consequently, the regime maintained ignorance or barbarism for a long time. Finally, it was forced to withdraw from the Central Plains, lost to Mobei, and became a tribal political group again. The political development of Liao, Jin, and Xia was obviously influenced by the Confucian political culture, taking the Central Plains regime as a model, the emperor system was established. Different systems were used to manage different nationalities. Two sets of official systems were implemented in the north and south. The Han people were ruled by the Han law, the tribal law was used to rule the people of the tribe, and they were ruled by the customs. The emperor took the lead in learning Confucian culture and imitated the emperor of the Central Plains as the orthodox emperor of China. Taking Liao as an example, the beginning of Yale Abao’s ascending the throne in the Khan position, he followed the advice of the Han scholar-bureaucrats that “the monarch of the Central Plains had no successors.”104 Following the Central Plains dynasty, he established the emperor system of monarchy centralization in a bloody way, and the corresponding hereditary system of establishing the prince and throne. Liao’s territory was expanding day by day. Its ethnic composition was becoming more and more complex, and its way of life included nomads and farmers. Liao Taizong maintained the traditional economic and political systems of all nationalities according to the differences in production, lifestyle, and ethnic composition. 104

Liao Shi, “Baiguanzhi”.

466

8 Utilitarian Confucianism: The Appeal …

He formed a dual-track official system based on customs, and established two sets of official systems in the north and south, which managed the Han prefectures and counties and the Qidan tribes respectively. The Liao Dynasty “ruled China, which was divided into two sets of official systems: the Liao system to manage Qidan, and the Han system to manage the Han people.” “Various institutions in the North deal with the affairs of Royal families, tribes, and affiliated states, while those in the South deal with such matters as Han prefectures and counties, land rent, tribute, military horses and so on.”105 Most emperors in Liao Dynasty attached great importance to Confucianism, Taizu built Confucius Temple in Shangjing. Taizong set up Guozixue in Shangjing, Taixue in Nanjing, and Daozong set up Prefecture studies in eight states. “They built Confucius temples and promulgated and rewarded the Five Classics and annotations made by various famous scholars so that doctors and assistants could teach students. All places obeyed their orders.”106 Emperors of Liao Dynasty actively studied Confucian monarchy and sought to be the orthodox emperors of China. Among them, Shengzong of the Liao Dynasty and his mother, Empress Xiao, was highly respected in governing of the Zhenguan, the New Year prosperous times in Tang Dynasty, and regarded Taizong of Tang Dynasty as a model for emperors. He called it “the rare wise monarch in China in the past 500 years.” “It is like reading Zhen Huan Zheng Yao, or the records of Emperor Taizong and Emperor Ming of the Tang Dynasty.” Zhen Huan Zheng Yao was translated into Qitan language for emperors, ministers and princes to read. The emperors and officials of Liao Dynasty considered themselves to be descendants of Yan and Huang. Liao Dao Zong’s work Comrade Huayi Tongfeng Poetry was dedicated to the Empress Dowager and boasted that: “Our Dynasty learned the Chinese cultural system, and now our nation is polite and elegant. There is no difference between us and the Chinese nation.”107 The ethnic discrimination in personnel administration in Liao Dynasty was weakening day by day. Not only a large number of Han scholar-bureaucrats were appointed, but also they were in a high position of power. The Confucianization in politics in Liao Dynasty was also manifested by the growing consciousness of the emperor who was extremely conceited. Liao Shengzong once boasted that “all over the world, only I am the most noble.” “God gave me the kingdoms of the earth, so I ruled over the places where the peoples lived.” Aside from Liao himself, the degree of Confucianization in Jin Dynasty is more than that in Liao Dynasty. Jin Taizu Aguta listened to the suggestion of Yang Pu, a Bohai native, and imitated the Han system to establish a monopoly emperor system. His official system almost imitated the Liao Dynasty. He practiced the dual-track official system of dividing and governing of Fan and Han and managed the Liao and Song with the old system of the Liao and Song Dynasties. He also managed Jin people with the system of the Jin Dynasty. The rulers of the Jin Dynasty admired Confucian political culture and respected Confucius more than

105

Liao Shi, “Appropriate Lost Property”, Volume 16. Song Mo Ji Wen. 107 Quanliao’s Article Collection Volume 2, “Send in a Memorial about sending Ginzini to Sudan Mahe, Afghanistan”. 106

3 The Political Thought “from Xia to Yi” in the Period …

467

did those of the Liao Dynasty. Jin Xizong “worshipped at the Confucius temple inperson and paid two solemn tributes to the north.” He believed that “Confucius had no monarchy, but his doctrine was worthy of respect and admiration for all ages.” “Reading Shangshu, The Analects of Confucius, Five Dynasties, Liao Shi and other books, sometimes he even read overnight.” Jin Shizong also ordered people to translate the Confucian Five Classics into Nvzhen scriptures, and set up the the Imperial College, Nvzhen Guozi Studies. He also set up the prefectural school for children of Han and Nvzhen prefectural school. “Let Nvzhen people understand benevolence, righteousness and morality.”108 The emperor of Jin also admired Taizong of the Tang Dynasty and liked to read Zhen Huan Zheng Yao. He hoped to follow Taizong of the Tang Dynasty as an example and pursue to become the orthodox emperor of China. Xiao Chuo, Empress Dowager of Chengtian in Liao Dynasty, was born in 953 and died in 1009. She was the daughter of Xiao Siwen, Prime Minister of Northern Palace of Liao Dynasty, the queen of Liao Jingzong, and the mother of Liao Shengzong. Queen Xiao acted as regent, sat on the throne, and governed the nation for 27 years. She had a thorough understanding of the way of governing the country and was familiar with military and political affairs. When hearing good opinions, she adopted them, and rewarded people for merit and punished them for guilt. She was a famous open-minded ruler in Liao Dynasty and even in Chinese history. Born in 970 and died in 1031, Liao Shengzong Yelu Longxu likes calligraphy, and was proficient in archery. He has a good knowledge about rhythm, liked painting, and had a high military and political and cultural literacy. Liao Shengzong inherited his mother’s political thought and ruling strategy and was dedicated to state governance. Their mother and son’s political thoughts and ruling strategies were influenced by Confucian political culture, especially by the political concept of Zhen Huan Zheng Yao. They not only accepted the Confucian people-oriented values, but also carefully studied the techniques of governing the people of Taizong emperors and ministers in the Tang Dynasty. Empress Xiao and his son both adored Taizong of the Tang Dynasty very much and regarded Zhen Huan Zheng Yao as the guidelines and laws. The use of the political art of being good at understanding people’s moral character and ability and accepting persuasion is better than that of Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty. Empress Xiao “has a thorough understanding of the way of governing the country, and hearing good opinions, she must adopt them. Therefore, all the ministers do their best to serve the country.”109 Liao Shengzong, …dealt with the accumulated cases of injustice, promoted talented people, restrained extravagant excessive rituals and illegitimacy, registered the descendants of the people who died for the country, subsidized the poor people of all ministries, reprimanded the flattering and catering behavior of close ministers, and was not close to singing, dancing, and vocal music. Among the monarchs of Liao, there was the name of sage!110

108

History of Jin Dynasty, “Xizongji”. Liao Shi Biography, “Of Queen and Concubine”. 110 History of Jin Dynasty, “Shizongji”. 109

468

8 Utilitarian Confucianism: The Appeal …

Among the emperors of the Liao Dynasty, “the only person whose holy name is passed on forever is Liao Shengzong!” Liao Shi and Records of the State of Qidan recorded many political stories about Empress Xiao and Liao Shengzong, such as if you appoint someone, don’t doubt him. Also they suggest being respectful to ministers, being able to accept advice from one’s inferiors, rewarding people for merit and punishing them for guilt. Empress Xiao and Liao Shengzong attached great importance to the issue of the local administration of civil officials (in feudal China), and took the rectification of the local administration of civil officials as an important measure to govern the country. Empress Xiao once instructed officials of all sizes in Sanjing to attend an event after her regent. “Governance should be fair and not flattering.” “If county magistrates meet unreasonable demands from state officials and courtiers, they should not be afraid of favoritism.”111 In 1026, Emperor Shengzong of Liao emphasized that, “officials from counties and townships in the north and the South have dismissed those who have no political achievements.” “Officials large and small, who exploit people greedily and brutally, are immediately dismissed and may not be employed as officials for life.” “Those officials who are not honest and upright, even if they are burdened with heavy responsibilities, immediately choose others to replace them.” “Those who can be honest, diligent, and self-sustaining at lower positions should also be promoted. If the royal family accepts bribes and things are revealed, they should also be as guilty as ordinary people.”112 Liao Shengzong succeeded in his childhood. The wise queen (Xiao Chuo) acted on behalf of the emperor and handled government affairs carefully. She had advised the emperor to enact lenient laws.” “The emperor grew up to be more familiar with state affairs and exert himself (or do all he can) to make the country prosperous.” “At that time, more than a dozen related decrees were re-enacted, most of which were in line with public opinion, and the application of penalties was carefully and prudently considered.” History highly praises the achievements and influence of Queen Xiao and her son, and highly affirms that they “were good at making correct decisions at random” among the emperors of Liao Dynasty. “Only Liao Jingzong and Liao Shengzong, who could do the best, always adhered to etiquette.” Jin Shizong Wanyan Yong was called Xiaoyao and Shun. He was born in 1123 A.D. and died in 1189 A.D. his real name was Wulu, and he was the grandson of Jin Taizu. He was good at riding and shooting when he was young, and he was gifted with extraordinary talent and insight. Before taking office, he had worked as a local official successively in Huining, Zhongjing, Yanjing, Jinan, Xijing and Liaoyang etc. He knows something about folk misery. Jin Shizong, as an outstanding emperor of the Jin Dynasty, was “in charge of the affairs of prefectures and counties outside Jingdu all the year round, and understood the causes of the war, disasters, and disorders. He also had an understanding of the official style and achievements.”113 After ascending the throne, he pursued the principle that “all palace buildings should not be expanded, and corvee should not be accepted so as not to disturb people’s lives. 111

Liao Shi, “Sheng Zong Ji”. Liao Shi, “Criminal Law”. 113 Jinshi, “Shizong Ji”. 112

3 The Political Thought “from Xia to Yi” in the Period …

469

However, to strengthen palace guards and strictly check the entry and exit personnel is acceptable.” He advocated the policy of “peaceful coexistence between the north and the South so that people recuperate and build up strength,” and, “took the lead in practicing thrift, advocating filial piety to parents and brothers, rewarding and punishing fairly and appropriately, attaching importance to agricultural production, carefully selecting local officials, and strictly supervising them as officials.” During the reign of Jin Shizong, “the ministers were conscientious and did their best; government officials and the people were stable; family life was abundant, and warehouses around the country still had surplus food. In old history, he was called Xiao Yao Shun.” Zhao Yi, a Qing Dynasty man, believed that “Shizong was the most virtuous monarch in the nine dynasties of the Jin Dynasty.” Jin Shizong knew that the emperor could not rule the country arbitrarily and his subordinates played an important role in politics. He believed that “the emperor has tens of millions of people; it is impossible for every household to be comforted. At this time, it is particularly important to select and employ people.” Emperors should grasp important matters, and “it is not the foundation of being a monarch to deal with the details.” He repeatedly sighed, “The Son of Heaven is a human being”, faced with “complicated government affairs. How can there be no mistakes at all?” He criticized the King of Jinhai Ling for “being self-willed, not consulting with his ministers, and self-destructing.” It is pointed out that even sage-kings should “abandon their own opinions and listen to the opinions of others when he is criticized by others.” “Having the great curiosity to ask all sorts of questions is tolerance. Being self-willed is small temperament.” He said, “as the Son of Heaven, I never dare to be arbitrary. I have to ask all the ministers about everything. If it is feasible, I will order it to be implemented. If it is not feasible, I will stop it in time.”114 He attaches great importance to the virtue of the monarch and emphasizes that the ultimate reason for the monarch’s success in the world lies in his great virtue. “The most important thing in governing land under heaven is to have virtue.” “Emperors must treat kindness and compassion as virtues in their administration… If we don’t abuse rewards and punishments, we should be lenient. I don’t need to do anything else.” Jin Shizong emphasized the complimentary role of the governor. He believed that the monarch often needed extensive consultation when deciding on major policies and principles, and that he should follow correct opinions or well-intentioned advice like water flowing swiftly and smoothly downward. Jin Shizong’s thoughts on employing people mainly include the following. First, choose people carefully, and propose different selection criteria according to the role of different officers. For example, “For officials around him, he must choose honest and loyal people.” Let them serve the emperor around. “It is easy for a villain to get into slander and deceive the monarch. If the monarch appoints faithful people, it can be avoided.” It is also possible to avoid “taking one-sided personal opinions of somebody.” If the slander of the beloved goes to the ear, the prime minister should not use “tricksters”. Also, the monarch “must know the right way when he is with the right people, and what he hears must be the right words, so he must be cautious.” Important posts “should select people with pure mind, prudence and 114

Jinshi, “Biography of Liang Su”.

470

8 Utilitarian Confucianism: The Appeal …

integrity to serve, and never use those who play tricks.” “Officials in the court should be careful in choosing their candidates so that they can motivate the rest of the people.” Local officials should also select talented people. Second, he advocates the use of Confucian virtues and emphasizes the importance of moral integrity. “It’s not easy for a man to have excellent abilities, but it’s still not as good as having a man of virtue.” “The Confucians’ moral integrity is self-contained and honest. They won’t do anything impolite.”115 Compared with Confucian scholars, the morality of officials is inadequate. “People born of small officials, who are small officials since childhood, are accustomed to corruption. When they become officials, this problem will not change.” He sought to raise the morality and ethics of talented people to the height of the rise and fall of the country. The so-called “rise and fall of the country” really lies in, “emphasizing that the moral integrity of talent is of extreme importance in politics.” Third, the use of people, regardless of the North and South races, is meritocracy. Jin Shizong believes, “The Han people are tough and upright, and there are many people who dare to offer advice. Some people were killed for admonition in the front, and others were admonished in the back, which is highly commendable.” Fourthly, Jin Shizong emphasized the use of practical talents and emphasized the selection of officials from scholars with consistent words and deeds and outstanding political achievements. He also opposed the promotion of officials with one word of gain and loss. “As long as people talk, they always make mistakes. Even the sages could not avoid it.” “Since ancient times, appointment and removal of officials have relied on political achievements. If only by answering the question of the king,” “how can we know if he is virtuous?” “Examining his achievements, if he is a good person, promote him. Observe his achievements after promotion, and if he is still good, continue to promote him.” Fifthly, he believed in employing people regardless of seniority. “If a person is good and talented, he should be promoted by breaking the rules.” “Qualifications are used to examine mediocre and ordinary people. If one can excel in virtue, why should we stick to the routine?” He emphasized that “the way to employ people is to appoint them when they are in the full vigor of life. If they are blindly limited by seniority, they will often deny talents because of their age. How thoughtless it is!” Sixth, when employing people, do not demand perfection, regardless of past hatred and faults. “The world is so big. How can there be no talent, nowadays? It is an important task to promote talents.”116 (2)

The Ruling Thought of the Confucianization of Yelu Chucai

Yelu Chucai, a native of Qidan, was born in the first year of Jin Zhang Zong Ming Chang (A.D. 1190), and died in Töregene, Mongolia, in 1244 A.D. He was a famous Confucian statesman in the Jin and Yuan Dynasties. The Yelu family originally descended from the Qidan Royal family. Chucai’s eighth ancestor was the eldest son of Taizu Liao, Tu Yu of King Dongdan. The seventh ancestor Lou Guo served as Liu Shou in Yan Jing of Liao state. For generations afterwards, there were quite a few generals and Tai shi. At the end of the Liao Dynasty, Bo Zude returned to 115 116

Jinshi, “Shizong Ji”. Jinshi “Biography of Shi Ju”.

3 The Political Thought “from Xia to Yi” in the Period …

471

Jin at the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty and was appointed as a special envoy of Xingping Army (now Lulong, Hebei Province). His son Lu, the father of Chu Cai, was knowledgeable and versatile, and was appreciated by Jin Shizong. He was a member of the Imperial Academy, Ceremonial Master. Zhang Zong ascended to the throne and was promoted to the Ministry of Rites, where he served as a magistrate, a high official in ancient China, and became prime minister with great power. Yelu Chucai’s name comes from the idea that “the Chu State had talents, but they were appointed by the Jin State.” In the Spring and Autumn period, when the Jin Dynasty was not the same as before, his father still placed great hopes on him, hoping that his outstanding abilities would be fully displayed in the political society beyond the Jin Dynasty. As his name implies, the talent of Chu State is Qing in the Jin State and the talent of the Chu State is employed in the Jin, carrying out a great plan. He is worthy of its name. As the son of the governor of the Jin Dynasty, Yelu Chucai, an emperor and his subjects of the Jin Dynasty, played an important political role precisely in Meng Yuan, the enemy of the Jin Dynasty. When Yelu Chucai was with Genghis Khan, he was in charge of documents for a long time. When he was Wo Kuo Tai Khan, he became head of the secretariat. He gave advice and suggestions on the use of troops in the Western Regions and the reunification of northern China. He guided Mongolia towards sinicization, established various rules and regulations, and played an active role in the process of establishing Mongolia’s state. Yelu Chucai has no special political works. Most of his political thoughts are expressed in practical political essays. His works include the Collected Works of Zhan Ran Jushi.117 In the thirteenth year of Mongolian Taizu (A.D. 1218), Genghis Khan gradually felt the importance of talents in the process of fighting north and south. When he heard that there was a knowledgeable and versatile Yelu Chucai in the Yanjing City under his rule, he sent an envoy to cordially invite the service of him. Yelu Chucai had been trapped in the Yanjing City for three years and lived in seclusion. He had nothing to do except for Buddhist rituals and practicing meditation. At this time, he learned that Genghis Khan, who had great talent, wanted to call him in. Feeling that it is a great opportunity to make progress, he believed that he should not let it go lightly, so he immediately responded to the call and followed the envoy to set out on a journey joyfully. Yelu Chucai soon became the favorite of Genghis Khan for his profound knowledge. Yelu Chucai was a Confucian scholar with high cultural accomplishment and integrity. He regarded taking “the right way, benefiting the people” as his “long-standing ambition.” Yelu Chucai was increasingly trusted by Mongolian rulers. At that time, before Mongolia was founded, many things had been created. Many necessary systems had not yet been established, and too many things sprang up and too many things should have been abolished. Yelu Chucai chose some urgent matters to deal with and wrote Eighteen Cheap Things as a memorial to the throne. This memorial to the throne covers a wide range of contents, including the establishment of officials, tax collection, financial management, criminal law enforcement, and many other aspects. It especially pointed out that the prevailing custom of gift giving in the officialdom at that time was harmful and hoped to ban it. Yelu Chucai 117

History of the Yuan Dynasty, Volume 146, “Biography of Yelu Chucai”.

472

8 Utilitarian Confucianism: The Appeal …

served as the head of the secretariat to assist the Son of Heaven’s beloved, which is a high position. He wrote an article entitled Ten Strategies for Presenting Current Affairs. The main contents are that there are standards for rewards and punishments, paying wages, promoting heroes, evaluating levels, being fair in wages, choosing craftsmen, urging farmers, determining tribute, and developing transportation. The scope of the discussion is very wide, which can be regarded as a comprehensive policy programme. This programmatic document fully demonstrates the Confucian nature of his political thoughts and bears obvious traces of Zhenguan politics. Mongolians were a nomadic people in the grassland. Genghis Khan established Mongolia and created everything. Although various systems had taken shape initially, they were extremely imperfect and backward in many aspects. With the victory of the war of conquest and the expansion of the ruling areas, some of the original systems and practices were difficult to meet the needs of the highly developed feudal society in the “sinicized” areas. A reform involving political, economic, and cultural aspects was imperative. Wo Kuo-tai Khan adopted the “Method of the Han,” and Yelu Chucai was his important adviser and assistant. In the process of political reform, he put forward many useful suggestions, including gradually abolishing the customary law of slaughtering and pillaging cities, and avoiding the death of refugees and captives. This has greatly promoted the success of the United War. In the third year of Emperor Taizong of the Yuan Dynasty (A.D. 1231), when the Mongolian Army was going to conquer Henan Province, Yelu Chucai asked that the local residents not be killed, and that they could be moved to the back of the mountain where gold and silver could be mined and grapes planted. In this way, they could not die, but would instead provide the imperial needs. Wo Kuo-tai Khan took his advice. In the fourth year of Emperor Taizong of the Yuan Dynasty, the general Su Butai of the Mongolian Army attacked Kaifeng Prefecture of Nanjing in Jin state. When he was about to attack, he sent for Wo Kuo-tai Khan: “The Jin people resisted for a long time, and the army had many casualties and deaths. When they captured the city, they should slaughter it.” Yelu Chucai began to say, “The soldiers have been outside for decades. What they want is land and people. What’s the use of land without people?” Tai Zhong hesitated, and Yelu Chucai emphasized that: “The most exquisite craftsmanship and the richest families are gathered here. If all the killings are exhausted, nothing will be gained.” Taizong accepted Yelu Chucai’s suggestion, and ordered all except for the Yan clan to be pardoned. From then on, Mongolia used military force against the Southern Song Dynasty and captured the cities of Huai and Han. As a “routine,” they would no longer “slaughter the city”, but only killed “the most evil person.” This, of course, was a major change in Mongolian military policy and had great significance. The role played by Yelu Chucai in it should be fully affirmed. He also dissuaded them from “the establishment of vassal states”, and established the centralized system of military, civilian, and financial decentralization. After Wo Kuo-tai Khan took place, he was ready to distribute the newly occupied Central Plains to the princes and meritorious statesman. Yelu Chucai opposes the establishment of the vassal states. “It is easy to create suspicions by the establishment of the vassal states. It is better to give them more money and property.” “If the court set up officials in local areas, collected tributes, and rewarded them at the end of the year, they would not dare to levy taxes

3 The Political Thought “from Xia to Yi” in the Period …

473

without authorization. This is a feasible method.” When Wo Kuo-tai Khan was on the throne, all kinds of government officials were in charge of the arrangements of the army. The people and the wealth were often arbitrary, not abiding by the law, arrogant and abnormal. They were not only arbitrary about life and death, but also often attacked each other for power and profit. Sometimes even the emperor could not control them. Yelu Chucai recommends that the the prefectures and counties should set up a superior officer in county to be in charge of civil affairs. Wanhufu were put in charge of military affairs and tax office to manage revenue in the Qing dynasty. Their power is equal. They do not control each other. Their power is limited, and their arrogance will be curbed. Wo Kuo-tai Khan adopted his suggestion and formulated a system of separation of the three powers of the local officials, army, civilian, and financial affairs. As a result, the centralization of power was greatly strengthened, the growth of local forces was suppressed, and the expansion of splitting factors was avoided. Third, there was respecting and using Confucianism, promoting literati politics and promoting Confucianism of Mongolian regime. After Wo Kuo-tai Khan took his office, Yelu Chucai said to him, “Although he got the world from horseback, he couldn’t still manage the world by the way of that time, and often propagated Confucianism to him.” Wo Kuo-tai Khan asked Yelu Chucai to recommend a group of literary ministers to serve in government departments and try out “the laws of the Han Dynasty.” Yelu Chucai also sent famous Confucian scholars Chen Shike, Liu Zhong, Zhou Lihe and Lu Zhen etc. to Yanjing, Xuande and other places to collect taxes, and made great achievements. He also supported legislation and law enforcement to stop corruption and stabilize order. In the early days of the founding of the People’s Republic of Mongolia, the legal system was extremely imperfect, and the corruption of superior officers in prefectures and counties was serious. At the request of Yelu Chucai, Wo Kuo-tai Khan promulgated a decree. It is stipulated that “if the prefectures and counties do not obey the order of the emperor, those who dare to recruit and send corvee without authorization must be held accountable for their crimes. Responsibility for an offence of buying and selling rented official articles should also be investigated. People in Mongolia, Uighur, Hexi, and other places who cultivate land without paying taxes shall be sentenced to death. If an official steal what is entrusted to his care, he shall be sentenced to death. If a person commits a capital offence, he shall apply to the court for approval, and then execute it.” The promulgation and implementation of the decree restrained the corruption of unscrupulous officials and stabilized the social order. Yelu Chucai contributed a lot to the founding of the Central Plains of Mongolia. After his death, many Mongolians cried like bereaved relatives. Most of the later historians highly praised Yelu Chucai, and praised him for “relying on the status of a scholar, independent of the court, wanting to practice what he learned.” He will make “all the people under heaven receive their kindness”, and he “assisted two generations of monarchs, abolished ignorance, and started a property with great virtue.” They also say, “that he has great merits and virtues, which are full of heaven and earth”, and that “merits benefit China” and “great achievements benefit the whole world.”

474

(3)

8 Utilitarian Confucianism: The Appeal …

The Political Thought of Hao Jing and Others “from Xia to Yi”

Hao Jing, whose formal name is Bochang, was a native of Zezhou Lingchuan (now Lingchuan County, Shanxi Province). The Hao family moved to Shuntian during the turbulence of the fall of the Jin Dynasty. He was born in the second year of Yuan Guang, Jin Xuanzong (A.D. 1223), and died in the twelfth year of Yuan Shizu (A.D. 1275). His family learned Confucianism from generation to generation. His sixth grandfather was taught by Cheng Hao, a Neo-Confucianist of the Northern Song Dynasty. His great granduncle, Hao Zhen (his formal name is Dong Chuan) was a professor of Cheng’s studies in his hometown. Yuan Haowen was a disciple of his grandfather Hao Tianting. Hao Jing’s family was poor. “He carried firewood and rice to support his family during the day and read books at night.” He gradually became famous. Shun Tian Shoushuai Zhang Rou and Jia Fu regarded him as “the guest of honor.” For the Zhang and the Jia, each family had ten thousand volumes of books. Hao Jing was able to “read all over of books without exception.” Kublai Khan heard the name of Hao Jing and called him to “inquire about the methods of running the country well and giving the people peace and security.” After Kublai Khan took office, Hao Jing was appointed to serve as a Hanlin scholar accompanying Emperors in reading and learning, and wearing golden a tiger-shaped tally issued to generals as imperial authorization for troops to move (ancient military dispatches or identification documents). He was sent to the Southern Song Dynasty, accordingly, so there happened the “Hao Jing’s detention in Zhenzhou incident” in which Jia Xiandao detained Hao Jing under house arrest in Zhenzhou. He was imprisoned for sixteen years until the twelfth year of Yuan, when he was released to the north and died in the same year. Hao Jingcheng inherited Yiluo’s falling down and determined to “learn nothing useless, not to read books that are not written by sages, not to change his ambition because of misery, not to be influenced by interests, not to attach importance to appearance, and not to be a Confucian scholar who moans and groans without being ill.” Having lived in Tiefu Temple for several years, he studied the Neo-Confucian classics and was invited to browse at random at Wan Juan Lou (the ten thousand-volume building) where the collection of books was “almost equal to that of the Royal collection.” Hao Jing, who was detained in Zhenzhou, was “not released for many years and was bored.” He “wanted to write books and teach future generations,” devoting himself to the history of Confucian classics. “Every day he writes books and expresses his ambition as a career.” His main works include Successive Han Shu, Spring and Autumn Annals, Yi Wai Zhuan, Taiji Performance, Original Ancient Records, Yuheng Zhengguan and Wenji etc. Hao Jing is regarded as a famous Confucian of Neo-Confucianism in the early Yuan Dynasty. There are biographical records in the History of the Yuan Dynasty.118 Hao Jing holds that Dao is the source of all things in Heaven and earth. It lies in all things in heaven and earth and in people’s hearts and commands all things in Heaven and earth. It has universal eternity and embodies the norms in people’s daily actions. He emphasized that Dao should never leave the implements, and it 118

History of the Yuan Dynasty, “Biography of Hao Jing”.

3 The Political Thought “from Xia to Yi” in the Period …

475

has universal absoluteness. “Dao commands the world’s implements, which bear the weight of the existence of Dao.”119 “Everything has its Dao behind it.” “Dao is inseparable from all things. It cannot get out of the world, but always focuses on people.” “Everything in Heaven and earth is the concrete manifestation of Dao.” “If the people do not change, Dao will not change. Since Dao remains unchanged, the world will not change.” Although Dao is eternal, it changes with endless variations. “The Dao of heaven is for man. Some are completely covered and others are not.” “The Dao is infinitely changeable at all times.”120 There is no Dao without objects; there are no objects that do not conform to Dao. This is presumably the expression of Dao based on objects, which can exist for a long time only if they conform to Dao, so that they can be found all over the world, throughout ancient and modern times.” “Every object contains Dao, so there is nothing without Dao; Dao must have corresponding objects, so there is no Dao out of things.” The Dao is often composed of the three cardinal guides and the five constant virtues, “family affection between father and son, the loyalty between monarchs and officials, differences in dignity and inferiority between couples, the order between the elder and the younger, the way to act, the way one gets along with people—these also have their own laws, which is the way between people.” Hao Jing believes that heaven is always close to people who have Dao, whether they are from the Central Plains or from the Han Dynasty. “There is no one who is bound to be close to God, only those who are virtuous.” “Who God is close to depends not on where he comes from, but on himself, and more on whether he has practiced Dao.” The reason why China is China is that it embodies the rites and music of Dao, not race. Hao Jing believed that “there is no way to achieve peaceful prosperity except good governance; there is no way to make people obey inevitably except virtue and excellence.” “Sages have said that when minorities enter the Central Plains, they assimilate them, If there are the able and virtuous people, follow them. There will be no so-called distinction between Yixia.” In this way, it took 30 years to realize a time of national peace and order. The monarchs of the Yuan and Wei dynasties were thriving and prosperous. Jin can take the place of Wu but can’t keep the world in the end. The Sui Dynasty can unify the whole country, but later generations can hardly get half the results with double the effort. From this we can see that the rise and fall of the world does not lie in the place but in the person, not in the person but in the Dao, not in knowing the Dao, but in practicing it after knowing it.121

The manifestation of Dao is regular and changeable. The duty of scholar-bureaucrats lies in realizing the “regular law” of the Dao in the “change” of the world. They cannot afford to miss the opportunity of cultivating themselves and pursuing morality. The law of Dao depends on the world, not on one country. Dao can achieve unchangeable law through different countries, which is the change of Dao. Hao Jing believed that the content of Dao is the same from ancient to modern times, but the manifestations and carriers of Dao are different. The transfer of Dao among nationalities is the 119

Lingchuan Collection, Volume 20, “Zhi Zhen”. Ibid. 121 Lingchuan Ji, “Preface of Spring and Autumn Annals”. 120

476

8 Utilitarian Confucianism: The Appeal …

same as that of Dao between dynasties. The change of carrier cannot and will never affect the constancy of Dao. Hao Jing advocated cooperation between Han scholar bureaucrats and rulers of different races or nations. “If the scholar-bureaucrats could not strive hard at this time, then the people would become the dead soul under the knife and become the fertilizer to nourish the land. Where would there be any survivors?” He took the lead in political cooperation with Mongolian rulers. “We will sweep away the years of war and rage, defeat the enemy’s prestige, preserve tens of millions of people, gather the spirit of the sun, the moon, the heaven and the earth, unite the divided people, and push benevolence to the land of China.”122 The Han scholar-bureaucrats in the Yellow River Valley live in the political environment of multi-ethnic areas. They have gone through the process of Confucianization of minority regimes, gradually weakening the ethnic and psychological defense lines of Yixia, and gradually changing from ethnic Yixia theorists to cultural Yixia theorists, establishing the cultural Confucianization as a different standard of Yixia. They did not regard race as the criterion to characterize ethnic minorities as barbarians, but took cultural Confucianism as the criterion. They prepared to implement universal Confucianization for ethnic minorities and turn Yi into Xia, and tried to incorporate the regime established by ethnic minorities into the dynasty orthodoxy and give them ethical and political legitimacy. They embody the logic of building people-oriented politics on the basis of “a whole person” in Confucianism, and embody a higher ideological purity in political philosophy.123 In the Mongol and Yuan Dynasties, although the Han nationality had lost its political power completely, in view of the historical experience since the Wei, Jin, Southern and Southern Dynasties, scholar bureaucrats of the Han nationality still believed in the eternity and legitimacy of Confucian political culture, such as the three cardinal guides and the five constant virtues. Xu Heng pointed out that “if the three cardinal guides and the five constant virtues do not exist for a day, the world will perish.”124 Combining with historical experience, he further pointed out the necessity of practicing Han law and strongly recommended Confucian peopleoriented consciousness to the rulers of Yuan Dynasty. “Comparing with the previous dynasties, the northern minorities, such as the Xia Dynasty, who occupied the Central Plains, must implement the laws of the Han Dynasty in order to achieve long-term stability.” “The Northern Wei Dynasty, Liao Dynasty, Jin Dynasty, inherit the largest number of years. Other things that cannot be passed on for a long time are the frequent occurrence of disturbances and the subsequent deaths one after another, which were recorded in historical books. It is as clear as noonday for textual research.” During the Mongol and Yuan Dynasties, the main work of the Han scholar bureaucrats cooperating with the rulers of different nationalities was to carry out the Han law guided by Confucian political thought, and change from Xia to Yi. Hao Jing emphasized that

122

Lingchuan Ji, “Yongzhai Ji”. Changeling Ji, “Documents for Zhizhishi to the Lianghuai area in the Song Dynasty’. 124 History of the Yuan Dynasty, “Biography of Xu Heng”. 123

3 The Political Thought “from Xia to Yi” in the Period …

477

Confucian ethics is the foundation of the world, and cultural relics and rituals are the lifeblood of the world. If they are incorrect, everything in the world will not be stable, if the three cardinal guides and the five constant virtues and norms of etiquette are slightly destroyed, there will be great turmoil, and the system of rituals will be slightly destroyed. On that day, there will be great turmoil. A little rectification will lead to a well-off society, and if they are complete, a peaceful and prosperous age will be achieved. Therefore, those who aspire to land under heaven must rectify the three cardinal guides and the five constant virtues and norms of etiquette and not abandon them.125

There are two ways for sages to govern: polishing themselves and governing the people. “Polishing oneself is the best policy, and governing the people is the worst policy.” Polishing oneself is fundamental and governing the people is secondary. Hao Jing’s so-called self-rule refers to “studying human-heartedness and righteousness, revising bonds and restraints, establishing a legal system, identifying talents” and other ceremonies and music. He added that transformation through teaching was something that successful emperors of all dynasties have been able to administer. He believed that the Mongolian and Yuan was …a country has a vast land under heaven, a vast territory, a strong army, a dense population, a strong national strength, a long history, and a prestigious reputation, conquering uncivilized places and subjecting those who did not submit to the Han and Tang Dynasties. Unfortunately, the outline and discipline have not been fully established, the legal system is not perfect, and the education is not thorough enough.126

As the embodiment of the universal and eternal Dao, ceremonies and music are grounded in temperament. Even if words and implements disappear, as long as the people’s temperament remains unchanged and a wise monarch is born to carry out the Dao of Heaven, the system of ceremonies and music can be restored, and a peaceful and prosperous age can be established.” As long as the “monarch who exerted himself (or did all one can) to make the country prosperous” and the “ministers who know the policy of governing the country” work together, “according to the existing laws of the country, referring to the old system of Tang, Song, Liao, and Jin Dynasties”, there will be a “law of unification of the world and long-term stability.”127 Hao Jing’s law of “unification of the world and long-term stability” is not only the law of unification of the world, but also the law of long-term stability. Its specific reference is “bonds and restraints, propriety and righteousness”. “The man who can revitalize bonds and restraints, propriety, and righteousness is the one who can unify the world.” “To realize bonds, restraints, propriety, and righteousness is the highest realm for the emperor to realize the prosperity of peace.” Taking history as a mirror, he discussed the superiority of governing the country by law of the Han Dynasty. “After the Yuan and Wei Dynasty occupied the land of the dynasty, they began to refer to the laws of the Han Dynasty.” “After Emperor Xiaowen moved to Luoyang, he used the law 125

Ding Shouhe, et al. “The Grand Ceremony of Memorial to Emperor of Chinese Successive Dynasties”. 126 Lingchuan Ji, “Li Zheng Yi”. 127 Lingchuan Ji, “Er Lv Bian”.

478

8 Utilitarian Confucianism: The Appeal …

system of the Han Dynasty to deal with political affairs. The law system and the ritual and music system are as brilliant as in the previous dynasty. Today, people all over the world still call them wise monarchs.”128 In the late Sui Dynasty, “Wang Tong established the orthodoxy by compiling the Yuan Jing, which can also be used for reference.” In the Jin Dynasty, the minority nationalities rose from the northeast, with only hundreds of subordinates crossing the Yalu River and taking over Huanglong. They established the rank of nobility and titles, all of which were converted to the system of Liao and Song Dynasties, and recruited celebrities from all over the country to hold important positions… There were no disasters at home and abroad. The world is peaceful. The law is clear. The folkways are honest. People all over the world call him a virtuous ruler. The old minister from Yandu will surely be moved to tears when he mentions the ancestor emperor. His kindness and good fortune touches people deeply to reach this state, which can also be used for reference. Following the Mongolian regime, the Han scholar-officials still belong to Confucianism in culture, trying to achieve the ultimate goal of promoting ceremonies and music, and ultimately transform through teaching by “the law of unification of the world and long-term stability.”129 Hao Jing and other Confucian scholars in Yuan Dynasty not only promoted and strengthened the etiquette system and advocated the rule of the country by ceremonies and music, but also advocated respect for Confucius and the implementation of transforming the people through teaching by school. This shows that the representatives of Confucianism in the Yuan Dynasty paid special attention to the cultivation of sageliness within the personalities of ordinary people in addition to paying attention to the rules of ceremonies and music institutions. In fact, Confucianism in the Yuan Dynasty, especially the more politicized Confucianism such as that of Hao Jing, was deeply influenced by the principles of Song Xue, and placed the cultivation of the universal sageliness within personality in the extensive schools to carry out Confucian classics education. Hao Jing said, “Confucius is a teacher for all ages to set up virtue and industry.” “God is the Supreme God and Confucius is the Supreme sage.”130 They regard respecting Confucius as a symbol of respecting Confucianism and Daoism, while teaching and educating people with Confucian classics as a concrete manifestation of respecting Confucianism and Taoism. This is because Confucian classics are the carrier of Confucius’ Dao. Respecting, reading and enlightening the Confucian classics are the ways to carry forward the Holy Dao. Hao Jing believes that “since Fuxi, Dao has been embodied in Confucius, since Confucius, Dao lies in the Six Classics”. “Classics are books that sages devote all their efforts to purifying righteousness and documenting it in words.” Confucius contributed to the success of ceremonies and music, education, the handing down of Confucian classics and the establishment of the Confucian ethical code as the highest criterion. Ceremonies and music, education has developed and strengthened, the Confucian ethical code has not been destroyed, heretical beliefs will not endanger 128

Lingchuan Ji, “Ceremonies and Music”. Lingchuan Ji, “The New Temple Monument of Confucius in Shuntianfu”. 130 Lingchuan Ji, “Zui Jing Ji”. 129

3 The Political Thought “from Xia to Yi” in the Period …

479

the orthodox status of Confucianism, which is the merit of many sages.”131 Hao Jing said that the establishment of classics and transmission to future generations, valuing the sages, and the spread of the Dao is the responsibility of Confucian scholars. He strongly advocated school education, believing that school education can form a good situation with rich folk customs. “The three generations of the Xia, Shang, and Zhou Dynasty have the simplest folk customs and the longest inheritance because of the establishment of schools and the cultivation of talents.” Xu Heng put forward in his statement to Kublai Khan that: From the capital city to the local prefectures and counties, schools have been set up so that children from the top to the bottom, from the emperor’s son to the common people, can enter the school in order to understand the feudal orders of importance in human relationships of fathers and sons, monarchs and ministers, as well as understanding the essentials from sprinkling water to sweeping the floor, from rewarding guests to governing the world.132

Liu Bingzhong advocated respecting Confucius and offering sacrifices to Confucius. “Confucius was the teacher of the monarchs of the hundred dynasties and established the law of all ages. Although many Confucian temples have been abolished, many of them still exist. The high priests of the prefectures and counties should be ordered to sacrifice their ancestors in accordance with the old system.”133 “The instruments needed by the modern ceremonies and music system have all been lost… Senior ministers in charge of ceremonies and music were recruited to educate and guide their descendants, make the instruments complete and talented, gradually make them complete, consolidate the foundation of world peace, and realize the foundation of kingdom.” Confucian scholars not only require ordinary people to learn Confucian classics, but also they require the Mongolian emperor to learn the Confucian King’s way. According to the Great Learning, if we take self-cultivation as the foundation, every movement will be like it should be, not restrained by lust, not blinded by hatred, not controlled by things we like, not easily angered, modest and focused, careful in thinking, and prudent in handling affairs. There are very few people who cannot reach the golden mean of the Confucian school.134

Hao Jing and other Confucians also proposed various ruling techniques to the rulers of Mongol and the Yuan Dynasties, which is the natural advantage of the Han nationality, with its long history of civilization for the rulers of Mongol and Yuan Dynasties. A nation with a long history is like an old man who has experienced a lot. He is rich in experience and has a wide range of knowledge. However, the rulers of Mongolia are poor in historical knowledge, which is like a valiant general who has great physical strength and courage. Although he succeeds in all attacks, wins in every battle, he is easy to do stupid things due to a lack of experience and knowledge, which delays their great future. Based on the long-term historical experience of the 131

Lingchuan Ji, “Preface to Ancient Records”. History of the Yuan Dynasty, “Biography of Xu Heng”. 133 History of the Yuan Dynasty, “Biography of Anmo”. 134 History of the Yuan Dynasty, “Biography of Liu Bing Zhong”. 132

480

8 Utilitarian Confucianism: The Appeal …

Han nationality, Hao Jing and other Confucians suggested and helped the Mongolian rulers overcome their political shortsightedness and seek long-term stability of the world. This is also an important part of the strategy of the Confucians to change the non-Han nationalities in the north, west, and south through Chinese culture. In Dong Shiyi, combining with the change of dynasties, Hao Jing talked volubly of the way to gain the land under heaven, and objected to Meng Yuan’s military power. “It’s easy to plan world affairs when things don’t happen. It’s difficult to save the world when things have happened. There are future signs in the established facts. It’s especially difficult to make the past work without fault and make the future work successfully.”135 “In seizing the land under heaven, we can sometimes merge by force. Sometimes we can plan by power. Annexation by force is not sustainable. As time goes by, it is difficult to revitalize the accumulation of maladies. We should not be too impatient if we plan by power, and it is difficult to succeed if we are impatient.” He pointed out that “during the fifty years since the founding of the Yuan Dynasty, “the country has always used its troops. Adherents of a former dynasty and common people are in a constant state of anxiety.” “Since ancient times, there has been no such frequent and lasting use of troops. How can our national strength not be weakened?” “If, after all wars have subsided, the monarch can curb the enemy, appease the common people, establish the legal system, state policies in different ways, and keep the whole country in order.”136 Appoint sophisticated people to be prime ministers. Use those with superior intelligence as generals. Select the virtuous and talented people to be petty officials. Gather the wise people to be in important positions. Implement fair taxation that is enough for the daily operation of the government, and cultivate land to ensure sufficient food. This cannot only be the internal harmony of the government, but also resists foreign enemies.137

In this case, “if someone doesn’t obey, educate them with documents first, and if they still refuse to obey, take the opportunity to attack him on behalf of Heaven.” Of course, what the Confucians are familiar with and willing to do their best to tell the main things of the Mongol and Yuan rulers is a political theory that expresses the inherent political ideal of Confucianism and the idea of governing the country. This kind of writing is very rich in the History of the Yuan Dynasty, but there are many repetitions in content. This repetition clearly reflects four basic phenomena: First, the scholar bureaucrat of Confucian attitude and understanding of Mengyuan are basically the same. At least they are very close, so that the same words should be repeatedly stressed and repeatedly exhorted. Secondly, the scholar bureaucrat of Confucianists have the same basic view in politics. They tell the rulers of Mongol and Yuan Dynasties repeatedly, and they are willing to work together with the rulers of Mongol and Yuan Dynasties to achieve the most basic fundamental pursuit, which is exactly the same. Third, the scope of the scholar bureaucrat of Confucianists has 135

Ding Shouhe, et al. “The Grand Ceremony of Memorial to Emperor of Chinese Successive Dynasties”. 136 History of the Yuan Dynasty, “Biography of Hao Jing”. 137 History of the Yuan Dynasty, “Biography of Hao Jing”.

3 The Political Thought “from Xia to Yi” in the Period …

481

included the intellectual elites of other nations, and the historical experience in the Confucian political culture and the Confucian perspective is also roughly the same. They are relatively developed in the sense of historical reference on the premise of unanimous recognition of the rules of Mongol and Yuan Dynasties. Fourthly, the rulers that the scholar bureaucrat of Confucians met were not very enlightened, and were even a little dull, so they had to repeatedly emphasize the same words. Although some people emphasized that sometimes the rulers might understand, the rulers obviously didn’t really understand the scholar bureaucrat of Confucians’ words. They either ignored them or just listened to them. Sometimes it may produce some concrete effects, but the scholar bureaucrats of the Confucians’ long cherished wish that the rulers could understand the Confucian politics as a whole could not be realized. Although Hao Jing’s “changing the non-Han nationalities in the north, west, and south through Chinese culture,” did have some positive consequences, in general, it was mainly the same wish of the scholar bureaucrat of the Confucians, whose actual political effect was difficult to be satisfied. Compared with the Han or confucianisation of the Manchu and Qing Dynasties, there is a great cultural and political gap between the rulers of Mongolia. From the first day of the founding of the state to the collapse of the dynasty, the rulers of the Manchus Dynasty attached great importance to the positive role of Confucian political thought and had relatively high Confucian culture. They could comprehend the Confucian political thought and Chinese traditional political culture deeply and systematically, but the rulers of the Mongol and Yuan Dynasties only understood Confucian political culture in the way of bits and pieces from the beginning to the end. In the Yuan Dynasty, the scholars’ idea of “changing the non-Han nationalities in the north, west, and south through Chinese culture” was just a sad dream.

Bibliography 1. Mengwu, S. (2005). The water margin and ancient Chinese society. Beijing: Beijing Publishing House. 2. Selected Notes of Chen Liang’s Poems and Essays. (1977). Shanghai: People’s Publishing House. 3. Mengjiang, Z., Shi, Y., & Yongjia School. (1992). Hangzhou: Zhejiang Ancient Books Publishing House.

Chapter 9

People-Oriented Perspective and Yi Xia: Political Anxiety and Political Concepts in the Ming Dynasty

While the Yuan Dynasty ended the separatist situation of the Five Dynasties, it achieved national unity. The territory under its control is greater than that of the Han and Tang dynasties. The strength of its power and the geographical extent of its influence was unprecedented in Chinese history. The Yuan Dynasty was officially established in 1271, and it was destroyed by the Ming Dynasty in 1368, which was ninety-eight years long. Compared with the two dynasties of Qin and Sui, the history of the Yuan Dynasty seems to be relatively long. However, compared with the average life expectancy of the traditional Chinese dynasty, which is about three hundred years, the Yuan Dynasty is relatively short-lived. There are many specific reasons for the short-lived life of the Yuan Dynasty, but the most important reason is probably the indifference and unfamiliarity of the advanced culture of the Yuan Dynasty and the entire ruling group. Historical experience shows that once the ruler group loses the influence of a more advanced culture, it will become extremely brutal and vicious. “Despising theoretical thinking will provide opportunities for barbaric rampage.”1 The brutal and vicious political rule, on the one hand, will inevitably bring about a series of fundamental political contradictions, and always make the fundamental political contradictions fierce. But if there is turmoil, it will evolve into a fierce political struggle, leading to the replacement of the dynasty. On the other hand, savage and vicious political rule will inevitably lead to the selfish, shortsighted, and fearless paranoia of the ruling group, so that the rulers become naked in the struggle for power. Additionally, the oppressive exploitation of oppressed and exploited groups will be even more unscrupulous. The struggle of the Ming Dynasty to replace the Yuan Dynasty began with the awakening of the national consciousness of oppressed and exploited ethnic groups. This awakening has become increasingly common under the help of lower religions such as Zoroastrianism, and finally led to the creation of critical and rebellious armed forces. The national armed forces of criticism and rebellion took the aim of “restoring 1

Liu Zehua et al.: History of Chinese Political Thought (Qin Han, Wei Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties), Hangzhou: Zhejiang People’s Publishing House, 1996, p. 8.

© Tianjin People’s Publishing House 2022 S. Zhang, The Logical Deduction of Chinese Traditional Political Philosophy, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-4376-7_9

483

484

9 People-Oriented Perspective and Yi Xia: Political Anxiety …

China” and created a dynasty that consciously practiced the Confucian culture. The establishment of the Ming Dynasty is an important symbol of the development of Chinese political thought. The traditional Chinese barbarians and Chinese thought, the people-oriented thought, and political, critical thought would have a new manifestation, and reached its extreme in the descendants in Ming Dynasty. However, the middle and late Ming dynasties were not a period of historical transformation in which fundamental changes took place in Chinese society. People’s lives had become quite dependent on the so-called market, while the so-called national market also seemed to be forming, and there was also a considerable scale of so-called workshops. However, the development of Chinese history has not embarked on the road of modern capitalism according to the so-called “historical law”, let alone the so-called Enlightenment trend of thought and the germination of democratic political thought. If we put the research field of vision slightly wide, then the end of the Ming Dynasty or the descendants in Ming Dynasty do not actually have any new ideas. Even their attitude is not more intense than the ancients, and, more importantly, their political thought is of the basic category. The meaning of the category and the relationship between the categories are not fundamentally different from their predecessors.

1 Nationality in the Early Ming Dynasty and People-Oriented Thinking The Yuan Dynasty, as a political power dominated by the Mongolian aristocracy, had made positive progress in canonizing the Cheng-Zhu school, but it was never able to get rid of the policy of ethnic discrimination. This led to the revival of the national thought hidden under the barbarians, the Yi, and the Chinese Xia discourse. At the same time, the rulers of the Yuan Dynasty had a limited degree of Confucianism, and the concept of people-oriented doctrines was relatively weak. The result was a more barbaric and brutal political rule. In the case of frequent natural disasters, ruling barbarism exacerbates the suffering of the people. The suffering people rely on the Way of the spirits to strive to achieve the politics of benevolence. The Han scholar and bureaucrat hoisted the two flags of the Confucian tradition of the barbarians, Yi, and the Chinese Xia, on the one hand, and people-oriented thinking on the other, expressing the need to overthrow the Qing government of the feudal dynasty established by the Manchu people in China at that time. They also sought to restore the national cultural traditions of all ethnic groups in China, establishing a new government under the control of the Han nationality, as well as Confucian peopleoriented politics. The political forces gathered by Zhu Yuanzhang seized on the above-mentioned political appeal. People-oriented thought alongside the barbarians, Yi, and the Chinese Xia were particularly eye-catching in the history of the Ming Dynasty.

1 Nationality in the Early Ming Dynasty and People-Oriented Thinking

(1)

485

The Political Thought of Zhu Yuanzhang, Founder of the Ming Dynasty

Zhu Yuanzhang, founder of Ming Dynasty, was originally named Zhong Ba, and also was known as Xingzong, and later renamed Yuanzheng. He came from Guorui, Haozhou Zhongli (now Anhui Fengyang), and was born in the first year of Yuan Wenzong Tianli, or 1328. He died in Ming Hongwu after sixty nine, that is, in 1398. Zhu Yuanzhang was poor since childhood. Both of his parents and his brothers died of plague. Because he was helpless and defenseless, he entered the Jue Temple as a monk. He sought shelter from Guo Zixing and joined the Red Scarf Army in the 12th year of Emperor Yuanshunr, that is, in 1352. Guo Zixing saw Zhu Yuanzhang’s extraordinary appearance, different from ordinary people, and he was retained as a favorite soldier. He repeatedly led troops to attack, and succeeded in all attacks. Guo Zixing was overjoyed and appointed him as a Zhenfu (镇抚). He also gave his adopted daughter, Miss Ma, to Yuanzhang as his wife, and later as Empress Gao. In the fifteenth year of March, Guo Zixing died of illness, and his son Guo Tianxu took the lead. When Han Liner appeared, he appointed Tianxu as the captain of the capital. Zhang Tianyou was the right deputy marshal, and Zhu Yuanzhang was the left deputy marshal. Zhu Yuanzhang said generously: “How can a true man be controlled by others?” So no appointment was accepted. However, considering Hanlin’s strength, it can be used to become emperor, still using its annual number to command the military. After Guo Tianxu and Zhang Tianyou died in the battle, Guo Zixing’s Red Scarf Army returned to Zhu Yuanzhang. In 1365, Zhu Yuanzhang led the troops to capture Ji Qing, which was renamed Yingtianfu, establishing provinces in the south of the Yangtze River, which was called Wu Guogong, implementing the strategy of “building high walls, accumulating large quantities of grain and slowly becoming king”. Hoarding his strength, in 1364, he defeated Chen Youyue in the West, claiming to be Wu Wang. In 1367, Zhang Shicheng was annihilated in the east, and later, Xu Da was taken as the commander-in-chief, raising troops to the north and attacking Yuandadu. In the first month of 1368, Zhu Yuanzhang claimed to be a king at Yingtian, title of a reigning dynasty is Daming, reign title is Hongwu. Zhu Yuanzhang paid great attention to winning scholars over by any means, collaborating with popular feelings, cherishing the people’s power, taking the fierce administration, being diligent and pragmatic, using law and discipline correctly, and boldly reforming the political system. He established the basic pattern of the political system of the Ming Dynasty and set up the governance style of the Ming Dynasty. Zhu Yuanzhang’s political thought is a combination of Confucianism and Legalism, treating the strengthening of a centralized monarch as the core, treating diligent and serious officials in administration as the main content, and its concrete performance is a series of imperial edicts and decrees, generating a very creative political system. Zhu Yuanzhang said in Yu Zhong Yuan Xi: Since ancient times, emperors have stood in the Central Plains and ruled the nation. Minorities in ancient China lived outside the frontier and served China, never heard of the principle that minority nationality in ancient China occupy the Central Plains and rule China.

486

9 People-Oriented Perspective and Yi Xia: Political Anxiety …

Based on the barbarians, Yi, and the Chinese, Xia theory, he vigorously promoted the orthodoxy, and laid the foundation for the theory of “removing Manchurians”. He also said: Since the decline of national fate in the Song Dynasty, the Yuan Dynasty, as a northern barbarian, entered the Middle Territory and became the master, no one in the country dared not submit to it. Is this what a human can do? It’s really a gift from God.

This is to promote the mandate of Heaven. He strongly emphasized the emperor’s unique qualification “through the Mandate of Heaven and in accordance with the Movements.” “Nevertheless, wise scholars still have feelings of a reversal of dignity and inferiority.” Of course, the reason why the government of the Yuan Dynasty was abandoned by Heaven is that it is not up to the standard. Since then, the imperial clans and their courtiers of the Yuan Dynasty have ceased to obey their ancestors’ teachings, abolishing the three cardinal guides and the five constant virtues as specified in the feudal society. Additionally, as Yuan Chengzhong abolished the eldest son and raised the youngest child (for the heir). As a subject, Emperor Taiding killed the monarch. As a younger brother, Emperor Tianli poisoned his elder brother. Even his young brother married his elder brother’s wife, so both the son and father committed adultery. It is not surprising that the upper and lower levels (the Yuan Dynasty) were accustomed to it. They were often confused about the ethics of fathers and sons, ruler and subject, husband and wife, elder and younger brothers. The so-called rulers are the origin of the people; the imperial court is the foundation of the country; etiquette, law and morality are the important boundaries of governing the country, how can they make the country follow their actions like that?

The descendants degenerated into prostitution and lost the principle of coexistence between sovereign and subject, coupled with the monopoly of power by the prime minister, personal hatred in office of censorate, and the officials’ vicious and tyrannical treatment led to the betrayal of the people’s hearts and the worldwide military turmoil, which has left the people in the Central Plains dead and miserable. The surviving relatives were unable to support each other. “Although it was caused by human activities, in fact, God abandoned Yuan’s virtue and abandoned him at this time.” At this moment, Heaven’s fortunes circulate; the great fortune of the Central Plains calls for the birth of sages among the hundreds of millions of people. The expulsion of the minority nationalities in the north, the restoration of the Chinese nation, the establishment of rules, the introduction of guidelines and the rescue of the people. It has been twelve years since then. I have not heard of any people who have saved and stabilized the people. They have in vain made your people tremble with fear and live in the land where their masters often change. It is indeed worthy of sympathy and compassion. I respectfully bear the fate that God has given me. I dare not think I am stable. I am hoping to send troops to the north to expel the enemies, rescue the people from the difficult situation and restore our Chinese orthodoxy.

1 Nationality in the Early Ming Dynasty and People-Oriented Thinking

487

When the army arrives, the people should not evade it, all who submit to me can settle down in China, those who deviate from me will naturally flee to the outside of the fortress, for example, Mongolia, Se Mu. Even if they are not my Chinese compatriots, (we) also grow in the world. There is no difference between people who know etiquette and justice and are willing to be my subjects and people of the Han nationality.2 Zhu Yuanzhang’s essays express God’s will, saving the people, maintaining the principles of rituals and the idea of restoring China. Zhu Yuanzhang closely linked the theory of destiny to popular support for his theory. On the one hand, he emphasized that the ruler must “fear Heaven” and “worship Heaven” in order to preserves the destiny of Heaven forever. On the other hand, he also emphasized that the ruler must “show compassion for the people” and “give peace to the people.” The two sides are highly unified. If you want to show respect to Heaven, you must first show sympathy to the people. To show sympathy to the people is to worship Heaven, to worship God. It is not only solemn and courteous, but also practical.” “Heaven has entrusted the task of governing the people to the monarch. If you want to serve God, you must be sympathetic to the people.” Heaven regards “compassion for the people” as “a fact of serving God.”3 To carry out the idea of the people as the essence of country, Zhu Yuanzhang put forward the economic proposition of “enriching the people” He pointed out that “the way to maintain the country’s long-term stability is to enrich the people.”4 That is, only if “the people are rich” then “the country can be rich.” “If the people are poor, then the country cannot be rich alone. If the people are rich, then the country will not be poor alone.”5 The poverty or wealth of the people directly affects the country’s security. The way the monarch manages wealth is different from that of the civilians. The civilians only consider one family. They only accumulate wealth in their own home. The emperor, as the master of the world, should store his wealth in the world. How can he block the people’s financial path (competing with the people to do business)? secretly taking their interests?6 Those who are good at governing political affairs will tax people, but they will not make the people embarrassed. Distributing servants will not make the people tired.7 Those who govern the world will not use the farm time of the people, leaving people with surplus money. They will not use all the labor of the people and leave some strength. Everyone knows these two points, but people may not know (the truth) without exhausting the people’s emotions and letting the people enjoy them.8

“In this way, it can make people feel moderate and happy. One cannot use the monarch’s likes and dislikes to guard against the basic emotions of ordinary people.” 2

The Emperor Ming Order, Volume 1 Yu Zhong Yuan Xi. Record of Ming Taizu, Volume 180. 4 Ibid., Volume 176. 5 Ibid., Volume 253. 6 Ibid., Volume 135. 7 Ibid., Volume 172. 8 Ibid., Volume 164. 3

488

9 People-Oriented Perspective and Yi Xia: Political Anxiety …

Zhu Yuanzhang advocates tolerance for the people. He shows love, and advocates a certain degree of fear of the people. “The people are awesome.” Once “the monarch’s actions are improper, he violates the will of Heaven on the top and loses the people’s hearts on the bottom. When he reaches the limit, the gods are angry and the people are resentful, and there is nothing that will not perish”. The reason for the demise of the Yuan Dynasty is that, “the sullen monarch is satisfied with his extravagant desires, making the people poor.” “To indulge in luxury and be vicious beyond measure, feeding superb cuisine to pigs and dogs arouses the resentment and anger of gods and people”, which is bound to arise the people’s large-scale resistance. Every time I saw in Shangshu the parts on the respected person, I once sighed. The matters of respecting Heaven, the monarchs of the later generations of the talents can still know, but there is very little to know as to treating the people’s affairs seriously. Probably because he thought he was respectful and felt that the people were serving him, and the identity should be like this. Therefore, the power is getting strong, and the number of graces is gradually decreasing. The reason for this is that he did not value the people. If you don’t value the people, you think they are irrelevant to you, then it is not difficult for people to rebel.

“How can the ancient emperors treat the people and dare to despise them? The people who rule the country for a long time are like this.”9 Zhu Yuanzhang believed that if you wanted the great order throughout [across] the land, the most fundamental thing is to stabilize the people, only when the people’s hearts are stabilized can the country be stabilized, thus the rule can be consolidated and the throne of the monarch be stabilized. This is called “governing the country is based on the people’s stability, and the people’s stability is the national stability.” Zhu Yuanzhang also put on a cloak of destiny for “the essence of giving peace to the people”. The people of the world are the people of Heaven, God loves his people. The monarch is appointed to govern the people by the Heavens, who is responsible for the “proper settlement of the people’s livelihood”. “The emperor is the master of the world. If my people can’t settle down, it is the responsibility of the emperor.”10 Ordinary people live and work in peace. Heaven will be happy, its fate can be forever, and the king’s rule can be long-lasting. Officials can also enjoy prosperity. If the people are destitute, Heaven will be angry, fate will be lost, the king will not be insured, and the prosperity of the officials will be evaporated. The greatest “Good” and “virtue” of the monarch is to win the hearts of the people. “If the monarch has the virtue of kindness, then people will obey him as if they were obedient to their parents.”11 Zhu Yuanzhang stressed to “explain the righteousness to guide the people, formulate the law to bind the inferior,” and to improve and strengthen the ritual system. The core of the ritual system is “identity determination”. It is necessary not only to strictly limit the boundaries between the ruler and the ruled, but also to draw a clear line between sovereign and subject and the upper and lower ranks within the ruling class. He thought that, “If the righteousness is fixed, the difference in the level 9

Ibid., Volume 146. Ibid., Volume 124. 11 Ibid., Volume 49. 10

1 Nationality in the Early Ming Dynasty and People-Oriented Thinking

489

of identity is determined. If the identity is determined separately, fame and position is just right. If the fame and position is right, the world can be governed.”12 He repeatedly stressed: “The so-called etiquette is the national defense and norms, the discipline and program of human morality are the first thing the court should determine, and there must be no less in a day.”13 In 1368, he ordered Huitong ritual Palace in Zhongshu Province drafting sacrificial rites and mourning clothes for officials and citizens, official and civilian houses and services, etc. The order stated “Once the emperor ruled the world, the etiquette system will be established to distinguish the nobles of the people’s identity and to show the level of majesty”. He asked, “to make the houses and clothing of officials and civilians rank in the order of color, clearly establish the prohibition clause and promulgate it inside and outside the imperial city, so that they are well prepared and abide by the rules in order to determine their identity.”14 These rituals refer to the ancient rituals. They combine the social reality of the early Ming Dynasty, and stipulate strict laws, norms, rituals and so on for various social roles in order to maintain the feudal hierarchical system. Officials’ etiquette depends on grade, distinguishing status from the ranks of official positions instituted “but every person who kneels, stands up according to his grade, walks and avoids in perfect [good] order, and has his own etiquette”. Offenders will be punished severely. In the 30th year of Hongwu, it was stipulated that all the officials should be treated with ranks of official positions instituted. Not only do officials have different levels of internality, but also there is a difference between the officials and the people. Zhu Yuanzhang attached great importance to “making laws to bind the stubborn and disobedient.” He stressed that only when the “law and discipline rites” are used together can we build the social order in which “superiors and subordinates are mutually stable, the atmosphere of harmony is overflowing, and Heaven and earth are clear and peaceful”. When the ritual system does not make the people to obey the rule, it is necessary to “reorganize them with punishment”, use legal violence to force those unruly “stubborn people” to submit. Otherwise, if “the law connives at people’s stubbornness.” “even if you want good governance, you can’t achieve results.15 ” Zhu Yuanzhang also pays attention to getting rid of the disadvantage of detailed and complicated laws and decrees, paying attention instead to popularizing law. He asked those in office “legislative laws should be brief and appropriate, so that words can be understood directly, everyone can easily understand.” “If the entries are complicated, or if there are two interpretations of one thing, they may be light or heavy.” Lesser officials can do something about it, so laws that prevent greed and tyranny are used to harm good people. This is not a good law.”16

12

Ibid., Volume 14. Ibid., Volume 80. 14 Hong Wusheng’s Political Records. Ding Minzhi No. 6. 15 Record of Ming Taizu Volume 202. 16 Ibid., Volume 21. 13

490

9 People-Oriented Perspective and Yi Xia: Political Anxiety …

Zhu Yuanzhang attaches great importance to the appointment of talented people and highly emphasizes that “the way to govern the country is to appoint wise people.”17 The man who governs the country is like one trying to build a building, which is not built of a single piece of wood. Wood must be accumulated before it can be built, the country is not governable by one person, It is necessary to choose a good minister before it can be governed.18

Zhu Yuanzhang pays attention to distinguishing the good minister and the ruthless minister. He believes that “an honest and kind minister is the treasure of the country; the cruel minister is the moth of the country.” “Honest and kind people bring blessings to the monarch, and the cruel people will bring disaster to the country.” Honest and kind people are, “bent on the public, meeting the people with kind and pleasant countenance, even if there are deficiencies, it will not cause harm, the so-called a day is not much, but if you accumulate in a month, you will have a lot of gains.” “A brutal person will attack others, when things happen, they will be exceptionally vigorous, accumulate criminal charges, search for people’s money, although (those officials) enjoy the pleasure of the moment, they do great harm to the people.” “When Emperor Wudi appointed Zhang Tang, politics declined. Emperor Guangwu of the Han Dynasty praised and rewarded Zuo Mao, and the emperor’s career flourished. This can be used as a good reference.”19 Zhu Yuanzhang opposed the use of qualifications, and instead advocated the use of talent. The reason why the court entertained scholars with titles and salaries was that they had outstanding talents, how can we limit it by status? As long as you are looking for talents, don’t be stingy about fame and rank. If (a talented person) grows out of the field, he will not be appointed immediately, like Yiyin in the fields of Shinguo and Kong Ming in Longzhong. Once elected, they were conferred official posts in the court, and they made achievements, how can you care about the position of an official? What worries me is that I can’t get wise men, if I can get the wise man and appoint him, ranks of official positions and salary are not restrictions.20

Although Zhu Yuanzhang also used some relatives to be officials, they were repeatedly warned that they must strictly abide by the laws of the country, not be proud of their relatives and the ungovernable, and not perpetrate whatever evils one pleases. Zhu Yuanzhang considered the family and the country together. He often considers the education and appointment of sons and nephews from the perspective of state affairs so that they have the ability to hold national positions. They are required to perform their duties in accordance with a people-oriented principle and fulfill their duties. The public power is used to realize the welfare of the sons and nephews, maintaining the state power with the clan of fathers and sons, brothers etc., and maintain 17

Ibid., Volume 60. Ibid., Volume 81. 19 Ibid., Volume 158. 20 Ibid., Volume 197. 18

1 Nationality in the Early Ming Dynasty and People-Oriented Thinking

491

the patriarchal denomination in an orderly manner. In the first month of Hongwu’s three years, he appointed the emperor’s son-in-law Du Wei Wang Gong to participate in politics in Fujian Province, warning him solemnly, Don’t rely on your close relatives to breed pride and indulgence and bring disaster to the people. Don’t rely on your close relatives to breed pride and indulgence and bring disaster to the people. The state’s decrees are very fair. You can’t abide by the law and lose your morality as a minister. I dare not violate the law and violate the opinions of the people of the country. That’s what I decided to do.21

Zhu Yuanzhang also advocated that the imperial court should choose its merits and discard its shortcomings, posts are awarded according to their aptitude, officials are awarded according to their abilities, and don’t blame others to pursue perfection, do things that are beyond one’s power. “Man’s talent and wisdom, some are good at that. But in other respects, he has his shortcomings. If you abandon his strengths because of his weaknesses, it will be difficult to attract talented people in the world.”22 Zhu Yuanzhang attaches great importance to the role of taking advices, repeatedly asking the ministers to see people’s advantages and disadvantages, encouraging straightforward advice. “The so-called man who loves the monarch will persuade if he has made a mistake. It is not a faithful minister who persuades but fails to get to the point. For the sake of our country, the good people must speak up to stop things. He who speaks incorrectly is not a faithful man.” 23 Zhu Yuanzhang frankly admits that he is neither perfect nor god, but rather is like ordinary people, who make mistakes. He said that the ruler’s advice to servitors and common people should be sincere. “If others point out that it is true, they should make greater efforts to be good. If nothing else happens, try to avoid such bad things.”24 Zhu Yuanzhang stressed that the ruler must recognize that, In the past, Emperor Qin Shihuang abolished the feudal state system and established a national system. There are three counsellors of state(in the Qin and Han dynasties,i.e. the premier, the military chief of staff, and minister of supervision as vice-premier; but in the later Han Dynasty, the titles in Chinese were changed to大司徒,大司马,大司空), Merge the world’s princes and states to establish counties and counties. In the court, the prime minister and the second prime minister were set up. They conveyed monarchy decrees downwards, responded to ministers’ wishes upwards, and generally managed the ministers. The Prime Minister system is not a measure of the sages and sages. After the establishment of the prime minister, the ministers relied on the monarch for their authority and abused their power. This disorder began with the establishment of the prime minister in the Qin Dynasty. The prime minister’s power is so great that he can reverse black and white and confuse right and wrong.25

In Hongwu after nine years, that is, June 1776, Zhu Yuanzhang ordered the transfer of Zhongshu Province to declare the political ambassador, and abolished the official 21

Ibid., Volume 48. Ibid., Volume 101. 23 Ibid., Volume 25. 24 Ibid., Volume 26. 25 Ibid., Volume 59. 22

492

9 People-Oriented Perspective and Yi Xia: Political Anxiety …

duties of the provincial governor, the retainer prime ministers (in ancient China) and so on, in order to change the political affairs of the government into a political ambassador. This was for the benefit of the “government of the province”, that is, the administration of a province’s civil affairs and finances. The governor was the envoy that the empire stationed in local area. The court’s policies, decrees, and various tasks assigned to the local government are carried out through local officials who have been issued to the prefectures, states, and counties. There are a total of thirteen ambassadors in the country, and the jurisdiction of the various ambassadors is roughly the same as the province in the Yuan Dynasty. However, it does not include the Wei Suo (a military establishment system used in the Ming Dynasty) scattered in it. The Bu Zheng Shi Si has not only greatly reduced its powers and functions than executive secretariat (a central government department in feudal China), but also changed its nature. The executive secretariat is the branch of the court in the local province, and the central decentralization is in the locality. The chief of the Bu Zheng Shi is the embassy of the local court, where all capital is to uphold the emperor’s intention, which is the centralization of the central government. In addition to the announcement of the Department of Political Affairs, in all provinces, generally there are investigators, which is a provincial official equivalent to today’s chief prosecutor of a high court. As the chief, who is “in charge of criminal cases in a province, examination of impeachment”. Headquarters are also set up with Du Zhi Hui Shi (the Five Dynasties began to be known as the commander-in-chief of the army). As the chief “in charge of military affairs in a place” Du Zhi Hui Shi Shi and Bu Zheng Shi Si are investigators, which is a provincial official equivalent to today’s chief prosecutor of a high court. They are also the local agency of the imperial court, which is called the three divisions. The three divisions exercise no control over each other and are under the direct command of the emperor. Major politics should be reported to the central department by the meeting of the three divisions. Later, Zhu Yuanzhang made a reform of the central administrative organization. Zhu Yuanzhang believed that the Prime Minister system prevented the monarch from “handling state affairs personally.” In the past, Emperor Qin Shihuang abolished the feudal state system and set up three princes separately, merging all the princes and states under Heaven into province and county in ancient times. The imperial court set up the prime minister and the second prime minister, who conveyed the imperial decree downward, responded to the minister’s wishes upward, and the general managed the group of ministers. The Prime Minister system is not a measure of the ancient sages.26

“After the establishment of the prime minister, the ministers relied on the monarch for their authority and abused their power. This disorder began with the establishment of the prime minister in the Qin Dynasty.” “The prime minister’s power is so great that he can reverse black and white and confuse right and wrong.” Hongwu, after thirteen years, in the first month of 1380 A.D., after he murdered Hu Weiyong, the left-wing leader, on charges of conspiring to endanger the society, he carried out the reform of the abolition system. He sought to, 26

Imperial Collection of Emperor Gao Volume 10.

1 Nationality in the Early Ming Dynasty and People-Oriented Thinking

493

…remove the province of Zhongshu, upgrade the status of six ministries, imitate the ancient system of six Qings, so that the six ministries deal with the affairs within their respective powers and responsibilities, and set up the Governor’s Office of the Fifth Army to receive military defense matters separately, in this way, power will not be concentrated in one department, nor will political affairs be delayed and stagnated.27

Zhu Yuanzhang’s political thought, on the whole, it reflects the political instinct of the small-scale peasant economy and commits the problem of seeking too much treatment. His reading the memorial to the throne in person, handling numerous internal and external affairs and the anti-corruption with law is a typical reflection of this instinct and fault. Reading the memorial to the throne in person, handling numerous internal and external affairs showed that the small farmers have always been diligent and conscientious. The anti-corruption law reflects the hatred of small farmers against corrupt officials. Zhu Yuanzhang belongs to the small farmer who is poor and works hard. His political ideals are the political ideals of small farmers who are poor and work hard. reading the memorial to the throne in person, handling numerous internal and external affairs are just the characteristics of small farmers who are poor and works hard. His descendants are mostly small farmers who are content with temporary ease and comfort, they just use various methods to find happiness and comfort. In this way, the political system will have an unexpected disaster due to the slack of the children and grandchildren. Zhu Yuanzhang’s stormy-style measures can only work for a while, and stormy time can not be too long, can not be too frequent. After the political storm, the political machine prepared for the storm will expose many major problems, and even the so-called dysentery that the political system cannot avoid, the disaster of eunuch and the party struggle unceasingly are the dysentery of the Ming Dynasty politics that Zhu Yuanzhen could not think of. (2)

The Political Thought of Liu Ji

Liu Ji, also Bo Wen, was a native of Qingtian (now Qingtian County, Zhejiang Province), born in AD 131. He died in AD 1373. a famous politician, thinker and writer in Chinese history. Liu Ji entered the county to study at the age of fourteen, and followed a teacher to read, The Spring and Autumn Annals, everything in astronomy, the Art of War, etc. “At a glance he knew the general idea.” In the three years of Yuanzhishuna he was a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations. He was a local official and later abandoned his official and lived in seclusion. In 1359, after Zhu Yuanzhang attacked Chuzhou, he condemned the recruitment of Liu Ji, Zhang Yi, Song lian, and Ye Chen. In the following year, Liu Ji and three others arrived at Jiankang. Liu Ji became the aides and staff of Zhu Yuanzhang and assisted him to settle the country and established the Ming Dynasty, becoming the prime minister (in feudal China). In the first year of Hongwu, Liu Ji served as the Imperial Minister. Because of his long-term discord with the prime minister (in feudal China), Li Shanchang, he resigned from office, and was added as a Sincere uncle after his death; the title was Wencheng. After Liu Ji’s return to his hometown, he was again framed by the rebellion of the left prime minister, Hu Weiyong, and was forced to 27

Record of Ming Taizu Volume 129.

494

9 People-Oriented Perspective and Yi Xia: Political Anxiety …

plead guilty into the Imperial court. He was angered and became ill, and died of depression. Liu Ji’s main works were compiled as the Collection of Sincere uncle Liu Wencheng’s Official Documents during the Ming Chenghua Period, today there are four copies of the compendium, including ten volumes of Yu Li Zi and twentyfour volumes of Fu Bu Ji, four Volumes of Love Collectio,n and Five Volumes of Li Mei Gong Ji edited by his son Liu Lian. Liu has a lot of experience based on School of Laws, especially on the relationship of Li and Qi. It emphasizes that Qi is the quality of Heaven, and that Li is the heart of Heaven. Although Li is good, it needs Qi to carry, but the evil that is born by Qi is not the wish of Heaven, and it is also not controlled by Heaven. The essence of Heaven is infinite Qi, and the core content of Qi is Heavenly principles, which in the air is positive energy. Heavenly principles can’t run alone. They can only run on the basis of Qi. Heaven produces all things, in which the evil spirit sometimes contaminates all things and causes all things to have evil ideas, which is not what Heaven wants.28

This is the case with both things and people. Man is the son of Heaven. If Qi produces man, then Heavenly principles are also used as the heart of man. Qi has evil spirits, and Heavenly principles are suppressed by evil spirits, therefore, there are evil people, which does not mean that God want evil people to be born.

The Li is all good, but the qi is different from the yin and yang, because Li is not self-reliant, it must rely on Qi, and the evil Qi produce evil things, which are not intentional, but are caused by natural Qi. However, the Qi of Heaven is positive. Evil Qi can only work in a moment, and cannot do it for a long time. Positive Qi is always to be restored. Good and evil and fortune and misfortune are determined by the positive or negative of Qi, and not determined by the will of Heaven. “So it is wrong to say that Heaven has befallen us when we see misfortunes and blessings. Qi did not recover. It’s wrong to blame God for the misfortune.”29 There is no intention for Heaven to bring happiness or disasters to people, and there is no need to look forward to or complain about Heaven. However, people are not just waiting for the righteousness or evil of Qi, and we can cultivate all things in the world by knowing Heaven and earth, complementing each other. The world is materially made up of Qi, while its rules, purposes and order come from Li. Human beings, as the objects formed by the Qi of Heaven, also have the rules, purposes, and order of their Li. Although Liu Ji’s Heaven is characterized by Qi or treats Qi as a carrier, it is essentially a mysterious and sacred nature, acting as the master of all things in the Heavens and the earth. As the Heaven of dominance, of course, it is not impossible to peek, but not everyone knows Heaven. Liu Ji believes that only a few sages can fully understand it. The movement of Heaven is recorded by the sage’s calendar, the vision of Heaven is checked by sages with instruments, the fate of Heaven is deduced by divination, the righteousness of Heaven is deduced by sages in the Book of Changes. But what can be heard by the ear, seen 28 29

Heaven Theory Part I. Ibid.

1 Nationality in the Early Ming Dynasty and People-Oriented Thinking

495

by the eye, and attained by wisdom, the sage carefully searches and studies, so that it is not half hidden.30

Through knowing the Heaven, people can live by their own efforts rather than the blessings of Heaven, and you can use your own efforts to achieve the goodness of yourself. Liu Ji compares people to “theft of the Heavens and the earth” and can steal their own needs from the Heavens and the earth in order to achieve the purpose of survival. “Nature is good at creating wealth, not forbidding people to acquire it. Only those who have both virtue and ability can know how to acquire it, grasp its pros and cons, use its power, seize its function, and belong to themselves”. “Therefore, people who were good at acquiring in ancient times could not be compared with Fuxi and Shennong.” “Sow in spring and harvest in autumn, promote the development of production according to the season; build palaces in highlands; build ponds in lowlands; sail in water and sail in the wind; use all kinds of methods to obtain resources; make full use of them without wasting them.” “Therefore, natural products are more abundant and people need to be more satisfied. Only sages know how to acquire wealth reasonably, weigh its advantages and disadvantages, and use its power instead of just taking it.” “Only nature is good at creating wealth and can be accommodated. When people with no talent and virtue use natural resources, they seize resources only by their own desires. This will exhaust resources and deplete reserves, and nature will not be able to do so.”31 The human society can survive and continue to develop because it is sages who are good at “the Pirate of the Heavens and the earth”. The sages of mankind come from the goodwill of Heaven, and the monarch is the embodiment of the goodwill of Heaven. Liu Ji reiterated the people-oriented concept that “the establishment of the monarch is for the people.” “God created the people, who could not be self-governing, so they set up the monarch for them, give the monarch the power to kill, let them ban the mob and eliminate the chaotic party, suppressing evils and supporting goodness.”32 “Heaven regards Qi as its essence. If Qi loses its balance, it will change.”33 There is a change in temperament. The change of temperament has already occurred, and the Heaven will not make the world a good one. The sage happens to correct the lack of Heaven with the positive of human beings. After the change of the temperament of Heaven, the human society appeared abusive, with dim politics. At least in politics, there are abnormal situations in which people are not allowed to do what they should do. Then, the sages came out to rule for chaos, to correct the mistakes of the day with manpower, healing the temperament of the Heavens, and restoring the good will of the Heavens. This embodies the guiding ideology of Liu Ji’s “the Way of Humanity” to complement the “the Way of Heaven”. “There are things that God can’t do, but man can… If God can’t do things, because the Qi is damaged, only sages can heal

30

Yu Lizi, Manifestation of God’s Will Sages Don’t Know. Yu Lizi, The Pirate of Heaven and Earth. 32 Yu Lizi, On Snake and Scorpion. 33 Heaven Theory Part II. 31

496

9 People-Oriented Perspective and Yi Xia: Political Anxiety …

it, so sages are like wise doctors.”34 Taking the traditional sage-kings Yao and Shun as an example, he elaborated on how “the Way of Humanity” can make up for the lack of “Way of Heaven”. Zhu Hejun (Danzhu, son of Yao, Shangjun, son of Shun) are not filial. Yao and Shun removed their bad habits. Xia Jie Shang Yi was cruel and tyrannical. Shang Tang and King Wu of Zhou cleaned them up again, in the late Zhou Dynasty, Confucius was good at governing the country, but the people at that time did not appoint him. So the prescriptions for governing the country were handed down to later generations, namely, The Book of Changes, Shangshu, The Book of Songs and The Spring and Autumn.35

If the temperamental change of the Heaven occurs, no sages are born, human beings will live under the dark politics, and they will suffer from the tyrant’s abuse of the people’s politics. In the end, the world is in chaos. Emperor Gaozu, Emperor Wendi and Emperor Guangwu of the Han Dynasty knew some medical skills but did not reach the level of “sage”, so their illness seldom recovered and their vital energy could not be completely restored. After a slight alleviation, there was no way to cure the illness in the relapse, and from then on the disease was in a state of mortality and the Way of Heaven was almost exhausted.36

The sage comes from Heaven on the one hand, and the right of the sage reflects the good will of Heaven; on the other hand, once the sage is born, it is necessary to correct the lack of temperamental change of Heaven, and to heal the disease caused by the good will of Heaven. Chinese traditional political thinking emphasizes that the order, rules, and purposes of the world come from Heaven, and Heaven is indeed the master of everything in nature. Dong Zhongshu’s theory of Heaven-human induction typically embodies this view. The rise and popularity of the School of Laws has not changed this mindset, still affirming the ultimate dominance of the Heaven. The legal basis or fundamental premise of the existence of all things in Heaven and earth is still Heaven. “The duty of Heaven is replaced by man.” Not only can it be expressed as Heaven-human induction, but also it can be expressed as an affirmation of people’s enthusiasm. To affirm the supreme authority of the Heavens more reasonably in a way to affirm human beings. Liu Ji’s theory of Heaven and Man changed the theoretical presupposition that Confucianism believes that Heaven is purely active and human beings are purely passive, denying the theory of Calamity Punishments by Nature, advocating to give more enthusiasm and independence of human beings. At the same time, he believed that Heaven could not naturally correct its errors caused by the transformation of temperament, and so gave more experience and rationality to the “man replaces the duty of Heaven” emphasizing the necessity of “Man replaces the duty of Heaven.” Liu Ji emphasized “take the sorrow of the people all over the world as his sorrow,” which highlighted his people-oriented feelings with his heart towards Confucianism. 34

Ibid. Ibid. 36 Ibid. 35

1 Nationality in the Early Ming Dynasty and People-Oriented Thinking

497

“Establishing a monarch for the country” is actually “establishing a monarch for the people.” He pointed out in Tong Tian Tai Fu, Heaven regards the people as descendants, and the monarch is on behalf of Heaven to convey the truth of human beings. If we can all take God’s will for our actions, how can God be unhappy? In the past, the monarchs fought in the South and in the north, hunting and cruising, although they spoke of “enforcing justice on behalf of Heaven.” Can you not disturb the people of all quarters and hurt their wealth? So he ordered the messengers to travel around to help the poor, to observe the famine, and to give clothes to those who were cold, and food to those who were hungry.

Liu Ji’s put forward the viewpoint of gathering people just as kneading sand in Yu Lizi Kneading Sand. He analyzed and said, “The people are like sand. People with the world can unite and gather them. The people of Yao and Shun, like the sand kneaded with lacquer, were not loose at all, so when Yao and Shun collapsed, the people’s grief is like losing their mother.” After three generations (Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties), the common people, like the sand mixed with glue, sometimes merge into one, but they can be separated without dividing. The common people under the rule of force are like the sand mixed with water. They seem to be inseparable when they come together, as if water is frozen. Once it melts, it is separated and scattered. The inferior people gather them with violence, as if they were holding sand with their hands, clenching their fists and closing them, releasing their hands and dispersing them. Instead of seeking ways to rally them, they accuse the people of being stubborn and disloyal. Ouch, that’s so bad at thinking!37

Liu Ji used different methods to describe the different measures of governing the people in the past dynasties, thus requiring the monarch to be good at cohesing the people and uniting the people by virtue. Liu Ji also put forward the idea of keeping people like bees in Yu Lizi Lingqiu Old Man. He reminded the rulers to care for and love the common people. If they blindly squeeze the people regardless of their lives and deaths, they will inevitably push the people to despair and rebel to survive. There is an old man in Lingqiu who is good at raising bees… He can harvest hundreds of Dendrobium honey and beeswax every year, so his wealth is almost equal to that of a feudal prince… After the death of the old man, his son inherited his beekeeping career, within a month, the bees flew away in a nest, but he was not worried about this phenomenon, after more than a year, nearly half of the bees fled, more than a year later, all the remaining bees flew away, and his family began to fall, why was this place so prosperous before, but so cold now? Once upon a time, when the old man raised bees, there were houses in the garden and guards in the houses, hollow out trees for bees to live in, not ventilated, not leaking rain, setting up the hives. The spacing was wide and narrow, and the new and old hives have a certain order, located in an azimuth. The windows are oriented so there are five hives in a group. Beekeepers are responsible for the management. They observe the reproduction of bees, adjust the temperature, consolidate the support and structure, and make holes for the hive plug according to the season. If bees breed more, they are separated into two nests, if there are fewer bees, they are gathered together so as not to have two queens in one hive. The beekeeper will clean up spiders, cockroaches, and ants, and eliminate the harmful effects of soil wasps, flies, and tigers. They are not exposed to the scorching sun in summer and not 37

Yu Lizi, Kneading Sand.

498

9 People-Oriented Perspective and Yi Xia: Political Anxiety …

attacked by the severe cold in winter. When a storm hits, the hive will not shake, nor will heavy rain destroy it, old people collect honey, just to collect extra parts, will not exhaust the vitality of bees, old bees live a stable life, and new bees live endlessly. Old people can collect the benefits of honey without going out. Now his son is not like this. Leaving the bees outside, the reed house in the bee garden is not repaired. Its being dirty or clean, dry or damp is not regulated. The hive is not open and closed on time. The bee’s residence is in danger. The entry and exit of the hive is hindered, so the bees do not like the place where they live, after a long time. The moths threw silk and netted the hives, but they did not know that the snakes and ants drilled holes in the hives, but they did not prohibit them. The wrens came to prey on honey in the daytime, and the foxes came to steal honey in the night, but they did not pay attention to it. I only know how to collect honey, how can we not become depressed and cold like this?38

Liu Ji put forward the idea of governing a country like managing a nursery in Yu Yizi Managing Nursery, he used the analogy that “gardeners manage nurseries” to warn rulers to support the people with reduced corves and taxes. Gardeners manage nurseries to make their soils fertile and their fields flat, to make them ventilated and transparent, to dredge floods, and to use their skills to plant them, depressions. Highlands, dry lands and wetlands should be planted with different crops according to their characteristics, and planted according to the season. Vegetables can be harvested only after they grow up. We should cultivate the fewer varieties of vegetables according to their leanness and picking the varieties of more vegetables. We should not damage their roots. After harvesting, we should irrigate them, so that soon the vegetables could be picked again, so there were plenty of vegetables in the kitchen every day and a lot of vegetables in the garden… Now your officials are demanding too much from the people. They only know how to obtain but not how to cultivate them. How much can they afford to live on, and the tax on their income to the government has doubled. Your vegetable garden is so scarce that I really worry about you.39

Liu Ji advocated that the monarch should govern the people with benevolence and righteousness, and at the same time he advocated the centralization of the monarchy. He emphasized the government of laws and focused on the role of education in political socialization and governance. “If all the people listen to one king, the country will be stable, and if millions of troops listen to one general, they will win.” Governance of the country should be “based on virtue and politics, supplemented by punishment, which can make the country more afraid.” “Moral education is the core of social politics,” emphasizing that “education is the fundamental way to govern the country.” He believed that only when both politics and education were adopted, could we say that we had the way of governing the people, and that we could achieve the goal of “virtue without losing its rules”. The reason why the people dare to violate the law is that they do not understand the moral relationship between people. The teachings of saints prevail, and the people understand human relations. When the human relations are clear, the people will know how to respect their close relatives. Therefore, they will not dare to do unjust things to affect themselves. The officials below will know how to respect the monarch, so they will not dare to talk indignantly about state affairs and do otherwise. In that case, how can thieves come into being and how can disasters grow and spread? 38 39

Yu Lizi The Old Man in Lingqiu. Yu Lizi, Managing Nursery.

1 Nationality in the Early Ming Dynasty and People-Oriented Thinking

499

Liu Ji discussed the role of “morality” in military affairs in Yu Yizi Rule of Virtue, and expounded the principle that if virtue and power are united, the world will be invincible. “Big virtue is better than small virtue, small virtue is better than no virtue; big virtue is better than great strength, small virtues can rival great strength.” “Strength can only produce enemies, but virtue can produce strength; if strength can be produced from virtue, the world will be invincible.” “Winning by strength is only temporary, but the longer virtue is carried out, the more successful it will be.” “Strength is not my own power. people use their own power.” “Only great virtue can unite the strength of all people.” “Virtue will not be exhausted, but strength may be exhausted.”40 Liu Ji also attaches great importance to the selection of Shou Ling (official position in history). He said that in the court, “officials are set up for the people. Officials are parents and people are sons. As parents, they make their children not love them, why is that?” “A good official is like a farmer who is good at planting fields. He regards good-growing millet as his relatives and weeds as his enemies.”41 “The emperor possesses the people, but he cannot manage them one by one, so he is entrusted to the governor, so the governor is called a herdsman.” “The so-called herdsmen, who accept other people’s cattle and sheep to graze, must clean their water and pasture for cattle and sheep, so that they can enjoy their activities and rest, remove their skin diseases, and expel the threat of jackals and wolves, then cattle and sheep can grow so that the way of grazing will be understood.” “As for the fierce soldiers, the cunning officials are the tigers and wolves of the people.” “Strict servitude and indiscriminate taxation are the mustard of the people. Tigers and wolves are not excluded. Scabies is growing, miss the time to rest, lack of water and pasture, then the next day is close to death. The fault lies in their herdsmen.42 (3)

Fang Xiaotong’s Political Thought

Fang Xiaoru, whose formal name is Xi Zhi, is also known as Xi Gu and Xun Zhi. The king of the Shu Zhu Chun, who heard that he is a sage, hired him as the teacher of the prince’s son. He personally inscribed the two words “Zhengxue” for his study. He is called Mr. Zhengxue, a native of Zhejiang Ninghai, born in the seventeenth year of Emperor Shun of Yuan Dynasty, in 1357 AD. He died in the fourth year of emperor Hui’s Jianwen of Ming Dynasty, in 1357, in 1402 AD, a famous scholar, writer, and thinker in the early Ming Dynasty. Fang Xiaoxuan was smart and eager to learn since childhood, and was called “Little Hanzi” by the local people. After Fang Xiaoru grew up, he worshipped Song Wei of Great Confucianism in early Ming Dynasty as a teacher, and was praised by peers. In 1382, due to the recommendation of Wu Chen and Yang Shu of the Dongge grand secretary, Ming Taizu summoned Fang Xiaoru. Ming Taizu saw that Xiaoru was dignified and versatile, and praised him as a rare talent. However, while Fang Xiaoru strongly advocated the implementation of benevolent government, first virtue and then political punishment, Taizu advocated administering the country by violence, using severe law to control the government and 40

Yu Lizi, Rule of Virtue. Official Preface of Sending Haining Yi Zhizhou. 42 Ibid. 41

500

9 People-Oriented Perspective and Yi Xia: Political Anxiety …

the people, so he did not put him in an important position. Even so, Taizu deliberately let Fang Xiaoru assist the descendants in the future, so he appointed Xiao ru as a professor of Shaanxi Hanzhongfu. Hongwu 31 years, that is, 1398 AD, the death of Emperor Taizu of the Ming Dynasty, the succession of Emperor Taisun Zhu Yunwei, summoned Fang Xiaoru to Beijing, entrusted with a heavy task, he served as Hanlin imperial tutor and Hanlin Scholars. Emperor Jianwen respected Fang Xiaoru very much. He consulted Fang Xiaoru whenever he had any difficulties in reading, he is often consulted on matters of state importance, sometimes, Fang Xiaoru was asked to reply to the ministers’ memorials. At that time, Fang Xiaoru served as president of the Palace in compiling historical records such as Taizu Shilu and Leiyao. Emperor Jianwen listened to the suggestions for weakening Fan tribes of minister of war Qitai and temple minister Huang Zicheng. The Yan King stationed in Beiping, took the name of “Cleaning up the cronies and treacherous ministers beside the monarch” and made the oath to “Calm the turmoil” and marched south. The Yan Army broke through the Beijing Division in 1402 and the whereabouts of Emperor Jianwen were unknown, most the civil and military officials ushered in the surrender of King Yan. Fang Xiaoru refused to surrender and was arrested and imprisoned. An imperial edict was given to slaughter ten clans (十族 Fang Xiaoru’s friends and pupils are also listed as a clan, together with their clans as “ten clans”.) This was because Fang Xiaoru refused to write the imperial edict of the new emperor and scolded Prince of Yan. Fang Xiaoru’s works are rich, including the Zhou Li Kaochi, Dayizhi Ci, Wu Wang’s Notes on Quitting Books, Important Statements of Song Dynasty History, Records of Emperors Ji Ming, Wentong, and more. After he was murdered, Zhu Di banned all his works, most of which were not handed down. Today, there are 24 volumes of the Collection of Xun Zhizhai, but the more popular versions is Four Essential Classics. Fang Xiaoru’s thought and morality had great influence in the Ming Dynasty. Many great thinkers in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties highly praised Fang Xiaoru’s moral demonstration. Fang Xiaoru’s moral demonstration is not merely a foolish loyalty to the monarch, but rather is a relatively complete reflection of the moral ideals shaped by Neo-Confucianism. Behind his moral ideal is a complete set of political thought of being people-oriented and rule by kings. The thinkers in the Ming and Qing dynasties did not surpass Fang Xiaoru in this respect, even Huang Zongxi and other prominent people-oriented thinkers have much less than Fang Xiaoru in advocating people-oriented idea. Fang Xiaoru believes that everything in nature is caused by the change of “Yin and Yang, metal, wood, water, fire and earth, the five elements.” Isn’t it Yin and Yang, metal, wood, water, fire and earth, the five elements that run between Heaven and earth and create all things? Some of Yin and Yang, metal, wood, water, fire and earth, the five elements are fine, some rough, some pure and some confusing, so everything derived from the five elements is also different.43

Humankind between Heaven and earth is the most precious. Therefore, man is the third standing together with Heaven and earth. Although people are born of the merits 43

Ibid., Volume 16, “Chu Qing Xuan Ji”.

1 Nationality in the Early Ming Dynasty and People-Oriented Thinking

501

of “Yin and Yang, metal, wood, water, fire and earth, the five elements.” “the accepted Yin and Yang, metal, wood, water, fire and earth, the five elements differ in the degree of purity”. Therefore, people also have the difference between good and bad, sage and ordinary. Fang Xiaoru pointed out, “Yang Qi exists between Heaven and earth. Whoever gets the pure and complete essence of Yang Qi is the talented person… who gets the rest of the mixed and thin Yang Qi is the mediocre, ordinary people.” He said, “benevolence, righteousness, courtesy, wisdom, and faith are embodied in human beings. It is like holding water in the cleanest container and treating it quietly. Such water can be used to distinguish itself from very small differences. If people fill water in dirty containers and shake it, the water becomes turbid and cannot be used to identify itself.” “Good learners use sedimentation filtration to change the turbidity of sewage slowly and make the sewage clear again. That is why ordinary people can become talented people.”44 But the difference in human good and good is not absolute. Through personal effort, everyone can be Yao and Shun, ancient sages. Fang Xiaoru emphasized that Way of Heaven is in line with human affairs, but people must do their best to highlight the special importance of human initiative. He pointed out: When dealing with government affairs, we should concentrate on the people’s livelihood. Although God does not want to conform to him, he can’t. But those who know the Way of Heaven do not rely on God not to violate themselves, but on what they do to conform to the Dao of Heaven.45

He also pointed out that, “the essence of virtue lies in the level of learning. The right to choose whether to learn or not lies in oneself, it is destined to be high or low in status and good or bad in appraisal, but the power of appraisal lies in others.”46 Fang Xiaoru believes that the realm of “the unity of Heaven and Man” is the realm of sages that intellectuals hope to achieve, and that the only way to achieve the sages is not to rely on others; you have to depend on yourself instead. “We are not worried about the lack of talent of intellectuals in politics today, but about their lack of integrity. We are not worried about their lack of integrity, and we are worried that they do not know what the Way is.” The Way is like water source; Qijie is like water flow; talent is like buoyancy generated by water. It is common that no water flow can be formed without a source, but there is no buoyancy when there is not plenty of water. Therefore, a gentleman does not have to improve his talent reluctantly, but he must cultivate his integrity for life.47

“The key to unity of Heaven and Man is to know the Heavens in order to acquire and preserve the destiny of Heaven forever.” Fang Xiaoru pointed out, “People who are good at understanding fate do not dare rely on fate to care for themselves. Rather, they 44

Ibid., Volume 16, “Chu Qing Xuan Ji”. Ibid., Volume 10, “Two with Mr. Cailing”. 46 Ibid., Volume 11, “Answer to Lin Jiayu”. 47 Ibid., Volume 18. 45

502

9 People-Oriented Perspective and Yi Xia: Political Anxiety …

worry that they cannot undertake the mission of Heaven.” “Do not dare to be happy because the world is peaceful, but worry because of the turbulence of the times.” Seeing his people unable to live in peace is just like seeing babies in their infancy. Raise the people with a broad heart; speculate on their ideas with a sympathetic heart; make the people gracious with noble virtue, and intersect with them with the most sincere heart. Make the people obedient and unwilling to deviate. After that, we can get and keep our destiny.48

Fang Xiaoru and Liu Ji both believe that although Heaven has a dominant role, it reflects good will, but because the carrier of good will is Qi. As a result, the good will of Heaven cannot be fully realized, and various defects or deficiencies emerge. Wherever there has been a serious division that violates the good will, or the weak will stand as an easy prey to the strong, the efforts of the sages can precisely correct the faults of Heaven and make up for the shortcomings of Heaven. Although their theory of Heaven and Man is far from being rigorous in terms of the overall logic of Dong Zhongshu or Zhu Xi, for example, but they are indeed superior in affirming their enthusiasm and initiative. In the general ontology and cultivation methodology of ethical philosophy, Fang Xiaoyu highly praised Zhu Xi’s School of Laws, advocating a respectful heart and sincere attitude, the investigation of things, the extension of knowledge, returning to human beings’ essence of good conscience, firmly guarding the three cardinal guides, and the five constant virtues. Fang Xiaoru pointed out, “If people do not regard the superior man of the Song Dynasty as a teacher, but want to reach the level of the ancient talented and virtuous people, it would be like trying to go south by driving the chariot north—acting in a way that defeats one’s purpose.” He also claimed that, No one in Qian Chun’s years could compare with Zhu Xi. He was familiar with the ancient literature and got the knowledge from it. He was careful to practice the doctrine in books, to explore carefully and to distinguish the Confucian doctrine carefully.49 Zhuxi’s knowledge is that of sages.50 It is true that what one learns can perpetuate respect in one’s heart and act morally. Exploring the truth of all things can make people deal with things thoroughly, including the general attributes of ethics, without concealing its core. This kind of knowledge can be used internally to govern the family and externally to govern the country.51

“Respect applies to achievement of benevolence. Benevolence is the source of many good deeds, good morality and the core of Heaven and earth.”52 “Be cautious and not negligent, and be sincere and not hypocritical” is a kind of moral cultivation of Fang Xiaoxu. He advocates the use of “be cautious and not negligent, and be sincere and not hypocritical” to rule out the unreasonable desires in the heart. Through 48

Ibid., Volume 2, “On Deep Thoughts” 7. Ibid., Volume 10, “Zeng Lu Xin Dao Xu.” 50 Ibid., Volume 7, “Xi An Shuo.” 51 Ibid., Volume 7, “Xi An Shuo.” 52 Ibid., Volume 17, “Xue Kong Zhai Ji.” 49

1 Nationality in the Early Ming Dynasty and People-Oriented Thinking

503

self-cultivation, one can achieve moral self-improvement. For the sages, using the “sincerity” of the heart, one should try. They govern the world by using the virtues of human-heartedness and righteousness to fulfill their function, making the best use of it. They use wisdom to practice human-heartedness and righteousness and make it manifest. Only when the sages are “respectful” and “sincere” can they achieve the ideal governance of selflessness, can they achieve the “Great Harmony” Ideal of the whole world as one community. “Be cautious and not negligent, and be sincere and not hypocritical” for ordinary people is to maintain their hearts with “the highest good” and try to learn the words and deeds of sages. The central content and ultimate goal of learning the words and deeds of sages is the three cardinal guides and the five constant virtues. “The common fault of human beings is not that they cannot practice truth, but that they often do not know it.”53 Fang Xiaoru believed Confucius’ idea of, “the fundamental principle of exhausting all things in the world, of thorough insight into the human inner personality, in order to change human destiny, so that human behavior and natural laws are harmonious and balanced, and there is life and growth in nature.” All the sages teach “San Gang Liu Ji.” “What the sages teach is what people should do. To explore the truth of the world and practice it personally is nothing more than San Gang Liu Ji.”54 Fang Xiaoru thought that “God created man, doesn’t he want everyone to be satisfied?” However, “there are places where one’s strength does not match one’s ambitions.” Therefore, we must, “entrust someone to be a monarch and coordinate.” He believes that “there is a big gap between people’s intelligence and the rich and poor in life.” “This is due to the interaction between the fate and destiny. Although God did not intend to make such a gap, ultimately we cannot avoid this phenomenon.” A wise man, “can sum up and examine the affairs of the whole country, but the little gate keeper can’t do such things. Some people’s wealth can be passed on for hundreds of generations; and the hungry poor don’t even have a mouthful to eat.” “God does not forbid everyone to have wisdom and wealth, but there are still people who are dull and poor, and fortune or destiny is not allowed.”55 He said, “Qi runs between Heaven and earth, and everything depends on it for a living.” Through, “the interaction of fortune destiny and fate,” people’s endowments are different. There are inequalities between the rich and the poor, the strong and the weak, and the unequal people have launched a struggle based on interests. The result of the struggle is that the strong and the rich often win, and the weak and the poor are often defeated. The defeated weak and poor often produce the desire to appeal to the people, and the sages are the ones who receive the wisdom granted by Heaven and accept the poor and weak to go to political law. Heaven also expects them to play the role of “making up for deficiencies with surplus.” The strong and the weak are intertwined, and then the case is created. In one tenth of such cases, the strong lose and the weak wins. In the nine cases out of ten that are strong winning against the weak, the common people have a private struggle among the people, and the 53

Ibid., Volume 18. Ibid., Volume 6, “Ci Wang.” 55 Ibid., Volume 1, “Ti Ren.” 54

504

9 People-Oriented Perspective and Yi Xia: Political Anxiety …

losers will file a lawsuit against the government because of their resentment. The majority of those who appeal are those who are poor and oppressed by power and are unable to make a living.56

In a word, the duty of the sage to “make up for deficiencies” is to realize the whole world as one community. They are entrusted by Heaven to govern the world. “In such a position as to rule the world, it must be based on the great virtues of all the people under Heaven. It is forbidden by the Way of Heaven that morality is insufficient and status is too high.” Sages must follow the Heavenly Laws, to execute with kindness what is beyond or beyond the reach of God. Thus, the shortcomings of “Way of Heaven” can be compensated by “personnel,” and good governance can be implemented. God created man; doesn’t he want everyone to be satisfied? “However, the situation does not permit, so let people take their course; let the surplus make up for the deficiency.” “The natural Qi runs between the earth and Heaven. All things depend on it for their growth, like rivers and streams, vast and deep or microwave rippling. It creates different shocks, and their distinctive shapes are different. The big one is like a flood dragon; the small one is like a pearl. Some voices can be heard thousands of miles away; others are quiet and silent. Water does not deliberately separate its flow. However, there are all kinds of changes in water which cannot be restrained.” “What’s the difference between human beings and the current?” “The wise can gather and examine the world, while the ignorant cannot even take care of their own bodies. The rich can pass on their property to their descendants for centuries, and the poor cannot even eat a mouthful of millet.” “It is not God who doesn’t want everyone to be rich and wise. The reason is that the situation does not permit it. The situation exists. What God cannot do, man can do.”57 “So emperors were established to govern the country so that those who were favored by Heaven would not be arbitrary. The poor can also depend on something to preserve themselves.” “The purpose of Heaven, earth and nature was carried out by the sages and spread, and then the theory of politics and education rose.” “So the sages do not exist for themselves, but for those who are less intelligent than them. Money and wealth are not meant to make ordinary people rich. They should have allowed them to distribute what remains to supplement what people lack.”58 “Maybe God has given talent and wisdom to sages not so that he only plans for himself. It’s the hope that (he) can make up for what the Way of Heaven can’t do, help people to do things they can’t do.”59 Fang Xiaoru believes that the duty of the monarch is to raise the people and teach the people on behalf of Heaven. He specializes in the book “Jun Zhi” and explains the duties of the monarch to raise and teach the people. He solemnly pointed out that, “Heaven makes the monarch ascend the throne. It was not because he preferred one 56

Ibid., Volume 4, “Zhou Li Bian Yi Zhi San.” Ibid., Volume 17, “Yu Ci Xun Ci Ji.” 58 Ibid., Volume 17 “Yu Ci Xun Ci Ji.” 59 Ibid., Volume 7 “Hou Le Tang Ji.” 57

1 Nationality in the Early Ming Dynasty and People-Oriented Thinking

505

person to make him rich. Instead, let him nurture the people so that everyone can be satisfied.”60 “There is no distinction between lowliness and nobleness at birth.” However, “only because there is a lack of ability and morality, arrogance breeds.” And with respect and contempt, the rank of superiority and inferiority has come into being among people. In a disrespectful manner, it began to be called “Er Ru” (according to ancient customs, it is disrespectful to call you Er Ru directly). If you don’t feel ashamed or insulted enough, call him by his first name. If it’s not too addictive to call him by his first name, then give him another ugly and insulting nickname. (For) a person of great respect, it is regarded that using his formal name to address him is beyond his part, so he was called by his last name, which become very popular. In other ways, the elder is called the elder, and the teacher is called Mr. Alternatively, use his name according to his residence, or glorify his appellation according to what he has. But how can we compel others to say such terms as Mr. or the elder? Ordinary people do not think that this is the case with gentlemen, and it is not enough for them to have a sense of respect and admiration.61

“In ancient times, when there were people, there were no monarchs. When people gather together, desire breeds, arguments arise when the mood warms up, (people) can’t decide for themselves, so intelligent people stand up to do the things of monarchs and elders.” “The moral degeneration of the world is getting worse day by day, and things are getting more complicated. Because with the vastness of the world, not a person can govern independently.” “In this way, they had to make titles and salaries. Let them take charge of the power of judging nobility and lowness. Make rules of reward and punishment. Let him grasp the power of giving people honor and disgrace, and position him above the people of the whole country. His residence, clothing, car ride are very different from ordinary people.” “In this way, people enlarged his living room to make his carriage and clothes beautiful, and offered him the most beautiful and precious treasures in the world, so that he could do his best for the civil affairs. In this way, God set up the monarch for the people, not for the people to serve the monarch.”62 But it is still unavoidable for someone to give him food and clothes, believing that he has to rely on him to judge right and wrong, to remove suffering, to relieve what he lacks and teach what he does not know. The courtesy of respecting and submitting to the monarch is indispensable. This is the feeling of the people.63

If the monarch can’t take the responsibility of nourishing the people as his own duty, and specially engage in the activities of serving himself with the people, the people have the right to resist the tyranny and carry out the uprising. Fang Xiaoru expressed sympathy for Chen Sheng’s and Wu Guang’s civil riots against tyranny in the successive dynasties since the Qin Dynasty, further developing Mencius’ Revolution of King Tang and King Wu into a Civilian Revolution. “Heaven believes that 60

Ibid., Volume 2 “On Deep Thoughts,” 7. Ibid., Volume 16 “Nan Zhai Ji.” 62 Ibid., Volume 3 “Monarch Duty.” 63 Ibid., Volume 3 “Monarch Duty.” 61

506

9 People-Oriented Perspective and Yi Xia: Political Anxiety …

those who are above the people should nurture them. If morality is higher than that of ordinary people, they should be assisted in areas beyond the reach of the people. (His) position is certainly appropriate, which can be a credit.” However, “the monarchs of later generations only knew that the duty of the people was to serve the emperor, not that the duty of the monarch was to nurture the people, so they demanded that the people’s affairs should be very detailed, while what they needed to do was lazy and inefficient.” “If the people fail to pay taxes in time and do not work hard, then punishment and blame will surely be imposed.” “If politics and education do not flourish, etiquette and music will not be enforced, and the rich and the poor have not been properly settled down. They do not seem to know it.” “God created kings” “because the people could not settle down and understand their nature so that they could be ruled by the monarch.” “If the establishment of a monarch is of no benefit to the people, then what can it gain for the monarch? Every official in charge of affairs has his own duties.”64 “Is it the fault of the people to treat the monarch as an enemy.”65 Fang Xiaoru’s so-called nourishing the people includes two basic elements. On the one hand, he emphasized that, “the monarch must nurture the people of Heaven with the products of Heaven,” but people’s wisdom is not enough to support themselves. “Gold, wood, water, fire, earth and all things in the world cannot find their own uses to use them.” Then, “as rulers, they should be guided to acquire things in the right way, and tell them how to use them, so that the things that exist in the world will not be useless. The use of things between Heaven and earth should not be uncontrolled.”66 Fang Xiaoru believed that the square-fields system and the patriarchal clan system could be restored to the early Ming Dynasty when the population was scarce. He pointed out that, “there is no good custom in the world when the square-fields system is abolished, when the patriarchal clan system was abolished. [In such circumstances,] there would be no family handed down from generation to generation.”67 If it is really difficult to restore the patriarchal clan system and the well field system, we should follow the law of the townspeople, and rely on the moral education of the elders and the townsmen in a way of mutual assistance and autonomy. They persuade the good and punish the evil, and solve the problem of the people’s basic education in the local society. Its laws were influenced by Zhou Li and Rural Covenants since the Song Dynasty. It advocates and develops the governing methods in which mutual encouragement is needed to cultivate virtue and build up merit. Mutual advice should be given to each other when there is a fault; etiquette and custom require common ground while reserving differences. Mutual support should be provided in times of trouble. The contents are as follows. In the clan, permanent directors such as chiefs, Dian Li, Dian Shi, teachers, and doctors are set up to administer the four things of the clan, namely, farmland (sacrificing fields, farmland relief for poverty), learning (establishment of tribal schools to teach), temple (to commemorate the people of 64

Ibid., Volume 3 “Monarch Duty.” Ibid., Volume 3 “Min Zheng.” 66 Ibid., Volume 5 “Zhen Shen Theory.” 67 Ibid., Volume 1 “Zhong Yi.” 65

1 Nationality in the Early Ming Dynasty and People-Oriented Thinking

507

the clan and the teachers with the Way), meeting (on February, May, August, and November to encouraging kindness) to persuade the good and punish the evil, so as to achieve the upbringing of the members of the clan. On the other hand, he advocated that the monarch should restore the people’s security and nature. The essence of governing the people lies in benevolence, righteousness, ritual propriety, and music, not in the legal punishment. If the monarch, …wants to prohibit people from robbing and stealing from each other, he must first think about the reasons why they rob and steal from each other. In this way, they can have land to cultivate, business to do, food and cloth to make food and clothing, then prohibition, then robbery and theft can be stopped. Hoping to prohibit people from doing nothing, and becoming being violent, treacherous, and not following the ethical principles and disciplines, we must first set up schools to educate them, exercise morality to inspire them, let them be immersed in community behavior, and be edified by loyal behavior. They must then know that it is wrong to violate, be treacherous, and not to follow ethics. In this way, we can stop it. If they do not engage in prostitution, they must first make the people free from the thoughts of widows and widows (couples) who have been separated for a long time. If they hope that there is no corruption, they must first fear being punished and be humiliated.

“If they cannot make the people live in peace and restore their nature, they must not do evil things and prohibit them from committing riots. The more detailed the formulation, the more deviated the public will be.”68 Fang Xiaoru advocates that the methods of governing and governing others should be carried out simultaneously. The methods of governing and governing others complement each other.69 Fang Xiaoru’s so-called rule of law is not the law of the pre-Qin legalists, but the law of the Confucian sage king, which focuses on education and cultivation of the people’s sense of self-respect and shame. Ancient sages knew that the people could not surrender with authority, so they put the intention of eliminating evil and eliminating the mob in alleviating slow and impatient behavior, so that the people could be gentle and lenient, and no one acts carelessly and everyone knows his own shame. They have fear and dignity without seeing the instruments of execution. They keep away from evil without trial. All of this they do in the process of changing imperceptibly among the people. If people come to supervise them, will they rely on this insignificant method.

Fang Xiaoru emphasized that the Legalist school’s law was not enough. “The law is used, and it is shallow and easy to know, while the people’s feelings are deep and unpredictable. Looking at the law that is easy to know with unpredictable feelings, the law is exhausted and its variables are not exhausted. Everyone snickers and has unspoken criticisms in private.”70

68

Ibid., Volume 2 “On Deep Thoughts.” Ibid., Volume 3 “Guan Zheng.” 70 Ibid., Volume 3 “Zhi Yao.” 69

508

9 People-Oriented Perspective and Yi Xia: Political Anxiety …

2 The Political Thought of Making the Society Prosperous and the People Settle Down of the Reformers of the Ming Dynasty Any dynasty will inevitably encounter institutional difficulties, as any dynasty system tries to solve the problem that caused the collapse of the former dynasty. When they have effectively solved the problems that the previous dynasty failed to solve, they also plant the cause of the systemic ailments that were difficult to solve in the present dynasty. Most of the social problems in the Ming Dynasty were related to the design of their fundamental system. In the Ming Dynasty, from the time of Xuande, we began to encounter social problems brought about by the fundamental system. The administrative efficiency is also worsened due to excessive monarchy. This activates the complex of making the society prosperous and the people settle down of the Confucian scholar bureaucrat. They may discover and develop the study of Confucianism to make the society prosperous and the people settle, or focus on analyzing socio-economic and political issues and thinking about reforms, or, under the premise of certain political ideals, profoundly criticize the social politics in reality. Qiu Yan, Zhang Juzheng and Lu Kun respectively elaborated on the three aspects of thoughts of making the society prosperous and the people settle down. (1)

Qiu Jun’s Political Thought

Qiu Jun, whose formal name is Zhongshen, was also known as Qiongtai, Shen’an, Yufeng and Qiongshan. His alias is old person on the sea. He is from Qiongzhou, born in the 19th year of Ming Chengzu Yongle (AD 1421). He died in the 9th year of Hongzhi of Xiaozong in Ming Dynasty (AD 1496). He served as a Bachelor of Hospitality, Guo Zi libate, Minister of Rites, Minister of Works, grand secretary of Wu Yingdian. After his death, a powerful office was given. Qiu Jun painfully felt difficulty of no book to read and borrowing books from neighbors, and the preciousness of the collection. He even sighed and said, “I hope that in the future, if I have the financial resources, I will buy more books and collect them in the school. As long as the young people in my hometown have the ambition to read, they will use them instead of looking for books as hard as I did.” In the 5th year of Ming Xianzong Chenghua, (AD 1466), Qiu Jun returned to his hometown for his mother’s funeral by the capital. He decided to use the entire life savings to build a library building in institution of higher learning in Qiongshan County. All the beams, columns and pillars etc. were all stone, and it took three years to complete the book house, which was named the “Stone Room.” Qiu Yun was worried about his later generations who did not know how difficult it was to get books, or someone takes the book away. He wrote On the Book Collections in Stone Room to remember the matter. The most representative work of Qiu Jun is Daxue Yanyi Bu. Qiu Jun Political thought mainly focuses on Daxue Yanyi Bu. Qiu Jun’s Daxue Yanyi Bu is a supplement and extension of the book Daxue Yanyi by Song-dynasty philosopher Zhen Dexiu. The Neoconfucians especially praised The Great Learning. Zhu Xi listed The Great Learning as one of the Four Books, which includes the

2 The Political Thought of Making the Society Prosperous …

509

Confucian Analects, Doctrine of the Mean, Mencius, and was regarded as a classic by Song-dynasty philosopher Zhen Dexiu. The ancestor of the Song Dynasty, Zhu Xi, was regarded as “Orthodox”, paying special attention to the Great Learning, and the Daxue Yanyi is written as an expansion and active play of The Great Learning, emphasizing the “six wires” in The Great Learning, such as the rectification of the mind, sincerity in thought, the investigation of things, the extension of knowledge, the cultivation of the self, and regulation of the family. The aim is to uphold the monarch’s heart, to soothe the palace and to restrain power and fortune, speaking up the code of conduct as a monarch. Daxue Yanyi is a political textbooks that must be read by the emperors in the Yuan and Ming dynasties. Qiu Jun’s Daxue Yanyi Bu is based on the rule of the governance of country, combining the political theory of the School of Laws with the specific policies of Imperial court. The book extensively collected, and compiled the rich ideological materials on the governance of country in the past. It focuses on the principles, ideas and strategies of the governance of country. The Great Learning, Daxue Yanyi and Daxue Yanyi Bu together constitute a complete and detailed “imperial learning.” The Great Learning only prescribes the basic political principles programmatically. Daxue Yanyi only focuses on the way to cultivate the balance and elaborate the principle of peace, laying the foundation and body of peacekeeping. However, the Daxue Yanyi Bu focuses on enriching the policy of governing peace, that is, the matter of governing peace, and proceeds to improve and supplement the “the Format of Rules and Decrees under the Kingdom”, which is a trinity with both formats and functions. “The world is so big that it only depends on one person. The human mind is small, but it can be shown in everything.” “The law of the emperor’s rule,” should, “first focus on the fundamentals and then give consideration to the end, from self-cultivation to governing the world, ultimately reaching the highest level, which is the so-called balance between the whole course of an event from beginning to end, internal and external penetration, in order to achieve the great realm of preserving the source and exerting its effectiveness.”71 Qiu Jun’s policy of ruling in the Daxue Yanyi Bu, involves ceremonies and music, administrative measures and penal regulations, civil cultivation, and military achievement. The four [nations of] barbarian peoples in China but the most important is “to make the court run smoothly and efficiently.” and “to consolidate the Fundamentals of the State.” Other subheadings may be summarized or linked. How can the monarch “make the court run smoothly and efficiently.” and “consolidate the Fundamentals of the State”? On the basis of summing up the experience of governing the country in the past, Qiu Jun put forward several suggestions for the monarch. First, the monarch can’t rule alone. It is necessary to establish a harmonious relationship between the monarch and the minister, to strive for the unity of monarch and Minister. The monarch is always on the top; the minister is divided into the next. The key to the rule of the world is of course the unified ruler’s authority, because all power in the traditional era is derived from ruler’s authority. However, the world is so big, there

71

Daxue Yanyi Bu, “Preface.”

510

9 People-Oriented Perspective and Yi Xia: Political Anxiety …

are so many people that the affairs involved in governance are very complicated, and “officials are set up to deal with various matters separately.”72 The monarch is only one person, that is to say, he is in a high position to command the lower officials, but in essence he is a single person to lead the vast majority of people, in principle, of course, one person can rule the whole country, but as far as complicated government affairs are concerned, there are inevitably some inadequacies and inappropriateness in dealing with things by one person.73

Secondly, the monarch should not be self-willed, be able to accept advice from one’s inferiors, follow correct opinions or well-intentioned advice like water flowing swiftly and smoothly downward. The monarch cannot rely on shutting one’s eyes and stopping up one’s ear or slaughtering to dispel dissatisfaction and resentment. “When the monarch does things that are not popular with the people, people all over the world will talk about him. Does this mean that people’s indignation can be eliminated by killing a person and limiting people’s speech?”.74 People with talent and virtue have no way to carry out their ambitions, so the government affairs of the country cannot be handled together with talents, and the people of the world cannot participate in the governance of the country. If the opinion of people at the bottom can’t be conveyed upwards, then the people’s misery and the official’s achievements can’t make the monarch know that the world will be approaching chaos day by day!75

“Great praise for good deeds encourages the free airing of view. Be modest and admonishing. Encourage people to treat each other with all sincerity.” “He contacted his subordinates, treated them with courtesy, treated others with peace, and made them feel warm. His modest attitude enabled them to speak freely, listen attentively and know their thoughts.” Additionally, “do not treat subordinates by reward. Do not show off oneself by wisdom. Do not perceive things keenly as ability. Do not speculate subjectively as wisdom. Do not show likes and dislikes to attract flattery. Do not speak up to show authority.”76 Thirdly, the monarch should not harm the public by private means, but should be fair and selfless. “The greatest weapon of monarchy’s administer is just what is said reward and punishment.” “The monarch should master the method of reward and punishment, which is the way to be a monarch.” But he also pointed out that, “the monarch’s reward and punishment should be in line with the people’s hearts, and can’t just think about your own selfishness.” “When a monarch reward and punish, he should conform to Heaven’s will, and should not rely on his own selfishness.” “The monarch’s reward and punishment is not his personal behavior, but on behalf of God’s will.” “Rewards and punishments must be in line with public opinion. Otherwise it is against the people’s will and the will of Heaven.”77 He emphasized that, “nothing is more important than the doctrine 72

Daxue Yanyi Bu, “Ding Zhi Guan Zhi Pin.” Daxue Yanyi Bu, “Fen Min Zhi Mu.” 74 Daxue Yanyi Bu, “Jie Lan Zong Zhi Shi.” 75 Daxue Yanyi Bu, “Zong Lun Chao Ting Zhi Zheng.” 76 Daxue Yanyi Bu, “Guang Chen Yan Zhi Lu.” 77 Daxue Yanyi Bu, “Gong Shang Fa Zhi Shi.” 73

2 The Political Thought of Making the Society Prosperous …

511

of the mean for the monarch.” “The doctrine of the mean means treating people and things fairly and reasonably.” “When the monarch teaches the emperor’s mind to his descendants, the doctrine of the mean should be taught as the gist and the criterion for governing the country.”78 “Ceremonies and music, punishments and administrative measures should conform to the doctrine of the mean. In this way, it can create politics in the kingly way. Fourth, the monarch can’t exploit the people to feed himself.” “Whether the world is prosperous or declining depends on the quality of people’s lives.” Although the human monarch is supreme and strong, and the small people are humble and weak, the monarch relies on the people. What is truly awesome is the people, not the monarchs. “Mountains are higher than the ground, but they still adhere to it, just as the monarchy is much higher than the people, but also adhere to the people.” “The reason why a monarch can be a monarch is that he owns the people.” “If people’s livelihood is stable, then the monarch will depend on it and the throne will be stable.”79 The purpose of emperor’s establishment and official establishment is “raising the people” and “managing the people.” Fifth, the monarch should not have exclusive interests. “God concentrates the people, power and financial resources of the whole world and respects one person as a monarch, not to satisfy one’s selfishness.” “God wants to depend on the monarch to govern, educate and raise the people.” “As a monarch… when offered by the people of the world, they exhausted their people’s wealth to feed themselves but did not show sympathy to the people. Is that what God meant by establishing a monarch?”80 Emperors should strive for “keeping wealth for Heaven” and “gathering wealth for the people.” “The monarch alone controls the wealth of the world, instead of enshrine and worship a person with the wealth of the world.”81 Sixth, the monarch cannot violate the ethics and the three cardinal guides and the five constant virtues as specified in the feudal society. He must rule the country and make the world peaceful by upright human relations. Qiu Yuanjun regards the ethics and the three cardinal guides and the five constant virtues as specified in the feudal society as the fundamental of politics, or the so called “zheng chao ting” (making the court run smoothly and efficiently). The most important job is “correcting the criteria of San Gang Liu Ji” to “determine a person’s status.” “But what people call the San Gang Liu Ji also has many contents, among them being people’s ethical relationships. For this reason, the monarch governs the world. If he wants to correct the rules and regulations of the world, he must correct the order of the family. The order in the family is the ethical relationship.” “If ethical relations are corrected, it will be like grasping the core of all kinds of affairs in the world, and grasping this core, complicated affairs will become orderly and in accordance with natural principles.”82 Qiu Jun believes that “the monarch’s right mind is the origin of governing peace. That is to say, the monarch’s right mind determines the rise or fall, order or chaos 78

Daxue Yanyi Bu, “Zong Lun Zhi Xing Zhi Yi Xia.” Daxue Yanyi Bu, “Zong Lun Gu Ben Zhi Dao.” 80 Daxue Yanyi Bu, “Jing Zhi Zhi Yi Xia.” 81 Daxue Yanyi Bu, “Zong Lun Li Cai Zhi Dao Shang.” 82 Daxue Yanyi Bu, “Zheng Gang Ji Zhi Chang.” 79

512

9 People-Oriented Perspective and Yi Xia: Political Anxiety …

of a state.” That is, “one idea can make the country prosperous; one idea can make the country decline.” The good or bad idea of monarchy is enough to influence the rise and fall of the country. “A monarch’s preference arises from an idea of preference for something, a moment’s satisfaction. However, people who do not know the world generally follow the trend, so they form customs because of the preferences of the monarch, and sometimes even lead to disasters.”83 How can a monarch “reach the ultimate of Heaven without half of his selfish desires,” so that the monarch’s heart is right but not evil? Qiu Jun pinned his hope of “correcting the monarch’s mind” on the monarch’s righteousness, and that subordinates “correct the inappropriate idea of the monarch.” He was amazed at the art of studying phenomena of nature, sincerity, cultivating one’s moral character, and regulating one’s family in The Great Learning. “Those who are to bring up the people of the peaceful and prosperous times, we observe the minds of the people all over the world with one’s own mind, and converge the ideas of the people of the world into one person’s ideas (enhance national cohesion).” “Let everyone have their own place, and the world will be peaceful.” Qiu Jun emphasized that “the monarch is right-minded” must be expressed as “looking at signs.” The specific content of “looking at signs” is as follows: One, “Carefully distinguish between the divisions of the principle of nature and human desires at the beginning.” “Signs” first refer to, “the place where the principle of nature and human desires have just begun to differentiate.” One original idea is, “change but do not show; be between change and non-change.” “It’s too small to show up.” This kind of thought has already had a difference between good and evil. “Even if people do not look or listen, they have seen and heard something.” The monarch must, “be vigilant and cautious about what he sees at first, fearful of what he hears at first, and examine and distinguish what he hears at the beginning, so as to remove his disadvantages and preserve his benefits.” “It is essential that when I have any ideas in my mind, there is absolutely no germination of half of my desire; it is simply an elucidation of the truth.”84 Second, “be aware of the birth of things.” The monarch governs the world, dealing with a host of problems every day. He should try his best to “be aware of what is going to happen before it comes into being, and to be aware of what is just coming into being… As soon as new things come into being, we must examine them carefully. By doing so, we can deal with the world’s government affairs, lead the people of the world, cope with changes in the world, observe things carefully before they develop, and plan preparations when they are easy to handle.” When the monarch, “comes up with an idea or does one thing or appoints one person, [he should] be sure to think about it in his mind before he starts doing it, when he wants to do it.”85 Thirdly, the monarch should “prevent the treacherous seedlings from growing up.” “Perhaps all the incidents leading to the country’s turbulence and the following crimes of conspiracy and turmoil are rooted in treachery.” “Inhibiting and stifling this trend” as soon as possible is a way to “save

83

Daxue Yanyi Bu, “Jin Hao Shang Yi Suai Min.” Daxue Yanyi Bu, “Jin Li Yu Zhi Chu Fen.” 85 Daxue Yanyi Bu, “Ca Shi Ji Zhi Meng Dong.” 84

2 The Political Thought of Making the Society Prosperous …

513

energy and avoid disasters.”86 Fourthly, “the governance of the world depends first on the monarch’s own behavior.” Qiu Jun pointed out that, “to eliminate the complaints of the people” he should “start from the source.” “To build up a flourishing age and defend the country, we must be prepared for danger in times of peace.” The ruler must “think about the disaster that has not yet broken out” all the time. He must “think about hidden dangers—think about them over and over again, and plan from time to time.”87 “Looking at signs” is to emphasize that in solitude, the ruler should “be prudent and involuntary.” Cultivating one’s moral character and running a country is like treading on ice: one must be doubly cautious. (2)

The Political Thought of Zhang Juzheng’s

Zhang Juzheng, whose formal name is Shu Da, was also called Tai Yue. He is from Jiang Ling, Hu Guang ( now Hu Bei). He was born in the fourth years of Ming Shizong Jiajing (AD 1525), and died in the tenth year of Ming Shenzong Wanli, (AD 1582). He was a famous politician, reformer, and thinker in the middle and late Ming Dynasty. In the twenty-sixth year of Jiajing, or AD 1547, Zhang Juzheng was admitted to the Jin Shi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations). He has served as Shu Ji Shi (title conferred on those who passed the annual civil service examination with high grades), editing and other duties in the Hanlin Academy. In the forty-two years of Jiajing, the grand secretary Xu Jie recommended Zhang Juzheng as the vice president of compiling Cheng Tian Da zhi. In the forty-five years of Jiajing, Zhang Juzheng entered the Hanlin Academy as a Lecturing Officer for Emperor and prince. In the first year of Longqing in the Ming Dynasty (AD 1567), he served as the Ceremonial Master and bachelor of the Hanlin Academy. Soon after, he served as an assistant minister of Ministry and grand secretary of Dong Ge. Later he was promoted to the minister of personnel, and set up grand secretary of Ji Dian. In the early years of Wanli, he and the eunuch Feng Bao colluded to expel Gao Gong and he became the grand secretary. In the ten years of political ruling, he carried out political, economic and other reforms, and investigated big landowner’s concealment of farmland. He implemented the One Lash Method, reduced the redundant staff of the government, and used Qi Jiguang and others to strengthen border defense. He recommended Pan Ji Xun to harness floods in the Yellow River and the Huai River. In the ten years of Wanli, Zhang Juzheng died of illness. He was granted the title of Shang Zhu Guo, and bestowed posthumous title Wen Zhong. Zhang Juzheng has the Complete Works of Zhang Wenzhong. Zhang Juzheng is mainly a politician rather than a thinker, but his policy propositions contain a specific political consciousness, which has a very personal color, and is quite different from the general Neo-Confucian viewpoint. Zhang Juzheng’s political thought emphasizes practical application and advocates strengthening the centralization of monarchy, which is quite similar to and different from the Confucian utilitarianism of the Song Dynasty such as Chen Liang and Ye Shi. Chen Liang and Ye Shi are scholars of human nature, while Zhang Juzheng advocates both the 86 87

Daxue Yanyi Bu, “Fang Jian Meng Zhi Jian Zhang.” Daxue Yanyi Bu, “Bing Zhi Luan Zhi Ji Xian.”

514

9 People-Oriented Perspective and Yi Xia: Political Anxiety …

theory of human nature and the theory of economics, the science of utility. “Learning cannot be called learning unless it studies the principles of mind and nature. Truth has no practical effect unless it pays attention to running the country.”88 Zhang Juzheng thought that if we want to save the academic maladies today, we should take life and economic utility into consideration. According to the present monarch’s decree, we should regard the present king’s decree as the academic direction. Otherwise, if there is another portal, we will be reduced to a deviant act that the monarch must denounce. He said “if Confucius was born in this age… he would certainly abide by the school system established by our founding fathers to teach and educate people and dare not change at will. As a constitutional minister, he must obey today’s holy decrees to cultivate students who dare not make any difference.”89 Zhang Juzheng advocated that the government should pay attention to educating scholars, restraining heterodox, prohibiting private schools, and forbidding students from interfering in government affairs. He also emphasized the view that the monarch is the sage of the present, and advocated that the official law of the present sage should be taken as an important part of learning. From now on, we must promulgate The Four Books, Five Classics, Xing Li Da Quan, Outline of Zizhi Tongjian, Daxue Yanyi, Memorial to the Emperor of Famous Officials of All Dynasties, the Orthodox School of Writing, and books on laws and regulations of the current dynasty. We must open classes for Xiucai individually, so that they can read and explain them, so that they can understand the profound meaning, in order to be suitable for governing the world… Those who plagiarize heretical heresy and show off their new ideas cannot be employed even if their articles are well-written and exquisite.90

He opposed scholar-bureaucrats forming parties to discuss political differences. He emphasized that, “the ancient sages used Confucian classics to teach their descendants, and the state used Confucian classics to educate the people.” “If we can comprehend and understand the truth in the scriptures, we will understand the knowledge, and what is the need to set up another school to gather the party and the public to make useless remarks?” “In the future, when all the inspector urge the teachers and students to take charge, they must thoroughly study and practice the principles of the Confucian classics in order to be applied in the future.” He further emphasizes that, “it is not allowed to set up other academies, gather the Party and the public, or gather idlers from other places to brag about and abandon their studies.” “For this reason, the competition for fame and fortune prevails, beginning the common practice to request another’s help and plead for mercy for others.”91 Like Taizu, he also opposed student political discussion. “The wise Taizu set up lying stele in my dynasty, the pros and cons of the government under Heaven can be directly commented on by ordinary people. Only Xiu Cai is not allowed to discuss politics.”92 88

Reading Notes in Hanlin Academy. Letters to Nansi Cheng Tu Shiping on the Problem of Pursuing One’s Studies. 90 Suggestions on Developing the Old System and Rectifying Education to Train Talents. 91 Ibid. 92 Suggestions on Training Talents. 89

2 The Political Thought of Making the Society Prosperous …

515

Zhang Juzheng thinks that the policy of tolerance and moderation seem benevolence but are harmful in practice, serious politics seem harsh but actually beneficial. From the Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties to the Qin Dynasty, it is simply a rebuilding of the world. The system founded and laws established in Qin Dynasty are also helpful to pursue up to now. Therefore, in history, Qin Shihuang is said to have the style of sage. If Qin Shihuang had a virtuous son who followed his law and carried it forward, decades later, when the old nobles of the six countries were eliminated, the doctrines of the older generation of Confucianism would be removed, and the new generation of people would change their minds and obeyed the orders of the monarch. Even if there are more people like Liu Bang and Xiang Yu, what can we do?93

“The founding emperor of my dynasty calmed the world because of the wise epithet of a great conquering general, they dominate the world mainly by powerful means. In the former dynasty, the cumbersome courtesy, chaotic government and bad habits were all abolished.” “The harshness of Taizu’s tactics in removing accumulated abuses is beyond the legal system of the Qin Dynasty.” “Prince Yiwen Zhu Biao has a irresolute and hesitant personality; Emperor Jianwen mistakenly appointed Qitai, Huang Zicheng and others, and repeated the mistakes of the weak Song Dynasty. Soon after his succession, he changed all the rules and regulations established by Taizu, just like Fusu in the Qin Dynasty.” “If Emperor Jianwen did not surrender himself earlier, he would surely destroy the country.”94 Although Zhang Juzheng mainly aims to strengthen the political means of monarchy, he still advocates the people-centered value of the Confucian tradition in terms of political value or ultimate destiny. He emphasizes that the monarch is mainly in-depth understanding of the people’s feelings, doing things such as reducing taxes, suppressing tyranny, letting people recuperate and build up strength, saving money, and seeking the equalization of wealth. During the reign of Zhang Juzheng, the Ming Dynasty was already facing a profound social, political and economic crisis. The monarch was powerless. The bureaucracy was incompetent, and the people’s livelihood was haggard. He initiated and presided over a social and political reform in accordance with the Confucian people-oriented political requirements. Referring to the practical spirit of Legalists, he emphasized sovereign and subject, bonds and restraints, and strengthened the centralization of monarchy. On the one hand, he enhanced the authority of the monarch and the ability to control the country. On the other hand, he abolished the official illness and improved the efficiency of his work. Zhang Juzheng’s social and political reform is based on inspection and speculation of the situation. As a matter of fact, it’s a whole set of “remedy of the current problems” programs, among which the most important political problem is to strengthen centralization of power and revitalize the outline of sovereign and subject, bonds, and restraints. Zhang Juzheng believes that the main manifestations of social and political crisis are the decline of monarchy and the slacking of political affairs. Sovereign and subject, bonds and restraints are not serious and the laws are not enforced. “All officials blindly shield 93 94

Other Works. Ibid.

516

9 People-Oriented Perspective and Yi Xia: Political Anxiety …

each other, and all kinds of affairs were put off and delayed.”95 He believed that the bureaucratic tools of monarchy had been slackened, and the fundamental remedy was to revitalize the sovereign and subject, bonds and restraints. “The reason why the monarch is above the people and supervises and controls the vast world is that he can make the people obey his instructions and keep the order stable and there is no disturbance is the law.” Zhang Juzheng believes that the key to the revitalization of sovereign and subject, bonds and restraints is to strengthen the centralization of monarchy. The monarch himself commands the power of law, discipline, punishment, and reward. He strengthens the absolute authority of the monarch’s will, and strictly enforces the legal system without favoritism. “A monarch is a man who gives orders, a minister one who takes orders from the monarch and executes them among the people.” “The monarch mainly set up the outline of law and discipline, purged the ministers, held the power of the Dynasty and defended the powerful outline of law and discipline.” “The monarch can look after your personal feelings, but you can’t lose your principles; the law should be strict but not severe.” “Those who break the law cannot be forgiven even if they are royal relatives and nobles, because of the legal case on the merits. Even the humble person involved in the case must redress his grievances.”96 Zhang Juzheng believed that the unclear administration of officials led to “the exhaustion of the country and the poverty of the people.” He pointed out that “since the reign of Jiajing, the people in charge of the dynasty had made bribery prevailing in the court, officials searched for flesh and blood of the people to please the nobles.” Later, those in power also pursued the policy of “seeking momentary ease.” “The situation of peasant land annexation” is becoming more and more serious. “This is the focus of poverty among the people in the face of national exhaustion.”97 He knows that officials are the bridge between the monarch and the people. Officials govern the common people according to the monarchy, and the quality of official governance directly affects the security of the world and the stability of political order. Zhang Juzheng pointed out that, “there is no more important way to stabilize and calm the political situation of the country than to make people live in peace and well-being. The key to make people live in peace and well-being is to strictly rectify officials.”98 To rectify the administration of officials, we must first check the name and reality of talents. He said, “the way the monarch uses to control his subjects is to reward and punish, appoint and dismiss them.” He thinks there are three main disadvantages to the court’s employment: first, educational inspector appointed inappropriate talents. “The essence of training talents lies in schools, the key to educating the people and correcting the model with the true way lies in the educational inspector.” The selection of the educational inspector, “cannot easily award this official to those who are not well versed in Confucian classics, conduct, integrity and benevolence of the 95

Statement of Six Things. Ibid. 97 Answer to Governor Ying Tian Song Yangshan’s comment on Equal and Adequate Grain for People. 98 Please set the Face Award Low Energy Instrument Annotation. 96

2 The Political Thought of Making the Society Prosperous …

517

scholar. If there is an incompetent person, he would rather be transferred to another position than be allowed to pretend to play the Yu in order to make up the number for an orchestra.”99 Second, government officials are not strict in the checking system. “The tool has to be tried before you knows whether it is sharp or not, the horse has to be ridden before you knows whether it is a good foal or not.”100 Official malpractices are deep. Officials’ checking system tend to do things carelessly, while officials only “flatter and bribe” the supervisory department. The name is seriously inconsistent with the reality in official checking system, and official governance is even more corrupt. Third, officials cannot be devoted to their duties, forming prevailing customs. In order to seek promotion, most of the officials, “thought about matters beyond their duties and presented their proposals in great detail.” As for one’s duty, it is rather ignorant. Zhang Juzheng put forward the corresponding countermeasures in view of the above malpractice. Firstly, the candidates for educational inspector must have both ability and political integrity. Second, the method of checking system should be strict. The relationship between concept and entity must be examined in detail. All government official check-up is based on actual merits and achievements. Third, officials are promoted in the neighborhood. “There is no need for mutual transfer of posts,” to ensure that officials at all levels are on duty.101 “If someone holds the post of specific duty, they can appoint specially-assigned person to do it, so there’s no need to worry about talent shortage.”102 Zhang Juzheng believed that the basic reason for the civil riots was not the people’s willingness to commit riots, but the government’s restraint of the people’s counter-revolt. “The root cause is official corruption. Corrupt officials are just committing disorder.”103 (3)

Lu Kun’s political thought

Lu Kun, whose formal name is Shu Jian, was also named Xin Wu. He is from Ning Ling (now Cai county, Henan). He was born in the fifteenth year of Ming Shizong Jiajing (AD 1536) He died in the forty-sixth year of Ming Shenzong Wanli (AD 1618). He was a famous scholar and thinker of the Ming Dynasty. He passed an imperial examination as a successful candidate in the second year of Wanli Emperor Ming Shenzong, after which he became an official and took office. At first, he served as magistrate of a county in Xiangyuang. Because of his excellent achievements, he was transferred to Datong. He was recruited and conferred the post of head of the Ministry of Revenue in feudal China. Having successively held the posts of imperial bodyguard, he was later transferred to Counselor in Shandong province, the inspector in Shanxi Province, and the right government leader in Shaanxi Province. He was then promoted to the position of right Qianduyushi, and he went on a tour of inspection and placate in Shanxi. Three years later, he was awarded left Qianduyushi. He successively held the posts of assistant minister on the left and right sides in the 99

Suggestions on Developing the Old System and Rectifying Education to Train Talents. Statement of Six Things. 101 Ibid. 102 Ibid. 103 Answering the Four Issues of Liu Ningzhai’s Article on How to Manage the Pirates. 100

518

9 People-Oriented Perspective and Yi Xia: Political Anxiety …

Ministry of justice.104 Lu Kun, as an official, was more concerned about the people’s suffering, and wrote many poems sympathizing with the people. In the twenty-five years of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty, Lu Kun once submitted a memorial to the emperor to state that the world was in danger. He criticized the government for making, “frozen people have no extra clothes and hungry people have to eat one meal a day.” He advised rulers not to despise farmers and weavers. Lu Kun’s book did not arouse Shenzong’s vigilance, like clay oxen entering the sea—never to be heard of again. “The memorials went to the court without reply.” Dai Shiheng took the opportunity to slander and falsely accuse him. Lu Kun had to plead illness in order to resign as officer, ending twenty-six years of his official career. After Lu Kun resigned, he returned home to write books. There are many works by Lu Kun. The main extant works are Collection of Fake Legends, Moaning Words and so on. Lu Kun’s political thought is pragmatic and practical. It is not for scholars to explore any knowledge that is not helpful to “the stability of the regime, the happiness of the people, and the moralization of the people.” He believed that people were the beneficiaries of all things, refuted my heretical academics, and attached great importance to the three cardinal guides and the five constant virtues as specified in the feudal society and moral order. He advocated respecting the monarch as the first of the five human relations. He clearly emphasizes the principle that a loyal subject never serves two kings. To compromise between the theory of respecting the people and the theory of respecting the emperor, he adopts both the idea of respecting the emperor and respecting the people and tends to be optimistic. The people are stable because they respect the monarch, and the monarch is precise because he values the people. This also implies some disappointment with the autocratic monarchy. The monarch and the people need each other and complement each other. The monarch should respect, value, love and benefit the people. In order to realize the people-oriented value of monarchy, the people must trust and respect the monarch. Lu Kun insists on the monism of Qi in the ontology of philosophy. He pointed out that “everything in the world is gasified, and there is no other source.” “The only thing that dominates everything in the world is vitality.”105 However, Lu Kun still adheres to the Neo-Confucianism tradition of Li and Qi. He emphasized that, “Dao and Qi are not two things; neither are Li and Qi.” “Having a body is an instrument; the reason is Dao; it is Qi that forms all things; Li is the cause of everything.” “Dao and Li, invisible and intangible, must be divided into two categories: Dao and Qi, Li and Qi, which is the lack of knowledge.” “The Book of Changes says that invisible things are Dao; the tangible thing is the instrument.” “Dao is something that has no form and produces all things. An instrument is something that has a form and is produced by the Dao.” In the universe, “the creation of Heaven, earth, human beings and things are all Qi, but the root of creation is Li.” “How to talk about them dialectically.” “It would be too difficult to talk about Daoism without Qi. If we abandon Daoism and

104 105

History of the Ming Dynasty, “Biography of Lu Kun.” Moaning Words, “Heaven and Earth.”

2 The Political Thought of Making the Society Prosperous …

519

talk about instrumental learning, it will be worthless and useless. Dao has no form, but everything embodies Dao.”106 Qi also has the difference between tangible and intangible. Qi is the essence of substance, and the substance of matter is the materialization of Qi, so there must be Qi in the substance. Without Qi, there will be no substance. There may not be substance in the Qi, and there is no Qi in some substances, so there is Qi that does not adhere to the substance, but there is no substance without Qi.

Lu Kun believes that Qi is the necessary carrier of Dao, while Dao determines the concrete necessity of Qi. Lu Kun’s Qi monism is different from Wang Chong’s. He did not regard vitality as the origin and fundamental determinant of everything in the world. That is to say, there is no necessary rule or order for deducing the generation and evolution of the world from the logical starting point of Qi. However, there are still two logical starting points of Li and Qi or Dao and Qi. That is to say, on the one hand, Qi or instrument guarantees the necessary tangible substances needed by the world. On the other hand, Li or Dao guarantees the inevitability of relations, relations or laws between things. Lu Kun attaches more importance to practice than to theory. When he chooses the so-called determinants of the world, he also prefers to choose the physical existence, thus becoming a monist of Qi in a sense, displaying the so-called Li and Dao with the popular nature of Qi. Although Lu Kun insisted on observing Dao and Li with Qi and instrument, Dao and Li did not originate from Qi and instrument. Lu Kun’s monism of Qi can only be greatly discounted when it comes to world domination and judgment of good and evil, there are differences between good and evil in the world itself, and there is a primitive domination of good and evil, which is Heaven. The idea is that “the root of Dao is Heaven.”107 “Of course, there are two kinds of Heaven. One is righteous Heaven, and the other is fate Heaven.”108 “Before the ultimate came into being, Li and Qi were mixed together and could not be distinguished. After the Qi of Yin and Yang created all things, the good and evil that came from the same source separated. The Heaven of righteousness is the early Heaven.” “The Heaven of fate is the later Heaven.” The Heaven of righteousness is pure goodness, and the Li in Heaven of fate is still pure goodness, but Qi is different between good and bad. Human nature originates from Heaven, and there are two kinds of human nature endowed by Heaven. This is the nature of pure good sense and the temperament of the mixture of good and evil. As a result, people’s hearts are different from those of Daoism. “The Daoist mind is endowed by Heaven. Human wisdom is also endowed by Heaven. Both are innate, being with the body.” “Daoist and human hearts are intermingled.”109 Lu Kun illustrates the relationship between the human heart and the Daoist heart by analogy, he said that if the Daoist heart is jade, then the human heart is stone, the stone is wrapped in jade, and the stone 106

Moaning Words, “Talking about Daoism.” Answer to the Second Book of Sun Zhong Zai Li Ting’s Comments on Investigation of Things. 108 Ibid. 109 On Human Nature. 107

520

9 People-Oriented Perspective and Yi Xia: Political Anxiety …

is broken into jade; the Daoist heart is core, the human heart is shell, the shell is wrapped in core, and the shell is broken into core. For example, the Daoist mind is like beans, which sprinkle with one hand and fall into paste soil to grow and flourish, falling into the alkaline land. They are withered down, falling into the rubble, unable to grow. The nature of the principles, namely the Daoist mind, fall into different temperaments and create different people. “Sages are created by the innate pure and perfect heart and the acquired pure environment.” The common people are, “born pure and perfect of heart and acquired dirty environment formed together.”110 The stupid of the lowest class was, “born pure and perfect and was influenced by extremely bad environment.” “People all have the desire to pursue beautiful sounds, beautiful scenery and delicious food. This is the heart of the people, which is called Qi.” “In his opinion, sages are human beings. Is it possible to destroy people’s hearts?”.111 It enables people to have a unified moral code and to formulate etiquette and law on the basis of human feelings. Therefore, sages do not regard the exclusion of human nature as the right way, and do not try to change customs because they are strict with themselves, knowing that the human heart is indispensable, we must integrate the Daoist heart with the human heart and transform the human heart into the Daoist heart.

Lu Kun opposed the individuality cultivation far away from people’s daily life, and adhered to the Confucian tradition of people not far from Dao. Lu Kun insists on the traditional Confucian people-oriented position and emphasizes that, “it is not for the sake of the ruler that Heaven brings forth the people. Rather, it is for the sake of the people that Heaven establishes the ruler. However, the monarch would endanger the people.” For the people, the monarch should “satisfy the common desire of the people, remove the things that the people all hate, and make the people live and work in peace. The idea of setting up a monarch in Heaven is just to make the people get what they want. Is the purpose of Heaven to let the monarch override the people and enjoy the splendor and wealth by exploiting the people?”112 Lu Kun emphasized that the people’s hearts are awesome. He thought, “people’s hearts are like artillery. If the lead is ignited, the fire will go into the sky. The fortune of the country is like rotten melon, which will flow with the touch of one’s hand.”113 “Today’s situation is like sitting in a leaky boat, but the water is not wet clothes; it is like lying on the firewood, but the fire has not burned to the body.”114 “Otherwise, if hidden dangers accumulate day by day and break out one day and lose the people’s hearts, there would be all rebellious ministers and thieves everywhere?” This occurs if “the monarch leads a luxurious and dissipated life, likes to do grandiose things to impress people, taxation will become heavier and heavier.” “If taxes are heavy, people will become poorer and poorer.” “The fierce people, and the warriors are indignant, unable to make a living. Complicated laws and harsh 110

Answer to the Second Book of Sun Zhong Zai Li Ting’s Comments on Investigation of Things. Yu Ting’s Sixteen-character Interpretation. 112 Moaning Words, “The Way of Running a Country.” 113 Collection of Qu Wei Zai, Volume 5, “Answer to Sun Yuefeng.” 114 Collection of Qu Wei Zai, Volume 1, “Worry about Danger.” 111

2 The Political Thought of Making the Society Prosperous …

521

penalties will arouse people’s resentment and discontent.” In turn, “they plundered money, massacred people, spread corpses all over the country, and wars broke out repeatedly.” This leads to, “the subversion of the regime and the destruction of the country.”115 Lu Kun clearly pointed out that the purpose of Heaven is to establish the monarch, which is to let the monarch serve the people. Public opinion is the embodiment of the will of Heaven. The monarch should show his responsibility for the will of Heaven by loving the people. The people are to the monarch what the footings of walls are to the walls, the trees to the branches, the reeds to the fire, the spires to the tower. He said, It is like a city wall, which can be strengthened only by thickening its foundation and thinning its body. Like trees, irrigating roots and weeding out miscellaneous branches can make trees flourish. There are no towers which are big above and small below that will not collapse, and no trees with bare roots, flourishing branches and leaves that will not wither. It can be seen that the monarch needs to be in awe of the people!116

Lu Kun emphasized that “fate of Heaven” is tied to “the heart of the people.” the key to the prosperity or decline of the world is the two words, the will of Heaven.” “In the final analysis, fate is also two words: popular feelings.”117 Lu Kun believed that political turmoil often arises from the people’s hunger and cold, so-called hunger and cold arouses a theiving heart. The best way to prevent thieves from running rampant is to solve the problem of hunger and cold among the people first. “Making the people live well is the primary task of benevolent government.” “Richness of the people is the foundation of benevolent government; richness of the people means that everything can be done well. People live in distress and nothing can be done well.”118 To some extent, Lu Kun indirectly affirmed the right of civilians to resist out of hunger and cold. Lu Kun also expressed the idea of school public opinion intervening in politics before Huang Zongxi. He advocated that schools should not only be places for training talents, but also be political organs for commenting and supervising the affairs of state. Make the school act as the “censorate without officials” and make sure that “public comments should come from the school.” Lu Kun emphasized that the dignity of the monarch should be manifested in the absolute monopoly of power, so that the people can be governed by power. Power and wealth are the greatest treasures in the world. The monarch is the master of power and wealth. The rise and fall of the world, the rise and fall of the country and the happiness of the people all depend on the word “power.” What should the man who holds the power and wealth do? Lu Kun believes that the power of the monarchy political trickery is as follows: One is to control the interests by means of power. “everyone in the world tends to be profitable, if there is no power to regulate their behavior, the world will be in chaos:, the interests of the world must be constrained by power, so that the world will not be confused with profit or chaos because of 115

Gui Fan, Volume 2. Gui Fan, Volume 2. 117 Moaning Words, “The Way of Running a Country.” 118 Ibid. 116

522

9 People-Oriented Perspective and Yi Xia: Political Anxiety …

profit. Second, power and interests are shared up and down, while interests are in the bottom and forces are in the top. “Wealth is shared by all the people of the world, while power should be concentrated in the hands of the monarch alone.” “Monarchs control wealth and subjects of a feudal ruler control power, which is the way of extinction.” Third, power must be exclusive. “The Son of Heaven relies on power to command the hundreds of officials, and the hundreds of officials relies on the power of the monarch to issue decrees to give thanks.” Fourth, divide profits equally. “The wealth of the world is used to support all the people of the world.” “If Heaven does not set up a monarch and a monarch does not set up a hundreds of officials, the wealth of the whole world will be occupied by bullying, greed, and cruelty.” “When a greedy and cruel man monopolizes his wealth, he will strengthen his power to enslave the people and try to divide the monarchy.” “Those who are poor and have no means of living lose their wealth, they will gather together to get what they want, which will lead to the betrayal of the world’s popular feeling.” “Financial distribution cannot be uneven.” Fifth, the monarch is not devoted to interests. “The people who struggle to seize state power share the wealth with the people of the world, so they become the Son of Heaven. The man who keeps the world monopolizes the world’s wealth will be reduced from the Son of Heaven to the people.” “Money is the basis of power, without which power cannot exist.” So the monarch levies taxes and taxes, which is enough to govern the country and not monopolize the wealth of the world. Officials should be appointed to their posts and allowed to retain their own interests according to their wishes. They can also enable the monarch to obtain and retain his own interests. It is also possible for the monarchy to be inherited from generation to generation.119

Lu Kun maintains that communication between the monarch and the people is indispensable, especially in terms of conditions of the people. Conditions of the people must not be blocked. “Beware of blocked rivers, once the levees break, they will flood the houses and mountains. If it triggers a suppressed fire, it will burst the rocks and burn the trees.”120 Although Lu Kun advocated that the monarch govern the people by power, he did not advocate serious politics. Rather, he advocated governing without taking action. “It is an important rule for sage-kings to unite with the people so as to make the world peaceful. But for a long time it has been difficult for the monarchs and the people to unite. Ordinary people have complex desires but short insights, how could sage-kings be as knowledgeable as they were.” “The way to govern the world well is to govern the people well, if we want to govern the people, but can’t connect with the people’s hearts, how can we achieve the rule of peace and tranquility?” “Even if peace reigns over the land for a while, how can we maintain a long period of stability?” “If sage-kings wants to govern the country well, he must know that his dictatorship is impossible to surpass the hearts of millions of people. Therefore, he needs to govern by doing nothing that goes against nature, explain right and wrong 119 120

Collection of Qu Wei Zai, Volume 6, “On Power and Interest.” Moaning Words, “The Way of Running a Country.”

2 The Political Thought of Making the Society Prosperous …

523

to the people, make them understand, state the interests and make them touched, and when the hearts of the people are stable and obedient, he can accomplish great things.”

3 The Perfection and Alienation of Confucian Political Philosophy in the Middle and Late Ming Dynasty Confucian political philosophy had obtained great development in the middle of Ming Dynasty, and from the perfection of the theoretical system, the Mind school, represented by Wang Shouren, can be said to represent a new stage in the development of Confucian political philosophy. This means that the Confucian political philosophy has reached its completed state in the proposition. The so-called completion form means that Confucian political philosophy developed from the unity of Heaven and Man in the Han Dynasty, having experienced the unity of disposition in Song Dynasty, the unity of regulating the flow of vital energy and removing obstruction from it, and the unity of knowing and doing. In fact, the unity of knowing and doing and the unity of Heaven and man have an extremely strict correspondence. What is called knowledge refers to the conscience from Heaven and earth. What is called “action” refers to people’s basic necessities of life and behavior. Wang Shouren embodies the conscience from Heaven and earth in the individual society, hoping they can suddenly realize the Dao without thinking or desire, and they can follow their own wishes without exceeding the rules. Wang Shouren has a very optimistic attitude towards the supreme goodness of human nature. He deduced Mencius’s conclusion that “all people can be Yao and Shun” into that people all over the street are sages. People cannot become saints by relying on everything, but only by realizing the Dao from their hearts. It’s enough to be able to learn from your heart; the so-called reading materials are still in the second place. Wang Shouren pointed directly at the method or way of getting the Dao from the inside of the individual in society. Although it made up for the gap of how the external natural reason entered the individual in society and solved the problem of how the Dao entered the individual, it inevitably brought another problem, that is, whether people would mistake the opposite of Heaven’s principles for Heaven’s principles. In fact, the alienation of Wang Shouren’s political philosophy is precisely because Li Zhi and others mistook the opposite of Heaven’s principles as Heaven’s principles. When Wang Shouren emphasized inner insight, he had the knowledge of Heaven’s principles, after getting rid of the interference of thinking, his own knowledge of Heaven’s principles emerged, and the result of his so-called insight was nothing but Heaven’s principles Li Zhi and others accepted the method of inner insight, but there is no Heaven’s principles in Ontological Sense in his heart. When he excluded the knowledge of Heaven’s principles of Neo-Confucianism, of Cheng and Zhu, what he realized in his heart was only the human desires of all living beings. After he further mistook human desire for Heaven’s principles, his theory became a discourse system advocating human

524

9 People-Oriented Perspective and Yi Xia: Political Anxiety …

desire. This inevitably leads to the alienation of Wang Shouren’s Mind school of the unity of knowing and doing. (1)

The Political Thought of Wang Shouren

Wang Shouren, whose formal name is Bo’an, and original name is Yun, was renamed Shouren. His other name is Yangming. Scholars call him Mr. Yangming, who was from Yuyao in Zhejiang Province. He was born in the eighth year of Chenghua of Ming Xianzong (AD 1472), and he died in the eighth year of Jiajing of Ming Shizong, (AD 1529). Wang Shouren was educated by Confucianism and liked cavalry and archery. At the age of 15, he traveled with his father Wang Hua to Juyong pass, Shanhai Pass, and other fortresses. In the first year of Hongzhi of Xiaozong in the Ming Dynasty (AD 1488), he was married in Nanchang. The next year, on his way to Yu Yao, he met Lou Liang in Guangxin (Shangrao, Jiangxi Province today) and listened to him teach Zhu Xi’s theory of “the investigation of things and the extension of knowledge.” In the five years of Ming Hongzhi, he was a successful candidate in the imperial examinations. Living in Beijing, he read Zhu Xi’s Yi-shu or Literary Remains with his father, in order to resolve his doubts. Wang Yangming looked at the bamboo in the yard for seven days and seven nights and found nothing and suffered from disease. In the six or nine years of the metropolitan examination, he failed all the examinations, so he returned to Yu Yao to amuse himself with poems, books, and chess. During this period, he had carefully studied the secret books of military strategist in ancient China, as he heard that the border was in an emergency. During the twelve years of Hongzhi, when Wang Shouren was Jin shi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations), at the time for northwest was in an emergency. He made eight suggestions for the Emperor: Reserving talents for emergencies, making best use of the advantages and bypass the disadvantages, reducing troops and saving military expenditure, implementing storing the farming to guarantee military grain, strict implementation of military law to raise our army’s prestige, widespread implementation of grace and inspiration of soldiers’ courage; taking the overall situation into consideration regardless of the details; and strengthening the defense to wait for work in leisure.

In the fourteenth year of Hongzhi, he went to Anhui to examine the cases. After that, he visited Jiuhua Mountain and talked with Daoist priest about immortality. The following year, he returned to the South because of illness and lived in seclusion, successively curing illness at Yang-ming Cave in Shaoxing, Qian Tang Jingci temple, and Hupao Temple. In the eighteen year of Hongzhi, Wang Shouren and Zhan Ruoshui made friends and advocated “sage’s learning” (Sheng Ren Zi Xue圣 人之学) in Beijing. In the first year of Emperor Wuzong’s reign in the Ming Dynasty (AD 1506), eunuch Liu Jin grabbed all the power. Liu Jin delivered a false imperial edict, arresting Dai Xi and others. Shouren was the head of the military department at that time, and wrote a letter to the emperor to rescue him frankly, offending Liu Jin. He was subjected to flogging with a big stick at court (a punishment in ancient China) and was degraded to a posthouse official in Longchang (now governed by Xiuwen County, Guizhou Province). In the spring of Zhengde three years, after

3 The Perfection and Alienation of Confucian Political Philosophy …

525

Wang Shouren came to Longchang, he built his own shelter. “When we have the investigation of things and the extension of knowledge, we should explore our own hearts rather than external things.” The following year, he applied for the lecture of civilization academy of classical learning and began to explain and publicize, “the unity of knowing and doing.” In December of the fifth year of Zhengde, he was transferred to the head of Sichuan Qingli Department of Nanjing Criminal Ministry. In addition to official duties, he engaged in academic activities. In Zhengde seven years, he was promoted to Lihi Hafan of Tai Bu Si in Nanjing. At the beginning of the following year, he took up an official post. On the way home to visit his parents, he explained the new saying of The Great Learning and the thought of “the unity of knowing and doing” to Xu Ai. In October, he supervised the politics and education of raising horses in Chuzhou and gathered his apprentices to give lectures in his spare time. In the ninth year of Zhengde, he was promoted to a minister of court of state ceremonial in Nanjing. In the eleventh year of Zhengde, he was promoted to the rank of the imperial official in Qian Du, governor in Nangan. He calmed down peasant riots such as Zhe Shifu in Zhangzhou, Luke in Da maoshan, Chen Rilong in Dageng, Xie Zhishan in Hengshui, Lan Tianfeng in Tonggang, and Zhong Rong in Lian Tou Chi. In June of the fourteenth year of Zhengde, he led the army to suppress the Fujian peasant rebellion. On his way to Fengcheng, he learned of the rebellion of King Ning. He returned to Anji and raised up volunteers. He went to Nanchang by land and water, and went down Jiujiang and Nankang in succession, which took him thirty-five days to put down the rebellion and capture Chenghao. He arrived in Hangzhou in September to give up his captives. Because eunuchs Xu Tai and Zhang Zhong slandered him, not only did he have no credit, but he was accused of being falsely framed. Eunuch Zhang Yong managed to save him from misfortune, so he called himself sick in Jingci Temple of West Lake and Temples in Jiuhua Mountain. In the sixteenth year of Zhengde, Wang Shouren revealed the theory of “the extension of the intuitive knowledge” in Nanchang, and finally completed the system of the Mind school. During the four years in Jiajing, Wang Shouren gave lectures at Zhongtiangge, Yuyao, with more than 300 disciples. He also wrote “Encouraging Students at Zhongtian Pavilion” on the wall. The following year, Wang Shouren was ordered to suppress the uprisings of the Yao and Dai nationalities in Sien, Tianzhou, Bazhai, Xiandai and Huaxiang of Guangxi. The next autumn he calmed the uprising. At this time, he suffered from severe lung disease. In October, he presented a memorial to the emperor and retired. In November, he died in Qing Long Pu Zhou, Nanan, Jiangxi Province, age 57. The main contribution of Wang Shouren in political thought is the political philosophy of the unity of knowing and doing, and his main theoretical contribution is the systematic interpretation of the Confucian theory of “the unity of knowing and doing.” The methodological basis of the theory of “the unity of knowing and doing” is “the extension of the intuitive knowledge,” while the ontological basic proposition of “the extension of the intuitive knowledge” is “one’s conscience is Heavenly principles.” Since Confucianism in Song Dynasty put regulating the flow of vital energy, removing obstruction, and mind and nature together, it has been generally believed that there are two basic aspects of the existence of the world. One is the

526

9 People-Oriented Perspective and Yi Xia: Political Anxiety …

existence of empirical carriers of substance such as Qi and Mind. Second, there is absolute transcendence of universal necessity such as Li and Xing. Li and Xing are the contents of the world, which are in line with the law and purpose. Qi and Mind are just the means or carriers of expressing content. Zhu Xi’s proposition is that Li (Heavenly principles) and Qi are one which represents the duality of the objective existence of the world. There exists only the relationship between domination and being dominated, but no derivative relationship. However, neither is it objective idealism that “Li (Heavenly principles) produces Qi,” nor is it the materialism of “Qi produces Li (Heavenly principles).” What’s more, it’s not the subjective idealism of “one’s conscience is Heavenly principles.” Wang Shouren’s Mind school absorbed the ontological thought of Zhu Xi’s school of laws. He accepted Zhu Xi’s views on issues such as regulating the flow of vital energy and removing obstruction, nature and mind, and Heaven and man. He believes that: “Heavenly principles is the rule of the movement of Qi. Qi is the application of (Heavenly principles). Without rules, there is no application. Without application, there are no rules.”121 Wang Shouren’s Mind school is the product of the confluence of Zhu and Lu in Yuan and Ming dynasties. Its important purpose and contribution is to compensate for the shortcomings of the traditional methodology of School of Laws with the tradition of the Mind school. Emphasis is laid on the methodology and ontological implications of “the unity of knowing and doing,” filling in the logical break between “conscience precedes sensory experience” and “practice guided by experience,” emphasizing the certainty and necessity of the unification of conscience and practice. It highlights that the standard of measuring conscience is a moral practice in line with the law and purpose, and that “knowing” takes “doing” as its purpose, while “doing” takes “knowing” as its standard. Further, “knowing” must manifest itself as “doing”, and “no doing” means “no knowing”. Zhu Xi’s School of Laws points out that Li and Qi are two aspects of the existence of the world, which cannot be separated objectively. If you have Qi, you must have Li. If you have Li, you must have Qi. Man and all things are endowed with Li and Qi at the same time. However, as the object of understanding, the two are obviously different, in which Li determines the content and form of the world’s existence, while Qi is only the carrier of Li. To some extent, the difference of the carrier embodies the purpose of the existence of the world, and the purity of the different influence of the carrier. Further, many people are the mortals who are partially or completely obscured because the gas is not pure. Li and Qi together constitute a complete human being. Li forms human nature. Qi forms the human mind, and mind embodies Li. Zhu Xi also believes that there is an objective Heaven’s principles in human mind, but most people’s Heaven’s principles is hidden by selfish desires, and people have to read books for the investigation of things to restore their inherent Heaven’s principles, reaching the general understanding of Heaven’s principles through the understanding of the manifestation of various things, and then transforming into Heaven’s principles of the human mind from the general of Heaven’s principles. “The reason why people study knowledge is just for the sake of studying Heaven’s principles 121

Quotations and Letters on Teaching and Learning, Part 2.

3 The Perfection and Alienation of Confucian Political Philosophy …

527

and human mind.” That is to say, how the human mind comprehends the generality of Heaven’s principles and transforms the generality of Heaven’s principles into Heaven’s principles of the human mind is the basic content of the sages. Zhu Xi logically distinguishes the gap between Heaven and man, which is caused by Heaven’s principles and the human mind. It also separates knowing from doing, thus forming a shortcoming that cannot be ignored in methodology. Wang Shouren, proceeding from the requirements of ethical practice, advocates the unity of Heaven’s principles and the human mind. This changes Zhuxi’s “Heaven’s principles and human mind” into “human mind is Heaven’s principles,” and claims that “human mind is Heaven’s principles” also has the basis of universal noumenon. Man, like all things, is formed by Li and Qi, so human beings and all things at the same time in some way reflect the natural Heaven’s principles. The difference between human beings and sages is only whether the Heavenly principles represented by human being is partially or completely covered. In this case, the human heart as a material carrier, of course carries with Heaven’s principles. Heaven’s principles in the human mind are the so-called conscience, which is universal and eternal for human beings, and the desire to conceal conscience is accidental experiential immersion. People can recover their own natural instincts without taking the detours Zhu Xi pointed out. Rather, they can directly seek universal Heaven’s principles in their hearts, which is called “human mind is Heaven’s principles.” There is a universal expression of conscience in the human mind. “The essence of the human mind is nature; and nature is Heaven’s principles.”122 Wang Shouren’s so-called heart refers to the Qi of “being sensitive to all things.” That is, “the heart is not a physiological organ; it is the heart that can feel everything.”123 “If the heart is that organ, those dead human organs still exist, but why can’t it see, hear, speak, and act? The heart is the one that can make people see, hear, speak, and act, so the heart here refers to nature. That is Heaven’s principles.”124 The heart refers to the perceptual and sensitive Qi, which can be said to be the consensus of the times at that time. Wang Shouren’s characteristics lie in his affirmation of the legitimacy of seeing and hearing, and the speaking and acting of the heart. That is, there is nothing unreasonable in the seeing, hearing, speaking, and acting of the heart. Therefore, take the heart as your de facto master. Wang Shouren pointed out that, “this is your true self; it dominates your body. Without this heart, you will have no body. If you really have a heart, you will live. If you don’t have a heart, you will die.”125 Wang Shouren’s heart has a transcendental conscience. Transcendental conscience embodies universal and absolute Heaven’s principles. Transcendental conscience is only about the ontology of human virtue. It’s not knowledge gained to know the objective world beyond human beings. When Chinese traditional thought talks about or refers to knowing, it often only refers to the knowledge of human nature on the basis of necessity, but does not involve the empirical knowledge of 122

Complete Works of Wang Yangming, “Answer to Ji Mingde.” Quotations and Letters on Teaching and Learning, Part 3. 124 Ibid., Part 1. 125 Ibid., Part 1. 123

528

9 People-Oriented Perspective and Yi Xia: Political Anxiety …

the objective world. However, Chinese traditional theory of knowing and doing does not regard the necessary knowledge of understanding the natural world as the object of discussion. Wang Shouren’s “intuitive knowledge” refers only to the universal evaluation between right and wrong, good and evil of human beings. It does not include or involve specific empirical knowledge of the myriad things in nature. The theory of intuitive knowledge only wants to discuss people, not to discuss things. The domination of the world is universal Heaven’s principles, and the master of Man is the conscience of the human heart as a man of reason. The dominance of man is the conscience of the heart of the human being as Heaven’s principles in human being. Conscience is Heaven’s principles in human being. Heaven’s principles is the conscience of the whole world. Wang Shouren has no interest in pure nature other than human beings. His discussion has always focused on people. Knowing is the intuitive knowledge of the ontology of human beings. Things are humanistic things, which are human culture related to human ethics, or ethical non-naturalism. He thinks that consciousness is the creator of Heaven, earth, ghosts, and gods. Without my consciousness, who will see how high Heaven is? Without my spirituality or consciousness, who would go to see how deep the earth is? Without my spirituality or consciousness, who will distinguish between good and bad, disaster and kind of spirits? Without my spirituality or consciousness, there would be no Heaven and earth or ghosts and gods.

“Now look at the dead, their souls have disappeared. Where else is their Heaven and earth?”126 My spirituality or consciousness is the hub of the humanistic world. If my spirituality or consciousness does not exist, then my humanistic world will not exist, and if all human spirituality or consciousness does not exist, then the whole humanities will disappear directly and completely. The collective disappearance of man’s spirituality or consciousness makes Heaven, earth, ghosts, and gods fearless. As a result, the whole human race acts on one’s own will. It act recklessly and cares for nobody. Man loses the fetters of humanity and becomes a devil and a despicable beast. Conscience is the bottom line of humanity and the essence of human being. It is a set of universally valid and necessary norms of value and conduct. It does not transfer according to external conditions and is everywhere without any condition. Wang Shouren calls human’s spirituality or consciousness the intuitive knowledge, which exists universally in people’s hearts. It comes from Heaven’s principles and embodies universal Heaven’s principles. “The intuitive knowledge makes no difference in thousands of years, and all over the world in the wilderness.” “The intuitive knowledge is the root of wisdom that can lead one to truth planted by Heaven.” “The intuitive knowledge is not only in the hearts of virtuous people, but also in the hearts of ordinary people.”127 “The intuitive knowledge in the human heart, even when it has not been developed, is the foundation of reaching the realm of

126 127

Ibid., Part 3. Ibid., Part 3.

3 The Perfection and Alienation of Confucian Political Philosophy …

529

open-minded, selfless, and thoughtless. It is also something that everyone possesses and what keeps one from indulging in material enjoyment.”128 Since intuitive knowledge may be obscured by material desire, there are questions about whether intuitive knowledge can be realized or not, and the succession of the intuitive knowledge is realized. Generally speaking, sages have the priority of “the extension of the intuitive knowledge.” “The extension of the intuitive knowledge” for mortals needs enlightening and transformation through teaching of sages. “The ordinary people with mediocre qualifications and the people with talent and virtue have moral consciousness and virtue, but only virtuous people can carry forward their inner conscience. Ordinary people cannot carry forward their own conscience, which is why there is a distinction between virtue and non-virtue.”129 The reason why the sages have priority to the extension of the intuitive knowledge is that they can dispel material desires that interfere with themselves. The reason why fools can’t have priority to the extension of the intuitive knowledge is that they can’t dispel the material desire that hides the intuitive knowledge. “By removing unreasonable greed, we can realize Heaven’s principles.”130 The intuitive knowledge exists in all people, just like sun in a day. It is there all the time, but sometimes it is blinded by clouds and mists. The intuitive knowledge of a sage is like the sun of a sunny day, a Xian ren or morally perfect man’s intuitive knowledge is like sun of a cloudy day. The intuitive knowledge of a fool is the sun of an overcast sky. “Within a day, people can experience all kinds of realms from ancient times to the present.” “On a clear night, the eyes and ears are free from noise and dirt, the mind is free from miscellaneous thoughts, and the mind is not to seek fame and wealth, just like the world in Fuxi.” “At the dawn of the day, it’s refreshing, harmonious, and dignified, like reaching the world of Yao and Shun.” “Before noon, etiquette, communication, and atmosphere is well, just like the world of the Xia, Shang, and Zhou Dynasties. After noon, the sky grew dim, people came and went, disturbing, like the world in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. After midnight, everything sleeps and falls silent, just like the world after the disappearance of people and things.”131 “If a man has the purest Heaven’s principles, he is a sage, gold is the purest if it is full of color.”132 Wang Shouren’s “extension of the intuitive knowledge” is nothing more than urging people to put “conscience” right, the essence of “removing selfish desires to save Heaven’s principles,” and “the extension of intuitive knowledge is to the extend the intuitive knowledge to everything, or, “removing selfish desires to save Heaven’s principles” in people’s daily actions. He said, “The so called the extension of knowledge and the investigation of things is to realize the moral consciousness in my heart and apply it to all things in the world.” “My inner conscience is what people call Heaven’s principles.” “Apply my inner moral consciousness to all things, and all things will be justified.” “To comprehend the conscience in my heart is to 128

Ibid., Part 2. Ibid., Part 2. 130 Ibid., Part 1. 131 Ibid., Part 3. 132 Ibid., Part 1. 129

530

9 People-Oriented Perspective and Yi Xia: Political Anxiety …

comprehend the conscience; all things are justified by Heaven’s principles, which is what people call the root of things. In this way, the unity of human mind and Heaven’s principles is realized.”133 The real purpose of the extension of intuitive knowledge is not about acquiring objective knowledge. Rather, it’s about determining your own code of conduct. “Your little conscience is the moral principle of your life. What you think about the right is right, the wrong is wrong, and you can’t hide your conscience at all. All you need to do is not deceive your conscience and do things according to your conscience.”134 “The extension of intuitive knowledge” is the watershed between man and beast. If man can get, “the extension of the intuitive knowledge,” selfish desires can be contained, so that they can break the “the dark side in the heart.” If they can break the “the dark side in the heart,” the unreasonable desires in the heart naturally do not exist. “Heaven’s principles in the Heart” is in the dominant position naturally. He attaches great importance to conscience, which is the key to human being. “If a person has conscious consciousness, no matter how many evil thoughts there are, as long as conscience awakens, those evil thoughts will naturally disappear. The awakened conscience is like a panacea, turning decay into magic.”135 He emphasizes that intuitive knowledge is the basis of human being, and that only by “the extension of intuitive knowledge” can people become human beings. Once getting “the extension of intuitive knowledge”, people will free themselves from the interference and cover of selfish desires. In this way, they put everything under the control of intuitive knowledge. The traditional Chinese unity of knowing and doing refers to the unity of knowinguniversality of human and doing-human daily behavior. That is to say, to perform the universality of knowledge in daily behavior. Wang Shouren used to regard the unity of knowing and doing as two things, whether it is advocating knowing before doing, or advocating knowing what is difficult, and doing what is easy. They are just advocating the combination of knowing and doing. Wang Shouren’s “unity of knowing and doing” integrates “knowing” and “doing”, stressing that “knowing” is knowing what is doing, and “doing” is knowing what is doing. He takes “doing” as the carrier and standard of “knowing,” and not doing is not knowing. “True knowledge can be practiced, and it cannot be called knowledge if it cannot be practiced.”136 Wang Shouren’s so-called “knowing” is a transcendental “intuitive knowledge,” and his so-called “doing” is nothing more than the practice of the ethics and the three cardinal guides and the five constant virtues as specified in the feudal society. “The unity of knowing and doing” is not a combination of two things, but two stages of one thing. “Knowing is the starting point of doing; doing is the result of knowing. There is only one thing in sage’s learning, and Knowing and doing cannot be separated.” “To speak of knowing alone, there is doing; to speak of doing alone, there must be knowing.” “The subtle and profound place in doing is knowing, and the practical place in knowing is doing.” 133

Ibid., Part 2. Ibid., Part 3. 135 Ibid., Part 3. 136 Complete Works of Wang Yangming, “Answer to Gu Dong Qiao.” 134

3 The Perfection and Alienation of Confucian Political Philosophy …

531

If practice does not rise to the level of sophisticated and profound theory, it is to act blindly, which is why Confucius said that learning without thinking will be confused. Therefore, doing must refer to knowing. If knowing is not feasible, it is unrealistic thinking, that is, the so-called fantasy. If you don’t study, you’ll be in danger, so doing must also rely on knowing. It can be seen that the two elements are one.137

“If there are two factors, it’s just good intentions. To understand conscience is to perceive and practice the good intentions of the mind. That is to get conscience.” “Conscience is like water. There is conscience in people’s hearts, like water running down.” “Implementing inner knowledge is like running down a stream of water. This is what we call the coherence and practice of inner knowledge.”138 The key to the unity of knowing and doing “is to realize that the key to conscience lies in practice.” “If conscience can’t be practiced, it can’t be called conscience perception.”139 He tried to persuade people to choose behavior at the beginning of the idea of good and evil, to guard against the occurrence of evil thoughts, to deny self and return to propriety, te practice personally Heaven’s principles and what one preaches. Wang Shouren holds that people in today’s learning, “divide the knowing and doing into two things, so when an idea comes into being, even if it is not good, there is no need to prohibit it if it is not put into practice. What I say today is the unity of knowing and doing.”140 Once an idea comes into being, it is put into practice. If the idea is not good, it must be thoroughly eradicated so that the bad idea does not lurk in the thought. This is the purpose of establishing the doctrine.” “Man’s attitude towards his bad thoughts is like how cats prey upon mice. Never tolerate them. Only when you look with your eyes and listen with your ears, when something bad comes up, just pull it out immediately. Come straight to the point without the slightest hesitation; one cannot connive.”141 Only in this way can we achieve the “the unity of knowing and doing” of “pure Heaven’s principles.” The traditional Chinese “unity of knowing and doing” mainly discusses the universal ontological problem of people, not the problem of understanding. The so-called knowing is the a priori absolute evaluation between right and wrong, and the good and evil of human beings and the ultimate source of Heaven. Its starting point in the human world is to preserve the absolute evaluation between right and wrong, the good and evil of human beings of the sages. Its concentrated carrier is the Confucian classics such as the six channels. Before Wang Shouren, the unity of knowing and doing was mainly a methodological category, which studied how evaluation between right and wrong, good and evil of human beings guided and dominated moral practice of human beings. In other words, it is how to integrate knowledge with practice so that everyone could be Yao and Shun, ancient sages. Wang Shouren developed the unity of knowing and doing into an ontological category, taking evaluation between right and wrong, good and evil of human beings 137

Complete Works of Wang Yangming, “Answer to Friends’ Questions.” Complete Works of Wang Yangming, “Zhu Shouxi.” 139 Complete Works of Wang Yangming, “Answer to Gu Dong Qiao.” 140 Quotations and Letters on Teaching and Learning, Part 3. 141 Ibid, Part 2. 138

532

9 People-Oriented Perspective and Yi Xia: Political Anxiety …

as the universal ontology of human beings, and treating the doing as the true manifestation of evaluation between right and wrong, good and evil of human beings. This makes people become an inevitable existence of knowing and doing in the sense of universal ontology. “The unity of knowing and doing” is natural, of course, and ought to be. Wang Shouren’s so-called intuitive knowledge is the evaluation between right and wrong, and the good and evil of human beings, which refers to the moral knowledge based on the intrinsic nature of human beings. Its content has been completely determined without experience. It is rooted in Heaven’s principles and does not depend on people’s experience, and is completely different from the empirical knowledge of things other than people that are derived from experience. It can be said that his “knowing” of “the unity of knowing and doing” is neither the specific scientific and technical knowledge that is usually obtained from experience, nor the Kant-style pure reason used to master scientific knowledge. It is only the Kant-style practical rationality that determines the reason why people are human and includes the basic moral requirements. The object of “knowing” is inevitably characterized, and the inevitability object of Chinese tradition can only be human, not something other than human. Therefore, “knowing” is not interested in anything other than human beings. The object it discusses can only be the person itself. In short, Wang Shouren’s so-called “knowing” represents or embodies the innate factors of the essence, inevitability, and universality of human beings, and is the essential feature of human beings. The “doing” of “the unity of knowing and doing” is first of all a practical existence. It has a certain empirical materiality. It is first of all Qi, then the heart. The Qi or heart of the physical material is relative to Li and Qi of the inevitable formal factor, which has a certain chance and individuality. If you understand from the existence of human beings, Wang Shouren’s “the unity of knowing and doing” has the following meanings: First, the unity of the a priori knowledge of inevitability and the empirical practice of contingency. Evaluation between right and wrong, good and evil of human beings must not only dominate, but also guide the role in the process of practice. In this way, people cannot be born with evil thoughts, so it is impossible to issue behaviors that violate evaluation between right and wrong, good and evil of human beings. It also requires evaluation between right and wrong, good and evil of human beings to be expressed in certain forms or action of requirements. The action must reflect the essential requirements of evaluation between right and wrong, good and evil of human beings. Second, the unity of God’s knowing and people’s doing is the traditional so-called unity of Heaven and Man. The source of all the inevitable things in Chinese tradition can only be Heaven, and Heaven is the source of all the inevitable things. In this way, Heaven becomes the most inevitable thing. All the necessary order or form cannot be derived from the Heavens. All the inevitable things in the human body is also derived from Heaven. Only when people meet the requirements of Heaven are there real people. The legitimacy of human existence cannot be explained by itself; it can only be based on whether or not it reflects God’s will. Third, there is the unity of the knowing of the sages and doing of the mortal. Because of the special endowment, the sages proudly preserved the transcendental evaluation between right and wrong, good and evil of human beings. They have acquired almost perfect Heaven’s knowing before the ordinary people.

3 The Perfection and Alienation of Confucian Political Philosophy …

533

Politics is the unity of the sages and the mortals in which the mortals obey the sage to some extent. This kind of politics can only be monarchic despotism politics. Wang Shouren’s theory of “the unity of knowing and doing” not only highlights the extreme importance of “doing,” but also raises the status of the subject of behavior, and attaches importance to individual initiative. It also affirms that the individual can equally represent the equal status of Heaven’s principles, and it provides a set of naturalistic epiphany cultivation methods to make up for the defects of Zhu Xi’s Neo-Confucianism in the cultivation methodology. Wang Shouren’s original intention is to demonstrate the natural rationality of China’s traditional political order, to ethicalize the existence of all natural forms, and to encourage people to consciously ethicalize their own natural existence. However, Wang Shouren’s theory of “the unity of knowing and doing” also has inevitable methodological drawbacks, which overemphasize the connection between knowing and doing in the cultivation process, while ignoring the various honing in the cultivation process. The excessive direct naturalistic cultivation method directly led to deconstructive or destructive social political thoughts with nature as ethics. Both natural ethics and ethical naturalization are based on the epistemological methods of naturalism. The ethicalization of nature can be transformed into the naturalization of ethics with little or no major innovation in thinking. This trend of thought developed into the ultimate in Li Zhi. He almost completely adopted the naturalistic attitude and method, disintegrated all the necessary things, taking the feeling as one pleases as the sole basis for behavior, deconstructing all political and ethical issues. (2)

Li Zhi’s Political Thought

Li Zhi, whose formal name is Zhuo Wu, was also known as Hong Fu. His Alias is Wen Ling Jushi. He was from Jinjiang (now Fujian) in Quanzhou. He was born in the sixth year of Ming Shizong Jiajing, (AD 1527), and he died in the 30th year of Ming Shenzong Wanli, (AD 1602). He was an important thinker and author in the late Ming Dynasty. In the 31st year of Jiajing, Li Zhi participated in the provincial examination and was a successful candidate in the imperial examinations. However, he looked down on the system of choosing personnel in imperial examination for eight-part essay. He laughed at the incompetence of the examiner and said that he was taking a test only to become a transcribed student. After that, he stopped taking the entrance examination for Jin shi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations). At the age of 30, Li Zhi went to Gongcheng County, Henan Province (now Hui County, Henan Province) to teach. In the thirty-ninth year of Jiajing, he was transferred to the post of Dr. Guozijian (the Imperial College) in Nanjing. After several months in office, he returned home for the mourning period because of his father’s death. After three years of mourning, Li Zhi went to Beijing to serve as Dr. Guozijian (the Imperial College). His grandfather died soon after. Li Zhi bought several mu of land in Gongcheng County, and let his wife, Huang Shi, and his three daughters to live on the farm. He returned to Quanzhou alone to manage the funeral. In the forty-fifth year of Jiajing, Li Zhi returned to Beijing with his family to fill the duties of the Ministry of Rites in feudal China. Five years later, he was transferred to

534

9 People-Oriented Perspective and Yi Xia: Political Anxiety …

the a ministry councilor of Criminal Justice in Nanjing. In the fifth year of Wanli, he served as Yao’an magistrate of a prefecture in Yunnan Province. During his tenure in office, he exerted himself to make the country prosperous, and discarded the old ways of life in favor of the new. He strongly opposed the feudal ethical doctrine of “the way of the monarch governing the world” and discrimination and oppression of minorities, and instead advocated “perfect rule.” In the 30 years of Wanli, “Li Zhi entered the imperial court to become an official in his prime. In his later years, he shaved his head and became a monk. Later, he wrote books such as Collection of Books, Burning Books, and Zhuo Wu De De, which were popular everywhere, confusing the minds.” In the end, Ming Shenzong arrested Li Zhi and burned his works on the charge of “daring to spread treacherous words, confuse the world, and deceive the people.” Li Zhi’s theory is obviously influenced by Wang Shouren and the doctrine of Zen Buddhism. When Li Zhi was in charge of the Ministry of Rites in Beijing, he was exposed to the theory of Wang Yangming, who appeared in the “anti-traditional” posture, and so Li Zhi reformed Wang’s theory. He believed that “Yao and Shun are the same as pedestrians, sages and mortals are the same. “ During his tenure as a member of the a ministry councilor in Criminal Department of Nanjing, he met the famous scholars of the Taizhou School, Wang Ji and Luo Rufang, and worshipped the son of Wang Gen, the founder of the Taizhou school. He took Wang Ji as a teacher. Through Wang Ji and Luo Yufang, they contacted doctrine of Zen Buddhism and proposed that there are no similarities and differences between Confucianism, Daoism and Buddhism, advocating “Theory of the Childlike Heart” and opposing the doctrine of Confucius and Mencius. Li Zhi openly attacked NeoConfucians, regarded himself as heterodoxy, valued utilitarianism, and evaluated Qin Shihuang positively. He believes that it is human nature to eat, dress and other human desire.” He opposes traditional secular dogmas and criticizes “hypocritical Daoism” and “hypocrites.” he also boldly pointed out that Confucian classics such as The Six Classics, The Analects of Confucius, and Mencius were not “the supreme theory of all ages.” He opposed “taking Confucius’ right and wrong as the right and wrong,” and advocated the initiative choice of individual mind. Li Zhi’s political thought is famous for his personality. He advocates developing individual initiative and advocating the theory of childhood psychology. It embodies the pure naturalism’s individual cultivation method, disrupting the inevitable system of ethical outline advocated by Neo-Confucianists, and takes the accidental assumption in the human mind as the ethical foundation. He completely naturalizes ethics, takes unrestrained nature as ethics, opposes the cultivation method of Neo-Confucianism, which insists on decorating and concealing, and advocates frankness. Li Zhi’s political thought still embodies the political characteristics of traditional small-scale peasants, which can be seen as the result of the alienation of the small-scale peasant society in the middle and late Ming Dynasty. The basic ethics and political order of Chinese traditional society are just to maintain the longterm stability of small-scale peasant society. Generally speaking, the stability and consolidation of political order is based on the general ethics of universal belief. The general ethics of universal belief is often based on a series of categories and concepts of necessity. The establishment of a series of categories and concepts of inevitability

3 The Perfection and Alienation of Confucian Political Philosophy …

535

is always the natural product of a certain social life process. The traditional ethics and political order in China embody the familiar way of thinking of small-scale peasants. They take Heaven-human induction, the unity of Heaven and Man, as the basic content. They take the supreme authority of Heaven and the ultimate source of legitimacy, and emphasize the harmony between man and Heaven. They take Heaven as the ultimate source of supreme authority and legitimacy, emphasizing that man is in harmony with Heaven. From this, it derives that the people are in harmony with the officials, the officials are in harmony with the monarch, and the monarch is in harmony with the Heaven. It emphasizes the abstinence of the individual as the basic cultivation method and the way of existence, and the ethical requirements arising from the necessity of Heaven restrict people’s words and deeds. When psychological variation happened in the traditional small-scale peasant society of China, heterodox thinkers, who are anti-inevitable rationality and attach importance to accidental perception, often emerge. Their propositions can be generally summarized by the idea of Ji Kang, a metaphysician of the Wei and Jin dynasties, which “beyond class etiquette, let nature go.” Most of these heretical thinkers advocate restoring the nature of human nature and oppose all kinds of actions to modify and disguise human nature, attacking the ethics of abstinence and its cultivation methods. It advocates naked human desire and takes human desire as the norm of ethics. Their political thoughts are usually characterized by anarchism or anti-government. They doubt and abhor all authority and order. Li Yu’s political thought is the typical representative of this kind of heresy in the late stage of traditional society. Li Zhi’s political thought has three main aspects: Firstly, Li Zhi disintegrates with pure nature the characteristics of law and purpose necessary for traditional outline ethics. He doubts, slanders, and denies the unity and purpose of the ultimate source of the world, and empties a series of inevitability categories, concepts, propositions, judgments, and inferences that traditional ethical outlines often rely on. Secondly, Li Zhi introduced the pure natural method into the field of mind and nature, advocated the so-called theory of the Childlike Heart. He brought the naturalistic method into full play, advocated removing all kinds of artificial “fakeness,” and restored the nature of human beings. In fact, he returned to Jikang’s position of “being beyond class etiquette, and letting nature go,” and advocate frankness and doing as one pleases. Thirdly, Li Zhi affirmed people’s desire for profit and personal interests. He put personal interests above justice. As long as people’s hearts are pure and natural, true and not false, then it’s only natural for people to have all kinds of selfish desires. Human behavior can only be measured by inner authenticity, which completely loses the social standard. Human external behavior cannot be used as the standard to measure human beings. Li Zhi’s political thought is based entirely on naked human desires and advocates doing whatever he wants. He is an anarchist or non-politicist faction with no normal healthy political ideals. He opposes any form of authority and coercion that can give people restraint. Li Zhi objected to the view that the Neo-Confucianism of the Song and Ming Dynasties used Heaven’s principles or Taiji as the basis of all things. He denied that there were common masters in all parts of the world, and denied the inevitable

536

9 People-Oriented Perspective and Yi Xia: Political Anxiety …

and consensual connection between all things in the world. Li Wei carried out the naturalistic approach of Wang Shouren to the end, thus completely naturalizing the universal ontology of the world. Everything in the Heavens and the earth is as natural as couples having children. There is no single dominance, no inevitable connection, and no mutual respect or attachment. Li Zhi’s “everything in the world comes from Yin and Yang” has profound meaning in political philosophy. Since the Han Dynasty, Confucian scholarship has always emphasized integration when it comes to the root of the inevitable connection between Heaven and earth. That is what the Han call “the origin of Dao lies in Heaven,” emphasizing that Heaven is one and Heaven is the origin. In the debates of metaphysics in Wei and Jin Dynasties, whether it regards “Wu” as the spiritual origin of all things in the world or “You” as the world origin, it always tries to attribute the origin of the ontology of all things to one. The “Taiji Yin and Yang from the Infinite” of Neo-Confucianism in Song Dynasty attributed the origin of the universe to one, to govern everything under Heaven with one. In order to realize their ultimate moral or humanistic purpose of existence and maintain the universal and inevitable order or rule of the whole world, they should keep their own position in order to establish the universal order or rule of human. The ideological trend of Neo-Confucianism regards Heaven’s principles as the noumenon of all things in the universe. Heaven’s principles of Heaven and earth are only the special manifestations of the general natural principles. Everything has their own natural principles, and natural principles are generally special and general relations. Everything realizes its own natural principles, which is equal to the natural realization of the whole universe. The universal Heavenly principles of the universe are not only the origins of the Heavens and the earth, but also the general principles of the Heavens and the earth and the inevitable connection between the Heavens and the earth. NeoConfucianism strengthens the unity and absoluteness of the world noumenon. Thus, it establishes the universal and inevitable ontological form of human beings, and strengthens the absoluteness and uniqueness of traditional political values and social behavior norms. Li Zhi’s “all things in the world are born of Yin and Yang” directly challenges and even denies the basic political philosophy hypothesis that “the origin of Dao lies in Heaven” and “if Heaven does not change, Dao will not change” which existed since the Han. Li Zhi tried to break out of the traditional thinking pattern of “all things are unified” with the proposition that “all things in the world are born of Yin and Yang,” negating the absolute authority of Heaven’s principles, posing a great threat to the universal inevitability of the ethical code. Neo-Confucianism distinguished between Heaven’s principles and selfish desires, emphasizing that Dao must exist in Heaven’s principles, and human beings must preserve the public sense and eliminate human desire. The naturalness of human being is in conformity with the general form requirement of human being derived from general ethics. As far as methodology is concerned, Neo-Confucianism generally has the defect of separating Heaven and man. Wang Shouren realized the unity of Heaven and man and knowing and doing by means of natural insight. His contributions are naturally indispensable. However, Wang Shouren’s naturalistic approach to

3 The Perfection and Alienation of Confucian Political Philosophy …

537

natural ethics has undergone major changes in Li Zhi. Li Zhi carried out naturalism from methodology to ontology with a thoroughly naturalistic attitude, seeking the justice of Heaven from the selfishness of selfish desires, taking natural selfish desires as Heaven’s principles. Li Zhi still mainly discusses the cosmic ontology in the humanistic sense, and thus emphasizes that the connotation of Dao is nothing more than human physics. However, the connotation of Dao is nothing more than human relations physics. However, there may be completely opposite explanations. One is a positive and constructive interpretation of the ethicalization of nature. It emphasizes that human ethics should conform to the requirements of Dao and be universally constrained by Dao. The second is to naturalize human relations, taking the natural expression of human beings as Dao. Li Zhi’s explanation clearly belongs to the latter. “The Dao is to man as water is to the earth.”142 “The pursuit of Dao is like digging a well for water.” “Dao does not exclude human relations.” “Man is the Dao and Dao is man; there is no such thing as Dao without man, and there is no man without Dao.”143 “It is human nature to eat, dress, and other human desires. If there were eating and dressing, there would be no human relations and Heavenly principles. All kinds of things in the world are similar to eating and clothing, so the list of eating and clothing naturally includes all kinds of human desires in the world. The so-called reasons beyond clothing and eating are absolutely opposed to the people.”144 Chinese traditional political thought often emphasizes that, “everyone can be Yao and Shun, ancient sages. “ At the ontological level of human beings, this is acknowledging that everyone can be a sage like Yao and Shun if he works hard. His behavior and every movement can accord with Heaven’s principles. For most thinkers, this consciousness can only be a beautiful ideal vision which is possible or impossible to realize. In the foreseeable world, there are obvious differences between sages and fools in wisdom. Thus there are differences in political status and seniors and juniors, gentle and simple. Since Li Zhi adopted the method and attitude of complete naturalism, he naturally drew an equal sign between the sages and the mortals, and puts forward that there is no difference between the sages and the mortals in the sense of noumenon, opposing blind worship of sages. He said that, “everyone in the world is born rational. Everything is born rational. All the time people and things in the world are born with reason. It’s just that they haven’t realized it yet. But it’s not impossible for them to understand what they were born to understand.”145 “What’s wrong with saying that the streets are full of sages?”146 “Yao and Shun are the same as pedestrians in the street, and so are sages and the general public.”147 Sages and mortals will eventually belong to sages. This is the focus of Confucian orthodoxy, and Li Zhi is not heretical on this issue. He believed that heresy was the only way for him to reach the sages

142

A Collection of Book Previous Comments on Confucian Officials of Virtue and Industry. Li’s Collected Works, “Dao Gu Lu.” 144 Burning Books, “Answering Deng Shiyang.” 145 Burning Books, “Answering Zhou Xiyan.” 146 Burning Books, “Approving of Student Speech.” 147 Li’s Collected Works, “Dao Gu Lu.” 143

538

9 People-Oriented Perspective and Yi Xia: Political Anxiety …

by acting naturally and spontaneously. The key is to confuse conscience with human desire. (3)

Collusion of Donglin Clique’s Political Thoughts

Most of the Donglin Clique (a political organization mainly composed of scholarofficials in the late Ming Dynasty, named after the Donglin Academy where they meet) and its sympathizers do not agree with the formulation of the Donglin Clique. Huang Zongxi believes that Donglin Clique is a name deliberately coined by villains. This is because “clique” is a political derogatory term in traditional Chinese society. Most of the references to the “clique” in the Twenty-Four Histories are derogatory, except for a few people, such as Ouyang Xiu, who once supported the Party. Most people hold a despising and exclusive attitude towards “clique,” defending those who belong to one’s own faction and attacking those who do, and banding together for selfish purposes, which reflects the typical view of the “Party” in the traditional era. Chinese traditional cliques are different from modern political parties, and their actual historical role is often very negative. Most dynasties accelerated the pace of collapse because of Party struggle. In his book The Red Mansion and the Old Family of China, Samenwu reasonably analyzed the traditional cliques and the modern political parties. Members of a clique in the autocratic era are called cliques, while those in the democratic era are called parties. The difference between the two lies in the existence or absence of political opinions. The so-called political parties must have political opinions. If a political party wants to implement its political opinions, it must acquire political power. Whether a political power can be obtained depends on the people’s approval and opposition. Everything depends on the people, and it cannot be disobeyed by public opinion. Therefore, the political views of political parties are based on public opinion. Cliques have no definite political opinions, but only the desire to seize power, even if there are political opinions. Whether the regime can be obtained depends on the love and hate of the Son of Heaven. Because everything depends on the Son of Heaven, you can’t help flattering him. However, the Son of Heaven is in the Palace gate. What he can see every day is nothing but the concubines and eunuchs in the palace. The concubines and eunuchs in the palace can use a few words to convey the meaning of the Lord. Therefore, those who flatter the Son of Heaven cannot help flattering the concubines in the palace, and colluding with eunuchs. If we read the history of Tang and Ming Dynasty, we can know it.148

The Donglin Clique was the main participant group in the party struggle in the late Ming Dynasty. It began in the mid-Wanli Period, until the demise of the Ming Dynasty. The aftermath of the party struggle had not been calmed down. Donglin Clique advocates the learning of the superior man and the administration of the superior man, which shows the traditional scholar’s magnificent righteousness in safeguarding the ethical code and protecting the interests of the people. Most of the Donglin Clique members can martyr their ambitions and save the world. They are loyal to the emperor and love the people and die in the cause of justice. They hold 148

The Red Mansion and the Old Family of China.

3 The Perfection and Alienation of Confucian Political Philosophy …

539

the lofty political ideals of Confucianism and yearn for an ideal political world of order but full of benevolence, emphasizing that the monarch and his ministers are responsible for the maintenance of the people. The essence is to place more hope on the monarch. The majority of Donglin Clique members are “concerned about the world and current affairs.” “Every idea they have is poured into the monarch. Everything they concern about is beneficial to the people’s livelihood.”149 It belongs to the Confucian tradition of gentlemen. They take the defense of traditional moral principles as their own responsibility. They respect both the people and the monarch. Their political thought belongs to the typical theory of people-oriented and rule by kings, though there is no fundamental innovation. It also belongs to the classical expression of the Confucian political ideal. Most of the Donglin Clique members agree with and advocate respecting the monarch, consciously safeguarding the righteousness of the sovereign and subject, with respect to Monarch being the highest and his ministers being low. “It is the monarch’s power to decide the life and death, reward and punishment.”150 “The monarch is the head. The minister is the trusted subordinate, the limbs of the monarch.” “The sovereign heart is the source of the flourishing age and the chaotic age.” “The heart of the monarch is the root of the people’s heart.”151 The monarch’s idea concerned with the joys and sorrows of all the people. They think that respecting the monarch is not to obey the monarch, but to serve the monarch by Dao. The dignity of a monarch lies not in the humility of his subjects, but in his ability to act in accordance with the Dao. The monarch mainly follows the principle of Dao, abides by the constitution of his ancestors, is strict with himself, eliminates his own selfish desires and selfishness, establishes government for the public, and governs for the people. “The world is so big that all the people live in it. Heaven has chosen a monarch for the people, and the monarch has set up a prime minister for the life of God. This is the monarch who cherishes the world and does not use the world as a tool to satisfy his personal desires. Therefore, he cannot carry out the policy of benevolence and righteousness with the monarch with desire.”152 The monarch mainly tolerates the correction of his errors or faults by the superior man, and extensively accepts the admonition. He doesn’t listen to only one side, not to mention the fact that it’s impossible. Rather, he persists willfully. Since the highest of the Emperor is premised on a just cause, the Emperor must follow strict right and wrong, and can distinguish right from wrong, much less reverse right from wrong. In order to prevent the monarch from being confused and lost in the face of right and wrong, the Emperor must accept the advice of his subjects. The Emperor should not only be good at absorbing the ideas of people and officials who agree with his own political views, but also he should be good at communicating with people and officials with different political opinions. He should be able to listen to what they say and accept their opinions modestly. Even if the monarch is really a wise man, it 149

Gao Zi’s Posthumous Papers, Volume 5. Yang Zhonglie’s Collection of Official Documents, Volume 1. 151 The Collection of Legacy of Luo Luo Zhai, Volume 1. 152 The Collection of Xu Nianyang, Volume 3. 150

540

9 People-Oriented Perspective and Yi Xia: Political Anxiety …

is inevitable that even the wise are not always free from error. Even if the ordinary people with no power are ignorant people, they may be right. Even a fool may sometimes have a good idea. The Emperor often needs his ministers to have a good idea to make up for his error. “Nothing is more dangerous to the country than the blockade of channels through which criticisms and suggestions may be communicated to the leader.” Those in high positions hold salaries but refuse to speak, while those in low positions are afraid of being offended and dare not speak, so the words below are blocked. If by chance the person who refuses to speak is willing to speak, and the person who dares not speak dares to speak, but is finally put aside for no reply, the blockade is just above. The blockade below will isolate the Emperor, and the blockade above will isolate the officials and the people, both of them are the causes of chaotic times.

The Emperor was widely admonished, “regardless of the status of the ministers and the relation between them, they should be regarded as a whole.” “Whether it is mild and roundabout admonition, direct admonition, just and direct speech, submissive and euphemistic speech, the Emperor should listen carefully and choose flexible application.” Only when the Emperor modestly adopts the different political opinions of his ministers can he morally comply with the Confucian admonition that, “from the Son of Heaven to the common people, they will cultivate their body and mind, and cultivate their morality as the foundation of their lives. “ They pinned their hopes on the Emperor alone. “Our courtiers, even if they do their best, are not as good as the emperor’s idea that you can help the universe. Even if our courtiers are mouth parched and tongue scorched in their reasoning, they are not as inspiring as the words of the emperor, our courtiers. Even if they bend their body and exhaust their energy, are not as good as the emperor’s one of your initiatives in promoting social innovation.”153 The Donglin Clique’s proposal that, “the right or wrong will be published under the sun” is actually just to give full play to the role of Confucian superior man with Daoism in argumentation, so that the rights and wrongs of the world can be clearly defined, and the Emperor can administer according to the true standards of right and wrongs to serve the people. Donglin Clique’s emphasis on right and wrong is in fact only an emphasis on Dao. That is, what conforms to Dao is right and what violates Dao is wrong. Their ideal politics can only be Confucian traditional politics with the Dao prevails, and the key to politics with the Dao prevails is that the superior man is in Imperial court. “An Emperor can’t live without the superior man for a day; only the superior man can bring his talents into full play, and only then can the regime be stabilized.” “The reason why the world can prosper is that the superior man’s temperament can often be carried forward; the reason why the chaotic times occur is that the superior man’s temperament is often suppressed.”154 If the superior man can be in the court, there will be a peaceful prosperity. If a villain is in the court, the country will be in turmoil.”155 The Donglin Clique attaches 153

Zhao Zhongyi’s Collection of Official Documents, Volume 12. Zhao Zhongyi’s Collection of Official Documents, Volume 1. 155 Jinggao Zang Manuscripts, Volume 2. 154

3 The Perfection and Alienation of Confucian Political Philosophy …

541

great importance to the difference between the superior man and the villain. Only by truly distinguishing the superior man and the villain can we truly encourage the superior man and reject the villain, truly know the right and wrong of the affairs of state, and decide the governance of the world. “The Emperor did not have the vision to recognize the character and ability of human beings, so the superior man and the villain entered the court together. The only person who was promoted was the villain. How can a villain keep the world at peace?”156 Therefore, the key to the realization of Donglin Clique’s political ideal is how to cultivate the superior man and effectively distinguish between the superior man and a villain. The superior man or villain of Donglin Clique is based on whether they conform to Dao or not. Those who conform to Dao are the superior man, while those who violate or do not conform to Dao are villains. The superior man devotes oneself to the public interests and villains devote to his own self-interest, the superior man and villains are at odds. Because the superior man is “upright, cultivates backwardness with benevolence, binding others with kindness, and be diligent in handling government affairs and be willing to devote himself to the study of officials.”157 “A gentleman is a man of integrity.”158 “A villain is a lewd man.”159 The Donglin Clique regards itself as the superior man group, and denounces their opposites as villains. The division of the superior man and villain is based on Dao, and the difference between them is absolute. There is no common ground or harmony between them, they are like fire and water, and they are irreconcilable. Zuo Guangdou pointed out: “The difference between the superior man and a villain is like the difference between clean water and sewage.”160 “The superior man can’t tolerate a villain, just as a villain can’t tolerate the superior man.” “Clear water and sewage are bound to differ; the likes and dislikes of the superior man and villains cannot be indistinguishable.” “The superior man cannot be transformed into a villain, nor a villain into the superior man, just as a magpie cannot become a crow, nor can a wild duck become a red-crowned crane.” The typical performance of the superior man in social and political behavior is official loyal to his sovereign and filial son. The loyalty to one’s sovereign obeys only the order of the Emperor. It doesn’t ask the right or wrong of your order and whether it is reasonable or not. As long as it is the Emperor’s order, it must be obeyed absolutely and devoted wholeheartedly. Even if you sacrifice everything, you will never hesitate to be loyal and open-minded, no complaints, no regrets, and no fears. “The so-called rebuke and reward are all the gifts of the Emperor, as a minister. He should only be happy to accept them obediently, even if he is sentenced to death. It is also of keen intelligence and excellent judgment of the Emperor.”161 Donglin people generally believe that, “being a loyal minister and filial son is a hundred times better than

156

Huang Zhongduan Public Collection, Volume 3. Zhao Zhongyi’s Official Documents, Volume 3. 158 Jinggao Zang Manuscripts, Volume 3. 159 Ibid. 160 Zhuo Zhongyi’s Collection of Official Documents, Volume 2. 161 Collection of Zhou Zhongjie Gongzhi Yu, Volume 2. 157

542

9 People-Oriented Perspective and Yi Xia: Political Anxiety …

being respected.” “The spirit of loyalty and righteousness will last forever.”162 The political ideal of Donglin Clique is a traditional Confucian state of the superior man. Everything in the superior man’s country is based on conformity with Dao as the standard of conduct, and transformation through teaching with virtue maintains the ethical code and righteousness of sovereign and subject.

Bibliography 1. Zehua, Liu, et al. (1996). History of Chinese political thought (Qin Han. Wei Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties): Zhejiang People’s Publishing House.

162

Yang Zhonglie’s Collection of Official Documents, Volume 5.

Chapter 10

Criticism and Statecraft: Extreme Heights, and the Wane of Traditional Political Philosophy in the Early and Middle Qing Dynasty

Compared with the changes of the Yuan and Ming dynasties, the stimulation of the change of dynasties in Ming and Qing dynasties to the development of China’s political thought seems to be more than that of the change of the Yuan and Ming dynasties. At the end of Ming Dynasty, especially in the small court of the Nanming Dynasty, politics almost reached the most extreme darkness of all dynasties in China.1 The Qing Dynasty was the last national feudal regime established by ethnic minorities in Chinese history. As a result, people began to think extensively and deeply about political issues, and the ideological climax in the history of Chinese traditional political thought appeared. In particular, people-oriented thought almost reached its limit in the early Qing Dynasty. Huang Zongxi, Gu Yanwu, and Wang Fuzhi, who are all considered to be great political thinkers today, are not the survivors of the Ming Dynasty. Although they were orthodox in the Ming Dynasty, their political thoughts were fully and clearly expressed in the Qing Dynasty.2 Or we can say that they were just ordinary scholars in the Ming Dynasty, and only after the Ming and Qing Dynasties changed could they become outstanding political thinkers in Chinese history, as the people-oriented value concept was also popular in the great changes of the rise and fall of the state. Of course, no outstanding and great political thinker can surpass the limitations of his own era and nation. Before China came into contact with the political experience of the Western countries, it was impossible for them to produce the concept of representation and majority necessary for democratic politics, and even less specific political propositions such as responsibility, a cabinet system, decentralization, and checks and balances. Although they have put forward many critical propositions, most of them still belong to the category of people-oriented thought, and many of them can only be expressed in anger and have no actual significance at 1

Huang Junping. (1996). “Establishment of Shaowu Regime in Guangzhou and Corruption in Nanming Politics,” Journal of History, 3. 2 Zhang Shiwei. (2004). The Limit of People-oriented-The New Theory of Huang Zongxi’s Political Thoughts. Beijing: China Renmin University Press, p. 17.

© Tianjin People’s Publishing House 2022 S. Zhang, The Logical Deduction of Chinese Traditional Political Philosophy, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-4376-7_10

543

544

10 Criticism and Statecraft: Extreme Heights, and the Wane …

all. The political thoughts they express still belong to the category of people-oriented thought. On the level of political ideals, they still want to realize times of peace and prosperity under the rule of the sage. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, people-oriented political thought did not change fundamentally from the traditional Confucian people-oriented political thought in terms of content and social nature. Its social significance is not to deconstruct the traditional monarchy absolutism, but to reconstruct the political and philosophical system. It further consolidated the political ideology of monarchic despotism, which was impacted by the political storm of leftish Wang and the end of the Ming Dynasty. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, people-oriented thought only affirmed the importance of the people as the premise of political value, emphasizing that the political machine is the public implement of the world, owned by all the people in the world and served all the people in the world, thus requiring rulers to love, protect, and support the people. Whether it is “all the people are masters; the monarch is a guest and serving all the people”, or “the world is the people’s world”, in fact, the affirmation has always been only the value premise and fundamental purpose of people-oriented politics. At the time of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, although people-oriented thought had faced a different world situation from the past, the great changes in the world situation had not had a significant impact on China’s political field, especially in the field of political thought. In this way, the political thought that came across the sea had little impact. Therefore, the political changes faced by peopleoriented thinkers during the Ming and Qing Dynasties are still the old problems of traditional Chinese society, and the solutions that people-oriented thought can design are also “the old fashioned way”. In fact, the efforts of people-oriented thinkers in the Ming and Qing Dynasties were not different from those of their predecessors. They are not so much “deconstructing autocracy” as “reconstructing autocracy.”3 On the one hand, the criticism of people-oriented thought during the Ming and Qing Dynasties is obviously not a deconstructive criticism. Since the political criticism of people-oriented thought is not deconstructive, the role of deconstructive autocracy will naturally not play a role, and the conclusion that people-oriented political criticism cannot necessarily lead to democratic thought is more self-evident. On the other hand, the constructive propositions of people-oriented thinkers during the Ming and Qing Dynasties, especially the logical combination of inevitability political concepts, categories, propositions, and judgments, still follow the old precedents of Chinese political thought.

3

Zhang Shiwei (2006). “Reconstructing Autocracy: Social Significance of Political Thoughts in the Ming and Qing Dynasties” in Wu Guang (ed.), Collection of Chinese Cultural Studies: Huang Zongxi and Ming and Qing Thoughts. Shanghai: Shanghai Ancient Books Publishing House, pp. 78– 91.

1 Political Criticism and System Reconstruction …

545

1 Political Criticism and System Reconstruction in the Early Qing Dynasty The replacement of the Ming Dynasty by the Qing Dynasty caused tremors in the mentality of the Han scholar-bureaucrats. Many intellectuals who were unwilling to fall out of the imperial court came out of their study and actively participated in the struggle against the Qing Dynasty. After the failure of the struggle against the Qing Dynasty, many famous scholars were willing to be lonely and became the survivors of the previous dynasty. The survivors of the Ming Dynasty have a complex political psychology. On the one hand, they identify with the Ming Dynasty politically, and some even repeatedly worship at the Taizu Mausoleum of the Ming Dynasty. They have ceaseless psychological ties with the Ming Dynasty, and deliberately become a former dynasty survivor from time to time. On the other hand, they deeply criticized the politics of the former dynasty. In the process of political criticism, they put forward some political opinions with time-specific characteristics. On the one hand, these opinions have obvious specific pertinence and limitations of the times, so we cannot give universal comments or evaluations to any of their opinions, especially compared with any modern political system with a historical situation. On the other hand, their opinions do embody some outstanding ideas. In the perspective of traditional Confucian political philosophy, some of their opinions even reach the utmost. (1) Huang Zongxi’s Political Thought Huang Zongxi’s formal name is Taichong. His other name is Nanlei. Huang Zongxi is from Lizhoushan, and was born in Ming Shenzong in the 38th year of Wanli (A.D. 1610) He died in the 34th year of Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty (A.D. 1695). Huang Zongxi’s father, Huang Zunsu, was from Donglin, and was concerned about his country and his people. In the Five Years of Tianqi, Wei Zhongxian unjustly imprisoned many, arresting six political leaders of the Donglin Party, Yang Lian, Zuo Guangdou, etc. In February of the following year, he arrested Governor at Ying Tian Zhou Qiyuan. He allowed Vice-Du imperial to censor Gao Panlong, Zhou Shunchang, Miao Changqi, Li Yingsheng, Zhou Zongjian, Huang Zunsu, etc. and killed them in tribunal or in prison by extremely cruel means. In the first year of Chongzhen in Ming Sizong (A.D. 1628), Huang Zongxi went to Beijing to redress an injustice with memorial to the throne for his father praise, with an iron cone hidden. By the time he arrived in Beijing, Emperor Chongzhen had suppressed the “Hakka-Wei” group and reversed the injustice of the Tianqi Dynasty. However, there were still many kinds of eunuchs, and Huang Zongxi still hated them. After “expressing gratitude for a favor”, he wrote to the emperor asking for the assassination of the castrated party and government leaders who participated in the framing of his father, such as Xuan Xianchun, Cui Yingyuan, Cao Qincheng, Li Shi, etc. Emperor Chongzhen preached to the Ministry of Punishment, and severely interrogated them. Xu and Cui were sentenced to death. After the end of the trial, Huang Zongxi and the children of the families who died offered sacrifices to the loyal souls in the imperial jail, and the cry spread to the palace. Emperor Chongzhen sighed and said “This is an orphan

546

10 Criticism and Statecraft: Extreme Heights, and the Wane …

left by a loyal minister. My heart is very sad and sympathetic!” In the seventeenth year of Chongzhen, Li Zicheng led the Dashun Peasant Army to invade Beijing and the Ming Dynasty perished. Then the Qing troops entered Shanhaiguan and established a national regime. Huang Zongxi and his younger brother Zongyan and Zonghui donated all the family property to help the country alleviate difficulties and save the country from national calamity. They assembled more than 600 people from their hometown Huangzhupu to form a volunteer army, participating in the struggle against the Qing Dynasty of the Lu Kingdom in Nanming Dynasty, which was called “Shizhong Camp”. In the winter of Shunzhi six years, King Lu appointed General Ruan Mei of Chengbo to be sent on a diplomatic mission to Japan to ask for support. The minor official in the court of the Military Department and Left Vice-Du imperial censor Huang Zongxi supervised the army, but failed, and went home disappointed. Soon after, Huang Zongxi left the Dynasty and took refuge in his hometown. Huang Zongxi felt hopeless to recover from the great event, and said goodbye to the wandering life and devoted himself to teaching and writing. Huang Zongxi’s lectures focus on practical learning, oppose empty talk, advocate putting what is learned into practice, and emphasize that scholars should understand statecraft and master history in order to put what is learned into practice. In the eighteenth year of Kangxi, Huang Zongxi stopped teaching and devoted himself to writing books. Huang Zongxi was greatly shocked by the historical facts of the demise of the Ming Dynasty. He began to sum up the historical lessons seriously and decided to leave some worthwhile speeches and articles of governing for future generations. The purpose of Huang Zongxi’s book is to summarize the historical “reasons for order and disorder”, and to offer advice for future generations. Since the mid-Ming Dynasty, all kinds of social illnesses prevalent in society have involved personality diseases with imperfect personality development. The root of all kinds of personality disorders is that life has lost the support of the inevitable proposition, which leads to a large number of social members to reverse and confuse the relationship of knowledge, responsibility, emotion, and desire needed by normal social psychology. Huang Zongxi’s political philosophy centers on people who achieve the ideal, facing all kinds of boredom, incompetence, and helplessness prevailing in society. He seeks “bitter and good medicine” to cure personality and social diseases. He must find the universal and necessary basis of value for the existence of the world. It is also necessary to establish universal and effective forms of all things in the world, and even to provide credible and reliable ways for people to obtain the basis of value. Huang Zongxi’s world schema theory intentionally shapes a world system of the unity of regulating the flow of vital energy and removing obstruction to it, integrating the heart and nature, the unity of knowing and doing in order to conform to the law and to conform to the purpose. To conform to the purpose must conform to the law so as to lay an ontological and methodological foundation for people to establish personality and conforming to traditional social ethical norms. Regularity refers to the series and mode of relationship between seniors and juniors, gentle and simple, and Yin and Yang under the domination of “God” and the “purely good”. As a part of all things in the universe, human beings have the same series and mode of relationship with all things. The so-called “purpose” refers to the ultimate

1 Political Criticism and System Reconstruction …

547

goal that all things in the world must exist with pure perfection. The goodness of all things is nothing more than a series of relationships and patterns that are converted to and realized by the domination of the universe. Huang Zongxi believed that there was no obvious relationship between the origin and derivation of Li-Qi-nature-mind, but there is a clear relationship between domination and being dominated. “God” is the general source of all things. People only have the duty to recognize and convert to the series of social life paradigm which was royally approved by “God”, and cannot actively create a new paradigm of life and society so that the “God” recognized. The Son of Heaven is the agent of God in the world. Huang Zongxi thought that the emperor has the right to “take the place of Heaven” to “educate” his “people”. Huang Zongxi’s world is just existence. “The thing that rises and falls between Heaven and earth is Qi; and the thing that never changes between rise and fall is Li. It’s a thing with two names, not two things are a whole.”4 The only existence of the universe is “Li” in terms of its orderliness, rules, and dominance, or the idea that, “between Heaven and earth is full of Li”, from the material substance of existence. Existence is “Qi”, and “only Qi exists between Heaven and earth”. From the point of view that existence can dominate and have the active function of “conscience”, existence is the “human heart”, and the idea of “filling Heaven and earth is the human heart”. The physical entity of the universe is the whole of the prevailing Qi. The overall rule, order, and domination of Qi is the so-called Heavenly principle: Heaven or God. Qi as a whole has the active function of “creating man and everything”, which is the “benevolence” of Heaven, Heaven’s principles, and God. Every concrete thing has its own system of Li, Qi and mind, and its composition and mechanism of action are not different from that of the universe as a whole, but the Li, Qi, and mind of concrete things are controlled and dominated by the whole system of the universe. Huang Zongxi believes that the key reason why human beings can become the intelligent part of the universe is that they received the “Qi that possess Heavenly principles” or “the essence of Qi”. Human beings have the “perfect perception” and the “wisdom to become a man”, while other kinds of things, such as animals, are made up of “unnatural gas” or “rough gas”. The miscellaneous beyond human beings only have “rough perception”; “wit is not open but a dead thing”.5 The refinement of perception corresponds directly to the refinement of natural Qi. Heaven creates man with fine air and creatures with rough air. Although they are all Qi, they are different from each other in roughness and fineness. Although people are different in intelligence, foolishness, loyalty and treachery, in general, they are all created by the Qi of Heavenly principles, and the beasts receive the Qi which does not have Heavenly principles. The so-called “Qi which does not have Heavenly principles” or “rough Qi” does not mean that there is no Heavenly principle. “Its Heavenly principles are different from that of the man who created it.” The Qi between Heaven and earth is also controlled and dominated by “Heavenly principles” in general, and 4

Huang Zongxi. (1985). Shen Zhiying Dianjiao: Confucianism Case of the Ming Dynasty. China Book Company, Beijing: China Book Company, p. 1064. 5 Huang Zongxi. (1985). Complete Works of Huang Zongxi, 1st Edition, Volume 1, Hangzhou: Zhejiang Ancient Books Publishing House.

548

10 Criticism and Statecraft: Extreme Heights, and the Wane …

“Heavenly principle” controls the material composition of everything.6 The, “Qi with Heavenly principles” and, “the Qi without Heavenly principles” refer to the “Li” of human beings, that is “the pure highest good” of “humanity, justice, propriety, and wisdom”. In Huang Zongxi’s vision, the distinction between, “the Qi with Heavenly principles” and “the Qi without Heavenly principles”, “the essence of Qi” and “rough Qi” is entirely based on the formation of the distinction and order between seniors and juniors and gentle and simple among all things. The well-ordered world is the result of the supreme domination of objective existence. Although all human beings are endowed with “the Qi with Heavenly principles” or “the essence of Qi”, Qi Hua Liu Xing, or the Qi of Yin and Qi of Yang changing continuously with the five elements (Wu Xing).7 They always have over and under, and people are different from each other because of it. It is impossible for the Qi to flow between the Heaven and earth without uneven distribution, so different people’s endowments are also biased. The so-called deviation means that the “neutral Qi” is accompanied by the “miscellaneous Qi”, which makes the prevailing order and orderliness of Qi Hua Liu Xing, or the Qi of Yin and Qi of Yang changing continuously with the five elements (Wu Xing) deviate from the natural state, that is, the order and order shown by “Li”. Only moral sages are composed of pure “the Qi with Heavenly principles” or “essence of Qi”. “Essence of Qi” form other people, which is polluted in varying degrees by “rough Qi”, and “the Qi with Heavenly principles” polluted by “rough Qi” is what Huang Zongxi calls “miscellaneous Qi”. Although it is “miscellaneous Qi”, there are still “the Qi with Heavenly principles” or “the essence of Qi”. Huang Zongxi said, “although the quality of Qi has declined, it still retains pure and moderate Qi.” Everyone has the Qi of righteousness, the Qi with Heavenly principles, and the essence of Qi. Thus, there are opportunities to become moral sages, and thus far higher than other species to become the intelligent part of the universe. As long as enough “effort” is used to eliminate the “miscellaneous Qi”, we can become a moral person, a pure person, or a real person—a sage. Huang Zongxi denies that “miscellaneous Qi” is also an inherent attribute of human beings. In his view, human nature can only be the nature of righteousness and reason. The nature of righteousness and reason is a “characteristic determined by the essence of Qi.”8 “The Justice of Heaven” is the decisive factor of human being. The reason why everyone is human lies in the inherent “justice of Heaven” in him. The inherent “justice of nature” in human beings is not a kind of knowledge, but a kind of practical character or nature, which is bound to manifest itself in the form of life. The essence of human existence and the dignity and meaning of life must be embodied as a practical paradigm of life. This paradigm of life is the concrete manifestation of “Tianli” (Heavenly principle). In human beings, it is as it should be; whatever is, ought to be. “Heaven’s principle” is inherent in man himself. Huang Zongxi believes that the world should be perfect in its original state, and that all parts of the world should also be “good”. In this way, it should also be the 6

Ibid. Ibid. 8 Huang Zongxi. (1985). Shen Zhiying Dianjiao: Confucianism Case of the Ming Dynasty, 1st Edition, Beijing: China Book Company, 1985, p. 912. 7

1 Political Criticism and System Reconstruction …

549

purpose of obeying and serving the “best” of the world. The world as a whole aims at the “best”, and all parts of the world aim at the best. God, the master of the world, is the initiative of the whole world. “When the Qi comes together, there will be happiness, goodness, misfortune, and prostitution.” “The so-called dominance is an empty Qi.” However, Huang Zongxi’s idea of “the best state of the world” is not the actual state of the real world. There are many phenomena acting contrary to “the best state” in real social life. The reason why “Qi is not all good” is that it is out of its nature, “those bad Qi are all miscellaneous Qi, not the way they are”. The air between Heaven and earth is like the alternation of four seasons. It must be cold in winter and hot in summer, that’s what it looks like. Sometimes it’s hot in winter and cold in summer, which is the excessive Yang and abnormal climate. The original nature is lost. If we lose the way we are, we can’t call it natural.9

In this way, is it that the so-called good or the supreme good has become something that is not necessarily achievable? It is actually not. Huang Zongxi believes that although Qi Hua Liu Xing, Qi of Yin, and Qi of Yang change continuously with five elements (Wu Xing), they will produce excess and insufficiency with the emergence of “miscellaneous Qi”, which disturbs the natural state of the world. However, the “neutral homozygous Qi” exists. Therefore, Huang Zongxi believes that the natural state of the world, the highest good, still exists. The reason why it is not the actual state of the world is that it is concealed by miscellaneous Qi. As long as the “miscellaneous Qi” is eliminated, the world will be able to naturally and inevitably return to its natural state, the highest good. Huang Zongxi concocted the only way for the world to exist in accordance with the law and purpose. In this way, the essence, purpose, and development direction of all things in the universe are completely controlled by the highest good of the universe. In fact, the highest good of the universe has become the logical starting point for all things to exist, as well as the inevitable destination of development, and the ultimate goal of world existence. The only way for things to achieve their own goodness is to rely on Qi Hua Liu Xing, Qi of Yin, and Qi of Yang to change continuously with five elements (Wu Xing), to eliminate “exceeding and deficiencies”, and “to become neutral Qi”. Although people can also get the highest good by “becoming neutral Qi” through Qi Hua Liu Xing, Qi of Yin, and Qi of Yang changing continuously with five elements (Wu Xing), most ordinary people rely mainly on their own efforts to eliminate the “miscellaneous Qi” on their bodies and hearts, so that people can be made up of “the perfect” “Qi with Heavenly principles”, and nature and mind and Li can also become a trinity. Man realizes the unity of mind, nature, and reason, and finally achieves his goodness. The influence of Qi Hua Liu Xing, Qi of Yin, and Qi of Yang changing continuously on human goodness is mainly embodied in the goodness of emperors and sages. Generally speaking, if Qi Hua Liu Xing (Qi of Yin and Qi of Yang changing continuously) did not produce inferior phenomena, the kindness of the emperor is that “the universe

9

Ibid, p. 650.

550

10 Criticism and Statecraft: Extreme Heights, and the Wane …

gathers in one person.”10 This naturally produced the political result of “the one to whom the world voluntarily turns.” This is the “common sense” that Heaven and earth produces emperors. The goodness of emperors naturally comes from “the universe gathering in one person”, which is the normal form of the generation and existence of the goodness of emperors. But in the process of Qi Hua Liu Xing, there will always be more than or less than. The emperors in the world are not always the products of “the universe gathers in one person”. Sometimes, the kindness of the emperor is also covered by the mixture of Qi. The emperor whose goodness is veiled is the metamorphosis of emperors that Heaven and earth produce. Three generations of sage-kings are the product of the normal state of Qi Hua Liu Xing, and their goodness is the natural product of “the universe gathers in one person”. Within three generations: There are often people who are unjust but become the ruler of the world. They are the products of the phenomenon that Qi Hua Liu Xing, [or that the] or the Qi of Yin and Qi of Yang changing continuously with the five elements (Wu Xing), [so there] is excess or insufficiency. After a period of time, the Dao of Heaven and luck will return to normal, and the unjust monarchs will naturally be destroyed. The way emperors came into being ultimately restored to the normal state of the universe gathering in one person.11 The Dao is between Heaven and earth. Everyone will have it, the Dao of Heaven is farreaching and profound, which does not increase or decrease because of individuals, although it will not increase or decrease at will, there are differences between light and shade. When pure Qi converges, there must be a way of advocating justice and pushing it into the world, as time goes on, it will converge between Heaven and earth, five hundred years of great changes will not be far away.12

The idea of “when pure Qi converges, there must be a person whose way of advocating justice and pushing it into the world” is in reference to the sage kings. Why do people have political power? If there is no “excess and deficiency” of Qi Hua Liu Xing, then everyone is endowed with neutral Qi. Maintaining one’s “pure and good heart” means that everyone is the embodiment of the highest good, and the world is a country full of people of noble character. If so, man does not need moral autocracy on himself, nor does he need the “sagely” autocracy of moral heroes at all. But Qi Hua Liu Xing, “cannot be beyond excess and deficiency”. People’s endowment of Qi “cannot have no difference”, which makes it so the heart cannot always maintain its best state. On the one hand, people can, of course, exercise self-moral autocracy through “effort” in order to eliminate and stifle the budding “selfishness” and “selfishness of desires”, and restore and maintain the “the innocent heart of a child—utter innocence”. “The innocent heart of a child—utter innocence” is the highest good, but not everyone can restore kindness through moral cultivation. That is, not all people can consciously become good people. There are too many villains in the world. They need to be forced to help. On the other hand, the moral 10

Huang Zongxi, Complete Works of Huang Zongxi, 1st Edition, Volume 1, Hangzhou: Zhejiang Ancient Books Publishing House, 1985, p. 90. 11 Ibid. 12 Ibid, p. 165.

1 Political Criticism and System Reconstruction …

551

hero who gains “Qizizhong” in Qi Hua Liu Xing, Qi of Yin and Qi of Yang change continuously has the political power of “enlightening” the “civilians”, this power has a strong color of moral teleology, and its overall monitoring and assistance to human beings is always manifested as monarchy. Huang Zongxi’s so-called moral hero refers to the emperor who is “commanded by Heaven”. “It is common sense that the universe gather in one person, so the world belongs to him.”13 The natural state of the Son of Heaven is the “benevolence” that “support all the people.” How does the Son of Heaven implement benevolence? Huang Zongxi holds that the benevolent standard and tool of the Son of Heaven to “raise all the people” is the “the law of the ancient kings”. The “law of the Ancient Kings” is contained in the “Six Classics” (Book of Songs, Shangshu, Book of Rites, Book of Changes, Book of Music, Spring and Autumn Period). Therefore, he emphasized that “the Six Classics are all the law of the ancient kings”. The so-called “the law of the ancient kings”, has as its specific content nothing more than the institutional measures to support the people and educate the people. The law of the ancient kings is considered everywhere for the people.14 Sages and the former sage-kings are the same, referring to the “benevolent” actors of “raising all the people”. They can be the “benevolent” actors of “raising all the people”, because they have similar functions and attributes as “Heaven”. “The reason why Heaven and earth produce all things is benevolence. The reason why emperors support all people is benevolence.”15 They have similar functions and attributes as “the domination of all things”, because their natural Qi is “a mass of essence in the universe”, where “the essence of Qi between Heaven and earth converges”. It will be nature that God blesses the good and punish the evil. This is the case overnight and throughout the ages. Otherwise, the essence of Qi between Heaven and earth will disappear, among all kinds of different qualities of Qi. There is a real dominant, known as the “best and most perfect person.”16 The core attribute and nature of the Son of Heaven and the emperor are “the highest good”. “The highest good” is originally the core attribute and characteristic of “Heaven’s principles”, and “Heaven” as the domination of all things. But as the ruler of Heaven and earth, “Heaven’s principles”, and “dominance” do not exist independently. “Heaven”, “Heaven’s Principle”, and “dominance” are only the proper arrangement and order of Qi Hua Liu Xing, or the or the Qi of Yin and Qi of Yang changing continuously with the five elements (Wu Xing) of Heaven and earth. The attribute and nature of “the highest good” is originally based on the Qi theory of Heaven and earth. Because the Son of Heaven and the emperor gathered “the universe in one person”, the nature and attribute of “the highest good” is the inevitable result of the logical development of Huang Zongxi’s philosophy. Sages and emperors who are “accepted by Heaven” are the embodiment and perfect realization of the highest good of morality. They are endowed with the popular “in the midst of Qi” theory. Their “joy, anger, sorrow and joy” can naturally “neutralize” their actions and ideas, and naturally conform to the behavior paradigm that their roles should have. Their 13

Ibid, p. 90. Ibid, p. 87. 15 Ibid, p. 90. 16 Ibid, p. 77. 14

552

10 Criticism and Statecraft: Extreme Heights, and the Wane …

most core and basic behavior is to “doing” “human-heartedness and righteousness” and carrying out the responsibility of “upbringing” “all the people” which “Heaven” has “entrusted” to them. The so-called “upbringing” is, to put it plainly, being a moral hero. The emperor forced the members of the society to become the political dictatorship of the highest good out of the highest good, for the sake of the highest good, and to take the highest good as the standard. Huang Zongxi believes that the fundamental purpose of the monarch’s political power is to “promote public interests and eliminate public hazards” in the world, public hazards or public interests are related to the existence of most people. “At the beginning, when people had their own private interests, no one was committed to the establishment of public interest-friendly undertakings, and no one was able to combat acts that undermined public interests.” “When a wise man comes into the world, he does not regard his own interests as interests, but allows the whole world to profit. He does not regard the damage he has suffered as damage, but allows the entire world avoid its damage.”17 Public interest is the content of Huang Zongxi’s so-called “the law of the ancient kings”. That “every man is selfish and every man is for his own benefit” is not an individual atomism like “natural rights”, nor is it to seek the theoretical legitimacy for the individual’s profit motive. If it also refers to the “natural state” of human beings, then this natural state refers to the “Qi Hua Liu Xing, or the Qi of Yin and Qi of Yang changing continuously with the five elements (Wu Xing)” of the natural state. However, it is not the state of whatever is and as it should be of human beings, but the improper state of human beings with the more and less of Qi Hua Liu Xing, or the Qi of Yin and Qi of Yang changing continuously with the five elements (Wu Xing). Huang Zongxi’s so-called state as it should be is quite different from that of nature. With the innate “pure and kind heart”, people can “sympathize when they should sympathize, be ashamed when they should be ashamed, be modest when they should be modest, have the right judgment when confronted with the judgment of right and wrong, in which anger, sorrow, and joy are all neutral and peaceful. This is the natural state of human beings, and most of the people in the natural state cannot maintain the “the innocent heart of a child– utter innocence”. Their natural state is covered by selfish desires and customs, which leads to the existence of human desires and the death of Heaven’s principles. Huang Zongxi emphasizes that the state of whatever is for human beings, namely, Heaven’s principles, is public interest, while the mixed state of human beings, namely, selfish desires, is public hazard. The so-called “birth of a wise man” refers to the birth of a “monarch” who “accepts orders from Heaven”. Huang Zongxi believed that “the Son of Heaven accepted by Heaven” is not really ordered by a domination outside the world, but in Qi Hua Liu Xing, or the Qi of Yin and Qi of Yang changing continuously with the five elements (Wu Xing) endowed with “neutral Qi”. He achieved his “pure goodness” of “the four cardinal virtues: humanity, justice, propriety and wisdom”. Three generations of sage kings were endowed with the “neutral Qi” in Qi Hua Liu Xing, or the Qi of Yin and Qi of Yang changing continuously with the five elements (Wu Xing), and achieved their “pure 17

Ibid, p. 2.

1 Political Criticism and System Reconstruction …

553

goodness”. Their pleasure, anger, sorrow and gladness, looking, listening, speaking, acting and so on are not inconsistent with the law and purpose. No constraints are needed because it is already the “the highest good” in itself. That is, the absolute constraints and masters in Huang Zongxi’s world schema. The sovereign has unlimited and unconstrained supreme power in the world just as God has in the universe. How can monarchy be omnipresent, be equal to anything and everything intervenes? Huang Zongxi’s so-called monarchy is the human version of “God” and “the highest good”. God sets rules and aims for all things in Heaven and earth, and is the absolute dominant power of all things in Heaven and earth. The task is to help, guard, and urge all things in the world to achieve the highest good in line with the law and purpose. The position and function of the Son of Heaven in the world is similar to that of the God in the world. The Son of Heaven also plays the role of setting rules and setting goals for the world. He is the master of the world. His mission is also to help, guard, and urge all people to achieve the highest good in line with the law and purpose. In terms of the actual task of monarchy, Huang Zongxi’s political thought endowed the monarchy with the full mission of making people whatever is and as it should be. The monarch is the only subject of political power in the world, and the bureaucrat is the agent or extension of this subject, the purpose of the monarch’s exercise of political power is to make people follow a regular and purposeful fixed behavior paradigm such as “pleasure, anger, sorrow and gladness”. Their words and deeds “are equivalent to Zhu Xi’s books on ethics, etiquette”, and the ruler’s authority naturally becomes omnipresent, equal to nothing, no matter what it is. Huang Zongxi highly esteems “the law of the ancient kings”, “three generations of sage kings”, “three generations of governance” and so on. Huang Zongxi endeavored to describe the form of monarchy, which is the power form of three generations of sages. It is both experiential and transcendental, with objective texts to follow. There are also necessary certain norms. The power form of the three generations of sages is the standard form of the power form of the Son of Heaven. The monarchs of later generations should take the power form of the three generations of sages as it should be and whatever is the form of monarchy. The form of monarchy of the three generations of saints has three characteristics in form: “The world is the master, the monarch is the guest serving the world, and the monarch has planned all his life for the world.”18 The scope of monarchy is infinite and vast without boundaries. Everything in people’s life, such as economy, military affairs, education, social organizations, funerals, sacrifices, rites, music, poetry, punishment and so on, is equal to anything, omnipotent. The domination of monarchy is essentially a transcendental necessity. The Son of Heaven, ruled by the grace of God, of course, has the full responsibility of “Heaven”, “upbringing” “all the people”. But on the one hand, the world is far from being governed by the emperor, who needs a variety of specific personnel. On the other hand, although the Son of Heaven has the right to speak in name, he is not always right in practical experience. When the Son of Heaven makes mistakes, Huang Zongxi still hopes that someone can give him a hand. Therefore, the political power network woven by Huang Zongxi’s political thoughts still needs the role of official 18

Ibid.

554

10 Criticism and Statecraft: Extreme Heights, and the Wane …

in feudal times. But all the officials participated in the political system through the selection of the Son of Heaven. No matter how high the prime minister’s position is and how important his role is, his political experience also began with winning fame in the process of “selecting and employing scholars”. Apart from the emperor, all other roles in the officialdom are invariably “accumulated experience over time”, and so are prime ministers. In addition, although the work of selecting and employing scholars is ostensibly the behavior of six ministers and prime ministers, the prime ministers and six ministers are only the teachers and friends of the emperor of Heaven and the agent of affairs. The real protagonist of selecting and employing scholars is the Son of Heaven. There is a vast net of political power in social life. It is all-round, all-good, omniscience, being equal to anything, omnipotent and loving. Although bureaucratic power is an indispensable part of the power network, they are only the extension of the emperor’s power of “governing affairs”. Only the emperor has the power of creating political system, organization, policy, and measures. The power of the monarch is based on a series of categories of inevitability. It has undoubted political legitimacy and authority, while other forms of power are based on the lack of experience of the monarch. Their functions and benefits depend on the empirical benefits of sovereign power. Only when there are obvious shortcomings in monarchy politics can it be necessary for the monarch to help with his affairs or to send his local offices. Only when the monarch clearly authorizes them can their power have political legitimacy and authority, whether in schools or prime ministers. Huang Zongxi’s “law of governing the world” has a narrow vision, intense attitude, biased and extreme views, and mainly aims at the various corrupt policies of the Ming Dynasty. The hereditary monarchy cannot guarantee that the monarchs are necessarily virtuous, and the monarchs often make mistakes in practice. In the Ming Dynasty, the monarchs were muddle-headed, and there were no helpful person who can come to his help. Huang Zongxi conceived the idea of a competent prime minister to correct the drawbacks of monarch’s muddle-headed of the Ming Dynasty. But Huang Zongxi apparently did not understand the real reason for the political gloom, and was somewhat suspected of being unknown. In the era of political clarity in Chinese history, the emperor was often enlightened and the ministers were virtuous. The enlightened monarch is often the key element. If the monarch is not enlightened, then even if there are wise officials like Zhuge Liang, it is in vain. A weak emperor and a strong minister are often the hallmarks of political gloom. Of the many prime ministers who have been treacherous in past dynasties, Yan Song of the Ming Dynasty is a typical example. The monarch’s ability to know right and wrong is also limited in experience, and he can’t be exclusive in right and wrong. So Huang Zongxi designed a school to discuss the rights and wrongs of the world and help the monarch understand the rights and wrongs, but it also includes the right and wrong in political affairs. Huang Zongxi even gave local schools the right to expel local governors by right and wrong. But the main responsibility of the school is to educate all the people and “bring the people into the right track of abiding by the law and cherishing the utensils.” Huang Zongxi put forward the idea of defending the frontier with Fanzhen in view of the ills of border defense in the

1 Political Criticism and System Reconstruction …

555

Ming Dynasty, which was taken from the frontier town of Tang Dynasty. However, the separation of Fanzhen and the co-existence of the princes were a real disaster. (2) Gu Yanwu’s Political Thought Gu Yanwu, whose original name is Jiang, was formally known as Zhongqing. After the demise of the Ming Dynasty, he admired Wang Yanwu, a disciple of Wen Tianxiang and a patriotic scholar in the Southern Song Dynasty. He was renamed Yanwu, while his formal name was Ningren. He was from Kunshan, Jiangsu, and was known as Mr. Tinglin. He was born in the forty-first year of (A.D. 1613) Wanli and died in the twenty-first year of Kangxi, the sage ancestor of the Qing Dynasty (A.D. 1682) He was a famous thinker in the late Ming Dynasty and early Qing Dynasty. Gu Yanwu joined Fushe at the age of 14, and since the age of 27, he completely abandoned the study of imperial examinations, and instead compiled information about territory, situation, water conservancy, military defense, property, taxation, and so on in all parts of the country. He then compiled the Book of Diseases of the Country under Heaven and the Records of Zhaoyu. When the Qing soldiers went south, Gu Yanwu participated in the anti-Qing struggle in Kunshan, his hometown, and fought fiercely with the Qing army for more than 20 days. After his defeat, the stepmother of Wang’s family committed suicide by hunger strike. Before she died, she told Gu Yanwu, “don’t be a foreign minister!” After the demise of the Ming Dynasty, Gu Yanwu traveled all over Henan, Hebei, Shandong, Shaanxi, and other places to investigate the geographical situation. During his travels, he visited four Xiaoling mausoleums and six Siming mausoleums with the aim of restoring the Ming Dynasty, as well as “to reclaim land at the foot of Taibai Mountain to the east of Laoshan Mountain, to the west of Sishan, to the north of Yanmenguan and to the east of Wutai Mountain. Animal husbandry is operated and eventually accumulated a lot of wealth”. Gu Yanwu settled in Huayin, Shaanxi Province, at the foot of Huashan Mountain in his later years. In 1681, Gu Yanwu traveled from Huayin, Shaanxi Province, to Quwo, Shanxi Province. During the twenty years of Kangxi, the founder of the Qing Dynasty, because of the hardships of travel, he suffered from serious illness and died in Quwo, Shanxi Province, the following year. Gu Yanwu’s political thought is still a typical Confucian political thought though he has many critical remarks. He not only fantasized about the three-Generation regime model and advocated correcting many problems caused by the excessive centralization of monarchy since Qin and Han Dynasties, but also advocates strict adherence to the bonds and restraints of sovereign and subject and the defense of the barbarians, Yi, and the Chinese, Xia. Gu Yanwu clearly distinguishes the country from the world. There are differences between a conquered nation and a conquered world in history. Historically, there are two situations: the subjugation of the country and the subjugation of the world. What’s the difference between the two? Change of dynasties is called subjugation; benevolence and righteousness are blocked, so that the tyranny of the monarch destroys the people, and the people crush each other, which is called subjugation of the world. So we know how to defend the world, and then we know how to defend the country. To defend the

556

10 Criticism and Statecraft: Extreme Heights, and the Wane …

country is a plot of the monarchs and ministers, the rulers. To defend the world, even the small tradesmen and porters should bear their responsibilities.19

Gu Yanwu believes that “state” is a dynasty with one surname, while “world” is the world under which all people live. The tyranny of the monarch, moral decay, mutilation of people and the absence of rules and regulations mean “death under the world”. The difference between the world and other countries lies, on the one hand, in highlighting the importance of the outline of human rights and discipline, and on the other hand, in emphasizing “the world belongs to the people under the Heaven”. The Son of Heaven is the man who holds the power of the world How does he control the power of the world? So that all people in the world have a certain power, and eventually concentrated in their own hands. No official at all levels does not take power from the Son of Heaven to deal with matters within his jurisdiction, so the position of monarchy becomes more and more noble.20

Although the Son of Heaven is the final point of all political power in the world, only by rationally allocating the power between the Son of Heaven and the Doctor Gongqing and senior officer or official a hundred miles round; and giving full play to the role of courtiers and governments at all levels, can we truly guarantee the power of the whole world over the Son of Heaven and make it more and more respected. Gu Yanwu said: “The monarch should avoid dictatorship, which will lead to severe punishment and law. If the monarch and the minister are divided, the criminal law is not necessary.”21 Gu Yanwu’s so-called decentralization of powers and public administration is not a decentralization of powers and checks and balances. Instead, the monarch and his ministers govern their affairs and do not over-centralize their power. Gu Yanwu believes that moderately strengthening local power is conducive to external defense of Frontier trouble and civil disorder. “The decline of Tang Dynasty was due to the prosperity of Fanzhen in Hebei Province.” “The fall of the Tang Dynasty was due to the decline of Fanzhen in Hebei Province.” “People all over the world say that the Tang Dynasty died because of Fanzhen. After the middle of the Tang Dynasty, it was not eventually annexed by Tubo and Huihe, but subverted by the Huangchao Uprising, not necessarily because of Fanzhen.” “The misfortunes of the Ming Dynasty were roughly the same as those of the Song Dynasty.” The Song Dynasty, “ended the confrontation of Five Dynasties and ten states and abolished Fanzhen. In a short time, although it could correct the abuse of too strong subordinate forces, the state was weaker as a result. So the enemy invaders can break a city in one city.”22 Gu Yanwu demonstrated the importance of strengthening local power from the perspective of border defense and public security. Gu Yanwu believes that the most urgent task is to strengthen the power of Shou Ling (official position in history) of province and county in ancient times to obey 19

Ri Zhi Lu, “Zheng Shi”. Ri Zhi Lu, “Compliance”. 21 Ri Zhi Lu, “Take Appropriate Penalties for Loving the People”. 22 Ri Zhi Lu, “Fan Zhen”. 20

1 Political Criticism and System Reconstruction …

557

orders and implement “injecting some advantages of the enfeoffment system into the prefecture and county system.” “The most important thing is the county magistrates, who are close to the people. Today, the most powerless are the county magistrates.” “If the county magistrates have no power, then the misery of the people cannot be known to the emperor. How can we hope that he can achieve peace and extend the fortunes or destiny of a nation?”23 “The deficiencies of feudal state system lie in the subordinate dictatorship; the deficiencies of county system lie in the monarchy dictatorship.”24 Gu Yanwu believed that the feudal system was the constitution of a nation of the three generations of sage kings. He respected the system of the three generations of sage kings, but he also believed that the “feudal state” cannot be restored simply by abandoning counties. On the one hand, it is because the “feudal state” has the chronic disease of “subordinate dictatorship”. On the other hand, there is an inevitable trend in the development of history that does not depend on people’s will.25 “The decline of feudal state system is not an overnight reason. Even if there are the sages born, they will also be replaced by county system.”26 “Even if the Qin Dynasty wanted to restore the ancient system of state-building and feudal lords one by one, it was impossible to do so.”27 Gu Yanwu believes that the county system has come to an end since Qin and Han Dynasties. “Today, the county system has also declined to the extreme”, which is bound to change. “If we know why the feudal system has become a county system, we know that the disadvantages of the county system will lead to new changes.” He advocated “giving certain advantages of the feudal system to the county system.” “With the birth of sages, the prosperity of peace can be achieved by giving the advantages of the feudal system to the county system.”28 The idea that “the feudal state was meant to be prefectures and counties” is to advocate that some advantages of the feudal system into the system of prefectures and counties in order to resolve the excessive monarchy and bureaucratic corruption. Its basic idea is to implement hierarchical decentralization from the central government to the local government, to divide the central power by province and county in ancient times, to divide the province and county by Township Pavilions, and to govern the people by clans. Gu Yanwu is confident that, “by injecting the advantages of the feudal system into the province and county, the disadvantages of the two thousand years can be eliminated.” The concrete conception of feudal feudalism in prefectures and counties is as follows. Firstly, the position should be changed from Qipin magistrate of a county to Wupin county magistrate, and people familiar with local conditions and customs should be selected for the post, under the county magistrate, except that the county prime minister is selected by the central government. Other officials are selected by county magistrate. The first three years of county magistrate are trial magistrate. After three years of trial and twelve years of investigation, the competent 23

Ri Zhi Lu, “Compliance”. Gu Tinglin’s Collected Works of Poems on Prefectures and Countries 1. 25 Ri Zhi Lu, “Prefectures and Countries”. 26 Gu Tinglin’s Collected Works of Poems On Prefectures and Counties 1. 27 Ri Zhi Lu, “Prefectures and Countries”. 28 Gu Tinglin’s Collected Works of Poems On Prefectures and Counties 1. 24

558

10 Criticism and Statecraft: Extreme Heights, and the Wane …

officials are promoted and rewarded for life. The old retirees can pass on their sons or recommend virtuous persons as the new county magistrate. Secondly, they should follow the example of Zhou and Qin home village systems, improve administrative organizations, take charge of transformation through teaching, prison proceedings, taxation and public order in the countryside, and prevent the county from having too much power. Thirdly, restore the clan system and prevent the arbitrariness of local governors. “In order to achieve the effect of assisting the monarch in governing the world, the heads of the clans of the whole world should govern their own clans separately.” “The establishment of patriarchal clan system can make the penalty fair and clear.”29 The essence of Gu Yanwu’s, “giving the advantages of the feudal system to the county system” is to carry out the life-long and hereditary practice of county magistrate. Gu Yanwu believes that “giving the advantages of the feudal system to the county system” can prevent the two disadvantages of “subordinate dictatorship” and “excessive centralization of monarchy”. On the one hand, Gu Yanwu encouraged county officials and rewarded them with his tenure of life and hereditary duties. In this way, the local authorities could share their worries for the central government to educate the people and protect the country. On the other hand, the assessment should be strengthened. “Those who misconduct their duties are exiled. Corruption, graft, and those who corrupt their officials are sentenced to death.” This was to prevent local treachery.30 In this way, the county magistrates will be as concerned about their own private affairs as the county government. They would love their people with self-interest, govern their fields, and repair their city infrastructure. At the same time, county magistrates are not the emperors of small countries. They should be responsible to the emperor, accept the emperor’s inspection, have achievements, and could be withdrawn at any time. Since the emperor could regard the state as his private property, it led to the disadvantages of law and the difficulties of the people. Can the county magistrate take the county as its private property and improve the administration of officials? This is just a brilliant and simple political hypothesis. Gu Yanwu opposes “not to be pragmatic and empty talk of philosophy”. However, he attaches great importance to the “comment on current affairs justice” and advocates giving full play to the role of political enlightenment of scholars in commenting on current affairs justice. This would rectify bureaucratic corruption and reverse the decadent official style that “all officials are greedy, the guards are all thieves”. He believed that “folk custom is the most important thing” and that “the key to prosperous and troubled times lies in the purity of people’s hearts and customs.”31 The critical point of “correcting people’s hearts and cultivating loyalty and honesty” is the “fair comment on current affairs” of the scholar-bureaucrat group. “Where the world’s customs are the most impure, if there are still scholars who make fair comments on current affairs, then somewhat peace can be maintained. If even the scholars do not want to speak out again, the disaster of war will come.” The changes of Customs in the past dynasties are closely related to scholar-bureaucrats’ opinions 29

Ri Zhi Lu, “Take Appropriate Penalties for Loving the People”. Gu Tinglin’s Collected Works of Poems On Prefectures and Counties 2. 31 Gu Yanwu Anthology, “Letters to Others 9”. 30

1 Political Criticism and System Reconstruction …

559

on current affairs fairness. He advocated “setting up Lv Shi (Official Names of Zhou Dynasty), teachers, and schools, so that local authorities can also have a fair discussion of current affairs, as a supplement to the penalty”. “Comments on current affairs fairness” refers to scholar-bureaucrats’ comments on the gains and losses of political and education moralization. Through supervision by public opinion, they make the world “the superior man abide by the law because of fear of criminal law, and villains know shame and forsake heresy and return to the truth.”32 “When right principles prevail in the kingdom, then nothing can find fault with the common people.” “But if politics and education are not perfect, the world should be allowed to talk about them.” “Pan Geng wrote in the oracle: ‘no one is not afraid of the needle of a villain’, but the country has a big problem. We need divination to see if the people are involved in conspiracy.” “The reason why Zichan did not ban schools and Emperor Wendi of the Han Dynasty gave in and stopped to listen to opinions was all based on this.”33 Gu Yanwu also placed great hopes on developing benevolence, righteousness, propriety, and wisdom and revitalizing the Confucian ethical code. The prohibition of the rule of law is only a supplement to governing the country. “Respect for propriety, righteousness, honesty and shame are the guiding principles for governing the country. If the guiding principles cannot be implemented resolutely, the country will perish.”34 “Before the Ming and Wanli Dynasties, the state was governed by complicated laws supplemented by education, so it could still reach the level of well-off society.” “After the Wanli Dynasty, decrees still existed but no longer carried out education. In this way, there were more and more numbers of trickeries, but fewer and fewer really talented and intelligent people.”35 Gu Yanwu criticized the law of Ming Dynasty, and “the law net in officialdom was never as dense as it was in this dynasty.” “Up to the prime ministers and down to the local officials, everyone exchanges with meaningless etiquette. This is true of officials in Beijing, and even more so for officials from other parts of the country.” “Officials do not pay attention to government affairs, and all of them are handed over to their junior officials. The junior officials are just following stereotypes.” They “dare not overstep a little, so the officials above blame the people below, and the people below have to cope with the old rules and deceptions.” “Once these false courtesies have not been handled properly, the small officials on the top take the opportunity to ask the people below with complicated laws and regulations.” In fact, the dense laws and decrees form a serious constraint on the behavior of officials.36 “Let Guan Zhong and Sun Wu act in accordance with today’s decrees. They must not play their strategies in a random manner.” “In this way, a (tedious) law is something that corrupts talent.”37

32

Ri Zhi Lu, “Qingyi”. Ri Zhi Lu, “Zhiyan”. 34 Ri Zhi Lu, “Lianchi”. 35 Ri Zhi Lu, “Rencai”. 36 Ri Zhi Lu, “Li Xu”. 37 Ri Zhi Lu, “Rencai”. 33

560

10 Criticism and Statecraft: Extreme Heights, and the Wane …

(3) Wang Fuzhi’s Political Thought Wang Fuzhi, whose formal name is Ernong, also had the other name of Chai Zhai. He lived in seclusion near Shichuan Shan, Jinlan Township, Hengyang. In his later years, scholars call him Mr. Chuanshan. He was a native of Hengyang, Hunan Province, born in the forty-seventh year of Ming Shenzong’s Wanli reign (A.D. 1619) and died in the thirty-first year of Kangxi, the holy ancestor of the Qing Dynasty A.D. 1692). He was a famous thinker during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. When Wang Fuzhi was young, he read Confucian classics, cared about the current situation and enquired about all kinds of things. At the age of 14, he was a Xiucai. In the fifteen years of Chongzhen in Ming Dynasty. Both he and his elder brother became successful candidates in the imperial examinations. In the following August, Zhang Xianzhong conquered Hengyang, and Wang Fuzhi retired to Hengshan with his brother. The next year, Li Zicheng conquered Beijing. When Wang Fuzhi heard about it, he did not eat for a few days, and wrote a hundred rhymes of Poems of Grief and Indignation. During the three years of Shunzhi in the Qing Dynasty, in 1646 AD, the Qing soldiers went south to press on the two lakes. Wang Fu-zhi went to Hunan Yin alone to write to Nanming Supervisory Army and Zhang Kuang, governor of Hubei Province, and proposed to reconcile the contradictions between the north and South governors and unite the rest of the peasant army to fight against the Qing Dynasty, which was not adopted. In the five years of Shunzhi, Wang Fuzhi and others organized armed resistance against the Qing Dynasty in Hengshan. After failure, they went to Zhaoqing. Wang Fuzhi was appointed Xing Ren of Xing Ren Department Yongli regime of Nanming. He impeached Wang Huacheng, a grand secretary of Dongge, three consecutive times, for taking bribes and bending the law, as well as for adultery and endangering the realm. During the eight years of Shunzhi, Wang Fuzhi returned to Hengyang and was unable to live in the Qing Dynasty because he vowed not to shave his hair. He traveled and hid everywhere. In his later years, he settled in Gaojieli, Jinlan township, Hengyang. Wang Fuzhi was knowledgeable and versatile all his life. He spent more than forty years in academic writings in the latter half of his life, with more than 100 kinds of works. Wang Fuzhi’s political thought is close to Xunzi and Liu Zongyuan. On the one hand, he paid more attention to the inevitability of the situation than Xun and Liu, and sages could not ignore the inevitability of the situation. On the other hand, he placed more hope on the later king than Xun and Liu, and got rid of the shackles of the idea of former sage-kings, emphasizing that the emperor acted according to the circumstances. Wang Fu-zhi’s philosophy emphasizes Qi and implement, but does not depart from Li and Dao. It is close to Zhang Zai and has obvious Daoist color. It pays attention to change and tendency, and neglects the universal constancy of the world. “The sky that people can see is Qi, not nihility.” “When gas converges, people say that this thing exists; when gas diverges, they say that nothing exists.” The emptiness that people see is a form of existence of Qi. In addition to the “Qi” that “fills the universe between Heaven and earth”, and the “Qi” “that has no form”, “there is [also] nothing else and there is no gap.” Qi has only gathering and dispersing changes, but no birth and no death. Qi exists forever. Divergence and invisibility are just the normal

1 Political Criticism and System Reconstruction …

561

state of Qi. “Gathering together to present a form, there is no loss of the essence of Qi.”38 Li depends on Qi. “Qi is the basis of Li. The more abundant Qi is, the more prosperous Li is. Heaven accumulates strong Qi. Therefore, the order between Heaven and earth is clear. Everything changes precisely, and the world changes with each passing day.”39 Zhu Xi’s view that “Li and Qi are one body” has in fact shown that Li, Qi, Dao, and implements are inseparable. There is no Qi without Li in the world. There’s no Li without Qi. There are no implements without Dao. There is also no Qi without Dao. The division of Li, Qi, Dao, and implements has only logical significance. Huang Zongxi further pointed out that Li and Qi are actually the same existence, but he did not emphasize the interpromoting relation in five elements, or the relationship between Li and Qi. It is only pointed out that the existence of the world is the unity of the material form and the order as it should be in line with the law and purpose. Wang Fuzhi also acknowledged that Li and Qi are inseparable in practice, but highlighted the dependence of Li, emphasizing that we can see Li from Qi, see Dao from apparatus. It shows a certain naturalistic tendency in its outlook on Li and Qi, desalinating as it should be. It ought to be ingredients. It is unavoidable in practice. As far as its actual inevitability is concerned, it loses its purpose setting and normative significance. “The world is just implements. Dao is the Dao about implements. Implements cannot be said to be the implements of Dao.” “There is no Dao that is no instrument. People will say so. However, if there are implements, how can you think there is no Dao? Perhaps some people are deceived by the Dao, without making into implements; but it’s not without implements.” “There is no Dao without implements. People seldom say that, but it is so.” “In ancient times, there was no Dao of etiquette. In the Tang Dynasty and Yu Dynasty, there was no Dao of consoling the suffering people and conscribing the guilty monarch. In the Han and Tang Dynasties, there was no Dao of today, and there was no Dao of the future today.” “There is no Dao to shoot without arrows, without horses and carriages, there is no Dao to control them.”40 Wang Fuzhi put forward the view of human history that “Li relies on trend” in line with the view of “Li relies on Qi”. He believes that there is an inevitable trend in the development of human history, which is Li. Wang Fuzi’s so-called Li is only necessary in the course of historical development, and does not have the connotation of dominance or teleology. He opposed the establishment of “the will of God” and other things outside of historical development, and advocates that the development of history “can only be justified where the general trend of the times prevails”. The “general trend” is inevitable in the course of historical development. On the one hand, one should “conform to natural principles and form the general trend”. On the other hand, “Li will conform to the general trend”. Wang Fu-zhi continues to use the category of traditional political philosophy and calls the force that dominates the historical development “Heaven”, but its meaning has no mysterious teleology. Rather, it only expresses the unity of Li and power. “Heaven’s destiny is the existence of Heavenly 38

Annotations to Zhang Zai (Zhengmeng)’s Book, “On Dao”. Summary of Experiences from Thinking and Exploration, “On Philosophy”. 40 Interpretation and Supplement to Zhou Yi, Volume 5. 39

562

10 Criticism and Statecraft: Extreme Heights, and the Wane …

principles without subjective consciousness.” “Everything in Heaven and earth has its own reason for life, death, prosperity, and decline.” “Heaven is Heavenly principles.” “That’s how Heavenly principles work.” “If people violate the Heavenly principles of existence, they will suffer from illness at a shallow level, and even die at a deep level. If people do not know that they violate Heavenly principles, they will incur disaster, and they will also appreciate their bitter consequences”, “What is God’s will like?” “The same is true for the survival and prosperity of a nation.”41 It cannot possibly be otherwise in the development of human history, which reflects the inevitable Li and power of the universe. The development of history cannot possibly be otherwise, but there are many not necessarily so. That is, the contingency in the development of history. Wang Fu-zhi advocates “exploring the reasons for the inevitability in the development of things and analyzing the contingency factors causing special cases.” “They are both good, but there are also differences between right and wrong. They are both evil, and they are also different in degree. Therefore, we should conform to the current situation, assess the situation, study the essence and think about the efficacy.”42 The so-called “exploring the reasons of inevitability in the development of things” is to grasp the inevitability in the occurrence and development of historical events. “Analysis of contingency factors causing special cases” is to analyze the contingent and not necessarily so in historical events. The same is good. Some are mellow, and some are defective. The same is evil. Some are serious and others are light. The trend of the world cannot possibly be otherwise combined with the occasional motives of individual figures. Together, they deduced the development of human history. The inevitable trend of historical development is often realized by accidental, individual historical figures. For example, Qin Shihuang’s implementation of the system of prefectures and counties is based on his personal motivation of “the world belongs to one family”, and the result is that the world belongs to “the public”. Incidental personal motives are different in historical development. The grand impartiality of the world is a necessity in the development of history. The Qin Dynasty abolished the feudal lords and established prefectures and counties out of the selfishness of letting the world belong to one family name. Heaven, however, has achieved the goal of making the world public through such selfish actions.43

Wang Fuzhi also highlighted the traditional Confucian people-oriented thought, and developed Mencius’ advocacy of “Heaven listens to the people through the people” and “Heaven observes the people through the people”. He developed these ideas to improve rulers. That is, people see Heaven from people, or even take the people as Heaven, thus emphasizing that “Heaven” is “the common ground of the people” or “the common ground of the people’s heart.”44 “So what the people want is where

41

Du Tong Jian Lun, Volume 24. Du Tong Jian Lun, Volume 26. 43 Du Tong Jian Lun, Volume 1. 44 Du Tong Jian Lun, Volume 7. 42

1 Political Criticism and System Reconstruction …

563

Heavenly principles lie. Where the will of Heaven lies, the auspices of good and bad also depend on the hearts and minds of the people.”45 Wang Fuzhi also put forward the viewpoint of “Heaven’s principles in normal human desire”, which further developed the aforementioned thought of “people’s aspiration”—that is, “Heaven”. Instead of opposing human desire and Heaven’s principles, he would advocate that “humans normally desire Heaven’s principles.”46 “Human desire can be seen everywhere. That is to say, everywhere is Heaven’s principles.”47 He said, “Although etiquette is purely the product of Heaven’s principles, it must be shown by human desire… So, where there are humans, there is Heaven. Where there is desire, there are Heaven’s principles.”48 He also said, The end of Heaven’s principles is the same as human desire. In the final analysis, human desire is also in line with Heaven’s principles, which shows that people’s desire and Heaven’s principles are basically the same. Heaven’s principles remove the individual differences of people’s universal desire.49

Wang Fuzhi refuted various asceticism of “talking about Heaven without human beings” and “regarding abandoning human desires as Heavenly principles” of the Neo-Confucians in the Song and Ming Dynasties. He believed that the progress of human social life was driven by human rational common desires. However, Wang Fuzhi’s idea of “Heaven” of the situation still has some teleological characteristics, including the normative nature at the ontological level, and the theory of no-monarchy was rejected. This is because the same desire of the people cannot produce the result of no-monarch, and monarchy politics is still a necessity of the situation which cannot possibly be otherwise. “God made the world have a monarch; somebody has to do it.” Therefore, at the beginning, people recommend those who have high moral values and outstanding merits to be respected… People are not without the desire to be rich, but the reason why they must recommend others to be superior is that they have a great sense of public will. Those in high positions are also familiar with this way, so the monarchy is handed down from generation to generation among the virtuous. It is better to govern with stupidity and brutality than to hold a high place for generations by vulgar and person. It’s been stable for thousands of years like this.50

Wang Fu-zhi interpreted Mencius’s “good which is worth pursuing” as satisfying the common “human desire” and conforming to the common “human nature”. He believed people could “realize the so-called goodness, that is, the desire which is worth pursuing.”51 He believed that satisfying people’s material desire and letting 45

Du Tong Jian Lun, Volume 19. Interpretation of the Four Books, Volume 4. 47 Interpretation of the Four Books, Volume 8. 48 Ibid. 49 Interpretation of the Four Books, Volume 4. 50 Du Tong Jian Lun, Volume 1. 51 Interpretation of the Four Books, Volume 3. 46

564

10 Criticism and Statecraft: Extreme Heights, and the Wane …

people produce and live normally is the inevitable “general ethics”, and that “people who shoulder the heavy responsibilities of the world” should follow it. He pointed out: “Having enough to eat and wear and relations between the two sexes are the pursuit of all men and women.” “The superior man respects the products of Heaven and earth and ranks them, attaching importance to the differences of people’s desires and coordinating them so that people can get their own place.” “For example, eating fish, some people like to eat river gurnard. Do you hate not to get gurnard?” “If you marry a wife, someone would like to get Qi Jiang’s family. Would you be dissatisfied if Qi Jiang’s could not be obtained?”52 Wang Fuzhi opposes not only the “extinction of human desire” of Neo-Confucianism, but also Li Zhi’s “indulgence of desire.” He advocated to fully develop the “property between Heaven and earth” and distributes it appropriately, so that people’s “desire to eat, of men and women” can be met in a general or even the best way. Wang Fuzhi refutes the political myth of beautifying ancient history and puts forward the historical view of evolution based on his own observation of minority life and comparison of historical documents. On the basis of this, he puts forward the theory that “different ways of governing a country in different times are different”, emphasizing “adjusting measures according to the time”. Wang Fuzhi asserted that the ancient society was barbaric, while the later generations were civilized. Human society evolved from barbarism to civilization. The three generations of Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties followed the system of enfeoffment of ancient times, which have feuding small countries and many kings,… The tyrannical monarch’s extravagant aggression is no different from today’s Sichuan, Guangdong, and Guangxi where the Chieftain exploited the common people and made them sallow and emaciated, shabby and sleep in the open.53

He also said, Since ancient times, the kings of various places had jurisdiction over their territory and enslaved their people. Nowadays, the heads of minority nationalities in remote areas are nominally ministers of the Son of Heaven who guard the land. In fact, they separated one tribe and governed their own affairs. Three generations of sage-kings did not realize the reform and left it to future generations of the monarchs to do it.54

Wang Fu-zhi advocated that “the world should not be given to one person”. He believed that the rise and fall of the world was for the public and the rise and fall of the monarch was for the private. “The rise and fall of a family is a private matter, and the life and death of the people is a matter of the world’s public.”55 Wang Fu-zhi attributed the cause of the subjugation and chaos of the world after three generations to the fact that the emperor took the world as his private property and practiced extreme monarchy. “The fortunes or destiny of a nation is not long because the country 52

Random Thoughts on Reading the Book of Songs, Volume 2. Du Tong Jian Lun, Volume 20. 54 Du Tong Jian Lun, Volume 15. 55 Du Tong Jian Lun, Volume 17. 53

1 Political Criticism and System Reconstruction …

565

is regarded as a family name of private property. Governance is not out of public morality.” “The reason why the Qin Dynasty was criticized by later generations is that it blindly pursued a family’s private interests.” “Is it common loyalty to denounce the Qin Dynasty’s blind pursuit of a family’s private interests, but to favor the dynasty that its descendants wanted to establish themselves and survive in the world?”56 Wang Fuzi’s so-called public world still emphasizes the unshakable fundamentality of “the three cardinal guides and the five constant virtues.” He not only put forward that, “the three cardinal guides and the five constant virtues are the source of etiquette”, but also raised the standard of “the three cardinal guides and the five constant virtues” to the height of human standards, distinguishing human beings from animals.57 “Etiquette is of great importance. It is the foundation of benevolence and justice, the expression of filial piety, the basis of dealing with the five elements, and the boundary between man and beast.”58 In a sense, common loyally cannot eliminate the dividing line between the barbarians, Yi, and the Chinese, Xia. In a sense, the manifestation of the common loyally in the barbarians, Yi, and the Chinese, Xia is that the barbarians. Yi are different from the Chinese, Xia. Politically, the only thing between Yi and Xia is to respect for Chinese, Xia and humiliate the barbarians, Yi. The Yi live outside to offer sacrifices, and the Xia, live in the middle of the country to control Yi. The relationship between Yi and Xia cannot be inverted. The inversion of the relationship between Yi Xia is incompatible with “common loyalty”.

2 Neo-Confucian’s Statecraft by Li in the Early and Middle Qing Dynasty With the passing of the Ming Dynasty, Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism, as the mainstream trend of thought in society, gradually overwhelmed Lu Wang’s theory of mind and restored its orthodox status. However, it was obviously different from the original state of Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism, which doubly highlighted the practical nature of Neo-Confucianism and highlighted its function of self-cultivation and statecraft. As far as moral cultivation is concerned, Neo-Confucianism in the early and middle Qing Dynasty emphasized the conclusion of “implementing” and “practicing” Neo-Confucianism of Cheng and Zhu. The criterion for judging the truth and falseness of Daoism is whether or not Zhu Xi’s conclusions can be implemented and practiced. This is obviously influenced by Wang Shouren’s conclusion of “the unity of knowing and doing”. As far as statecraft is concerned, they emphasize that all things have reason to follow. They try to grasp the reason of specific things from the perspective of universal principle, and pay special attention to the traditional Confucian “rites” as an important embodiment of “reason” in the world. They have benevolence of the sageliness within and sincerity that Confucianism has 56

Du Tong Jian Lun, Volume 1. On Reading Si Shu Da Quan, “Administration”. 58 Du Tong Jian Lun, Volume 17. 57

566

10 Criticism and Statecraft: Extreme Heights, and the Wane …

always advocated as the main content of the statecraft. That is to say, in the early and middle Qing Dynasty, the so-called statecraft of Confucianism was to establish the esteemed status of “rites” in society, resulting in a “gentleman’s state” with sageliness within popularized. The thought of statecraft of Neo-Confucianism not only consolidated the traditional Confucian political ideals and core values, but also created the theoretical conditions for seeking truth from facts and absorbing new knowledge. (1) The Personality ideal of the Adherents Neo-Confucianist of Practical Learning and its Implementation in the Early Qing Dynasty The revival of the Cheng-Zhu school in the early Qing Dynasty “is not a simple repetition of Song Xue, but a fusion of some new concepts of the thought of Zhu Xi”, which was “endowed with a new form”. It is already the School of Laws of statecraft of “pouring practical and statecraft contents into the old framework”. It clearly highlights the characteristics of statecraft centered on “the truth of things.”59 Its typical feature is that “it not only sticks to the basic position of traditional Confucianism most tenaciously, especially the basic position of Neo-Confucianism of Cheng and Zhu”, “but also reflects the characteristics of the times.”60 The revival of Neo-Confucianism in the early Qing Dynasty is not only an opposition to the academic thought of the Ming Dynasty, but also a certain universality in the social and ideological circles, which reveals to some extent the broad ideological basis for its rise. “Academics in the early Qing Dynasty and those in the Ming Dynasty had the opposite trend, so most of the Neo-Confucians in the early Qing Dynasty strongly opposed and rejected the empty style of study in the late Ming Dynasty.”61 The revival of Neo-Confucianism in the early Qing Dynasty embodied an inherent logic of the development of traditional Chinese academic thought. On the one hand, traditional Chinese academy has a strong practical rationality, and the practical rationality often focuses on ethical issues. All theoretical issues have been aimed at the cultivation of ideal personality and ethical practical rationality. Especially since the Song Dynasty, “practical learning” has focused more on the pursuit of ethical practical rationality, advocating reality and removing emptiness, and highlighting the monopoly advantages of ethics and morality in the field of rationality. On the other hand, from the perspective of academic development, the academic circles have formed a complete ethical world outlook since the Song and Ming Dynasties. Everyone has the highest good and also needs to “aim at absolute perfection”, but the academic system of Song and Ming Dynasty has been divided into Cheng-Zhu and Lu-Wang veins because of different cognitive methods and perspectives. “The Cheng-Zhu school emphasizes the external constraints of norms. Wang Yangming emphasized the inherent self-consciousness of morality.” “The two complement each other to reflect Confucianism’s concern for human’s sociality.” Only by complementing each other can the overall value of 59

Lin Guobiao. (2004). Zhu Xi’s Thought in the Qing Dynasty: An Interpretation of Confucianism of Statecraft. Changsha: Hunan People’s Publishing House, p. 8. 60 Ibid, p. 21. 61 Xiao Yishan. (1985). General History of the Qing Dynasty. Beijing: China Book Company, p. 994.

2 Neo-Confucian’s Statecraft by Li in the Early …

567

Confucianism be embodied; any doctrine at one end will lead to bigoted views”. In the early Qing Dynasty, Zhu Xi’s thought fully embodied Confucianism’s concern for people and highlighted the essential characteristics of Confucianism’s practical moral rationality. Its theoretical focus was the moralization of individuals and the whole society in practice. The first topic of Neo-Confucianism in the early Qing Dynasty aimed at the empty defect of the Ming Dynasty style of study in moral cultivation. It was determined to advocate a practical spirit in the field of moral practice and pay attention to the cultivation of individual moral personality, the cultivation of moral personality became a political issue of ontological significance. The fundamental purpose of Chinese traditional politics is to “become a whole person”, which is first and foremost a problem of cultivating moral personality. However, it is more of a political problem in the discourse of traditional Chinese political philosophy. If everyone meets the standard of sage in moral personality, that is to say, they are all so-called “whole persons”, then politics will become unnecessary and therefore impossible to produce. If there is no “whole person” who meets the standard of sagehood in moral character, politics cannot happen because of the lack of a reliable starting point. In the traditional era, politics is a necessary means to make up for the shortage of moral means. Its purpose is to guard and promote all people in society to meet the standards of sages and become real “whole persons”. According to the mainstream doctrine of Song and Ming Dynasties, “a whole person” is nothing more than a question of how Heaven’s principles can clarify my mind. Wang Shouren had completed the problem of how to integrate “knowing” with “doing” at the level of cognition. But he pays too much attention to the realization of “Heaven’s principles” in the individual’s “doing”. “Knowing” gradually becomes a natural disposition that depends on human beings, even developed to the natural expression of human interest and other direct intuitive knowledge of Heaven’s principles. This is clearly against the ultimate goal of Confucianism to achieve universal moral norms in the individual. In the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties, the academic circles generally showed a tendency to pay more and more attention to “doing” “according to rules”. This tendency was evident in the flourishing the thought of Zhu Xi in the early Qing Dynasty. In fact, the scholars of Zhu Xi in the early Qing Dynasty synthesized the advantages of Zhu Xi’s and Wang Shouren’s doctrines, and paid much attention to the universality and absoluteness of moral knowledge, moral consciousness, and moral personality. The emphasis of cultivating moral personality is to consciously implement the ethical norms of Zhuxi’s doctrine. The important thing is not to discover and discuss, but to carry out and implement the universal “Heaven’s principles” that Zhu Xi and others have already expressed quite clearly. Among them, the restraint of “human desire” originated from the body is the basic means to cultivate universal moral personality by cultivating Heaven’s principles. The tedious knowledge questioning and methodological reflection are transformed into “etiquette” and “honest in behavior”. Zhang Luxiang is a representative figure in this respect. Zhang Luxiang, whose formal name is Kaofu, was also named Nianzhi. He was a native of Yangyuan Village, Tongxiang County, Jiaxing City, Zhejiang Province. He was born in 1611 A.D. and died in 1674 A.D. in the thirteenth year of Kangxi in the

568

10 Criticism and Statecraft: Extreme Heights, and the Wane …

Qing Dynasty. At the age of seven, he lost his father, and his family was poor. At the age of fifteen, he took the imperial examinations to admit scholars. He also took an examination as a candidate in the imperial examinations, but failed. Huang Zongxi and he were taught by the same master. After the Ming Dynasty, he refused to serve in the Qing Dynasty and abandoned the imperial examinations, living in seclusion in the countryside, cultivating, reading and teaching. He died in the countryside. He worked hard all his life and suffered misfortune, but he never forfeited his integrity, “willing to live in the remote areas”, “temper character, study hard, wait for the opportunity to achieve ambition.”62 Zhang Luxiang was diligent in writing after reading. His main works and correspondence were compiled as The Complete Works of Mr. Yang Yuan by his disciples. Zhang Luxiang has experienced a trajectory of development from mind to Neo-Confucianism in his academic thought. He turned from Wang Yangming to Zhu Xi. The motive force came from the pursuit of the ancient sages’ learning, based on Zhu Xi’s theory. He consciously rethinked and criticized Wang Yangming’s academic thought, he criticized Wang Xue’s attempt to gain the way of sages with little effort, and criticized it for inducing scholars, as a result, “the decline of etiquette” and “the growing prosperity of heresy” “had brought endless disasters to the world.”63 Like most thinkers during the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Zhang Luxiang also tended to affirm the objectivity of Heaven’s principles, focusing on restoring Zhu Xi’s authoritative status of “Heaven’s principles”. However, he opposed the overlapping of Zhu Xi’s Neo-Confucianism in concept, replacing a series of original concepts with “Li” in order to simplify the system of conceptual reasoning. Zhang Luxiang’s purpose of simplifying the original concept is not to perfect logical reasoning in theory, but to provide a practical original support. Its purpose is to practically “seek knowledge widely and abide by law and discipline rite”, while “seek knowledge widely and abide by law and discipline rite” must be derived from “study the truth of everything”. In fact, Zhang Luxiang supported his inheritance of Confucius’s “deny self and return to propriety” with the universal “Li” of the Cheng-Zhu school. Zhang Luxiang calls for “study the truth of everything” and the “truth” he studied is actually the root and core of “rites”, while his “study” method focuses on “returning to propriety.”64 The Cheng-Zhu school’s “study the truth of everything” is deduced here as “be respectful and abide by law and discipline rite”, which highlights the normative direction of practice. On the one hand, Zhang Luxiang advocated to study the truth of everything”, there is nothing more important to learn than to explore the truth of all things. To explore the truth of all things, we must read first.”65 This is aimed at Wang Xue’s practice of seeking “Li” with “disposition” by “comprehending in tranquility and calmness”. The doctrine of sages is contained in books. “But all human relations, big or small, have inherent principles, as it should be although I don’t understand its principles. Sages can understand them and show them to future generations. Today, 62

Zhang Lvxiang, Complete Works of Mr. Yang Yuan. Volume 9, “Answer to Mr. Wu”. Zhang Lvxiang, Complete Works of Mr. Yang Yuan. Volume 4, “Answer to Shen Defu”. 64 Zhang Lvxiang, Complete Works of Mr. Yang Yuan. Volume 4, “Answer to Shen Shangxiang”. 65 Zhang Lvxiang, Complete Works of Mr. Yang Yuan. Volume 8, “To Xu Jingke”. 63

2 Neo-Confucian’s Statecraft by Li in the Early …

569

when facing all things, they should deal with them according to the principles given by the sages, they dare not speculate with their own foolishness.”66 Reading sages and virtuous books is an effective way to seek universal “Li”. Reading in order to understand Li reflects Zhang Luxiang’s inheritance of Cheng Zhu’s learning. On the other hand, he developed the method of “exploring the truth of all things”, advocating that “the key to obtaining knowledge is to practice hard”. He believed that “the key to acquiring knowledge is to deduce the truth of all things” reflected the Cheng-Zhu school’s long-standing idle state between man and Li. Zhang Luxiang’s idea of “the key to obtaining intuitive knowledge is to practice hard” cognizance contains two basic meanings. One is knowledge of Heaven’s principles, which has universal ontological significance and is the essential necessity of human nature, having cognizable characteristics. The second is the knowledge of virtue, which is close to Wang Shouren’s “intuitive knowledge” in attribute. The most important function and purpose is to be practiced. “It’s not difficult to know one thing, but it’s very difficult to practice it; it’s good for scholars to reach the state where what they know is what they do.” Traditional Chinese “cognition” is different from “knowledge acquired through experience” and “knowledge acquired on the basis of moral cultivation.”67 The former, as the knowledge of human experience, lacks the basic universal inevitability in the traditional Chinese discourse system. Cognition, which is universal and inevitable in the universe, can only be acquired on the basis of moral cultivation. Its main concern is human behavior. Zhang Luxiang’s idea is that “the key to obtaining intuitive knowledge lies in hard practice”. This highlights the “hard practice” as a necessary state of “cognition”, and highlighting the practical character of “cognition”. On the one hand, hard practice highlights moral practice, and makes the way to realize universal moral knowledge more plain. The way of Confucian scholars is “to gain knowledge and practice hard, and pay attention to personal experience. It can be seen that this is the truth. It is not the fantasy of penetrating insight.”68 On the other hand, it also highlights the importance of the simplicity of farming and reading life to Confucianism. The key to Zhang Luxiang’s acquisition of intuitive knowledge lies in his efforts to practice, emphasizing that “the reason for understanding is to apply to the handling of affairs.” Unlike Cheng and Zhu, he highlighted the extreme importance of practice in Confucian Dao. On the one hand, he not only regarded whether human social practice conformed to Confucian’s universal Dao as the standard of “intuitive knowledge”, but also took the implementation of Confucian’s Dao in practice as an effective way of recognizing the universal Dao. The idea that “the key to obtaining intuitive knowledge lies in hard practice” also contains the way of experiencing Confucianism with an honest and respectful attitude and behavior. On the other hand, he judges “understanding” by whether it is “suitable for use.” The so-called “understanding” is to be suitable for dealing with affairs. It highlights that “application” is the purpose and destination of “understanding”, which cannot be achieved without “application”. It 66

Zhang Lvxiang, Complete Works of Mr. Yang Yuan. Volume 4, “Answer to Shen Shangxiang”. Zhang Lvxiang, Complete Works of Mr. Yang Yuan. Volume 39, “Memorandum 1”. 68 Ibid. 67

570

10 Criticism and Statecraft: Extreme Heights, and the Wane …

also emphasizes that “understanding” is the premise of whether the behavior can be “appropriate.” It cannot be “suitable for use” without “understanding”. “Understanding” is closely related to “being suitable for use”. Both of them are interrelated and mutually restrictive, but fundamentally, “application” limits “understanding”. “Understanding” is not that there is a truth between Heaven and earth, which can be embodied in all things. That is, there is a truth in everything, including the abstract “common principles”. However, we should work hard on “each thing’s own principle.” “Previous generations of Confucians said that there was no achievement in the study of common principles, and the results were in each thing’s own principles. We tried hard to learn every day, but only to study the truth of all things and carefully study our own practice at anytime and anywhere.” He opposed the empty subject with no benefit to “everyday life.” “All the great Confucians in the world like to talk about noumenon, which don’t rely on practice, and everyone has it. Even if the noumena are praised for their profundity, it is useless for everyday affairs.” “Scholars use the classics written by sages as a criterion to measure daily activities, to examine whether daily actions conform to the classics and conflict with righteousness and rationality.”69 The “Heavenly principles” of “being suitable for use” includes not only the inner sages of morality, but also the daily economy, among which his agronomic thought is the most prominent one. Zhang Luxiang was a model of the academic circles in the early Qing Dynasty, which emphasized both the acquisition of practical knowledge and skills and the improvement of moral personality. From the point of view of the changing trend of the times, Zhang Luxiang’s Neo-Confucianism just stood at the starting point of the revival of the thought of Zhu Xi in the early Qing Dynasty. On the one hand, he highlighted the theory of respecting Cheng Zhu’s “Heavenly principles”, emphasizing that reading in order to understand and opposing empty doctrine of Zen Buddhism in the late Ming Dynasty. On the other hand, he inherited Wang Xue’s tradition of “the unity of knowing and doing.” The “understanding of Heaven’s principles” is closely related to the “conformity to ethics” of behavior, emphasizing “practice hard” and insisting on “knowing” is bound to achieve “doing”. It highlights the combination of the “benefits” of “doing” and the “advantages” of “knowing”. In fact, it is necessary to advocate and demonstrate a universal moral personality of “hard practice”. This moral personality originates from the “universality” of “Heavenly principles” in essence, but in practice, we should rely on the “suitable use” of “Heavenly principles with particularity embodied in concrete things”. the “suitable use” of “the special nature embodied in concrete things” is precisely the natural requirement of universal moral personality for every individual in society, or the objective presentation of universal moral personality at the individual level. The “suitable use” of “the special nature embodied in concrete things” will inevitably lead to “understanding of the truth”, and at the same time means that the individual has reached the realm of Confucian sages and become “a whole person”. Zhang Luxiang will make the Confucian “whole person” as an individualized universal moral personality that can be clearly presented. This individualized universal moral personality is a superior 69

Zhang Lvxiang, Complete Works of Mr. Yang Yuan. Volume 41, “Memorandum III”.

2 Neo-Confucian’s Statecraft by Li in the Early …

571

man who practices the rites of Confucianism. This universal moral personality characterized by “application” in practice is the Confucian ideal personality found by Zhang Luxiang and others, which can rectify the shortcomings of Mingxue and fully realize human beings. The most prominent feature is “honest in behavior”. (2) Implementing the Idea of Practical Administration of the Official NeoConfucianists in the Early Qing Dynasty The adherents of Neo-Confucianism in the early Qing Dynasty, on the one hand, expressed their academic interest of advocating Cheng and Zhu by reflecting and criticizing the style of study since the late Ming Dynasty. On the other hand, being influenced by Wang Shouren’s “the unity of knowing and doing”, they took the relationship between “knowing” and “doing as the focus and center of thinking, thus creating a completely different style of study from that of late Ming Dynasty. This is manifested in the political ideal personality, which pays more attention to the role performance of the ideal personality, or to grasp and practice the state of “Heaven’s principles” and the idea that “Heaven’s principles with particularity embodied in concrete things”. However, the adherents of Neo-Confucianism paid attention to Confucian ethics such as integrity and pursued the principle of “not being an official in two courts”. Second, influenced by the Confucian concept of the barbarians, Yi, and the Chinese, Xia, the Manchus was regarded as Yidi. Although the antiQing consciousness was not particularly strong, it did not value the Manchu regime very much and restored hope to the sages of “Huaxia”. With the consolidation of the Manchu regimes, more and more Han scholar-bureaucrats cooperated with the Manchu regimes. Meanwhile, the Han scholar-officials’ reflection on the academic, academic style and personality ideal of the late Ming Dynasty was closely linked with the ideological needs of the Manchu regimes to consolidate the ruling foundation. On the one hand, when the Manchu and Qing regimes were firmly established, the Han scholar-officials once again tried to “change barbarian customs through Huaxia culture”. They tried to combine the Confucian sage theory with the Manchu regimes and make it fully Confucian. And it is the latest form of Confucianism to Confucianize the Manchu regimes, which closely links the reflection, criticism, and ideological construction of the Manchu regimes by the Han scholar-officials on the academic and academic styles since the late Ming Dynasty. On the other hand, the Manchu and Qing regimes also accepted the influence of Confucian culture, from the beginning of entry into the Customs. The Confucian moral obligations and preachings were adopted to win over the hearts of the Han scholar-bureaucrats. The banner of revenge for the monarchs of the former dynasty was issued, with the deepening of the construction of the Manchu regimes. The influence of the Han scholar-bureaucrats in the ideological field increased, and the consciousness of Confucianism gradually sprouted in the monarchy of the Manchu and Qing dynasties. Both of them quickly coincided on the ideological construction of the Manchu regimes, and the direction and purport of the development of Neo-Confucianism in the early Qing Dynasty changed greatly. This great change boils down to the formalization of Neo-Confucianism in the early Qing Dynasty. The formalization of Neo-Confucianism in the early Qing Dynasty meant that the work of reflecting on and criticizing the academic and academic style of

572

10 Criticism and Statecraft: Extreme Heights, and the Wane …

the late Ming Dynasty had been incorporated into the reconstruction of the national ideology field. In fact, the formalization of Neo-Confucianism also strengthened its political attribute. This not only shows that his political mission consciousness is increasingly closely linked with a particular dynasty, but also shows that his academic thinking reflects the political position of a particular dynasty. More importantly, his academic arguments are discussed from the perspective of officials, trying to provide officials with a moral outline and a unified ideal of personality with the knowledge of making the society prosperous and the people settle down. Unlike the survivors of the Ming Dynasty who insisted on not being an official in the Qing Dynasty, the official Neo-Confucianists in the early Qing Dynasty came from the scholar-bureaucrats who actively cooperated with the Qing Dynasty. They won the imperial examinations and became officials of the Qing Dynasty in the Qing Dynasty. They clearly stood on the official position and placed the ideal of realizing the sage-king politics on rulers of the Manchus. Lu Longqi and Xiong Zhilu were important advocates of Neo-Confucianism in the early Kangxi Dynasty. What distinguished them from Zhang Luxiang and Lu Shiyi was that they advocated Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism more actively. They respected the Cheng-Zhu school, as opposed Lu Wang’s Mind school more resolutely, the study of Cheng-Zhu or Lu Wang has been promoted to a high level which concerns the ups and downs of social turmoil. Lu Longqi holds that, …speaking of the reasons for the rise and fall of the Ming Dynasty, the prosperity is the result of the unity of academic thought and the honesty of the people’s style. The world respects the Cheng-Zhu school, and the decline is the result of the confusion of academic thought and the decay of the people’s style, and the world denigrates Cheng and Zhu.

He “regretted Yao and Jiang’s sufferings every time he talked about the disasters in the days of Tianqi and Chongzhen and traced their causes.” Therefore, it asserts that “learning today must respect the doctrine of Cheng, Zhu and abolish Wang Yangming’s doctrine.”70 Although Xiong Zhilu affirmed that Cheng and Zhu unexpectedly played a supporting role in Confucian sages when he wrote Xuetong, his position and attitude of admiring Cheng and Zhu were also very clear, Cheng and Zhu were respected and Lu Wang were depreciated. However, the most important feature of official Neo-Confucianism in the early Qing Dynasty was to provide a fundamental guidance for officials to conduct themselves, to establish the internal personality order of officials, and to guide the thinking logic of Confucians to “honest in behavior”. In the early Qing Dynasty, the official Neo-Confucianism’ “honest in behavior” adhered to Confucian values and beliefs, and also highlighted the practical rationality of reading rationality to see ethical practice. It also adhered to the practical pursuit of merit. Lu Longqi and others paid more attention to the cultivation of ethical practical rationality in the process of pursuing Neo-Confucianism.71 Taking the abstract “Taiji” as an example, he emphasized the Heavenly principles 70

Lu Longqi, Sanyutang Collected Works, Volume 8, “Preface to the Four Books by Mr. Zhou Yunqi”. 71 Lu Longqi, Sanyutang Collected Works, Volume 1, “Theory on Taiji”.

2 Neo-Confucian’s Statecraft by Li in the Early …

573

with particularity embodied in concrete things in ethical practice, and corresponded the principle of Taiji to the norm of ethics. Lu Longqi has actually completed the epistemological Taiji. He has a very definite knowledge of what Taiji is. He pursues to regulate himself with ethical norms. He consciously realizes and implements the ethical norms already inherent in everyone. His focus is not on understanding, but on practice. From the logic of Confucianism, it is only part of “practice” to “become a whole person” through moral consciousness, and it is also an important part of “practice” to help more people realize that they are so-called people of Confucianism by political means. In fact, the ““practice” of this part is “practical governance”. Of course, their so-called “practical governance” is not only in terms of external governing behavior and performance, although these are also quite important. It is also in terms of “benevolence” and the “implementation of a benevolent policy”. they should not only benefit the people, but also love the people. We need not only the abundance and prosperity of the people, but also the sincerity and purity of the people’s hearts. In the early Qing Dynasty, the official Neo-Confucianism developed to Tang Bin, and the understanding of learning and practice became more and more complete. The views on Cheng, Zhu, Lu and Wang also became more and more peaceful and tended to take Cheng-Zhu thinking as the mainstream instead of abandoning Lu. “Wang, Wang Yangming and Zhou Dunyi, Er Cheng, Zhang Zai and Zhu Xi can be compared.”72 After the death of Zhongni, profound insights were cut off, after Mencius was born, the school of Yang, Zhu and Mozhai also disappeared. Later, the school of Zhou Dunyi, Er Cheng, Zhang Zai and Zhuxi inherited the style of Zhusi’s theory, Jin Xi and Yaojiang explained the essence of the theory of mind. Only when Confucianism was carried forward can feudal order of importance or seniority in human relationships depend on it.73 From Zhang Zai to Zhu Xi, their school is the most exquisite and Orthodox one, which is the standard of Confucian scholars. The later generations of scholars indulge in exegesis, which is contrary to the original intentions of Er Cheng, Zhu Xi. Wang Shouren’s theory of mind corrects the errors of later generations’ indulgence in the superficial knowledge, but most of his discussions deviate from the main idea, and most of his disciples’ inheritance is superficial, which arouses criticism from later generations.74 The great Confucians of the past dynasty have their own deep meaning in making up for the deviation of Confucianism. I hope that scholars will dig out the true meaning of the sage’s doctrine and practice it. They will gain something slowly, but it will be no good to just talk about it.75

He emphasized that “the scholar is to practice in person”, “if the scholar does not practice the theory in his daily life and experience the fate of Heaven”, he will not 72

Lin Guobiao. (2004). Zhu Xi’s Thought in Qing Dynasty: An Interpretation of Confucianism. Changsha: Hunan People’s Publishing House, p. 229. 73 Tang Bin, Tang Bin’s Posthumous Work, Volume 5. “Call on the Sibling to Build Ancestral Temples for Mr. Sun Zhengjun in Xiafeng”-. 74 Tang Bin, Tang Bin’s Posthumous Work, Volume 5. “Report Back to the Emperor’s Records at Gate of Heavenly Purity”. 75 Ibid.

574

10 Criticism and Statecraft: Extreme Heights, and the Wane …

be able to “understand the virtue of Heaven in practice.” Tang Bin was not different from other official scholars in Kangxi Dynasty in respecting Cheng and Zhu in order to implement the principle reflected in everything between Cheng and Zhu in daily use ethics. The difference is that Tang Bin also saw that Wang Xue paid attention to the principal part of human subjectivity, which strengthened the self-construction of subjective personality in the process of pursuing and implementing the principle reflected in everything. It strengthens the premise and necessary conditions for the purity of the subject in the development of morality and rationality, and takes the purity of the mind as the foundation, so as to realize or fulfill the principle reflected in everything in the daily ethics. The purity of mind and body needs self-cultivation, and the principle reflected in everything needs searching for reasons. Tang Bin advocates that both should be taken into account so as to be both clear-minded and know Heaven’s principles. Tang Bin’s appeal for moral personality and moral rationality is also practical rather than cognitive. His foothold lies first in his own moral perfection, which is just to experience the ubiquity of the Dao of Heaven in everyday personnel. That is to say, the necessity of the Dao of Heaven must be demonstrated by the necessity of fulfilling the practice in everyday ethics. The inevitability of the Dao of Heaven is also the inevitability of humanity, and the inevitability of humanity is nothing more than the three cardinal guides and the five constant virtues as specified in the feudal society and moral order. Tang Bin’s practice is not only moral practice, although it is the most basic practice of Confucianism. Its purpose is to self-restraint, but the implementation obviously also includes “practical governance” to “assist the monarch and benefit the people.” “To be a prime minister today is to do what a prime minister should do right now, and so is everything else.”76 “Officials, big or small, have their responsibilities.” “Every official does his best; that is the scene that the world is at peace.” “There is no need to worry about officials’ dereliction of duty if we make every effort to support the feudal code of ethics.”77 Tang Bin’s “implementing theory through his Practice” is implemented in governance practice. Tang Bin served as an official for eighteen years, with outstanding achievements and sincere devotion to the people.78 He not only took measures to eliminate the abuses in the official circles in order to reduce the burden and suffering of the people, but also made great efforts to eliminate the abuses and vulgarities among the people from the standpoint of Confucian holy theory. Tang Bin strongly condemned the corrupt officials’ stripping of the people and deeply held the people’s grievances. He once criticized the magistrate of a prefecture of Suzhou for demolishing houses and opening up imperial roads in order to please emperor Kangxi’s journey to the south. It was considered that this action was inconsistent with Emperor Kangxi’s Southern Tour of “visiting the sufferings of the natives”, and

76

Tang Bin, Tang Bin’s Posthumous Work, Volume 1, “Quotations”. Ibid. 78 Shi Gexin, Tang Bin, A Honest and Clean Official in the Early Qing Dynasty, “Knowledge of Literature and History”. 77

2 Neo-Confucian’s Statecraft by Li in the Early …

575

ordered that it be forbidden to disturb the people and harm the people.79 Tang Bin carefully observed and cared for the people, and tried to reduce the misfortune from the official. Among them, he pleaded and was allowed to lighten the tax burden of the people of Suzhou and Shanghai, and to relieve the people of Suzhou and Shanghai of their food shortage, which is his actual act of eliminating harm for the people. Tang Bin also tried hard to eradicate the bad customs and habits of the people, and strictly prohibited gambling, trafficking in human beings, hedonism, and lavishness. He earnestly taught and analyzed the harmfulness of the bad customs and habits in detail.80 Tang Bin tried his best to eradicate folk bad habits, while emphasizing extensive education. “The most important thing in governing is to upright popular feelings.”81 “Human nature is good, how can we not strive for progress, do not want to learn well, and gradually revise the folkways, the people will naturally be touched, strive for progress, select people with high moral values to deal with rural affairs is the closest approach to the ancient practice.”82 Tang Bin therefore ordered the officials of Wei Suo (a military establishment system used in the Ming Dynasty) of subordinate prefectures and counties to gather scholars and people in the public offices, towns, and other places monthly. Those with high moral character were selected to speak in an open temple about “the 16 sages’ remarks issued by the monarch”, in order to achieve purpose of “to carrying forward the principles of Heaven, abiding by the law, being filial to parents, respecting the elders, paying attention to credit, seeking harmony, advocating simplicity, and eliminating disputes.”83 (3) Emperor Kangxi’s Confucianism and Statecraft Thought Emperor Kangxi, named Xuanye, was surnamed Aixinjueluo and Manchus. He was the third son of Emperor Shunzhi, sage ancestor of posthumous title. He was born in the eleventh year of Emperor Shunzhi in the Qing Dynasty (A.D. 1654), and died in the sixty-first year of Emperor Kangxi in the Qing Dynasty. Kangxi was emperor in the eighteenth year of Shunzhi (A.D. 1661). He was assisted by four ministers, Sony, Suksaha, Jubilong, and Ao Bai. In the sixth year of Kangxi, he took over the reins of government upon coming of age in 1667 A.D., in the eighth year of Kangxi. Kangxi secretly knotted with his minister, Suo Ertu, and others, who wisely captured Ao Bai to regain power. After Kangxi took over the reins of government upon coming of age, he declared that he would stop enclosing land forever, allowed the able-bodied man to “no longer be included in Qiji (registered residency of Manchus) and become civilians”. He rewarded reclamation and appointed Jin Fu and others to harness the Yellow River, stipulating that “the population added beyond the original registered population does not need to increase the population tax.” Emperor Kangxi set up a 79

Tang Bin, Tang Bin’s Posthumous Work, Volume 7. “Tighten the Administration of Officials to Comfort the Depressed People in Order to Demarcate the Border”. 80 Tang Bin, Tang Bin’s Posthumous Work, Volume 9, “Oracle: Hold a Township Convention to Announce Good Customs”. 81 Ibid. 82 Ibid. 83 Ibid.

576

10 Criticism and Statecraft: Extreme Heights, and the Wane …

secretarial team in the South Study, which was responsible for the drafting of imperial edict. He strengthened imperial power, calmed down San Fan, recovered Taiwan, stabilized the Zungars, and consolidated national unity. Touring the northeast, he launched two counter-offensive wars against Yaksa, which severely hit the Russian forces. He sent Songgotu and Tong Guogang to Nerchinsk to negotiate with Russia. The principle that the vast territory of Heilongjiang Basin is “all territory of our country, not concessionable to Russia” has been established. The Nerchinsk Treaty had been ratified and signed, and the eastern border between China and Russia has been delineated, so as to consolidate and develop the unification of multi-ethnic countries. He studied Confucianism hard all his life, advocated the Cheng-Zhu school and set up erudite Confucianism, actively recruited talents and put Han scholarbureaucrats in an important position. Kangxi studied mainly Confucianism, history, literature, and art. He was also interested in natural sciences such as arithmetic, astronomy, geography, optics, medicine, and anatomy. Kangxi trusted, used, and respected missionaries, and learned Western Natural Science from them. Emperor Kangxi was diligent in political affairs, ambitious, eager to learn and pursue, and advocated economy. During his 61 years in office, he excelled among more than 300 emperors in literary and martial arts, consolidating the situation of multi-ethnic reunification in China and creating “flourishing age of Kangxi and Qianlong period”. Kangxi’s political thought still belongs to the traditional Confucian political thought. He is a standard Neo-Confucianist in ideology. His political philosophy is almost the same as that of the orthodox Neo-Confucianists. The relationship between them belongs to the same category. However, Kangxi’s Neo-Confucianism still has obvious characteristics of the times, emphasizing practical character of practical learning, practical merit and virtue, advocating to have both ability and political integrity, and the unity of knowing and doing. He regards the practice the three cardinal guides and the five constant virtues as specified in the feudal society of Confucianism as the criterion of Neo-Confucians. If it can be practiced, it will be true Daoism. Otherwise it will be false Daoism. Compared with the general Confucian scholars, Kangxi’s ruling ideology is open-minded, benevolent, generous, and pragmatic. As an emperor with high Neo-Confucianism literacy, Kangxi pursued the great order throughout [across] the land far beyond the scope of order pursued by ordinary rulers. He tried to achieve the goal of “absolute perfection “put forward by Confucianism at the stage of Neo-Confucianism in terms of Heaven’s principles level pursued by Neo-Confucianism. Neo-Confucians expect that people tend to be the highest good in morality, which is as it should be, ought to be. It cannot rely on punishment, but on human moral consciousness. The monarch’s substitution for Heaven to educate the people mainly depends on moral education. Kangxi believed that the purpose of human learning was to “remove selfish desires, preserve and develop Heaven’s principles.” In theory, he believed that “Heaven’s principles is the most fundamental good, which was endowed by God at the beginning of life”, “Human desire is after life, because the deviation of the purity of the accepted Qi, touched by external things and indulged in sexual desire, is man-made, not inherent in human nature.” Everyone only needs to “restrain evil ideas, preserve honesty” and “preserve and nurture Heaven’s principles” to avoid indulging excessive desires.”

2 Neo-Confucian’s Statecraft by Li in the Early …

577

They must consciously “examine their own thoughts, restrain excessive desires”, and can consciously “distinguish Heaven’s principles, completely eliminate excessive desires.”84 He reminds people to pay attention to their inner thoughts, to choose among them and to restrain their desires. “A little idea in human mind is either Heaven’s principles or selfish desires.” The symptom of selfish desires is selfishness, and the expression of Heaven’s principles is public, as long as there is selfishness in the mind, it is selfish desires. To remove selfish desires, and preserve and develop Heaven’s principles, we first need to distinguish the principles of Heaven’s principles. Kangxi holds that there is a logic precedence over everything in the world. It is not only the origin of Heaven and earth, but also the reason why people and things are, or the essence of Heaven and earth. In this respect, Kangxi agreed with Zhuxi’s point of view. Zhu Xi’s Neo-Confucianism, “inherits the doctrine which has been cut off for thousands of years so that people can get rid of ignorance and establish rules for future generations.”85 “Exploring all things in order to gain conscience, self-examination to practice its results, orderly interpretation of Confucian classics, calming the world after acquiring conscience, revealing virtue and behavior in order to reach the realm of the best, are all achievements of enlightening future generations.”86 “If there were any more sages, it would be impossible to surpass them.” Human nature originates from the goodness of Heaven’s principles. Selfish desires are the result of being tempted. Although both are controlled by the human mind, they are opposed to each other. They rise and fall while they grow and disappear. The existence of human nature leads to the extinction of selfish desires, while the existence of selfish desires leads to the extinction of human nature. Kangxi believed that “it was the most important thing to understand the truth in life”, and his so-called “understanding the truth” emphasized the practice of “the truth” to measure whether “understanding the truth” was based on whether it could be practiced or not. When I read and seek truth in my daily life, I must explore the principle of governing the country and put it into practice. So when I understand the truth, I must carry it out. If not, it is just empty talk.87

Kangxi’s “Heaven” still has the character of mysterious domination of the universe and acts as the legal source for the inevitability of Heaven and earth and the general regulator and reward and punishment of the universe. “Although the Dao of Heaven does not appear, its retribution has never been wrong.”88 Heaven in the vast air, dominates the whole universe, must make it in line with the purpose of good. “Heaven nourishes all things…” “In the final analysis, the Dao of Heaven is to nourish all things, to be born is the expression of the Dao, and kindheartedness is its ultimate form.”89 “Heaven made sages, became masters of monarchs, inherited the traditions 84

Kangxi Government VIPs, Volume 6. “Respect Confucianism”. Ibid. 86 Collected Works by Imperial Order Episode IV, Volume 21. 87 Notes on the Daily Life of Kangxi, Volume 1. 88 Ting Xun’z Motto. 89 Collected Works by Imperial Order Episode I, Volume 17. 85

578

10 Criticism and Statecraft: Extreme Heights, and the Wane …

of Daoism for thousands of years, and maintained the rule of the centuries on them.”90 There is not only an ethical purpose in the universe, but also an ethical supreme ruler of the highest good. The supreme ruler controls all things in the universe with benevolence. The Son of Heaven in human society is also derived from the supreme ruler of the highest good. Kangxi believed that “the way to administer a country is to know the general situation, it is not enough to be smart.”91 The so-called general situation refers to the difference between the kingly way and hegemony. The kingly way is to be kind to people, and then to living things. The ruler should rule with tolerance, whereas hegemony is the opposite. Kangxi advocated ruling China in the kingly way. “There is nothing more important than upright popular feelings in the policy of governing the world. The way to make the people honest is to advocate enlightenment.” “Nurturing means nurturing people with benevolence. Teaching means upright popular feelings with faith and righteousness.”92 Kangxi believed that only the policy of leniency and harmony was the king’s policy. He advocated that the management of the country should be based on leniency, less killing and opposing more killing. Kangxi believed that the king was above all. He esteemed generosity and benevolence, not dignity. Based on his years of experience in reading and administration, he proposed that, “Leniency is the noblest virtue of the monarch, and leniency is the best policy of governing the country.” “In the past, when Zi Chan talked about political affairs, he said that only those with virtue could administer leniently and convincingly, followed by strict administration. This is just Zi Chan’s speech, not the foundation of governing the country. The essence of governing the country lies in generosity and benevolence.” “Strict governance will destabilize the regime. Stringent laws and decrees will disturb the people. On the contrary, the regime will be stable and the world will be peaceful.” “Li Si of Qin Dynasty imitated Xunzi’s doctrine, and the decree emphasized supervision and blame. In a few years, the Qin Dynasty perished.” “Han Gaozu’s policy of leniency and harmony was welcomed by all the people after his accession to the throne.” Therefore, “there are many ancient emperors who won the hearts of the people by lenient administration. They have never heard of anyone who lost the world because of lenient administration.” Kangxi emphasized the rule of man while despised the rule of law, to moralize the people with virtue, teaching assisted by punishment. He objected to governing the country only by law. He said “Since ancient times, emperors have consoled their ministers and people, politics and education are clear and clean, rule the country, enlighten people by education gently and smoothly.” “Instead of punishing the people with penalties, making them afraid and alert to the law, and rejoicing in their innocence, it is better to inspire the people with benevolence.”93 “Make the people incline to goodness wholeheartedly and unwilling to do bad things.” “I used to admire the ancient scenery, diligently educate the people for politics, hoping to inspire the people’s conscience.” But the 90

Collected Works by Imperial Order Episode I, Volume 19. Collected Works by Imperial Order Episode I, Volume 18. 92 Collected Works by Imperial Order Episode I, Volume 17. 93 Collected Works by Imperial Order Episode I, Volume 27. 91

2 Neo-Confucian’s Statecraft by Li in the Early …

579

law cannot be abolished, because “people lie, hypocrisy, customs are corrupt, to rectify the law, the law of the state cannot be stopped.”94 “Despite repeated attempts to sympathize with the people, thoroughly eliminate the onerous decrees and taxes, it is ultimately believed that advocating morality and relaxing penalties is the best way to achieve the prosperity of peace.”95 Like most Neo-Confucianists, Kangxi insisted on the traditional Confucian idea of rule of virtue, emphasizing the principle of virtue and the supplement of punishment, advocating to give full play to the advantages of moralizing the people, paying attention to the role of moral introspection in making people tend to be the best. As a monarch, he should be good at using educational and moral means, moral enlightenment enables people to “check their own thoughts and actions to restrain excessive desires” so as to completely realize the fundamental purpose of “eliminating excessive desires and maintaining Heaven’s principles”.

3 Political Criticism and Statecraft Thought in the Qian-Jia-Dao Period As an ideological system, Neo-Confucianism gradually developed a theoretical system of the unity of knowing and doing, driven by the implement and practice advocated by Kangxi Dynasty. Although there was no logical space to expand the theoretical system, it still maintained its core position in social ideology. As a self-cultivation methodology, it has a broader market. Since the founding of Neo-Confucianism in the Song Dynasty, it has maintained the philosophical color of methodology, which makes Neo-Confucianism’s grasp of the world and its interpretation of Confucian classics with its unique non-practical, non-empirical arbitrariness or assumption. In the period of Qian-Jia-Dao, the interpretation of Confucian classics was still an important medium for the development of the ideological system, but the methods of interpretation had changed quietly. The popular methods of document textual research in Han Dynasty were once again popular to understand Confucian classics accurately by textual research methods. Or try to find a common basis from Gong Yang in the Spring and Autumn Period, bypassing the focus of classics since Song Dynasty. Although both have certain political criticism, his intention is to consolidate the core values of traditional Confucianism. During the period of Qian-Jia-Dao, when social problems became more and more prominent, the core values of traditional Confucianism encountered many kinds of troubles. The main troubles came from the worries of social elites about the ways and means of Ideological Construction in the past, and the numerous social problems further aggravated the worries of scholar bureaucrat. Various confusions and worries focus scholar-bureaucrats’ eyes and energies on the field of textual research. Whether it is textual criticism of Confucian classics, textual criticism of historiography, or analysis of social problems, its fundamental purpose is to make the society prosperous and the people settle 94 95

Collected Works by Imperial Order Episode I, Volume 17. Records of the Sacred Ancestors of the Qing Dynasty, Volume 126.

580

10 Criticism and Statecraft: Extreme Heights, and the Wane …

down. Unlike the official Confucians of Kangxi Dynasty who emphasized constructive construction of moral practical rationality and implementation. With the death of a famous Neo-Confucian scholar, social problems and academic direction have taken place remarkable performance. On the one hand, it is natural science that leaves some doubts about understanding the world, especially, how to integrate Heaven’s principles into the human body or the general principle of human body and how to present it still puzzles the proxy theorists such as Dai Zhen and others. On the other hand, theorists have doubts about the way people in Kangxi Dynasty learned about Heaven’s principles, they tried to interpret Confucianism through questioning and restoring classical texts, and to explain and consolidate the three cardinal guides and the five constant virtues as specified in the feudal society and the basic principles of traditional society. (1) Dai Zhen’s Political Thought Dai Zhen’s formal name is Dongyuan. He was a native of Xiuning, Anhui Province, and he was born in the first year of Emperor Yongzheng of the Qing Dynasty (A.D. 1723). He died in the forty-second year of Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty, (A.D. 1777). He was a famous thinker and textual research scholar in the middle of the Qing Dynasty. When Dai Zhen went to an old-style private school, his teacher taught Shuowen that “it took three years to fully understand the key points.” At the age of sixteen, he began to study the commentary on the Confucian Classics. He learned ritual classics, push step, sound, and character from Jiangyong in Wuyuan. In the twenty-seventh year of Qianlong reign, Dai Zhenkao passed the provincial civil service examination. In the thirty-eighth year of the Qianlong reign, the Qing government revised the Si Ku Quan Shu and called Dai Zhen as an editor. He was in the library for five years and died of illness, during which, the forty years of Qianlong reign, Dai Zhen became a Jin shi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations) and served as a Shu Ji Shi (a title conferred on those who passed the annual civil service examination with high grades) in the Hanlin Academy. Dai Zhen had wide learning and a retentive memory who has studied astronomy, mathematics, history, and geography in depth. Dai Zhen is skilled in the naming and description of things, and in explaining words in ancient books. He made important contributions to Confucian classics and linguistics. He is a textual research master and famous Confucian scholar in the period of Qianlong, Jiaqing. The Six Classics is “the foundation of morality and justice, the repository of excellent insights.” The doctrine of the sages is in The Six Classics influenced the Confucians of the Han Dynasty, though they learned only the rules, but not the principles. The Confucians of Song-dynasty philosopher learned only the principles, but did not learn the rules. According to the method of “seeking explanations of words in ancient books by voice and words, seeking the principles by explanations of words in ancient books,” he made a unique textology and textual research on ancient Confucian classics. Dai Zhen’s main work was compiled as Dai’s Literary Remains by later generations. As an influential Confucian thinker in the middle of the Qing Dynasty, Dai Zhen’s thoughts and experiences are representative. One year before his birth, Kangxi died, and the torrent of political thoughts between Ming and Qing Dynasties ended in

3 Political Criticism and Statecraft Thought …

581

gloom. The passion, courage, and profundity of criticism gradually faded away. The rulers of the Qing Dynasty had completed the reconstruction of the monarchy system in ideology, and studies on the public affairs of the government reflecting on experience and lessons in politics were replaced by the study of peaceful and practical textology. Textology has a long history. Its distant ancestor should be the continuous study of chapter syntax since the Western Han Dynasty. Gu Yanwu advocated real learning of textology to assist the Confucian classics in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. He pointed out that the school of laws is the study of Confucian classics, and clarified the holy learning contained in the Confucian classics through textology of sound and meaning. Dai Zhen was a faithful practitioner of Gu Yanwu’s line, his textual research work had been generally recognized at that time, but he was not only an outstanding expert in document textual research, but also had a certain pursuit of sainthood, he put forward some reflective and critical thoughts which were not popular at that time but did not break away from the traditional acupoint. Dai Zhen was only famous for his textual research during his lifetime and quite a long time after his death. His reflective and critical thoughts were hardly noticed by people at that time. The mainland academia mostly classifies Dai Zhen as an enlightenment thinker, but his thought is far from that. Whether it is in the ideological category, attitude, or propositional significance, it is far from the enlightenment thinker’s concept of civil rights, and even inferior to some critical thinkers in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Dai Zhen’s thoughts of reflection and criticism are still within the usual political trends of the mid-dynasty. The objects of his reflection and criticism are nothing more than the bad customs of the secular world, including the bad tendencies of the academic and ideological circles, among which there is hardly anything really modern. People may think that Qianjia textual criticism was forced out by the barbaric literary prison of the Qing Dynasty. People expressed their ideas in a retro way and bottled new wine in an old bottle, but as long as we tasted the wine in that bottle, we could only taste the old taste. The retro academic thought language may contain deconstruction, but not necessarily new knowledge. Feng Youlan once expressed his penetrating views on the similarity or interlinked of the philosophies of down-to-earth learning in Qing Dynasty and the philosophical theories of Song scholars, emphasizing that they were not fundamentally different on the level of the principles.96 Mr. Chen Xulu pointed out that, “In China, the emergence of new things can only be after the Opium War.”97 Dai Zhen emphasizes “Qi” in ontology and regards “Qi” as the basis of “Li”. People and all things are just the products of gasification, and all come from Qi. “The creation of all things between Heaven and earth is essentially the product of Yin and Yang.”98 Yin and Yang are two kinds of Qi flow, namely, Dao. “The Dao is like revolving, the Qi fills the universe, and the movement is constantly changing, this is what we call Dao.” Yin, Yang, and the Five Elements are the entities of the 96

Feng Youlan. (1961). History of Chinese Philosophy (Volume 2). Beijing: China Book Company, pp. 974–975. 97 Chen Xulu. (1992). The Metabolism of Modern Chinese Society. Shanghai: Shanghai People’s Publishing House, p. 20. 98 Textual Research on Mencius’ Character Meaning Li.

582

10 Criticism and Statecraft: Extreme Heights, and the Wane …

universe, while Dao is the movement of the entities. The movement of Dao has its necessary order or proper arrangement. This order and proper arrangement is the idea of Li. “Li is nothing else; it’s the truth of necessity.” “Everything, including people and behavior, has Li between Heaven and earth. This is what The Book of Songs says that everything on earth and Heaven has its own laws’. Exploring its unchangeable criteria in Heaven, earth, characters and behavior is Li.”99 The idea by Dai Zhen is that, “Being is the source of change; being organized is the result of its circulation”. The two are integrated and inseparable. Dai Zhen re-explored the meanings of “metaphysical” and “physical” in Neo-Confucianism. In his opinion, “metaphysical” means “before the formation of the body”, while “physical” means “after the formation of the body.”100 Not only is “Yin and Yang” metaphysical, but also “the five elements of gold, wood, water, fire, and earth” are metaphysical things. Dai Zhen pointed out that, “The physical means that the body has already been produced. The metaphysical is also called before the body is produced, and the physical is called after the body is produced.”101 Yin and Yang do not produce body, which is called the metaphysical, obviously not the physical. Dai Zhen’s idea of the “metaphysical” also includes the “five elements”, such as gold, wood, water, fire, and soil. “They are visible substances. Naturally, they are physical objects and implements. The Qi of the five elements, which affects people and all things, is metaphysical.”102 The “metaphysics” between Heaven and earth has lost the necessary significance of norms and constraints, and the “metaphysics” of the human being itself no longer has the role of norms and constraints.103 The inevitable conscience of human beings does not originate from the inevitable way of Heaven or Heaven’s principles, but it becomes the nature of human body’s gasification, and its conclusion is quite close to Li Zhi’s naturalistic theory of human nature, the “theory of the Childlike Heart.”104 Human’s “birth” is the entity produced by the integration of vital essence.105 “Whenever there is flesh and blood, life can move, and motion can perceive everything. This perception is the essence of vital essence, which is also called mind.”106 Dai Zhen generalized the meaning of “metaphysics” in theory and greatly reduced the abstract meaning of the category of “metaphysics”, which not only made the social function of “metaphysics” norm and restraint “physical” declining day by day, but also made the inevitability of political order subject to undue provocation. Even people’s political cooperation and self-consciousness of being forced by necessity have lost the necessary basis of universal noumenon, and their political philosophy tends to deconstruct and criticize tradition, lacking sufficient constructive and positive significance.

99

Textual Research on Mencius’ Character Meaning Way of Heaven. Ibid. 101 “Introduction”, Part 1. 102 Ibid. 103 Ibid. 104 Textual Research on Mencius’ Character Meaning Way of Heaven. 105 “Introduction”, Part II. 106 Textual Research on Mencius’ Character Meaning Nature. 100

3 Political Criticism and Statecraft Thought …

583

Dai Zhen believes that people and things are undoubtedly generated by the Qi of Yin and Yang in the Heaven and earth. “The generation of people and all kinds of things is the natural generation of Qi”. But man and all things have different temperaments; flowers and plants are the ones that move their Qi but keep their shape unchanged. “But those with blood can show their movement.” Plants and animals are different, and people and animals are different either. Man possesses his whole nature, but material possesses his partial nature. Man possesses his clear nature, and his material possesses his turbid nature; man possesses his bright nature, and material possesses his faint nature. Therefore, man and animal have their own nature. People and things are not only born of the Qi of Heaven and earth, but also supported by the Qi of Heaven and earth. Different endowments have different qualifications. The special nobility of human beings lies in the fact that “they can master all the abilities and virtues between Heaven and earth.” “Wisdom is enough to know the nature of all kinds of birds and animals, domestication and cultivation, and the nature of plants and trees.” “The good doctor is used to treat diseases.”107 Everyone is born with temperament, tangible, spiritual, and divine. In a word, they are human material, and human material can be divided into two aspects: blood and mind. Human blood makes people hear, see, smell and taste. When the outside world has sound, color, smell and taste, people have a desire for sound, color, smell and taste. The human noema is grasped by the human mind. “Every part of the human body can perceive external things, and the perception of the heart is the largest.”108 It can clearly understand the principles of things, deal with various relationships in people’s daily use, and restrict people’s appetites, so that they can be in accordance with the principles. Dai Zhen believes that “things are not enough to perceive the justice of Heaven and earth, so they have no control over themselves, naturally, that’s enough, Naturally, that’s enough. Man has innate wisdom and can practice correctly, naturally, he can straighten out the common sense of Heaven and earth and coordinate the law of Heaven and earth, isn’t that natural? the natural nature of things is not enough to deal with these problems.”109 Dai Zhen adopted the research method of the tendency of natural human nature theory. However, it still emphasizes that the core content of human nature is benevolence, righteousness and propriety, which Confucianism always emphasizes. “The noble become monarchs and the lowly become subjects, there will be a flourishing age.”110 Dai Zhen thinks that people have desire when they have blood, and they have Li when they have mind. Desire and Li coexist in human beings.111 Selfish desires cannot be extinguished. “Everyone has blood and mind, so he has desire.” “When desire comes into being, emotion comes into being.” “People have desires and feelings, so they will produce intelligence and skills.” Everyone is born with desires, and human desires are stimulated by things, moved by emotion, because desire produces 107

The Original Goodness, Part 1. Textual Research On Mencius’ Character Meaning Nature. 109 Reading Mencius’ Theory of Nature. 110 Dai Dongyuan’s Collected Works, “Legal Image Theory”. 111 The Original Goodness, Part 1. 108

584

10 Criticism and Statecraft: Extreme Heights, and the Wane …

emotion. “The way of human existence lies in desire, and the way of perception lies in human feelings.” Desireless and ruthless, people are dead. What else is there in the world? All people under Heaven have desires. He said: “It is impossible to exhaust benevolence if one wants to realize one’s own desire and others’ desire; it is selfish and unjust to realize one’s own desire happily and forget others’ desire.”112 Human desire cannot be extinguished. If human desire is extinguished, human body cannot exist, and Li cannot completely extinguish human desire. It can only rationalize human desire. The expression of being reasonable lies in the realization of desire, or Confucius’s idea of, “don’t do what you don’t want to others.” In fact, Dai Zhen wants to emphasize that everyone will do what he wants, and everyone will be justified. Dai Zhen unifies sexual desire and Li. “Heaven’s principles, it’s a feeling without fault, no one who knows neither emotion nor Heaven’s principles”; “Heaven’s principle is the control of human desire, not indulgence.”113 Dai Zhen does not advocate indulgence. His idea of desire, which is unified with Li, is actually consumed by the normal perceptual system of human beings and is necessary for the normal survival of human beings. To a certain extent, the medium for Confucians to express Heaven’s principles since Song and Ming Dynasties is to format human desires. However, by no means are they to completely exterminate human desires. He thought that it was impossible to exterminate human desire. Conversely, formatting human desire was not only possible, but also necessary for Confucianism. Dai Zhen advocated the unity of sexual desire and Heaven’s principles, and tried to leave some space for sexual desire within the scope of Heaven’s principles. He opposed the way of suppressing sexual desire like Heaven’s principles in vulgar customs. The principles he attacked was actually the principles of vulgar customs, not the best Heaven’s principles that Confucian scholars said. Dai Zhen does not intend to completely deny Heaven’s principles, but only requires that Heaven’s principles and human desire be unified in theory. “Desire” is “nature” and “Li” is “inevitability”. To regulate “desire” with “Li”, just completes its “nature”, and disobedience to Li and indulgence just loses its “nature”. Heaven’s principles do not exclude human desires and human feelings. When sages rule the world, they observe people’s feelings and satisfy people’s desires, so they will realize the kingly way.114 On the surface, Dai Zhen upholds “desire” of nature, but in fact he still advocates controlling the natural “desires” by “Li” of necessity, and advocates that people should take “Li” of necessity as the standard of life. Compared with the orthodox Neo-Confucians, Dai Zhen’s political thought does have a certain degree of heresy and rebellion, which highlights the natural and material factors of human nature and affirms human desire to a certain extent. However, affirming human desire is not necessarily equal to liberating human beings, let alone to affirming human desire as an enlightenment trend of thought. Is the modern world just the unbridled world one wants to run rampant? The first step in the development of pre-modern society to modern society is, of course, the elimination of traditional society itself, but not all the elimination of traditional society can naturally lead to the 112

The Original Goodness, Part III. Textual Research on Mencius’ Character Meaning Li. 114 Ibid. 113

3 Political Criticism and Statecraft Thought …

585

arrival of modern society. The key step in the development of pre-modern society to modern society is to establish modernity. The key to democratic enlightenment lies precisely in the fact that its constructive aspects have modern attributes. Democratic enlightenment thought can only come into being in the countries and times in which modern society and culture have begun to conceive. Its purpose and task is to create, disseminate, popularize and develop science and democracy in the modern sense. Of course, it will destroy the traditional old world, but its emphasis and core is to construct a new world with inevitability in the sense of ontology.115 When human society enters the modern stage, it must have a modern social life system, which is the result of gradually solving a series of empirical problems in a relatively long historical development process. The essence of democratic enlightenment must and must be the theoretical sublimation of a series of modernized empirical problems in the process of modernization. The core of it lies in the establishment of a modernized social order and purpose system from the inevitable noumenon, and the concept of modernization has also been gradually established in a certain process of experience. Modern society is not a society of pure human desire, but there are still some inevitability regulations. Modern replacement of ancient political and philosophical discourse cannot be equated with human desire replacing Heaven’s principles, but should be the epochal transformation of Heaven’s principles’ content. Dai Zhen’s so-called Heavenly principles are no different in content from Cheng, Zhu, Lu and Wang and others, their core is benevolence, righteousness and courtesy, and they still adhere to monarchy in politics. (2) Hong Liangji’s Political Thought Hong Liangji’s first name was Lian. His formal name is Huafeng. He was later renamed to Liji, Liangji. His formal name is Junzhi Zhichun. The other name is Beijiang. Later, the other name Gengsheng, was born in the eleventh year of Emperor Qianlong of Qing Dynasty (A.D. 1746) and died in the fourteenth year of Jiaqing of Renzong of Qing Dynasty, (A.D. 1809) in Yanghu, Jiangsu Province (now Changzhou). Hong Liangji lost his father at an early age and became an orphan at the age of six. Zhu Yun worked as an educational inspector in Anhui Province, and Hong Liangji followed him, had contacts with many famous scholars. From the beginning, he liked poems, and even studied Confucian classics and history at the same time. Hong Liangjie is a man of filial piety, devoted to benevolence and righteousness. He studies hard and is friendly with Huang Jingren and Sun Xingyan. He is appreciated by Yuan Mei and Jiang Shiquan. Hong Liangji is proficient in history, geography, phonology and exegesis, and is good at writing poems and parallel style Hong Liangji. He likes to visit famous mountains and rivers all over his life. His footprints cover Wu, Yue, Chu, Guizhou, Qin, Jin, Qi, and Henan etc. Hong Liangji suffered many setbacks in the place where imperial examinations were held all his life. He failed in the four provincial examinations, and he did not pass the provincial civil service examination until the forty-fifth year of Qianlong. He was awarded Jin 115

Zhang Shiwei. (2004). The Limit of people-oriented Thought: The New Theory of Huang Zongxi’s Political Thoughts. Beijing: China Renmin University Press, p. 4.

586

10 Criticism and Statecraft: Extreme Heights, and the Wane …

Shi (a successful candidate) in the fifty-fifth year of Qianlong, and was accredited as editing of the Hanlin Academy and served as the compiler of the National History Museum. He later served as the examiner of Shuntianfu provincial examinations and the provincial educational commissioner of Guizhou. Hong Liangji is a man of integrity. He hates the evil and likes good. He doesn’t hesitate to offend superior to give direct advice, nor does he avoid dangerous situations. In the three years of Jiaqing, Hong Liangji made a forceful statement on internal and external maladministration, and pointed out that the rebellion of White Lotus Society was caused by the corruption of the local administration of civil officials (in feudal China). He advocated that it is necessary to rectify the local administration of civil officials (in feudal China) in order to conquer heresy. The following year, he wrote a letter accusing the ministers of both inside and outside of misleading the country and harming the people, taking bribes and bending the law, which provoked the emperor to anger, and was sent to Li. In the three years of Jiaqing, because of his frank statements, “Hong Liangji was convicted. After that, fewer and fewer people dared to send in a memorial to offer advice or an opinion.” Even if there is, it is also about the daily affairs of officials, about the virtues of the monarch and the misery and fortune of the people. There is absolutely no written comment to offer advice or an opinion.” “Is it not because Hong Liangji was convicted of his words that nobody dared to speak to offer advice or an opinion?” “The content of Hong Liangji’s written statement to a higher authority is indeed enough to enlighten me, so as my motto. I always read it: govern diligently, stay away from adultery, and always be alert to reflect on myself.” “Today, Hong Liangji’s memorial is publicized so that the courtiers inside and outside the court can know that I am not a monarch who refuses to accept the admonition and conceals his faults. It is indeed a monarch who can communicate with each other.” He instructed General Yili to release Hong Liangji and return to his native place. Since then, he wrote at home until the end. His main works are Juan Shige Poetry Collection, Fu jie xuan Poetry Collection, Gengshengzhai Poetry Collection, Beijiang Poetry Talk, Spring and Autumn Zuo Zhuan Gu and Jingxian Zhi. The existing Complete Works of Hong Bei Jiang have been handed down, in 2001, China Book Company published a punctuated edition of Collection of Hong Liang Ji, which contains five volumes. Most of Hong Liangji’s political thoughts are directed at specific problems, which have the nature of today’s political science. He believed that the way of political clarity could be summarized as diligence, independence, brightness, communication, and solemnity. If the monarch could fulfill the five-character requirement, politics would be clear and bright. Otherwise, politics would be dark, and the country would be in danger. The key to the success of the emperor’s diligence, independence, brightness, communication, and solemnity lies in the fact of being close to the superior man, away from villains, such as some favorite courtiers and concubines nearby who disturb the hearings of Emperor. While the superior man’s direct criticism is indispensable to the state. Hong Liangji took the early Qianlong Dynasty as an example to prove it. He said “that in the early years of Qianlong, Emperor Qianlong was diligent in governing and striving to govern. At that time, ministers such as Erwenduan, Zhu Wenduan, Zhang Wenhe, and Sun Wending all calmly assumed themselves as senior and virtuous

3 Political Criticism and Statecraft Thought …

587

teachers.” All the ministers were ready to write and speak at anytime, anywhere, and they spoke frankly. There was no secret in the court above and the masses below, between government officials and the people. Although Emperor Qianlong was brilliant and mighty, unmatched in the world, there were many loyal ministers in the court, and people around him were in awe of everything they did.”116 Contrast the affairs of state in Jiaqing Period. “Today, the first is that things are too relaxed. Since the fifty years of Qianlong Emperor’s reign, there is abuse of one’s power to seek personal gain, and officials shield one another. There have been many things that have not been solved thoroughly.”117 He suggested, “that Jiaqing should learn from the ancient sages, drawing on collective wisdom and absorbing all useful ideas. “Please call on the ministers from now on. We must inquire about the talents coming in and listen to the pros and cons of affairs of state.”118 Hong Liangji pointed out that in brainstorming, attention should be paid to preventing self-serving revenge or unscrupulous people who seek profits for themselves. “But it is impossible to rely solely on knowing the political situation through the right and left attendants and the beloved courtiers. It is also impossible to probe into one’s merits and demerits through one’s party members.”119 Hong Liangji criticized the Jiaqing Dynasty for its lax rewards and punishments, for employing people and its lenient treatment of its favorite ministers. He pointed out that, …since the imperial court conscribed the Miao bandits and religious bandits. In the past, Fukang’an, Helin and Sun Shiyi deceived the monarch. Then Yimian, Huiling, and Funing failed in the north. In addition, Jing’an and Qin Chengen were conservative and fearful, people in Sichuan, Shaanxi, Chu and Henan were plundered.120

If “a deceased minister is allowed to leave aside, there is not exclusion of penalty to the minister who is still alive.” “The heaviest punishment is to rotate to Xinjiang, while the lighter one is to transport military grain to the battalion. Even Qin Chengen was only escorted to the capital and returned his family property to him. The meaning of start using him again was clear.” “The punishment of the state is so lenient that the ministers have never been so fearless of the law as they are today.”121 “Now from 1915 to 1919, in the past five years, there have been many failures. Provincial commander-in-chief, town headman, deputy lieutenant-general and vice-general of a brigade have one of them been punished for breaking the law? How can it be possible to require ministers to resist aggression and not harm the people?” Hong Liangji pointed out that there was obstruction in Imperial Court’s channels through which criticisms and suggestions may be communicated to the leadership. Hong Liangji has made an in-depth study of China’s social and demographic problems, and has published new ideas inspiring future generations. In the Chinese 116

History of the Qing Dynasty, “Biography of Hong Liangji”. Ibid. 118 Ibid. 119 Ibid. 120 Ibid. 121 Ibid. 117

588

10 Criticism and Statecraft: Extreme Heights, and the Wane …

traditional era, most scholars only eulogize the flourishing age, but they cannot see the social and political risks contained in the flourishing age. Hong Liangji saw the inherent contradiction between the rapid expansion of population and the large concentration of land in prosperous times, and revealed the social secrets between times of peace and prosperity and Chaotic Times in Chinese traditional society. The key to breaking away from the order and disorder cycle is to adjust the tension between population and land in time. He put forward the sharp contradiction between the rapid growth of population and the slow growth of grain in On the Governance of Country and On the Livelihood of Yiyan. He profoundly analyzed the social problems caused by overpopulation and put forward a lot of improvement measures. In the early Qing Dynasty, China’s population growth rate and absolute quantity far exceeded the previous generation. In the same period, although cultivated land expanded, its speed was far lower than that of population growth. The average per capita occupation of cultivated land decreased from more than five acres to more than two acres. Hong Liangji pointed out that the population growth at that time greatly exceeded the growth of cultivated land and general means of livelihood. It is pointed out that “the household registration has increased fivefold since 30 years ago, tenfold since 60 years ago and not less than 20 times since 100 years ago.” The number of fields and houses, “has only doubled. In some places, it has increased by only three or five times.”122 The total population will increase fivefold, tenfold and twentieth in decades to more than a hundred years, while the number of fields and houses will only double, triple and quintuple. He was keen to see the contradiction between the rapid growth of population and the slow growth of means of livelihood, which would affect the stability of feudal social order and people’s living standards, and the extensive annexation of land greatly aggravated this contradiction. After careful analysis, he pointed out that “it is not surprising that the landlord alone occupies a house that can accommodate hundreds of people, and one family occupies a land that can support hundreds of families. When encountering storms, frost, cold and turmoil, there are many dead people!”123 Hong Liangji believes that population growth has far exceeded the growth of land and housing, not only does it make “the number of farmland and houses perennially insufficient, but the number of households and population perennially excessive.”124 Moreover, “the number of farmers has increased tenfold, but the area of farmland has not increased, the number of merchants has increased tenfold, but the number of commodities has not increased.” There are worries of hardship for those who worked hard all the year round, and those who refuse to be contaminated by an evil influence. The misery of “robbery” arises for the wrongdoers. Hong Liangji believes that there are two ways to solve the problem of overpopulation, namely “natural adjustment method” and “government intervention method.”125 The former reduces population by means of natural disasters and epidemics. The latter relieves the pressure of rapid population growth by 122

Hong Liangji’s Collected Works, “On the Governance of the Country”. Ibid. 124 Ibid. 125 Hong Liangji’s Collected Works, “On Livelihood”. 123

3 Political Criticism and Statecraft Thought …

589

developing production, immigrating to open up wasteland, reducing taxes, opposing extravagance and waste, restraining mergers and providing relief for poverty, but neither of the two methods is likely to work.126 Hong Liangji was born in 22 years of Dai Zhen, but he lived 32 years longer than Dai Zhen. He experienced the exhaustion of the dynasty after the prosperity of Kang Yong and Qian Dynasty. He realized the risks and crises faced by the dynasty more profoundly, exposed them in time, and reminded the rulers in good faith, in order to make the best of the role of the scholar and his subordinates, and did his utmost to stem a raging tide. Hong Liangji emphasized analysis rather than criticism, he paid more attention to the important role of the people in political stability, had a strong people-oriented thought, and even revealed the social law of being oppressed by officials. The masses revolt against them. He hoped that the rulers would be sympathetic to the people’s suffering and care for the people’s livelihood. Hong Liangji attaches great importance to the analysis of social problems affecting the long-term stability of society, especially the population problem. Hong Liangji changed the traditional Confucian concept of multi-son and multi-fortune, treating the population problem with Legalism and pragmatic spirit and attitude, and put forward the viewpoint close to Malthusian demography, reminding the rulers to pay attention to controlling the population. Although everyone has two hands, in an agricultural society where technology has not made significant progress, with two hands, you can’t always make yourself full, which leads to widespread poverty and large-scale social unrest. Most of the political turmoil in the past dynasties originated from the general hunger and cold among the people. That is, the traditional political problems in China mostly originated from the problem of overpopulation. The property of monarchism in Chinese traditional society determines that the result of political operation is often the real estate of power. Once the power is real estate, the speed of land annexation will be faster, and the result will only lead to the complete collapse of society. Hong Liangji pointed out the great importance of the tension between population and land, but he did not find an appropriate and effective solution. (3) From Making the Society Prosperous and the People Settle down to “Seeing the World with an Open Eye” Lin Zexu was the first person in modern China who “opened his eyes to the world”, while Wei Yuan was the first person who proposed to “learn advanced Western Technology.” Both of them are closely related in fact and logically. Wei Yuan’s “learning advanced Western Technology” is the continuation and logical extension of Lin Zexu’s “opening eyes to the world”. Generally speaking, Lin Zexu, Wei Yuan and others are the main representatives of Dao Guang’s studies on the public affairs of the government in the Qing Dynasty. Politically, he firmly believes in the traditional political ideal of Confucianism, which has difference between seniors and juniors, gentle and simple, between the barbarians, Yi, and the Chinese, Xia. He esteems the three cardinal guides and the five constant virtues of monarchs and bureaucrats, 126

Hong Liangji’s Collected Works, “On the Governance of the Country”.

590

10 Criticism and Statecraft: Extreme Heights, and the Wane …

fathers and son and adheres to the people-oriented thought of the Confucian tradition of emphasizing the people and emphasizing human being, believing in the decisive power of the people’s hearts. Their studies on the public affairs of the government is the extension and externalization of Confucian sageliness within cultivation, whose purpose is to maintain the political ideal and order of Confucian tradition. Lin Zexu and Wei Yuan, who were deeply influenced by Confucianism studies on the public affairs of the government, inadvertently acted as the starting point for the transformation of traditional Confucianism studies on the public affairs of the government into modern ideas. However, in terms of the internal logic of historical development, Lin Zexu’s and Wei Yuan’s studies on the public affairs of the government serve as the joggle joint point from tradition to modern times and have their inherent inevitability. This inevitability is not rooted in the germination or inner source of modern political consciousness in Chinese traditional ideology, but in the openness of Confucianism embodied in the studies on the public affairs of the government, and its content of communication and cohesion with the new Western ideas. Although they can communicate and link up, Lin Zexu, Wei Yuan and so on are only a starting point after all. Western modern politics and their concepts cannot substantially influence Lin Zexu and Wei Yuan’s thinking. The traditional people-oriented concept has not changed slightly. We can only say that Lin Zexu is trying to know himself and know the enemy, hoping to “utilize the internal contradictions among the foreign nationalities to make them conflict with each other and weaken their strength.” Wei Yuan’s “advanced Western Technology” of “learning advanced Western Technology” is mainly embodied in the gunboats. However, the introduction of modern western politics is still vague and contains many false rumors. With the prominence of the Opium problem, Daoguang’s studies on the public affairs of the government gradually focused on how to solve the Opium problem. How to solve the socio-economic and political problems brought about by the increasingly serious opium import, the court ministers were basically divided into two groups. The first group, mainly represented by Mu Changa, Qishan and Xu Naiji etc., who put forward the theory of relaxation of prohibition, advocating that opium is harmless and that the population of China will not be reduced because of it. Even banning on opiumsmoking and the opium trade can only be carried out within the scope of “civil and military officials, scholars and soldiers.” Civil consumption “cannot be investigated” and promoted the legalization of the Opium trade. “Western businessmen are allowed to pay taxes on opium according to its medicinal materials, after entering the Chinese market, they are allowed to barter trade and not to use money to buy opium” in order to put forward the idea of “relaxing the ban on opium poppy cultivation by the people of the Mainland.” In a word, “eliminating the leakage of money and making the country rich” basically attributes the opium problem to a financial problem.127 Another group, mainly represented by Zhu Sin, Xu Qiu, Huang Juezi, and Lin Zexu, put forward the theory of strict prohibition, advocating strict banning on opium-smoking and the opium trade. 127 Chen Xulu. (1983). 80 Years of Modern China. Shanghai: Shanghai People’s Publishing House, p. 27.

3 Political Criticism and Statecraft Thought …

591

We must strictly formulate penalty regulations, so that the traitors who sell opium will be brought to the attention of both buyers and sellers, purchasing kilns for transportation of opium, ships escorting opium, soldiers who accept bribes to connive in the Opium trade, we should investigate and seize them carefully, and punish them severely, thus eliminating opium in the mainland.128

If not strictly prohibited, then “after decades, China will have hardly any troops to resist foreign enemies and no money to pay for them.”129 The overflow of opium has caused serious consequences such as “poverty of the people”, “weak combat effectiveness of the army”, and “exhaustion of financial funds”, so it must be strictly prohibited. From both sides’ point of view, the theory of banning opium simply boils down to financial problems. Thus, he advocated relaxing the ban on opium production in the mainland to resist foreign opium from opium traffickers in Britain, America, and other countries. In a sense, it embodies a self-sufficiency mentality, thus isolating China from the colonial forces coming from the East and consolidating the situation of China’s isolation from the rest of the world. Not only is it not conducive to the transformation from Chinese tradition to modern times, but it also denies the necessity of dealing directly with the West and fundamentally abolishes the possibility of opening eyes to the world. The doctrine of strict prohibition typically embodies the characteristics of Daoguang’s studies on the public affairs of the government. On the one hand, the prohibitors are more realistic than the relaxation of prohibitions in seeing the various hazards of opium importation. In order to eliminate the harm of opium fundamentally, they put forward a feasible anti-smoking plan to deal with the harm of opium by means of strict investigation and severe punishment. The prohibitions did not evade the problems and difficulties and were prepared to deal directly with the Western colonists coming from the east. On the other hand, the attitude toward opium is more people-oriented, which embodies the Confucian concept of emphasizing human being and people. Starting from the point of concern for people’s health, they puts forward that strictly prohibiting opium trafficking and smoking is undoubtedly more concerned about people’s misfortunes and fortunes than the relaxation prohibitors, which indirectly reflects the traditional people-oriented value of the state’s public utensils for the people. Studies on the public affairs of the government are increasingly focused on how to deal with the problem of opium importation. It has actually received influence from the Western world and has begun to deal with issues related to the impact of the West on China. Under the guidance of the spirit of seeking truth from facts and people-oriented value, the traditional studies on the public affairs of the government is increasingly being guided to the topic of “opening eyes to the world.” The Daoguang Dynasty’s studies on the public affairs of the government is not yet world-conscious, or it is clear that in the middle of the Qing Dynasty. The “studies on the public affairs of the government” did not naturally “open eyes to the world.” There was also a change in the issue of trafficking between the two. Lin Zexu was 128

Ibid. p. 28. Lin Zhexu, At Present, Money is not Important, and Opium Should Be Banned to Prevent Future Problems, Lin Zexu Ji.

129

592

10 Criticism and Statecraft: Extreme Heights, and the Wane …

the first person in modern China to “open eyes to the world.” He guided “studies on the public affairs of the government” to “opening eyes to the world”. Before Lin Zexu’s guidance, the traditional “studies on the public affairs of the government” was not only restricted by “cutting off one’s country from the outside world” but also restricted by the Confucian culture to cultivate and consolidate the concept of Heaven. When Lin Zexu first arrived in Guangzhou, he did not understand the modern world of the West as the general scholar-bureaucrats did at that time. As a rule, he treated the West with an unequal attitude and adhered to the traditional tributary trade system. He not only regards bilateral trade as the emperor’s reward to the West. “Our emperor treats you equally and allows you to trade, then you can make profits. If you close the port, what benefits can your countries get.” Not only that, but this also would be to allow China’s tea, rheum officinale, and other exports as a concern for the people of Western countries, because “if foreigners don’t get this, they will not be able to live.” Therefore, “you are allowed to export tea medicinal materials every year, and we are not stingy at all. Is there any greater grace than that?” Western businessmen are required to “be grateful and respectful of the law” and warn them “to make profits for themselves and not to infringe on the interests of others.” Lin Zexu reiterated the system of Imperial Court of Heaven in his To Issue a Draft to the King of England and regarded Sino-British trade as a kind of kindness of the emperor and Imperial Court of Heaven. He began to proclaim in high-profile prose that the emperor of the Heavenly Dynasty was the emperor of all the countries in the world. “The monarch of my dynasty is the common sovereign of all the countries in the world, and treats all countries equally.”130 The emperor “seeks the interests of all the people in the world, eliminates misfortunes for the people of the world, and cherishes the principles of Heaven.” In the tone of emperor, he affirmed that the King of England was “handed down from generation to generation, respectfully obedient” and equated Britain with a vassal state under the traditional tributary trade system. Privately, I am very glad that your King is very righteous and knows how to appreciate the kindness of the Heavenly Kingdom. Therefore, the Heavenly Kingdom appeases you, a returnee from far away, and treats you with courtesy. The benefits of trade between the two countries have lasted for two hundred years. It is for this reason that your country is well-known for its prosperity and strength.131

At this time, Lin Zexu’s attitude toward Britain was similar to that of Emperor Qianlong in 1793. He even attributed Britain’s prosperity to the grace and courtesy of the Emperor of the Heavenly Dynasty, and further demanded and believed “the King of England who yielded surrender to China and devoted to China” would “certainly order the Western countries to observe the law carefully.” “Be careful to observe the “Heavenly Law.” Lin Zexu also firmly believes that Chinese goods are indispensable to the “Western countries”, while foreign goods are only “exotic 130

Lin Zexu. (1997). “Draft Instructing the Yi People in All Countries to Submit Tobacco,” in Qiu Yuanyou: Selected Verses of Lin Zexu, Deng Tingzhen, and Huang Juezi. Chengdu: Bashu Book Club, p. 34. 131 Lin Zexu, “To Issue a Draft to the King of England”, Qiu Yuanyou: Selected Verses of Lin Zexu, Deng Tingzhen, and Huang Juezi, p. 50.

3 Political Criticism and Statecraft Thought …

593

treasures for China to enjoy” and “dispensable”, so trade is because the emperor “shares interests with the people under Heaven.”132 And the prohibition of opium and the severe punishment of opium traffickers by the Heavenly Dynasty are also “to rid the world of disasters.” “The Heavenly Dynasty commands all nations and has unpredictable boundless power, but it can’t bear to go on a punitive expedition without civilizing it.” It warns the barbarians not to try the method by their own hands.133 The above insights in Lin Zexu’s official manuscripts issued in Guangzhou reflect his mainstream political consciousness and concepts, which have not changed significantly or substantially since he “opened his eyes to the world.” However, Lin Zexu is at the forefront of Sino-British negotiations. In the process of banning on opium-smoking and the opium trade, he needs to understand the attitude of the foreigners towards opium, so that he can “know himself and the other side.” “Only by constantly exploring the situation in the West and knowing his true situation can we formulate ways to control them.”134 Lin Zexu has attracted a group of talented and attentive personnel in coastal defense affairs. On the one hand, they are for the purpose of “investigating the Western situation and exploring the traitors”. On the other hand, they are focused on exploring the Western situation and knowing each other, so as to “defeat the west”. He asked for interpreter, comprador and pilot etc., with Westerners to keep them informed. In addition, Lin Zexu also paid great attention to collecting and translating foreign books and newspapers, compiled Hua Shi Yi Yan, Si zhou Zhi and National Laws to understand the history and geography of Western countries and the views of Westerners on China. Lin Zexu’s quest for Western knowledge has two main aspects: Firstly, the geographical history, current affairs of western countries and the views of Western society on China are the main contents Lin Zexu wants to know. Lin Zexu’s understanding of the history and geography of the West, that is current affairs, etc. is not out of curiosity, nor out of the basic judgment of the advanced West, but out of knowing one another in the process of banning on opium-smoking and the opium trade. He tried his best to translate authoritative materials reflecting the new situation of Western society. Sizhou Zhi, translated and compiled by him, was translated from Murray’s Encyclopaedia of Geography published in London in 1836. The Macao Monthly Newspaper was translated from the Macao Press Release, and the Hua Shi Yi Yan Chinese Language was excerpted from the Chinese published in London in 1836. These are the first books that systematically introduced the knowledge of geography, history, and current affairs of western countries in modern China. Second, Western science and technology, especially military technology, is another important content Lin Zexu wants to understand. He not only compiled books on the targeting and launching techniques of European artillery, actively collected patterns of various Western warships, studied them, actively introduced advanced Western ships and artillery, and imitated them, but also trained the army to learn how to use them. Lin Zexu’s practical and realistic style of study in making the Society prosperous and 132

Ibid. Ibid, pp. 51–54. 134 Lin Zexu, “Michen’s Controlling Australia and Iraq”, Opium War, Volume 2, p. 195. 133

594

10 Criticism and Statecraft: Extreme Heights, and the Wane …

the people settle down breeds new knowledge after contacting the colonial forces of the West. This new knowledge gradually stands out as the so-called “new learning” of modern China. That is, the so-called “modern Chinese learning” produced by the metabolic process of modern Chinese society. Its emergence is not a natural extension of the traditional Chinese people-oriented without the historical impact of the Opium problem. People-oriented and studies on the public affairs of the government are just continuing as before, and there is no and no new inflection point. However, the opium problem in China is inevitable in the light of the world situation, which is determined by the stubbornness of the small-scale peasants’ natural economy and the bloody nature of colonial trade. In the process of contacting with the West, the traditional people-oriented and studies on the public affairs of the government gradually formed the modern learning with Chinese characteristics. The trend is to replace people-oriented with democracy. After the Opium War, the Chinese were forced to open their eyes to the world, although the advanced Chinese people who opened their eyes to the world at this time also had strong traditional characteristics and colorful eyes of traditional Chinese political ideology. But after all, they realized China’s shortcomings in some aspects and began to consciously recognize the West based on this understanding. The Opium War triggered Chinese people to open their eyes to the world and acquire new knowledge unheard of in traditional China. This new knowledge has not only changed the inherent footprint of Chinese history, and caused that the condition that imperialism cannot continue, but also gradually changed people’s ideas and ways of thinking, thus opening the valves for the construction of modern Chinese political consciousness. The Chinese political ideal has undergone unprecedented tremendous changes gradually, and ultimately changed the political trajectory of traditional China.

4 Some Problems in the Modern Transformation of Chinese Traditional Political Philosophy China’s modern political thinking mode and system is neither a natural continuation of traditional political thinking, nor a simple variation of traditional political thinking. It is the result of the intertwined integration of ancient and modern China and the West. The starting point is the Opium War. “In China, new things can only appear after the Opium War.”135 The so-called new thing is broadly thought to be new learning, or Chinese modern studies. “Compared with Chinese ancient studies, modern Chinese studies, in general terms, are the transformation of Chinese studies.” “This transformation, including the transformation of nature and the transformation of society, is mainly the transformation of society. Social transformation promotes the transformation of nature.” “This transformation of Chinese studies was born and formed through the struggle between the ancient and the modern, the old and the new, the small and 135

Chen Xulu, Metabolism of Modern Chinese Society. Shanghai: Shanghai People’s Publishing House, 1992 edition, p. 20.

4 Some Problems in the Modern Transformation …

595

medium-sized disputes.” “Through these controversies, some new ideas and new theories for transforming China are proposed. These new ideas and new theories are constantly being revised, enriched and perfected in the process of the metabolism of modern Chinese society, which is more suitable for China’s national conditions and the needs of social transformation.”136 Under the influence of the sudden changes in the political environment and Western modern culture “middle school changed from classical learning to new learning, which is a cultural change that adapts to the transformation of Chinese society from traditional farming civilization to modern industrial civilization. It is also an inevitable process of cultural transformation in the process of modernization in China.137 Modern Chinese studies are actually the study of transforming China since the late Qing Dynasty. The construction of modern political thinking is also germinated in modern Chinese learning—that is, new learning. From the modern transformation of political thinking, its clear starting point is the world geography of Lin Zexu, Wei Yuan, Xu Jiyu, etc. Its introduction to modern politics itself contains a special interpretation of traditional Chinese scholars. This way of interpretation is infiltrated with Confucian political ideals such as Yao, Shun, Yu, Tang, and people-oriented political values, and it also includes the enlightenment of accepting new knowledge in the face of the West. Although this interpretation is based on the interpretation of the new with the old, in his explanation, he gave birth to a new bud of making up for the old with the new. The combination of the two has gradually cast a blending thinking extension that injects new wine into a bottle with a certain amount of old wine. The systematic nature of the influence of traditional Chinese thinking has gradually changed from dominance to recession. The formal western factors in the modern new culture are inevitably influenced and infiltrated by the traditional Chinese thinking, thus forming a unique thinking mode of combining ancient and modern China with the West in the blending thinking extension. This way of thinking has also had a decisive influence on the process of modern political science entering and taking root in China. Thus, in the process of the modernization of Modern Political Science in China, a similar way of thinking has been formed, and Chinese modern political thinking mode naturally contains more traditional factors. The construction of China’s modern political thinking began from the time of the Opium War, and logically from the brief introduction of Western politics, which had obvious Chinese traditional Confucian context from the beginning. The introducers of Western politics can hardly get rid of the concept that embodies the inherent political values and ideals of Confucianism at home and abroad, when they introduce Western politics with the traditional Chinese political vocabulary concept.138 They naturally make Western politics Confucian in the process of introduction. From the introduction of Western political traditions in China, the dissemination of democratic 136

Chen Xulu. (1997). Reflective Trace (I) ( Chen Xulu’s Literature Collection Volume 2). Xuye Publishing House of East China Normal University, pp. 22–23. 137 Wang Xianming. (2001). “Reflections on Modern New Learning and the Transition of Social Civilization”, Tianjin Social Sciences, 06. 138 Wang Renbo. (2006). “The Victory of the Common People: An Examination of the Discourse of Chinese Democracy”, Chinese Law, 03.

596

10 Criticism and Statecraft: Extreme Heights, and the Wane …

ideas is a very important clue, “democracy” has changed from a purely traditional Confucian political term to a modern political concept with obvious modern significance, this process typically reflects the interpenetration of the meanings of Chinese and English in the process of the construction of Chinese modern political thinking. On the one hand, Western modern democratic concepts have gained roots in China by repeatedly interpreting Confucian classical vocabulary. On the other hand, the penetration of Confucian classical political thought into modern democratic concept has made the traditional people-oriented concept concealed in the modern concept of “democracy.” In his comparative study, Mr. Samenwu has clearly distinguished the essential difference between Modern Western Democracy and traditional Chinese people-oriented thought. Democracy is different from people-oriented one. Democracy is not only for the people, but also by the people. The people-oriented one is for the people. But as for which kind of facilities can be reached for the people, it is up to the government to decide. In fact, the traditional Chinese people-oriented system can include two basic aspects, which is of the people and for the people of modern democracy.139 It’s just the lack by the people that modern democracy must have. The concept of democracy in China’s modern political thinking certainly contains some contents of by the people of modern democracy, but it is not enough, and its main part still comes from the traditional people-oriented thought, which overlaps with the meaning of modern democracy. Many of the traditional people-oriented things have been absorbed into the concept of modern democracy in China, and have been named “democracy”. How to communicate and dock with modern democracy and realize the Chinese version of modern democracy in the docking process is a difficult problem that Chinese traditional political philosophy research has to face logically, and also an important theoretical problem that cannot be avoided in the construction of Chinese modern political consciousness. (1) Communication and connection between traditional Chinese peopleoriented thought and modern democracy China’s democratic thinking is an authentic foreign object. Traditional China has neither democratic political experience nor democratic political thinking. Generally, wise scholars of Chinese political thought, especially those who study Chinese political thought from the perspective of politics, mostly acknowledge the great influence of foreign culture on Chinese democratic political thought, but refuse to rush to conclude that democratic political thought can naturally and universally occur in all political communities of the world. It will not be concluded that modern democracy can be generated by crossing the people-oriented thought. Only when China’s modern democracy is in the torrent of world integration can it happen empirically, and the traditional people-oriented must be in this change in order to communicate and connect with modern democracy.140 139

Sa Mengwu, The History of Chinese Political Thought. Taipei: Sanmin Book Company, pp. 12–

13. 140

Chen Xulu. (1992). The Metabolism of Modern Chinese Society. Shanghai: Shanghai People’s Publishing House, pp. 1–52.

4 Some Problems in the Modern Transformation …

597

➀ World Integration and Modern Chinese Democracy Political modernization is not an unavoidable fate of human beings at a certain historical stage, but an experience. It began to form at a certain point with various conditions, and then spread all over the world with the deepening of the world integration movement. In essence, a modern society must also be a world-wide society, and its emergence and development will be world-wide. The sign that a certain social community has begun to modernize is the extent to which it has achieved globalization. Political modernization can only be the product of the world integration movement. Only when a nation is accommodated in the torrent of world integration can political modernization with national characteristics be developed.141 The integration of China into the world-integrated movement dominated by Western powers is neither voluntary nor conscious, but passive. “Western capitalism has moved east to change the history of Chinese history. Under the pressure of the muzzle, Chinese society has stepped into modern times. This road is not the result of the choice of the Chinese nation, but the result of foreign influence.”142 The original Chinese process was interrupted. The traditional people-oriented discourse gradually lost its legitimacy foundation, lost its normal influence on society and integrated functions, and modern democratic discourse has increasingly become the basic basis for political activities. From the perspective of the transition between modern Chinese society and traditional society, the logical relationship between democracy and people-oriented is not a follow-up, but an obvious turning point. That is, the most important condition for the birth of modern democracy in China is the integration of Western political civilization factors brought about by the world integration movement. In the struggle against colonial power, Chinese society has been moving forward, gradually escaping the enslavement of colonial forces through struggle, and in the process of resisting colonial power, it has been enlightened by democracy and finally realized political modernization with ethnic characteristics. After the Opium War, China’s traditional development track has been interrupted and it has begun to be included in the tide of modern world development. Therefore, China’s semimarginalization and revolution are actually special forms of the transformation from the old system to the new system in the process of China’s modernization. In the specific sense of modernization, in the second half of the nineteenth century, it was only one of the flows of great changes in China’s modern society. By the disintegration of the Qing Dynasty in the beginning of this century (referring to the twentieth century), modernization has risen extremely difficultly to become a dominant development trend among the streams; after the fifties of this century (referring to the twentieth century). It gradually rose to the mainstream of the great changes of the times, that is, the dominant trend.143

141

Zhang Shiwei. (2004). The Limit of People-oriented Thought: The New Theory of Huang Zongxi’s Political Thoughts. Beijing: China Renmin University Press, p. 2. 142 Chen Xulu. (1992). The Metabolism of Modern Chinese Society. Shanghai: Shanghai People’s Publishing House, p. 32. 143 Luo Rongqu. (1993). The New Theory of Modernization. Beijing: Peking University Press, p. 243.

598

10 Criticism and Statecraft: Extreme Heights, and the Wane …

In short, without the rush of the tide of world integration, China cannot produce modern democratic ideas. A culture-closed China can only be delayed in the old way of the traditional people-oriented, and it cannot achieve a leap from the peopleoriented to the democracy. The era conditions of people’s innovative political ideas fundamentally determine the possible scope of political concept innovation, people’s experience and knowledge of past politics and traditional political and philosophical discourses fundamentally restrict the possibility of political concept changes. Chinese tradition has neither democratic experience nor democratic conceptual resources. Not only the Confucian concept of people-oriented has always influenced the political value of thinkers, but the norms of political roles of the three cardinal guides and the five constant virtues have become highly metamorphosed. Democracy and science in China’s modern political thinking must break the cage of the three cardinal guides and the five constant virtues, and the knowledge and theoretical weapons that break the cage can only be the modern new democratic political concept that comes from the East. The knowledge and ideas of modern democratic politics only entered China in modern times and began to play a role. Therefore, all the epoch-making major changes in Chinese society from tradition to modernity only occurred after the Opium War. ➁ Anti-democratic Nature of Chinese Traditional Political Culture Traditional Chinese political culture has reached the full maturity of theory, forming a fairly stable political psychology and the most basic way of thinking. As an important part of Chinese traditional political culture, the people-oriented thought is closely related to the theory of monarchy, they share the political and cultural environment and together constitute a logical and complete political theory system. Peopleoriented are the demands of political values, rule by kings is an objective necessity from the political form, the common core of the two is the three cardinal guides and the five constant virtues as specified in the feudal society and the Way of the spirits. The three cardinal guides and the five constant virtues as specified in the feudal society is a classic version of the theory of people-oriented and rule by kings, and the Way of the spirits is the popular version of the theory of people-oriented and rule by kings. China’s ideological weapons against the West are the moral obligations, preaching, and the Way of the spirits and the superstitions. However, the widespread popularity of the moral obligations and preachings and the Way of the spirits and superstitions are doomed to the extreme hardship for modern democracy to take root in China. China tends to start the war by resolutely upholding the moral obligations and preachings, refusing equality. They also reject science and reason by the Way of the spirits and superstitions, and cannot keep pace with the times smoothly and consciously. To be practical, every step of modern China must go through the encirclement, pursuit, obstruction, and interception of the moral obligations and preachings and the Way of the spirits and superstitious. In turn, every step forward in China’s modern times has seriously damaged the moral obligations and preachings and the Way of the spirits and superstition. Every heavy blow from the moral obligations and preachings and the Way of the spirits and superstition aggravated China’s suffering at the same time. To a certain extent, the conflict between

4 Some Problems in the Modern Transformation …

599

modern democratic thoughts and traditional the moral obligations and preaching, the Way of the spirits, and superstitions includes the conflict between modern democratic thoughts and traditional people-oriented thoughts. Looking at the modern democratic thoughts in China, it is not difficult to find that Chinese traditional political culture has a conscious resistance to modern democracy as a whole, and there is a strong opposition to modern democracy. Generally speaking, prophets who consciously propagate western political culture in China are not always put in an important position by the government, understood by people, and even cursed viciously by people. “Every failure suffered by China due to foreign invasion has produced an awakening forerunner. But the farther they go, the lonelier they are among the socially meaningless groups around them and behind them.”144 At that time, …every initiative and facility with creative significance had been criticized and provoked controversy. They often struggle to come out in opposition. Some of them died in opposition. In traditional society, people who guard defense of Yixia can’t tolerate these things. In them, even if ‘Western use’ is attached to the ‘Chinese body’, the road to entry is still difficult to overcome. The new deal is almost every step of the resistance from all directions…. At that time in China, stubbornness was a social illness, and it was not enough to just attribute them to the abomination of the old bureaucrats.145

Wei Yuan’s Record of Daoguang Ocean Vessel Expedition records an official call to arms of “people of the Qing Dynasty” painfully criticize Charles Elliot (1801–1875) of “Yingyi”, which typically reflects the common consciousness of conscious three cardinal guides and the five constant virtues as specified in the feudal society among the people. You say you are without a rival with strong ships and sharp guns, why don’t you invade Guangdong during Lin Zhifu’s term of office? This time, because the fatuous minister won you over by any means, you were able to take advantage of the void. If you dare to enter the Mainland again, if our people do not gather 100,000 forces, take out straw boats, throw gravel and stones downward, rectify firearm, cut off your the head and the tail fleets, and annihilate gangster and the like, we will not be considered as the officials of the Qing Dynasty.146

The bigot bureaucrats and scholars opposed the Westernization Movement. The most basic basis for reprimanding him for “changing Yi into Xia” is also the moral obligations and preachings. The grand secretary Wo Ren was famous for Daoism at that time, he sincerely believed that the moral obligations and preachings have the invincible power. “The way to build a country is to uphold courtesy and justice rather than power, the fundamental reason is not skill but people’s heart”.147 The rulers of the 144

Chen Xulu, The Metabolism of Modern Chinese Society. Shanghai: Shanghai People’s Publishing House, 1992, p. 154. 145 Ibid, pp. 120–124. 146 Series of Modern Chinese History Materials: Opium War (IV). Shanghai: Shanghai People’s Publishing House, 1957, pp. 20–21. 147 Series of Modern Chinese History Materials: Westernization Movement (II). Shanghai: Shanghai People’s Publishing House, 1961, p. 30.

600

10 Criticism and Statecraft: Extreme Heights, and the Wane …

Qing Dynasty still fully affirmed the moral obligations and preachings in their advocacy of the New Deal. It is pointed out that, “There are invariable laws in the world, and there is no invariable policy of governing the country… Ancient unchangers are like the three cardinal guides and the five constant virtues, as clear as the sun at noonday, specific laws can be changed, it doesn’t matter even if it’s replaced like a string of piano.”148 Although the Boxer ideology is packaged with theological superstition, the moral obligations and preachings is still its most basic content. Sawahara, a Japanese, compiles Miscellaneous Records of Boxing Events. Among them are the agreements drawn up by Hengzhou Boxers during the Boxer Movement, some of which reflect the elements of the moral obligations and preachings in the Boxer ideology. All the priests are returned to their respective countries, and they are not allowed to come back, China still has the right to manage Korea Annan,… ambassadors from all countries are not allowed to enter Beijing according to the system prescribed by Qianlong. Japan must also pay tribute according to the Qianlong envoy, when all Japanese men, Westerners, and Chinese officials met at officialdom, they must kowtow.149

The acceptance of modern cultural values in Chinese society is often preconditioned by the decline of the values of the moral obligations and preachings, and the gradual modernization of cultural values in Chinese society is indeed gradually shaking and eventually expelling the monopolistic influence and authoritative position of the moral obligations and preachings in cultural values. ➂ The Promoting Role of Political Practice on Political Consciousness while Western learning spreads to the East Chen Xu Lu pointed out: There was no Athenian democracy in ancient China and no decent democracy in modern China. Modern Chinese democratic thought is not directly conceived from Huang Zongxi’s and other people’s ideas, but from the beginning of the dissemination of Western ideas and their political system. It is only after the introduction of Western democratic thought that we can trace back to the inherent democratic thought in China. Like national capital, China’s modern democratic thought came with the impact of Western capitalism.150

The deepening of the degree of colonization has intensified China’s anti-colonization consciousness, objectively put forward new theoretical needs, and also accelerated the speed of new western culture entering China. The Opium War, …engraved the first step of the ancient medieval society into the modern era under the pressure of gun muzzle… Lin Zexu, who is at the center of the whirlpool of wind and clouds, becomes the first person to look at the world with an open eye, inspired by the 148

Series of Modern Chinese History Materials: Boxer (IV). Shanghai: Shanghai People’s Publishing House, 1957, pp. 80–81. 149 Series of Modern Chinese History Materials: Boxer (I). Shanghai: Shanghai People’s Publishing House, 1957, pp. 259–260. 150 Chen Xulu. (1997). Thoughts Flashing across One’s Mind Occasionally (Chen Xulu’s Collection Volume 4), East China Normal University Press, pp. 206–210.

4 Some Problems in the Modern Transformation …

601

waves of the times… The deep pain aroused the initial consciousness of reforming only things… They represent the extension of the traditional studies on the public affairs of the government in modern times. The convergence of Chinese culture and Western culture was initially realized in this extension.151

The possible starting point of modern democratic thought in China lies in the extension of the traditional studies on the public affairs of the government in modern times. Western learning, as a part of the traditional learning of kingliness without, was first accepted. The factual starting point of China’s modern democratic thought is the practice of “Western politics” in the concession and the wide spread of Western learning in the Westernization Movement. After the Opium War, China, …fell asleep again after the silence of gunfire”, and only after the Second Opium War did Chinese society have a little more general awakening. Yi Xin, Wenxiang, Guiliang, Zeng Guofan, Li Hongzhang, etc. gradually felt a part of the other world from his opponent, acquired new knowledge which was not found in Chinese traditional historical experience, and his thoughts changed accordingly. Among the Chinese at that time, there were not many people who knew Chinese and Western affairs, in this way, there are differences and divergence between them and the traditional die-hards. This led to the earliest officials advocating Westernization in the 19th century in China.152

In the new officials advocating Westernization in the 19th century, “self-improvement in order to resist humiliation began to become conscious consciousness, which was the result of the stimulation of the Second Opium War.”153 The Westernization Movement (19th century) embodied the combination of China’s outline of the three cardinal guides and the five constant virtues as specified in the feudal society and the use of Western technology, and attempted to protect the old ethics with new tools. They only wanted to change the backward status of Chinese technology, but did not intend to make fundamental changes in social relations at all. However, the general trend of world history has forced the social relations of Chinese society to undergo tremendous changes. Chinese society realized that the limitation of the Westernization Movement’s reform method was in the Sino-Japanese War of 1894. Only after the Sino-Japanese War of 1894 did Chinese society have the requirement of reforming its social system. Only then did the knowledge system of Chinese scholars begin to systematically absorb the advanced western society and human knowledge. The defeat of the Sino-Japanese War made the Chinese people generally aware of the necessity and urgency of the reform, the die-hards also have a small number of people demanding a small amount of change. From stubborn conservatism to the reform of westernization, then to the political reform, and finally to the revolution, this is a typical track of ideological change in modern China. After the Sino-Japanese War of 1898, the trend of thought of reform, which demanded reform in Chinese society, had a great influence on the Enlightenment of 151

Chen Xulu, The Metabolism of Modern Chinese Society. Shanghai: Shanghai People’s Publishing House, 1992, pp. 56–57. 152 Ibid, p. 97. 153 Ibid, p. 106.

602

10 Criticism and Statecraft: Extreme Heights, and the Wane …

ideology, but the failure of the Reform Movement of 1898 in turn proved the enormity and stubbornness of the obstinate forces opposing reform. In modern China’s struggle with colonists, the forces of enlightenment and stubbornness are gradually accumulating and becoming more and more conscious, but only the forces of enlightenment can really bring hope to China. There is an extremely complex relationship between the enlightened and stubborn forces of Chinese society. On the one hand, their propositions are contradictory, so they grow up in each other’s struggle. The severe situation in modern China has made both enlightened and stubborn forces grow up at the same time. The Westernization Movement advocating change and the Anti-Westernization Movement stagger or go on at the same time, thus forming a unique social contradiction in modern China. On the other hand, the stubborn forces of Chinese society have the support of institutionalized forces, as long as the various institutional forces of Chinese tradition are relatively complete, the dominant or leading forces of Chinese society will always be stubborn forces. Stubbornness is not only the common attribute of most social strata in China, but also the embodiment of the inertia of traditional Chinese system. The Boxer Movement is not only the last fight for the stubborn power to save the country, but also provides a rare opportunity for the rapid development of enlightened power. The heart of Boxer Movement and the diehard scholar bureaucrat to save the nation “depended on a group of people who depend on feudalism to defeat capitalism will decide.”154 Although the obstinate forces suffered heavy losses after the Boxer Movement, they still persisted. As long as China’s small-scale production existed for one day, the obstinate forces could not completely withdraw from the historical stage. However, the enlightened forces have made great progress after the Boxer Movement, which seems to indicate that the pace of Chinese society’s new life will be accelerated. In the fifty years since the Boxer Movement, Chinese society has achieved much more brilliant achievements in modernization than in the sixty years since the former Boxer Movement. The main reason is that progressive enlightened forces gradually grasp the active control in social change. The development of advanced and enlightened forces shows the vigorous growth of political modernization consciousness in Chinese society. The source of the advanced enlightened forces is the increasingly close and organic connection between China and the world. It can be said that the advanced enlightened forces understand the close connection between China and the world through the stimulation of a series of events, and enhance their political modernization consciousness from the thinking of the close connection between China and the world, it has expanded its own group and strengthened its influence and dominance over Chinese society. ➃ The Enlightenment of Western Experience on China’s Modern Democratic Thought China’s modern society is in an awkward antinomy, cultural self-confidence is accompanied by the arrogance and closure of China, learning from the West is mostly caused by humiliation, which leads to people’s tenacious resistance to learning from 154

Ibid, p. 200.

4 Some Problems in the Modern Transformation …

603

the West. But the tenacious resistance has not closed up the study of Western society. Advanced political practice is always tortuous and inevitably has its positive impact. The positive political changes in modern Chinese society can only be rooted in the introduction and popularization of advanced social and political practice in China. All contacts and positive views on the actions, opportunities, and results of advanced political practice are bound to be positive. After the signing of unequal treaties such as the Nanjing Treaty and the Beijing Treaty, a large number of Westerners came to China. Businessmen and missionaries dominate. They successively compiled and wrote many books on history, geography and politics, translated some western political theories into China, and often published some comments and suggestions on current affairs and politics in China reflecting democratic ideas.155 Western missionaries also actively promoted modern democratic politics through activities among officials and offered advice for political reform. Concession is a fully autonomous institution set up by Western powers at China’s important trading ports. It takes the western modern local political system as the basic model, establishes political institutions according to the principle of decentralization and checks and balances, guarantees the citizens of the powers to enjoy the Western full democratic rights, and embodies the modern democratic thought.156 Concession is a small modern society forcibly joined by Western powers in ancient China. It not only provides the earliest habitat for new things to settle down in China, but also provides the initial political guarantee for Chinese people to begin to enjoy modern universal human rights.157 New things in Western society began to spread from the concession to the surrounding areas. Many democratic thinkers in modern China obtained the initial important ideological inspiration from the concession, and the real and complete modernization of Chinese society also began in the concession. Modern newspaper offices and newspapers with the function of political and social criticism and public opinion supervision first appeared in Chinese society, and many other cultural, educational, and publishing institutions in modern sense also appeared in the concession.158 Concessions, especially the public concessions are player’s rights. As long as the advanced things or activities are in the concessions, the feudal Chinese regime can only or allow someone to continue, or request the concession authorities to intervene through diplomatic channels, or request the concession authorities to extradite. However, when extraditing the parties, the concession authorities cannot ignore the just demands of capitalist foreigners. That is, they cannot ignore the attitude of many non-Chinese people in the concession. If the concession administration colludes with the feudal Chinese government to oppress the progressive Chinese, then foreign citizens who sympathize with the progressive Chinese and demand the 155

Xiong Yuezhi. (1986). History of Modern Chinese Democratic Thought. Shanghai: Shanghai People’s Publishing House, pp. 105–114. 156 Xiong Yuezhi. (2004). Zhou Qiang: Shanghai Studies in the World. Shanghai: Shanghai Ancient Books Publishing House, pp. 286–293. 157 Kobayashi Masako. (2003). Publicity and State of Modern Shanghai, (tr. Ge Tao). Shanghai: Shanghai Ancient Books Publishing House, pp. 188–206. 158 Xiong Yuezhi. (1986). History of Modern Chinese Democratic Thought. Shanghai: Shanghai People’s Publishing House, p. 106.

604

10 Criticism and Statecraft: Extreme Heights, and the Wane …

realization and protection of universal human rights will exert political pressure on the concession administration. Although the Chinese people could not enjoy the same rights and political protection as foreign citizens in the concession, the Qing government could not break into the concession at will to arrest the advanced Chinese directly. Once the Qing government’s arrest behavior had to be discussed with the concession authorities, the advanced Chinese people had gained a layer of political protection. Especially when the concession refused to extradite, the Qing government could only communicate with the concession authorities for trial, the way of trial had infiltrated the concept of capitalist judicial power. Even if the advanced Chinese were sentenced, they could only be executed in the concession prison, thus reducing the degree of persecution. The political model of the concession spread the democratic political culture of western capitalism in a practical way, exerted extensive ideological influence on the Chinese people, and accelerated the disintegration and collapse of the feudal political culture. On the one hand, the ideas of democracy and civil rights have been rapidly disseminated, and many Chinese people have surpassed the traditional people-oriented ideas, and have bred democratic ideas, thus strengthening people’s anti-feudal will. On the other hand, the idea of separation of powers and checks and balances has been widely recognized by the Chinese people, which makes the Chinese society generally have the desire to establish a political state with the separation of three powers of modern capitalism. China’s modernization and political modernization is not an endogenous natural phenomenon, but the result of the influence of Western capitalist politics, economy, and culture. The influence of western capitalism on China has the dual nature of deconstruction and reconstruction. On the one hand, the advanced West has disintegrated the backward East and made the Eastern society suffer great pain in the process of deconstruction. On the other hand, the old East has reconstructed itself under the influence of the advanced West in order to gain new life. But whether it is deconstruction or reconstruction, it can only be deepened gradually with the increasing influence of the advanced West on the East. The influence of the advanced West on the backward East is, in the final analysis, the influence of the advanced social practice, with the deep understanding of the advanced social practice of the West by the advanced Chinese. The pace of China from backward to advanced is also gradually accelerating. When China’s advanced elements have not yet experienced the advancement of the West, or have not yet realized the advancement of the West, or are unwilling to acknowledge the advancement of the West, when the advanced West is still widely misunderstood in Chinese society, or when it is difficult to promote the advancement of the West smoothly. China’s modernization and political modernization can only proceed at a slow pace. Even for a long time, it was at a standstill stage. (2) Traditional Factors in Chinese Modern Political Thinking China’s modern political thinking mode and system is neither a natural continuation of traditional political thinking, nor a simple variation of traditional political thinking Rather, it is the result of the intertwined integration of ancient and modern China and the West. The starting point is the Opium War. “In China, new things can only

4 Some Problems in the Modern Transformation …

605

appear after the Opium War.”159 The so-called new thing is broadly thought to be new learning, or Chinese modern studies. Compared with ancient Chinese learning, modern Chinese learning, in a word, is the transformation of Chinese learning. “The transformation of Chinese learning is generated and formed through the disputes between ancient and modern, between the old and the new, and between the small and medium-sized.”160 It is precisely through these arguments that some new ideas and theories are put forward to reform China. These new ideas and theories are constantly revised, enriched, and improved in the process of metabolism of modern Chinese society, which are more suitable for China’s national conditions and the needs of social transformation. Under the sudden change of political environment and the influence of modern western culture, “middle school changed from old learning to new learning” is a cultural change adapting to the transformation of Chinese society “from a traditional farming civilization to a modern industrial civilization, and also an inevitable process of cultural transformation in the process of Chinese modernization.”161 Modern Chinese studies are actually the study of the transformation of China since the late Qing Dynasty. The construction of modern political thinking is also germinated in modern Chinese learning. That is, new learning. From the modern transformation of political thinking, its clear starting point is the world geography of Lin Zexu, Wei Yuan, Xu Jiyu, etc. Its introduction to modern politics itself contains a special interpretation of traditional Chinese scholars. This way of interpretation is infiltrated with Confucian political ideals such as Yao, Shun, Yu, Tang, and people-oriented political values. It also includes the enlightenment of accepting new knowledge in the face of the West. Although this interpretation is based on the interpretation of the new with the old, in this explanation, there is a new bud of making up for the old with the new. The combination of the two has gradually cast a blending thinking extension that injects new wine into a bottle with a certain amount of old wine. The systematic nature of the influence of traditional Chinese thinking has gradually changed from dominance to recessiveness. The formal Western factors in the modern new culture are inevitably influenced and infiltrated by the traditional Chinese thinking, thus forming a unique thinking mode of combining ancient and modern China with the West in the blending thinking extension. This way of thinking has also had a decisive influence on the process of modern political science entering and taking root in China. Thus, in the process of the modernization of Modern Political Science in China, a similar way of thinking has been formed, and Chinese modern political thinking mode naturally contains more traditional factors.

159

Chen Xulu. (1992). Metabolism of Modern Chinese Society. Shanghai: Shanghai People’s Publishing House, p. 20. 160 Chen Xulu. (1997). Reflective Trace (I) (Chen Xulu’s Literature Collection Volume 2). Xuye Publishing House of East China Normal University, pp. 22–23. 161 Wang Xianming. (2001). “Reflections on Modern New Learning and the Transition of Social Civilization”, Tianjin Social Sciences, 06.

606

10 Criticism and Statecraft: Extreme Heights, and the Wane …

➀ Prerequisites and Ways of Constructing Modern Chinese Political Thinking From Pre-Qin to Ming and Qing Dynasties, the development trend of Chinese traditional political thinking cannot be said to be in the formation, improvement, and consolidation of certain political thinking, which did not change fundamentally until the Opium War. Although there had been intense political criticism and reconstruction during the Ming and Qing Dynasties, there was no novelty in its ideological content. The voice of criticizing monarchy politics already exists in the Book of Songs, and even Wang Chong’s “Oppose the Superstition of Prophecy” in the early Eastern Han Dynasty suggested to “be beyond class etiquette, and let nature go.” In the Wei and Jin Dynasties, the critique of monarchy politics has the profound meaning of political philosophy, but its results have all promoted the perfection of monarchy political theory. To some extent, Neo-Confucianism benefited from the deep criticism of Confucianism in Han Dynasty by Buddhism and Daoism in Wei, Jin, Southern, Sui, and Tang Dynasties. The political critique during the Ming and Qing Dynasties occurred under the sudden change in current affairs and the controversy within Confucianism in the principles, and it was specifically targeted. This can be clearly seen in the content of Mingyi Waiting to Visit Records. Many criticisms are directed at the politics peculiar to the Ming Dynasty, such as the abolition of the prime minister against Taizu of the Ming Dynasty. The school obviously has the shadow of Donglin Clique’s (a political organization mainly composed of scholar-officials in the late Ming Dynasty, named after the Donglin Academy where they meet) activities in the late Ming Dynasty. Fanzhen aimed at emperors of Ming Dynasty who supervised the army with eunuchs. The criticism of Jiandu is directed at the migration of Ming Chengzu to the capital. Such criticisms and so on are very specific criticisms and suggestions for the ills of the Ming Dynasty. In view of the public opinion environment in which Confucianism’s internal debate on the principle of righteousness arose, political criticism is based on the imperfection of Confucianism in the Song and Ming Dynasties.162 The purpose of the debate is to improve the principles of Confucianism, not to overthrow the principles of Confucianism. Looking at the specific circumstances in which it happened in the Ming and Qing dynasties, political criticism focused on many drawbacks of Ming Dynasty politics, aiming to establish a Confucian principle of monarchy, rather than to replace or suppress monarchy with civil rights. Therefore, the main role of political critique in the Ming and Qing Dynasties is nothing more than two: One is that in the process of inheriting the Ming Dynasty from the Qing Dynasty, the public opinion effect guided the development and growth of the Qing Dynasty and made it more perfect than the Ming Dynasty. Secondly. It transformed the study style of discussing principles since the Song and Ming Dynasties, and made the style of study more solid. It opened up the style of study of emphasizing practice, practical merit and practical virtue in the Qing Dynasty. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the discussion about the principles of political ideologies and the criticism of monarchy politics gradually went from climax to subsidence in the Kangxi Dynasty. The fundamental reason lies 162

See Huang Zongxi. (1985). Ming Yi Dai Fang Lu. Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company.

4 Some Problems in the Modern Transformation …

607

in the fact that the perfection of the Qing Dynasty and Kangxi’s far clearer Confucian monarch attributes than the emperors of the Ming Dynasty. Not only did the criticism of monarchy lose its realistic pertinence, but it also aroused the deep recognition of Ming’s elders in political ideas. Huang Zongxi praised the Kangxi Dynasty as a “holy pilgrimage”, and diluted the critical consciousness of the descendants and the Qing Dynasty. The beliefs that descendants can stick to are in addition to the traditional ethics and the stubborn Yixia consciousness. There is nothing special to inspire and spur oneself. After Kangxi Dynasty, the academic research of Qing Dynasty entered textology of Qian and Jia Dynasty. The origin of the textology of Qian and Jia Dynasty was Gu Yanwu’s viewpoint that “School of Laws is study of Confucian classics”, while the so-called “study of Confucian classics” started from the textual research of words, sentences, sounds, etc.163 Therefore, the textology of Qian and Jia Dynasty is not only a negative act of avoiding literary inquisition, but actually Confucian scholar’s study of Confucian classics and history. This theoretical appeal is based on the classics of history, and the method is nothing more than to remove the false and preserve the true, and restore the original truth of the sages’ books. The study of history and geography of the textology of Qian and Jia Dynasties is an important aspect of traditional historiography. The compilation of History of the Ming Dynasty in the Qing Dynasty also paid considerable attention to the textology of history and geography. The historical and geographic textology in the period of Qian and Jia Dynasty is not only the continuation of Ming Shi, but also related to scholar-bureaucrats’ attention to the frontier situation, which embodies the tradition of the traditional scholar-bureaucrats to manage public affairs by history. In this case, the traditional Chinese study of Confucian classics and history gradually improved in the mid-Qing Dynasty. In the process of consolidation and popularization of the principles beliefs, it also gave birth to a style of study that pays close attention to the state affairs and the people’s misery. From the outside, the world situation has undergone tremendous changes, and the cultural exchanges between China and the West have been different from the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. In the two hundred years from 1640 to 1840, Western society has entered such a historical period. The conquest of natural forces, the adoption of machinery, the application of chemistry in industry and agriculture, the movement of ships, the passage of railways, the use of telegraphs, the opening of the entire continent, the navigation of rivers—it’s like magic calling out a lot of people from below. In the past century, can you expect such productivity to lurk in social labor?164

Compared with the rapid changes in Western society: China at the same time is still in the same situation: Thousands of small-scale peasants, who have callous hands and feet, toss around gully are bearing the flourishing age of Antiquity 163

Huang Zongxi. (2005). “Relevant Views on the Neo-Confucianism Works Should not be included after the Relocation of the History Museum”, Complete Works of Huanglizhou (Volume 10). Hangzhou: Zhejiang Ancient Books Publishing House, p. 223. 164 Marx and Engels: Selected Works (Vol. 1). (1972). Beijing People’s Publishing House, p. 256.

608

10 Criticism and Statecraft: Extreme Heights, and the Wane …

from generation to generation, talking about the textology of famous objects or the principles. The old world is slowly decaying due to excessive maturity.

Politically speaking, the West has gradually formed a modern political system since 1640. Britain, the United States, France, and Germany have established or Republic or constitutional democracy successively. Although the degree and form of democracy are different, democracy and human rights have become important criteria to measure political civilization. The West has placed itself more and more in the position of an advanced person who has created universal principles or values, while the Chinese political culture, which was envied in the Enlightenment period, has been increasingly sent to the ranks of barbarians with the weakening of European enlightened autocracy, and has gradually demanded that they be regarded as universal equality in the political, economic and cultural exchanges between China and the West, and to fight the inequality between Chinese tradition and minority nationalities by equality. The diplomatic efforts of Western countries have been repeated many times. It seems that the aim is not achieved and the pledge to achieve equality in relations between countries is unremitting. However, the attitude of the Chinese Imperial court is not ambiguous, nor making an exception in its favour. Gradually, the colonial forces of the West had to return to the starting point of the war to win the war and gain equal political treatment with each other. Equality is also one of the main contents of the Sino-British Treaty of Nanjing. The political civilization of the Western powers provides an important condition for the rapid development of social economy, while the social and economic strength is reflected in politics, which requires politics to open up a global market for social economy. As a result, an active position of expansion has been taken in international politics. This poses a considerable challenge to China’s position in the Western-led international order. Since the sixteenth century, a new international political and economic force has gradually extended into the border areas of South and East Asia. However, China has kept its unchanged response to the great changes in the world and to keep the forces coming from the west out of the door of South China. It was only in the mid-nineteenth century that the Western Industrial Revolution finally pushed its world conquest movement into a new cycle with an irresistible force. When the crisis of dynasty rule began to emerge in China, internal and external causes have reached a convergence point, and gradually influenced the turning of China’s historical development.165

The advanced social economy in the West has pushed the political storm into China, and China’s social economy and politics have encountered a “great change not seen in 3,000 years”, which is the necessary external prerequisite for China’s modern political thinking mode to begin to breed. The construction of China’s modern political thinking mode is quite unique in terms of its way of thinking. Traditional and modern concepts have long been in harmony, fiercely confronting each other, but immersing each other and penetrating each other. While the modern political mode of thinking is becoming more and more 165

Luo Rongqu, The New Theory of Modernization. Beijing: Peking University Press, 1993, pp. 293–240.

4 Some Problems in the Modern Transformation …

609

sound in appearance, some traditional things are quietly retained. On the one hand, the contradiction between tradition and modernity is very fierce. The traditional study of Confucian classics firmly rejects the value of modern democracy. Moreover, some people have always stood in the extreme opposition to the value of modern democracy and resolutely defended the integrity of tradition. Every innovative initiative and facility has attracted criticism and stirred up controversy. They often struggle to come out in opposition. Some of them died in opposition. In traditional society, people who guard defense of Yixia can’t tolerate these things. In them, even if ‘Western use’ is attached to the ‘Chinese body’, the road to entry is still difficult to overcome. The new deal is almost every step of the resistance from all directions… At that time in China, stubbornness was a social illness, and it was not enough to just attribute them to the abomination of the old bureaucrats.166

On the other hand, since the Qianlong and Jiaqing dynasties, the Jing Shi style of study has changed from the traditional Confucian standpoint to some contents of modern democratic values. Thus, some important contents of modern political thinking are affirmed and accepted in part. Of course, the acceptance of some important contents of modern political thinking does not hinder its complete Confucian values. Lin Zexu and other’s study style of making the society prosperous and the people settle down is expressed in his “opening eyes to the world” in the period of Opium War, while Wei Yuan’s “learning advanced Western Technology” is the conclusion of “opening eyes to the world.” Although Lin Zexu and Wei Yuan and others have become the advanced people who have opened up the modern political thinking of China, they often do not express any doubt about the Confucian ethical code and the three cardinal guides and the five constant virtues as specified in the feudal society. Almost all the important steps in the construction of modern political thinking in China and the West have taken place under the circumstances of great setbacks in tradition. Every step of the development of modern political thinking in China has experienced the obstruction and interception of the moral obligations and preachings and the way of the spirits and superstition, and its progress means that the moral obligations and preachings and the way of the spirits and superstition have been seriously damaged. Among the moralists of the moral obligations and preachings, there are Wo Ren and others who firmly guards the integrity and authority of the moral obligations and preachings. Others, such as Zhang Zhidong, under the principle of adhering to the basic principles of the moral obligations and preachings, advocated learning from the Westernization Reformists of Western politics. Modern political mode of thinking is conceived in the “western use” advocated by the Westernization School. Whether “the study of Chinese ethical history should be taken as the origin” needs “the application of Western science and technology” has been the focus of heated debate between the Westernization School and the die-hards. Modern political mode of thinking has gradually expanded its capacity for “the application of Western science and technology”, and even has obvious manifestations in the political system. However, with the change of domestic and international situation, 166

Chen Xulu, The Metabolism of Modern Chinese Society. Shanghai: Shanghai People’s Publishing House, 1992, pp. 120–124.

610

10 Criticism and Statecraft: Extreme Heights, and the Wane …

the modern political thinking mode has gradually entered the interior of “the study of Chinese ethical history should be taken as the origin.”167 One of the results is to change the “the study of Chinese ethical history” as the “origin”. New learning in late Qing Dynasty gradually replaced the traditional classical learning, and established the modern political thinking mode in appearance. Its symbol is the establishment of the Democratic republic. Nevertheless, there were still two special phenomena in the early years of the Republic of China. “One is that the new comes a long time and the old comes back, even if repeated. One is that the old is not abandoned after the new has come for a long time—that is, miscellaneous.” The traditional old learning is not far away, but still coexists with the new learning, and always exerts influence on the new learning. It drifts away from the new learning, competes for the public’s approval, or mixes, immerses and infiltrates into the modern political thinking mode. Traditional political thinking is stepping backward under the pressure of modern political thinking, while modern political thinking takes the opportunity to seize the theoretical space left by the retreat of traditional political thinking. The contest between the two results in the lack of selectivity and systematicity in the construction of modern political thinking. The confrontation between the two provides the convenience for the interaction and infiltration between tradition and modernity, and eventually forms a large number of modern political thinking modes which conceal and bury traditional political thinking factors. ➁ People-oriented factors in China’s modern political thinking The construction of China’s modern political thinking in terms of time, began with Lin Zexu’s “open your eye to the world” during the Opium War, and logically from the brief introduction of Western politics, which had obvious Chinese traditional Confucian context from the beginning. The introducers of Western politics can hardly get rid of the concept that embodies the inherent political values and ideals of Confucianism at home and abroad. When they introduce Western politics with the traditional Chinese political vocabulary concept, they naturally make Western politics Confucian in the process of introduction.168 From the introduction of Western political traditions in China, the dissemination of democratic ideas is a very important clue. “Democracy” has changed from a purely traditional Confucian political term to a modern political concept with obvious modern significance. This process typically reflects the interpenetration of the meanings of Chinese and English in the process of the construction of Chinese modern political thinking. On the one hand, Western modern democratic concepts have gained roots in China by repeatedly interpreting Confucian classical vocabulary. On the other hand, the penetration of Confucian classical political thought into modern democratic concept has made the traditional people-oriented concept concealed in the modern concept of “democracy”. Although the meaning of the so-called “democracy” in Chinese society is getting closer and 167

Lu Xun. (1979). “Appendix to A Brief History of Chinese Novels”, Historical Change of Chinese Novels. Beijing: People’s Literature Publishing House, p. 414. 168 Wang Renbo. (2006). “The Victory of the Common People: An Examination of the Discourse of Chinese Democracy”, Chinese Law, 03.

4 Some Problems in the Modern Transformation …

611

closer to that of the “Democracy” in the West, they have not always corresponded to each other in terms of specific allegations, and there are always important object differences. Let alone say that, ‘democracy’ has three functions in modern times. It is used to translate not only Democracy, which we are familiar with today, but also the so-called Republic and President, which is an important part of democracy and Republican system. Moreover, using ‘democracy’ to translate Republic and President is much earlier and more frequent than using it to translate Democracy.169

Even in the post-May 4th period, “democracy” has become a dazzling banner of modern Chinese politics, but it can still satisfy multiple interpretations of people with different political needs. Many of these explanations contain the people-oriented elements and are a mixture of traditional people-oriented and Western Democracy.170 China’s modern political thinking structure is neither the same as that of Britain, U.S., Germany, and Japan. The core concept is not as deep-rooted as that of France, and the whole process is always obviously affected by external shocks. On the one hand, external shocks have changed the situation, making it even more urgent to further understand and absorb the Western concept of modern democracy. On the other hand, the Western world has already faced the century transition of the trend of thought, and the construction of modern political thinking in China always has to re-select the Western concept system. In the period of the May Fourth New Culture Movement, the two modern political trends of the West met in China, and their views on the core concepts such as democracy were quite different. Despite this, democracy can still be a common modern political concept acceptable to the people of the country, and no matter how the political situation changes, democracy is always a fascinating word in modern China. But this does not mean that we really understand democracy, but that democracy that is popular among us also contains many people-oriented content. In many cases, people-oriented ideas are mistaken for democracy. This kind of misunderstanding is not uncommon among ordinary humanities and social science workers. Non-professional political scholars misunderstand more than the public, even among some professional political scholars. This kind of misunderstanding is not very rare, even in popular books or influential papers. Although researchers have pointed out that China’s democratic thought is a genuine incoming objects, traditional China has neither democratic political experience nor democratic political thought. However, “China has not had a democratic system since the Yin and Shang Dynasties, but still has democratic ideas in academic and ideological history.”171 It is very popular. Among the researchers of Chinese political thought, many scholars’ views are based on the notion of democracy 169

Tan Huo Sheng. (2004). “The Regeneration of ‘Democracy’ in Modern China”, The Study of Qing History, 05. 170 Wang Renbo. (2006). “The Victory of the Common People: An Examination of the Discourse of Chinese Democracy”, Chinese Law, 03. 171 Zhang Dainian. (1987). “Huang Lizhou and the Ancient Chinese Democratic Thought”, in Huang Zongxi’s Theory: Collection of essays of the International Huang Zongxi Symposium, (Ed. Wu Guang), Hangzhou: Zhejiang Ancient Books Publishing House, p. 1.

612

10 Criticism and Statecraft: Extreme Heights, and the Wane …

in name and people-oriented in reality. It is under the condition that the democratic concept also contains too strong people-oriented consciousness that “from peopleoriented to democracy” can be logically justified.172 Only in this way can we regard the peak of the development of people-oriented thought as the beginning of the transition from people-oriented to democracy. Through these popular views, we can clearly clear out the people-oriented consciousness that still remains in modern political thinking. Generally speaking, modern democracy has gradually settled down in the same or connecting parts part as the traditional people-oriented concept, and it was named “democracy.” The difference between modern democracy and traditional people-oriented concept is not fully reflected in the concept of democracy. Samenwu studied Chinese and Western political thoughts, and he clearly distinguished the differences between Western Modern Democracy and traditional Chinese peopleoriented. Democracy is different from people-oriented one. Democracy is not only for the people, but also by the people. People-oriented thought is for the people, as for which kind of facilities can be reached for the people. It is up to the government to decide. In fact, the traditional Chinese people-oriented system can include two basic aspects, which is of the people and for the people of modern democracy. It’s just the lack by the people that modern democracy must have.173 The concept of democracy in China’s modern political thinking certainly contains some contents of by the people of modern democracy, but it is not enough, and its main part still comes from the traditional people-oriented which overlaps with the meaning of modern democracy. Many of the traditional people-oriented things have been absorbed into the concept of modern democracy in China, and have been named “democracy”. However, in view of the fact that the proportion of the connotation of by the people is far lower than that of “of the people” and “for the people”. The so-called “democracy” is not fundamentally different from the traditional people-oriented concept. That is, the relationship between them is nominally different. They’re actually the same. It systematically cleared up the concealed traditional people-oriented concept in the modern political thinking mode. It also analyses how to change the process of conceptual connotation of a modern democratic discourse without radical change in its meaning. It is not only an interesting topic in the history of thought, but also a rather complicated and difficult problem beyond the scope of this paper. However, it is necessary to briefly introduce some major people-oriented concepts embodied in modern democratic concepts. The concept of modern democratic people’s sovereignty has become a necessary symbol of modern political thinking, but people who emphasize that their political thinking belongs to modern times cannot be denied. There are two main traditional people-oriented claims that correspond to the concept of people’s sovereignty: The first is the so-called world, and the second is to value the people, the main body of the world is either “people” or 172

Li Cunshan. (2006). “From the People-oriented to the Beginning of Democracy”, in From People-Oriented to Democracy: Collection of essays of Huang Zongxi’s International Symposium on People-Oriented Thought (Ed. Wu Guang). Hangzhou: Zhejiang Ancient Books Publishing House, pp. 112–129. 173 Sa Mengwu, “Eighty-nine years of the Republic of China” in, The History of Chinese Political Thought. Taipei: Sanmin Book Company, pp. 12–13.

4 Some Problems in the Modern Transformation …

613

“benevolence and righteousness”, which are often compatible with the world. The “world” in the traditional Chinese political concept represents a political existence that is more important than the monarch. During the Warring States Period, Shen Dao had effectively distinguished “the world” from “the Son of Heaven” in the sense of purpose and means. He said that, “In ancient times, monarchs were established and respected not for the benefit of one person. There is a saying that if there is no noble person in the world, then there is no way for Heavenly principles. Feudal ethics as propounded by the Song Confucianists seem to understand that the purpose of Heavenly principles understanding is to benefit the world.” “The establishment of the Son of Heaven is for the benefit of all the people in the world, not for the benefit of the Son of Heaven by creating the world.” Shang Yang also emphasized that the emperor mainly managed the world for the sake of the people, (Shang Jun Shu Xiuquan). During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Huang Zongxi also compared “the world” with “the monarch” and concluded that “The world is the master, the monarch is the guest.” Its viewpoint is not fundamentally different from Shen Dao, emphasizing “the Son of Heaven” is for “the world”, while opposing “the world” benefits “the Emperor” or “pursue one’s private interests”. The traditional scholarbureaucrat repeatedly repeated that “the rule of sages” is precisely to put “the world” in the position of the fundamental purpose, and regard the sage as the tool of “governing the world”. The superiority of “the world” is relative to the Emperor. Both run in a single line, and are absolutely clear. “Only one man governs the world; there’s no one under Heaven to be worshipped”. As a couple of emperors’ self-encouraged political couplets, their ideas have a long history and broad consensus. In the late Qing Dynasty, this idea was accepted and interpreted as the idea of “the people’s covenant” by “the essence of the Chinese people’s covenant”. “Govern the world by one person; do not serve one person by the people of the world”, which is from Zhang Yungu’s Da Bao Zhen of the Tang Dynasty. The original text is published in Volume 192 of Zi Zhi Tongjian, which summarizes one of the main points of Da Bao Zhen: “The sage accepts the destiny of Heaven and rescues danger, so one man runs the world, it’s not about serving someone with the world. Liu Guanghan (Liu Shi Pei)’s The Essence of the Chinese People’s Covenant greatly endorses this idea in Da Bao Zhen, and compares it with democratic human rights and majority decisions. “The principle of founding a country should be to subordinate the minority to the majority, not to subordinate the majority to the minority… Zhang Jun knows that most people are not slaves of the Emperor. The idea is to not use the world to serve one person. The world is not one person’s world.”174 Since the dissemination of the social contract in the late Qing Dynasty, the social contract has been regarded as the representative of modern democratic theory. The main idea has not touched much of “by the people”, but is to repeatedly emphasize “of the people” and “for the people”. Similar to Liu Shipei’s interpretation of the essence of the traditional Chinese people-oriented theory based on the social contract, Chen Tianhua and others also regard Huang Zongxi’s theory which “regarding the world as the sovereign and the monarch as the guest” as the Chinese version of the social contract. Mencius’ 174

Liu Shipei, “Jingyi of the Chinese People’s Treaty”, in Mr. Liu Shenshu’s Posthumous Work.

614

10 Criticism and Statecraft: Extreme Heights, and the Wane …

people-oriented theory of “releasing monarchy”, punishing the autocrat, and “robbing the people” have also been extended to the modern revolutionary theory of overthrowing the tyrant by violence. That is to say, the revolutionaries’ the social contract is mostly enriched by the traditional people-oriented thought. Although the content of by the people has had an important influence on the design of the political system, representative government system politics has been practiced in China for more than ten years. However, since Sun Yat-sen restructured the Chinese Revolutionary Party and carried out the political proposition of building the country by the Party and running the country by the Party.175 Although we still advocate the so-called civil rights politics, we refuse or fail to implement it. In fact, we have come to the position of opposing representative government system. In fact, the status of the people as the main body of governance has been overridden. During the period of political training, the regime that belonged to the people was controlled by the Kuomintang. The people did not have the ruling regime, nor could they restrict the government’s power, but only were instructed and obeyed. The democratic theory in China’s modern political thinking has gradually recognized that the people are the masters of the country, that the sovereignty of the country belongs to the people, that the main purpose of the state institutions is to serve the people, and so on. It has slowly forgotten that the people need to be the subject of governance in political life and play a decisive role in direct governance. It does not highlight the governing role of the people and its procedural influence in political life, but only emphasizes the people’s master status and the public servant nature of governing institutions serving the people. The people’s master status and the public servant nature of governing institutions are also reflected in the traditional people-oriented theory. Most contents of democratic theory in modern Chinese political thinking overlap with traditional people-oriented theory. The democratic concept in China’s modern political thinking cannot only be edified and influenced by the people-oriented thought. Thus, many people-oriented consciousness is hidden in the Democratic concept. Moreover, in the construction of the theory of democracy with Chinese characteristics, some scholars clearly advocate that democracy with Chinese characteristics still needs to be based on people-oriented value. “Although China’s modern democratic thought negates the monarchy combined with people-oriented thought, it is still based on collectivist people-oriented thought in value.”176 ➂ Scientific Consciousness in Chinese Modern Political Thinking An important difference between modern political thinking and traditional political thinking is scientific consciousness, and the difference between the two is not a problem, but the content of the two is essentially different. Although there is no such thing as a “scientific” in Chinese tradition, it is not without the expression of similar meanings, without “knowledge” to express the content of the objective world. It 175

Deng Lilan. (2003). Domain Concept and Local Political System Change. Beijing: Renmin University Press, pp. 54–62. 176 Li Cunshan. (1997). “People-Oriented and Democracy in China”, Confucius Studies, 04.

4 Some Problems in the Modern Transformation …

615

is very difficult to carry out various activities of transforming nature and itself. The “knowledge” that expresses the subjective world’s dynamic reflection of the objective world is essentially very similar to the “science” of the West. However, the difference between the two is also obvious. Western “science” emphasizes the logical framework between concepts and judgments. Its typical form is Euclidean geometry and Archimedean physics in ancient Greece. Even in modern society, as the basic form of science, it still emphasizes the mathematical and empirical sciences of formal logical reasoning, in which logical reasoning is a key factor of “science”. On the one hand, Chinese traditional “knowledge” is chaotic intuitive insight. Its typical manifestation is that various basic concepts are difficult to define accurately. The cognitive connection between concepts mainly depends on direct experience and insight, Dong Zhongshu’s “knowledge” of Heaven-man induction does not have rigorous logical reasoning. It is just the arrangement of intuitive experience by analogy. Most of the concepts and knowledge with universal appeal are chaotic descriptions or analogies of intuitive insight. On the other hand, Chinese traditional “knowledge” appeals to the consistency of experience and experience. To judge whether it is true or not by knowing whether it is consistent with experience. Legalists, Mohists, and others have a lot of discussions on this, and this kind of “knowledge” does not involve universality. Thus, as “knowledge” consistent with experience and experience is always an individual experience judgment, and does not pay attention to combing the internal logic between “knowledge”. Mozi’s idea of “class, reason, and arrangement” is not a rigorous logical reasoning between concepts, but an analogical induction and collation of intuitive experience. After the Pre-Qin and Han Dynasties, the two aspects of Chinese traditional “knowledge” gradually merged. While the analogical induction of experience was gradually absorbed by the intuitive and insightful concept construction, “knowledge” was gradually digested by “Tao” and served “virtue”. However, the “knowledge” of both China and the West emphasizes the universal necessity of what is known. When the West has undergone a series of changes since the Renaissance and the Reformation, the root of the universally inevitable attribute of human beings is attributed to human beings, and human beings have replaced God as a direct source of the universal inevitable attribute of knowledge. “Use your own reason bravely; this is the motto of enlightenment”. “The public use of human reason should always be free.”177 This is not only the basic ideological premise for the rise of civic culture since the Enlightenment era in Europe, but also the necessary “scientific” factor in modern political thinking mode. Citizens’ free use of their rationality, criticism, judgment, and choice is a basic feature of modern politics. Therefore, modern political thinking mode must contain “scientific” factors. Without the participation of “scientific” factors, it is impossible to form a modern political thinking mode. The formation of modern Chinese political thinking is no exception. Although the traditional Chinese “knowledge” has changed in the early and middle of the Qing Dynasty, the methods of textual research, textology, and identification

177

Kant, “What is Enlightenment?”, quoted Li Zehou. (1979). Critique of Critical Philosophy Review of Kant. Beijing: People’s Publishing House, p. 15.

616

10 Criticism and Statecraft: Extreme Heights, and the Wane …

have been widely used, but their application scope is still limited to traditional classics and history, neither involving the external natural world nor rational criticism and construction of concepts. From the point of view of its purpose, the “Sinology” of textology is textual criticism, and textual research is not contrary to the “Song Xue” in its principles. Its criticism of “Song Xue” is just to make the Confucian “theory of the principles” continue and develop since the Han Dynasty.178 Among them, the way and purpose of “knowledge” have not changed fundamentally, and it has always had a strong ethical orientation. It pays more attention to the ethical orientation of human beings than to the objective world. It pays more attention to the transcendental and inevitable moral principles and the ontological order of society in order to achieve everyone’s moral self-discipline to abide by the rank of etiquette. Generally speaking, traditional Chinese “knowledge” lies in knowing the universal and inevitable rank of the world, aiming at cultivating people’s conscious moral rationality, rather than cultivating people’s “critical rational ability” to acquire universal and inevitable objective knowledge. Traditional moral rationality not only strictly corresponds to the rank of Heaven, but also with the difference of people’s “temperament”. People’s moral rationality ability also appears corresponding differences, and because of the difference of moral rationality ability. There are differences between sages and ordinary, and the difference between sages and ordinary further evolves into the difference of identity. The ability of moral reason varies from person to person. The person with high moral reason ability fully understands the universal and inevitable rank of Heaven, while the person with low moral reason ability is partly blinded by human desire and cannot fully understand the rank of Heaven that must be followed. Thus, a pattern emerges that the person with low moral reason ability must obey the person with high moral reason ability. Therefore, there is no modern rational attribute that “the public use of human reason should always be free”. From the content point of view, the core content of Chinese traditional moral rationality is consciously “obediences”, which means “obediences” of “the three obediences and the four virtues”, and the result is “cage the hearts of the world”. “The wisdom of the people grows with the passing of time, and the strength of the people declines with the passing of time.”179 Modern political thinking calls for everyone to make his own decisions. Human reason is both free and equal. “The word freedom is really deeply feared by the sages of all dynasties in China, and no one has written a book on it.”180 This kind of civic culture, which was once widely spread during the period from 1898 to 1911, was mainly manifested in the urgent call for “enlightening the people’s wisdom”. It also occurred at the Democratic level, emphasizing the importance of citizenship, and assuming that people naturally possess the independent personality and critical rational ability that citizens must possess. It does not take

178

Feng Youlan, History of Chinese Philosophy (Volume 2). China Book Company, 1961, pp. 974– 975. 179 Yan Fu’s Collected Works (Volume 1). (1986). Wang Shi (ed.), Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company, p. 2. 180 Ibid.

4 Some Problems in the Modern Transformation …

617

into account the necessary content of modern science in civic culture. After the Revolution of 1911, modern politics not only suffered a few frustrations in the Republic of China, but also quickly fell into a predicament. Some people emphasize that modern western democracy is not suited to China’s national conditions, and a series of critical comments on democratic politics have emerged. Others hold that China lacks citizen tradition and national consciousness. As a result, “science” is also regarded as a necessary component of modern politics in media opinion, and some politicians hold that Chinese society lacks the tradition of identifying and implementing the right things. The backbone of the new culture gradually emphasizes that Chinese society urgently needs to import the spirit of science. Chen Duxiu and other new cultural movements launched the banner of “democracy” and “science”. According to the statistical research of Jin Guantao and Liu Qingfeng, the occurrence frequency of “science” is far more than that of “democracy”, and the word “science” is used positively. However, the term “democracy” has many negative uses.181 This shows that the importance of “science” in the construction of modern political thinking in China is higher than “democracy.” Modern China’s choice from the perspective of national salvation is that “science” is more important than “democracy”, which was once again highlighted in the debate between democracy and dictatorship in the 1930s. Therefore, although Liang Qichao’s Impressions on European Expedition demonstrates the bankruptcy of “science omnipotence” based on European experience, although Zhang Junmai and others insist that “science” cannot solve the problem of outlook on life. However, “science” has played a leading role in the construction of modern China’s outlook on life, and thus has had a decisive influence in the political thinking of modern China. Although the important role of “science” in the construction of modern Chinese political thinking mode formally began with the “debate between science and metaphysics”, however, as far as the modern mainstream groups’ understanding of “science” is concerned, the “science” in Chinese modern political thinking is quite connected with the traditional “knowledge”. “Science” in modern political thinking refers, on the one hand, to citizens’ ability of critical rationality to understand the empirical world on an equal footing. Fundamentally speaking, this is the reason for citizens to have and use political rights and interests independently and freely. On the other hand, “science” contains all the roots of empirical critical rationality, that is, the ontological basis of empirical critical rationality lies in the individual himself, whose ability to understand things and the results are autonomous and independent. “Science” in modern political thinking refuses “worship”. Not only can people not judge each other’s cognitive ability, but also we cannot establish a system that will coercively affect people’s cognitive activities, that is to say, people cannot be forced to recognize or identify with certain cognitive results. Compared with traditional “knowledge” in China, the meaning of “science” in modern political thinking has two basic limitations. One is to define empirical critical rationality as “science” based on individual 181

Jin Guantao and Liu Qingfeng, “From ‘Republicanism’ to ‘Democracy’—Selective Absorption and Reconstruction of Western Modern Political Ideas in China”, in Research on the History of Ideas. Beijing: Law Press, p. 254.

618

10 Criticism and Statecraft: Extreme Heights, and the Wane …

experiential people, and the other is to explain rationality ontologically based on human rights and freedoms. The “science” in Chinese modern political thinking was not put on the agenda until the 18th Movement, but was recognized by the public in the New Culture Movement. It was not until the “debate between science and metaphysics” that a stable form was obtained, and its main meaning, tendency and scope of “scientism” were established. The “science” called for by the May 4th New Culture has an obvious tendency of “scientism”, which is manifested in “requiring or attempting to use modern western science as a basic spirit, attitude and method to transform the Chinese people and inject it into the cultural psychology of the Chinese nation”. Its concern is “what kind of outlook on life should the Chinese people (especially the younger generation) have in order to contribute to the country’s prosperity and social stability?”182 From the perspective of national salvation, science itself implies the value orientation of collectivism that individual should obey and serve the nation. Individuals establish a scientific outlook on life in order to save the nation from extinction, and saving the nation from extinction does require individuals to follow the inevitable laws of science. “The scientific school emphasizes scientific methods, attitudes and spirits, and emphasizes a scientific outlook on life”, which in fact has the significance of establishing beliefs.”183 Li Zehou explained the dominance of the “scientific school” in the “debate between science and metaphysics”. On the one hand, he affirmed the rationality of absorbing advanced Western things. On the other hand, he also emphasized the continuity of the scientific school and the traditional “knowledge.”184 The scientific cosmology, the scientific view of history and the scientific outlook on life constitute the “scientific” component of modern Chinese political thinking. That is, the “science” in modern Chinese political thinking needs to run through these three dimensions, and ultimately it comes down to revealing the inevitable nature of universe, ancient and modern. Of course, this includes the pursuit of knowledge certainty in modern science. It affirms that knowledge can only be the result of the active reflection of the objective world by the cognitive subject. It affirms indirectly that human beings have “reason” to acquire knowledge, and emphasizes that truth comes from practice and can only be tested by practice. These are very consistent with the basic prescriptive nature of scientific thinking in modern times. But the science in China’s modern political thinking transcends the field of empirical knowledge and penetrates both the ontology and the phenomenon. Thus, it contains both the philosophical inevitability and the definitive knowledge at the level of empirical science. This closely links the ontological world with the phenomenal world through “science”, and gradually formed a world outlook of the dichotomy between phenomena and essence, the important understanding of the essence of the world has been realized in the classics, and the important understanding of the essence of politics is no exception. In fact, the “science” in Chinese modern political thinking is not the critical rationality of empirical science, but the philosophical rationality 182

Li Zehou, On the History of Modern Chinese Thought. Beijing: Oriental Press, 1987, pp. 51–57. Ibid p. 58. 184 Ibid, pp. 59–60. 183

4 Some Problems in the Modern Transformation …

619

elucidated by classical works. It implies people’s scientific political outlook and scientific outlook on life, guiding and restraining one’s own practice with the political “knowledge” of philosophical rationality. The relationship between people’s political “knowing” and political “doing” is just like the “the unity of knowing and doing” of traditional Chinese political philosophy. “Knowing” is “knowing” what is doing”, and “doing”“ is “doing what is knowing”. The answers and criteria of “knowing” in politics are published in authoritative classics. Its status is equivalent to that of “ knowing Heaven’s principles” in Chinese tradition, it is both unique and authoritative, while “doing” is also standardized, and “doing” is essentially dependent on “knowing”. “Doing” that obeys “knowing” is rational and scientific, while the power of invention and interpretation of “knowing” concentrates on leaders. People’s behavioral rationality also shows obedience, and its extreme form develops into superstition and blind obedience under “leader worship”.

Bibliography 1. Chen, X. (1983). 80 years of modern China. Shanghai: Shanghai People’s Publishing House. 2. Chen X. (1997). Reflective trace (I) (Chen Xulu’s Literature Collection Volume 2). Xuye Publishing House of East China Normal University. 3. Chen, X. (1992). The metabolism of modern Chinese society. Shanghai: Shanghai People’s Publishing House. 4. Chen, X. (1997). Thoughts flashing across one’s mind occasionally (Chen Xulu’s Collection Volume 4), East China Normal University Press. 5. Deng, L. (2003). Domain concept and local political system change. Beijing: Renmin University Press. 6. Feng, Y. (1961). History of Chinese philosophy (Vol. 2). Beijing: China Book Company. 7. Huang, J. (1996). Establishment of Shaowu regime in Guangzhou and corruption in Nanming politics. Journal of History, 3. 8. Huang, Z. (1985). Complete works of Huang Zongxi (1st ed., Vol. 1). Hangzhou: Zhejiang Ancient Books Publishing House. 9. Huang, Z. (1985) Ming Yi Dai Fang Lu. Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company. 10. Huang, Z. (2005). Relevant views on the neo-confucianism works should not be included after the relocation of the history museum. In Complete works of Huanglizhou (Vol. 10). Hangzhou: Zhejiang Ancient Books Publishing House. 11. Huang, Z. (1985). Shen Zhiying Dianjiao: Confucianism case of the ming dynasty. Beijing: China Book Company. 12. Jin, G., & Liu, Q. (2005). From ‘Republicanism’ to ‘Democracy’—selective absorption and reconstruction of western modern political ideas in China. In Research on the History of Ideas. Beijing: Law Press. 13. Kobayashi, M. (2003). Publicity and state of modern Shanghai, (tr. Ge Tao). Shanghai: Shanghai Ancient Books Publishing House. 14. Li, C. (2006).“From the people-oriented to the beginning of democracy. In G Wu (Ed.), From people-oriented to democracy: collection of essays of Huang Zongxi’s international symposium on people-oriented thought. Hangzhou: Zhejiang Ancient Books Publishing House. 15. Li, C. (1997). People-oriented and democracy in China. Confucius Studies, 04. 16. Li, Z. (1979). Critique of critical philosophy-review of Kant. Beijing: People’s Publishing House. 17. Lin, G. (2004). Zhu Xi’s thought in the qing dynasty: An interpretation of confucianism of statecraft. Changsha: Hunan People’s Publishing House.

620

10 Criticism and Statecraft: Extreme Heights, and the Wane …

18. Lin, Z. (1997). Draft instructing the Yi people in all countries to submit tobacco. In Qiu Yuanyou: Selected Verses of Lin Zexu, Deng Tingzhen, and Huang Juezi. Chengdu: Bashu Book Club. 19. Lu, X. (1979). Appendix to a brief history of Chinese novels. In Historical change of Chinese novels. Beijing: People’s Literature Publishing House. 20. Luo, R. (1993). The new theory of modernization. Beijing: Peking University Press. (Marx and Engels. (1972). Selected works (Vol. 1). Beijing People’s Publishing House, Series of Modern Chinese History Materials. (1957, 1961). Shanghai: Shanghai People’s Publishing House). 21. Tan Huo Sheng. (2004). The regeneration of ‘democracy’ in modern China. The Study of Qing History. 22. Wang, R. (2006). The victory of the common people: An examination of the discourse of Chinese democracy. Chinese Law, 03. 23. Wang, X. (2001). Reflections on modern new learning and the transition of social civilization. Tianjin Social Sciences, 06. 24. Xiao, Y. (1985). General history of the qing dynasty. Beijing: China Book Company. (Xiong Yuezhi. (1986). History of Modern Chinese Democratic Thought. Shanghai: Shanghai People’s Publishing House). 25. Yuezhi, X. (2004). Zhou Qiang: Shanghai studies in the world. Shanghai: Shanghai Ancient Books Publishing House. 26. Yan Fu’s Collected Works (Volume 1). (1986). S Wang (Ed.), Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company. 27. Zhang, D. (1987). Huang Lizhou and the ancient Chinese democratic thought. In G Wu (Ed.), Huang Zongxi’s theory: Collection of essays of the international Huang Zongxi symposium. Hangzhou: Zhejiang Ancient Books Publishing House. 28. Zhang, S. (2006). Reconstructing autocracy: Social significance of political thoughts in the ming and qing dynasties. In G Wu (Ed.), Collection of Chinese cultural studies: Huang Zongxi and ming and qing thoughts. Shanghai: Shanghai Ancient Books Publishing House. 29. Zhang, S. (2004). The limit of people-oriented thought: The new theory of Huang Zongxi’s political thoughts. Beijing: China Renmin University Press.

Postscript

Since the Opium War between China and the West, the battle between ancient and modern and China and the West has always been active in people’s sights. Even the humanities and social sciences that have been imported from the Western world have not been excused. After a century and a half of painstaking exploration, China has gradually modernized in the process of globalization, and this gradually modernized society is still entangled in the theoretical vortex of how traditional and modern are to be coordinated. Tradition was stubborn in modern China, but under the strong erosion of European and American culture, it still has given way to modern times. Modern values, systems, and methods have gradually become popular after the Revolution of 1911, but tradition has not given up the efforts to return to the mainstream of society. Whether it is the modern Neo-Confucianism, the new Taoist, or the new philosophers, etc., they all try to restore the vitality of traditional theories in modern society. Among them, some political retroists have emerged in mainland Neo-Confucianism. Politics is the symbol of a civilized country, corresponding to the level and extent of social development. Politics is also the backbone of society, and it has great operational effects in social development. How to construct a modern and Chinese politics must first form a set of modern and Chinese discourse systems in theory. The Chinese version of the modern political discourse system does not happen overnight. Only after experiencing of social modernization and answering the necessary experience questions, and after a fierce theoretical debate, can we form a system of political discourse that is both modern and Chinese. The modern political discourse system cannot rely entirely on the theoretical resources of the past, but the theoretical resources of the past will inevitably stir into the fierce theoretical debate. In theory, traditional theoretical discourse is not only a valuable resource containing national wisdom, but also is misleading in terms of the theoretical interpretation and direction choice of theoretical workers in reality. The study of traditional Chinese political philosophy faces the dual pressure of critical reflection and inheritance and innovation. Taking the Opium War as the boundary, Chinese political philosophy is divided into two stages: traditional and modern. The result of traditional political philosophy is the formation of a stable and mature political discourse system, the essence © Tianjin People’s Publishing House 2022 S. Zhang, The Logical Deduction of Chinese Traditional Political Philosophy, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-4376-7

621

622

Postscript

of modern political philosophy is transformation. Forming and transformation are interlinked and each has its own mission. Traditional political philosophy does not show the rigorous logical structure of Western political philosophy in theory, but this does not mean that it is not a complete logical whole. From the perspective of theoretical logic, the evolution of Chinese traditional political philosophy is essentially a logical advance toward a complete thinking and ideology, and finally forms a political philosophy system that reflects the fundamental political attributes and ideals of the nation. Therefore, in a sense, the development of Chinese traditional political thought is to conceive and develop a unique national characteristic of the political philosophy system. This system is fundamentally a conscious reflection of China’s political tradition. Since the day of its birth, Chinese traditional political philosophy has been uniquely prescriptive in terms of topics and issues, and is quite different from that of ancient Greece. Although political philosophy is based on fundamental questions such as answering the root causes and purposes of political occurrence, the specific forms of fundamental political issues are quite different. This aspect is because any political fundamental problem is wrapped in a variety of specific empirical political issues. On the other hand, the already formed thinking and ideological propositions will inevitably affect the specific form of fundamental political issues. The difference between different kinds of traditional political philosophies is mainly reflected in the specific forms of fundamental political problems and the differences in the basic concepts of them. While political philosophies bred by the same political tradition have crossed a relatively long historical period, the specific form of fundamental political issues remains clearly stable. The stability of Chinese traditional political philosophy on fundamental political issues not only highlights the importance of fundamental political issues in the development of political theory thinking, but also briefly and clearly shows the unique theoretical logic of Chinese traditional politics. Starting from the legendary political literature, the hot topic of Chinese traditional political theory is closely related to the governance qualifications, powers, and responsibilities of the world’s co-owners. The fundamental political issue is how the overlord of all within the realm rules the world. The premise, foundation, purpose and means of the monarchy have always touched the eyes of political philosophers of all ages. A logical interpretation of traditional Chinese political philosophy was approved in 2007 as a general project by the National Social Science Fund Project. The project is expected to be studied for two years, and the research results are expected to be the monograph of the same name. The project study was postponed until 2012 and the projected research plan was completed. Project research plans have been delayed for two reasons: The first is that the individual research team members would not be able to carry out the corresponding research work because of their personal study for a degree, or because they are engaged in busy administrative work. The corresponding research work then could only be completed by the project leader. The second is that the complexity of the subject itself exceeds the expectations at the time of declaration. The research content of the project design is expected to be about 300,000 words, and the actual research results of the subject are more than 700,000 words, and the number of words has more than doubled. The complexity of clarifying the logical

Postscript

623

development clues of Chinese traditional political philosophy and the logical connections between different theoretical sections is far beyond expectations. Nevertheless, the members of this group have conducted in-depth research in accordance with the design of the project, and conducted the research as far as possible. The members of the research team, Chen Bo, Zhang Hongbin, and Zhang Ruili, participated in many discussions on the outline and the manuscript. The manuscript also embodies their hard work and labor, and we sincerely thank them for everything they have done for the research. Over the years, my scientific research has received strong support from the school’s scientific research management departments and college leaders. We thank the Director of the Research Department, Mr. Feng Weiguo, Li Yongxing, and Wang Yulan for their attention, concern, and help. Northwest University of Political Science and Law has a group of friends who love academics. Professor Liu Jintian, Professor Wang Kaimo, researcher Yan Yalin, Professor Hou Xuehua, Professor Li Ming, and Mr. Ma Zhixuan are all close friends who have expertise and enthusiasm, offering many walks and talks, so far recalled, as being rare feasts of thought. We thank them for their thoughts. I am an idle person, and my life is not regular. Everything in the family relies on my wife Lv Runping to take care of them. My mother-in-law, Xiang Bingyuan, has been working at home for three meals a day, and she is very hardworking. I thank them for everything they have done for family happiness and harmony! My son Zhang Yu is still young. He is too fond of playing and naughty, but also he is promising and worthy to be taught. He was fond of strange problems, and reaching out with a bright smile, his eyes are full of hope. Time flies. I have already entered middle age unconsciously. I hope my elderly parents are healthy and my friends in my hometown are happy. Zhang Shiwei September 1, 2014, the ancient capital Chang’an Wuweiwu