The meaning of the word "country" in Chinese is similar to that of Europeans, but there is a difference between "country" and "home" at first. For example, Zhouyi: "It is to protect the country and defend the country". After Qin and Han Dynasties, one country ruled the world. Because Confucian culture emphasizes "isomorphism of family and country", family also refers to family and clan, which forms the condition that "family" and "country" are mentioned together. For example, Liu Xiang's Shuo Yuan in the Western Han Dynasty said that "if you do something, you can save the country and benefit the people", and Huang Daozhou's Xie Yuan Huan Gong Chuan in the Ming Dynasty said that "Gong Yuan Huan Gong Chuan". "Ming History": "The country relies on public ears". But "country" in China's ancient books is not the concept of modern nation-state, but only the concept of "world". When western learning spread to the east, the word "country" was used to attach western countries.
In the East, represented by China, countries appeared earlier and their forms rarely changed. The Qin Dynasty laid the foundation of China's modern state.
National elements
A country is composed of four elements: territory, people (nationality), culture and government.
At the beginning of the 20th century, several French and German scholars, such as Jelinek, Labande, Kare de Mahlberg, founded the theory of three elements of the state, emphasizing the unity of political power, territory and people.
The theory of three elements of the state can be summarized as follows: when a nation lives in a fixed territory (often the same nation or has the same sense of identity) and exercises legitimate political power in this nation, there is a state.
The so-called territory is three-dimensional: territory, territorial sea and airspace.
As a basic element of a country, territory is not just a piece of land where people live. It also forms a part of the historical, cultural and religious memory of this country and this nation, is the symbol of this country, and is the link that connects people and makes them identify with each other. Sometimes, the latter role even leads to conflicts between different races and nationalities, such as Kosovo and Jerusalem.
The most ideal territorial boundary is of course the natural boundary: mountains and rivers. But more often, the borders of modern countries are treaty borders. /kloc-during the 0/9-20th century, the sanctity of borders was widely recognized by the international community and became the carrier of national sovereignty. At the end of the 20th century, with the development of economy and the interdependence and communication among countries, the importance of borders has changed.
The so-called people, in the past, especially in western Europe, first referred to a nation. In modern times, it refers to all people who are subject to sovereign power. Can be a nation, can also include several ethnic groups; It can be a local, that is, a person who obtains this status through blood relationship, or a naturalized foreign immigrant. When they leave their country, they will not lose their citizenship.
People are not subjects of the country. In modern countries, it is first and foremost the most important role in politics and the only source of the legitimacy of a country's political power and sovereignty. According to the theory of natural law and modern democratic theory, people existed before the emergence of state power, or they created the country. In the domestic political field, people are more defined as citizens, that is, people who have the right to participate in political affairs. "Citizen" transcends people's differences in economic status, culture and occupation, and gives people a new identity.
Legitimate political power (government) is an important role and legal person in a country's political life. Therefore, the will of the state is different from the personal will of the ruler. In domestic affairs, it manages people according to law, handles conflicts among people fairly, and handles relations with other domestic legal persons as the central authority. It monopolizes the legal force and unilaterally formulates legal norms, which is an authority. Of course, in a modern country ruled by law, public power must also operate within the scope of its laws.
Motherland and country:
The motherland is not only a geographical concept, but also a cultural concept, and it is also an emotional legal concept. The motherland refers to a country that has lived for generations, has a high degree of identity with the culture of the host country, and has the same nationality as its ancestors. The state is a political authority.
State and government:
In the relationship between state and government, sometimes the concepts of state and government are indistinguishable. When the division of labor is very clear, the state is greater than the government, especially the state is synonymous with the sovereign, and the government is only the public servant of the state, the executor of power and the entrusted person. But in the international arena, the concept of state is much broader than domestic politics. At this time, the country is the subject of international law, the representative of the whole society within the country, and the representative of all the people in this country, which is very close to the government in domestic politics.
Hope to adopt, thank you!