The word "people-oriented" originated from the Song of Five Children in Shangshu. The original sentence is: "The emperor has an order, and the people are amiable, so you can't go down. The people are the country and the country is better. " This is a poem written by Xia Kang's younger brother to exhort Xia Kang. It means that the people are the foundation of the country. As rulers, we should respect, value and love the people, realize their strength, exercise self-discipline and cultivate good virtues. Handle civil and state affairs cautiously.
people's livelihood
Zi Gong said, "What if you can give alms to the people and help others? Kind? Confucius said: Anyone who is kind will be holy! Yao Shun is still ill! " (The Analects of Confucius Yongye) Those who can make the people live a better life are all saints who are stronger than Yao and Shun. Confucianism advocates that a monarch should be a saint. Whoever can make the people live a better life is a saint, and a saint is a Confucian ideal.
On the contrary, the monarch is a sinner if he doesn't make a living for the people. "There are fat horses, fat horses and hungry people in the stables, and there are hungry people in the wild. This led to beasts and cannibalism. " ("Mencius Hui Liang Wang Shang")
Mencius said: "From this point of view, different people have different opinions, and the wise have different opinions, so they all abandon Confucius." What's the problem with fighting for it? Fight for land, kill people, and be wild; Fight for the city, kill for the city. This so-called cannibalism, sin does not allow death. "("Mencius Li Lou ")
Confucius once said to Zigong, "I'm full. Infantry. People believe in it. " "(will have to) eat. There has been death since ancient times, and the people have no faith. " However, Wang Chong objected. Wang Chong thinks: "Make the country have no food, make the people hungry and abandon the ceremony;" Abandon etiquette and stand by and watch faith and safety? Chuan said:' When you are giving, you know the etiquette; Rich in nutrition and well-educated. Let's live in excess and fight for it. "Keep your word, keep your word. During the Spring and Autumn Period, the Warring States were hungry and cold, eating easily, cooking after analyzing the bones, not hungry and unable to eat. Thank you for your kindness. Hunger breaks faith and feeds on children. Confucius taught Zi Gong to eat and keep letters. How's it going? Husband believes in food, although he doesn't want to believe it, but believes in himself; If you want to eat and keep your word, though you want to keep your word, your word won't stand "(On Balance, Ask Confucius). For most people, warehouse is the premise of knowing etiquette. Confucian moral requirements cannot be universally applied.
Confucian people-oriented thought holds that people's economic burden should be reduced. As long as the people are rich, the country cannot be poor.
personal rights
Confucian people are all people, and there is no distinction between status and dignity on the issue of civil rights. Civil rights are first the right to life, and then the right to personality.
democracy
Confucian "democracy" means that the people are the masters of the country and are the masters of the people fairly. The monarch's responsibility is to govern the country and the people, which is the characteristic of the people-oriented principle. It is different from today's democracy, but it is far more meaningful than the "democracy" advocated by liberals.
"Heaven only seeks timely democracy, but life is greatly reduced and punishment is summer." ("Shangshu Duofang").
"Only people are born with desires, and if there is no owner, there will be chaos." (Shang Patent).
Confucianism is guided by the people-oriented principle, thinking about people's livelihood and civil rights, thinking about being a good family, being a good host and rejuvenating the country. People-oriented care runs through the whole process of governing and rejuvenating the country.
In the Biography of Cen Peng in the Later Han Dynasty, Guangwu wrote to Cen Peng with emotion: "Every time you send troops, your head will turn white." This is because the people are in poverty, so when the world is unified, he resolutely opposes the aggressive plan of going to war with the Huns. He said: "There is no good governance in this country, disasters emerge one after another, people are afraid, people do not protect themselves, and they are far from regaining their desires." "I don't want to take half the world to eliminate big bandits; If it is not the time, it is better to let people rest. " The starting point is to consider people's livelihood, fearing that during the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the military power was too large and most of the land was wasted again.
Guangwudi manages the country diligently. Live frugally. "Whole body clothes practice. The color is not heavy. I don't listen to Zheng. You don't have to use your hands to play with pearls and jade (Biography of Officials in the Later Han Dynasty). It is forbidden to offer peculiar smell and advocate thin burial. The testamentary edict said: "I am useless to the people, just like the emperor's filial piety system, and I must obey the province ..." (The Ji of Emperor Guangwu). How can you not miss such a person when you are dead? How can people not welcome such people to be the masters of the people?
Launch a national discussion.
Only when we hear the truth from the people can we become the masters of the people. Therefore, people-oriented doctrine never opposes people's discussion, but also encourages people's discussion. Confucius and later Confucianists have always opposed "taking Tao as the eye", and "dare to be angry but dare not speak" has long been the idiom of China people demanding freedom of speech. "People's desire, good. What the people hate is evil. " (University), in that case, how can the people of Cyprus know their likes and dislikes?
The people value the monarch, and the monarch stands for the people.
Mencius' social and political thoughts. From the standpoint of all countries in the world, people are the foundation, people are the foundation, and people are more important than kings. It is the core of Mencius' theory of benevolent governance. People-oriented, it had a great influence on China's later thinkers. (Mencius asked Liang) said: "If you don't go against the farming season, you can't beat grain; If you don't count, neither fish nor turtle can be eaten. Axe gold gets into the mountain in time, and mywood can't be used. Valley and fish turtles can't be eaten, and trees can't be used, which makes people lose their lives and have no regrets. Keeping in good health and dying without regret is the beginning of kingly way. Five acres of houses, trees are mulberry, and fifty people can wear clothes and silks. Chickens, dolphins and dogs are all domestic animals, so there is no time to waste. Seventy people can eat meat. A hundred acres of land, if you don't seize the opportunity, a family of several can be hungry. I sincerely hope that the godson of the cult will be filial, and the winners will not be on the road. Seventy people eat meat, clothes and silk, and the Lebanese are neither hungry nor cold, but they are not kings and have nothing. The dog unconsciously ate people's food and unconsciously put on a hungry coat. When people die, they say,' If it weren't for me, I would be old.' Why is it different from stabbing and killing people? It said,' Not me, but a soldier. The king is innocent, and the people in the world are heavy. "("Mencius Hui Liang Wang Shang ")
There are fat meat, fat horses, hungry people and hungry savages in the stable. This rate is cannibalism! Animals kill each other, and people hate it; It is inevitable for people's parents and administrators to lead animals to eat people. What is evil is also for the parents of the people. ("Mencius Hui Liang Wang Shang")
Qi Xuanwang asked, "What is the reason?" Mencius said to him, "There is something in the biography." "Minister? What about your husband? " He said, "A good thief is a thief, an honest thief is a cripple, and a cripple is a husband. Never heard of it, right? Junya. " ("Mencius Hui Liang Wang Xia")
Mencius said, "He who loses the world loses the people." : He who loses his people loses his heart. There is a saying in the world: those who win the hearts of the people win the world. There is a way to win the people: win their hearts and win the people. There is a way to get the heart: use it to gather what you want and don't give up what you do evil. When a man dies, the water goes down and the beast goes away. Therefore, for those who drive fish, otters are also; For those who drive out the princes, they are also embarrassed; It was Jie Li and Zhou who expelled the people. ("Mencius Li Lou")
Mencius said: "The people are the most important, the country is the second, and the monarch is the light. So, Qiu Min is the son of heaven, the son of heaven is a vassal, and the vassal is a doctor. When a vassal is in trouble, he must change it. Sacrifice is complete, prosperous and clean, and sacrifice is timely. However, drought and water overflow will change the country. "
It is the idea of imperial rule that the people are more valuable than the monarch.
On the basis of drawing lessons from and giving play to the research ideas of a group of senior scholars, we pay attention to the analysis of ideological system and proposition combination, and examine individual cases one by one, which proves that the theoretical structure of "respecting the monarch-sinning the monarch" is universal. Except for those who have no monarch, the works of famous thinkers in ancient China are all the same. So I call it the "cultural paradigm" of China's traditional political thinking.
"People are more important than the monarch" is one of the most wonderful ideological propositions of China in ancient times, and its core idea is: in the original sense of political power, people are more important than the monarch. It is the in-depth study of this proposition that makes me realize a more wonderful proposition "Building a monarch for the people", which is generally recognized by important schools such as Confucianism, Taoism, Mohism and Law, among which the theoretical contribution of Legalists is particularly outstanding. Shen Zi's theory of "establishing the emperor as the world" and Shang Yang's theory of "governing the world as the world" are the theoretical pioneers of Mencius' theory of "valuing the people but neglecting the monarch". On this basis, I not only found a breakthrough to re-understand China's ancient political theory system, but also saw that many statements made by modern Confucian admirers were against historical facts.
In the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties, Mencius, which was written with the theme of "People value the monarch", was the main carrier of the official theory. In the face of Chen Duxiu and Hu Shi's judgment that it is not democracy, the stubbornness of modern Confucian admirers is the argument that it is democracy or anti-autocracy. They not only repeatedly stressed that the democratic spirit of pre-Qin Confucianism was tampered with, castrated and suppressed by post-Confucianism and emperors, but also often took Ming Taizu's abridged Mencius as an important argument. However, this statement can't stand the test of facts. Here are just three examples.
First, Ming Taizu once ordered people to "uncover the two walls of the temple uncovered by the Big Book" in Yan Yi, a university. This book "The Study of Kings" is a must-read for emperors and generals in the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties, and there is a paragraph dedicated to explaining Mencius' "People are wise kings".
Second, many emperors agree that "the monarch is light"
For example, Emperor Gaozu agreed that "the monarch takes the people as the sky", Yang Di flaunted that "the world should not serve one person, but one person should rule the world", and Emperor Taizong advocated that "the monarch depends on the country and the country depends on the people", all of which put the people in a relatively important position. Xu Heng's theory of governing the country with "people first, monarch second" was highly appreciated by Yuan Shizu. Yuan Yingzong warned his men: "In my opinion, the people should be the most important, and the monarch should be the least important. If the country has no people, how can it be a king? " Ming Chengzu restored the original appearance of Mencius, promulgated four books, and ordered the university students to praise Yan Wen. Qiu Zhuo wrote "A Supplement to the University's Extension of Justice", citing the theory that "the people are more expensive than the monarch" to talk about the way to rule the peace. Ming Xiaozong and Ming Shenzong preface, published in the monkey year. Emperor Kangxi once wrote an article praising Wen Tianxiang's support for Song Duanzong's "loyal minister's words for a thousand years" based on "the lightness of monarch". Emperor Qianlong once recited the poems of "Pity your son and despise your gentleman" and "despise your gentleman from the past". There are countless sayings in Siku Quanshu, such as "People are the most important", "People are the most important" and "Jun is the least important".
Third, the imperial examination requires people to be familiar with it. For example, Huang Hongxian, a scholar in Qin Long in the Ming Dynasty, wrote: "People are the most precious, and the country is the second". Wanli Xu Bing tried Yuan Yuan Zongdao's strategic examination paper, stating that "the fate of the emperor depends on the will of the people", explaining that "Heaven sets a monarch for the people, and the monarch values the people", advocating that you "dare not think about one thing, put yourself in front of the people, be proud of being untouchable, be brave and weak in the people, and be wise and foolish in the people", and also attacking the answer sheet of "recklessness" and "ignorance" with extreme words to win the examiners' approval. In the fourth year of the Apocalypse, Ai Nanying's essay entitled "People are Expensive", based on "Heaven is for the People", profoundly explained "People are Expensive and Gentleman is Lighter". Huang Hongxian's and Ai Nanying's articles are all included in the four books of the King James, which were ordered by Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty as the yardstick of writing. It is not difficult to understand why since Mencius was listed as a required book in the imperial examination, it has become more and more common for the court and writings to quote the example of "valuing the people but neglecting the monarch" and its basic ideas. In some cases, courtiers even set up another emperor on the grounds of "the contempt of the monarch."
Following this clue, I found that some important ideas of Confucianism are always at the core of the ruling ideology, which constitutes the theoretical basis of the official theory. Such as "the connection between man and nature" described as "anti-autocracy", "the human heart is the heavenly heart" described as "non-procedural civil rights", "the world is public" described as "democratic thought" and so on. As long as we look through the four books written by King James, it is not difficult to find that anyone who wants to take the imperial examination career must understand these truths.
The monarch's responsibility
Mencius said, "You are ruthless, but you are righteous.". According to Qian Mu, it is a political system based on deontology. Is the son of heaven a public servant? The Book of Rites even says that "the monarch destroys his country, the doctor destroys his system, and the scholar destroys his people", and also emphasizes the obligations of superiors. In the Analects of Confucius, some descriptions of the so-called hierarchy are just superficial expressions such as rituals and sacrifices. Confucius did not think that monarchs could enjoy arbitrary and absolute rights.
Guangwu is no exception. He inherited the people-oriented thought. In response to Cang Gong, he said: "Huang Shigong Ji" therefore says that there is a virtuous king who makes people happy; The king without virtue is satisfied with what he has done. People who take pleasure in others spend a long time, while those who take pleasure in themselves die quickly. " (Biography of Cang Gong in the Later Han Dynasty).
Xiao Weichuan, a book published in Xiao Wei, holds that it is your duty to protect the people. "The people in exile, the responsibility lies with you. If you are safe, you will not be responsible. "
Lu Xun had a great influence. In Essays under the Light, Lu Xun criticized the traditional society in China. "China people have never earned extraordinary prices, and they are slaves at most." China has a history of thousands of years, that is, the era of "being a stable slave for a while, but wanting to be a slave is not allowed". But when we understand the people-oriented thought of the ancients above, we should clearly point out that Lu Xun's remarks are very inappropriate. Slavery and servility are not the original images of China people, and servility in the Qing Dynasty never existed in China. Lu Xun's argument has misled nearly a century, which is very bad. If we regard the ancients as slaves or slaves, then we will not have any feelings for them, nor will we be proud of Chinese civilization, but we will only have contempt. So that today's China people do not distinguish between right and wrong, good and evil, and traitors have become heroes. Heroes become sinners. No nation or country has ever destroyed its history so seriously.
On "People have the world and sovereignty lies with the people"
"Heaven will obey the wishes of the people". The ancients were superstitious about destiny, but Confucian people-oriented doctrine clearly pointed out that "destiny belongs to the people". God is equal to everyone, and God is always on the people's side. People's thoughts are God's thoughts. The monarch's devotion to heaven represents heaven's love for the people.
"Smart days, smart people; I am afraid of the dawn, and I am proud of myself. " (Shangshu Hao Tao Hume).
"God is kind to the people, and the people do whatever they want" (Thai oath).
"Only the sky benefits the people, only the monarch (monarch) serves the sky". ("Thai oath").
"Heaven sees nature and people, and heaven listens to nature and people. If you caress me, you will get revenge for abusing me. " ("Thai oath").
"God has no relatives, supplemented by virtue, and people's hearts are impermanent, but they are only interested in profit." (Biography of Shangshu Cai Zhongzhi).
"All countries are born in heaven. God loves what he gave birth to, and parents still love their son. " ("The Later Han Dynasty Zhuo Luwei Liu Chuan")
"Wang Sijingmin; This is not a day, and the ceremony is not rich. " (Days of Emperor Gaozong)
Philosophers of Neo-Confucianism in Song and Ming Dynasties are all public-minded. They believe that "the world is the world, and the world is not the private affair of one person" ("Mencius Zhang Wan")
Under the influence of Dong Zhongshu in the Han Dynasty, the thought of "Heaven regards itself as the people's view, and Heaven listens to itself as the people's view" developed into a kind of feeling between heaven and man. Bound by providence, the monarch must listen to public opinions.
Regarding whether the land and mountains and rivers belong to the monarch, Mencius explained that "the land under heaven is not a king's land": "It is poetry, not what it refers to; Working in the king's business, not adoptive parents. " He believes that this is a complaint of small officials and cannot be interpreted as that everything in the world belongs to the monarch.
At the end of the Ming Dynasty, Wang Fuzhi said, "The husband's soil is the nature of heaven and earth. The king's generation prospers and abolishes, and the mountains and rivers do not change the old ones. They live in hundreds of valleys to raise people, and the king has to raise them. It has nothing to do with the king, and the king is not easy to raise. " (Reading as a Mirror)
The idea that "the people have the world and sovereignty belongs to the people" also became orthodox in the Han Dynasty. According to Wang Changchuan in the History of the Later Han Dynasty, Wang often advised other chivalrous men: "If I don't think of Han for the people in a day, I can be a hero. Husband and people complain, where is the sky going; What people think, what heaven thinks. If you do something important, you will immediately comply with the wishes of the people and you will be able to succeed. Brave and fearless, even if you win the world, you will lose. " Zhang Mao and others are regarded by some as the staunchest leaders of the peasant uprising. Hearing these words, everyone said, "Without General Wang, I am a few unjust people, and I would like to be respected and educated." People-oriented doctrine was originally the knowledge of all social classes in the Han Dynasty, and it was also welcomed by the peasant class.
Since sovereignty belongs to the people, Mencius said in front of Wang Xuan, "If you are too big, you will be remonstrated. If you don't listen repeatedly, you will be translocated. "
Man is destined to conquer nature.
In view of the "providence" advocated by the rulers, the impermanence of heaven is even more accepted. "The country is impermanent, and the monarch and ministers are impermanent. It has been natural since ancient times." This is like "the high shore is the valley, and the deep valley is the mausoleum", which is a "heavenly way" (Thirty-two years of Zuo Zhuan Zhao Gong). Ancient humanists also put forward the view that "man can conquer nature" to refute it. Man can conquer the sky, which originated from Guo's "Song of the Dragon Zhou Ji Xiang Yang": "Man can conquer the sky, and there is no Hu Riyue for half a day." "Biography of Yizhoushu" also says: "Soldiers are stronger than people, and people are stronger than the sky." An idiom similar to "Man can conquer nature" but appearing earlier is "Man can conquer nature". "Biography of Historical Records of Wu Zixu" says, "I heard that many people can conquer nature, and nature can also conquer people".
Man and God
Since fate can change according to public opinion, people-oriented people simply don't agree with the prophecy of the gods. They don't think God can be trusted. The people are the masters of God. It is better to listen to the people than to God.
"If the national fortune is prosperous, there must be truth; When the country will die, there will be evil spirits. " (The Doctrine of the Mean)
Liang Ji said: "The people, the Lord of God, are also saints who first become people and then devote themselves to God." ("Zuo Zhuan Huan Gong Six Years". )
Shi Tao said: "the country will be rich and strong, and listen to the people's words;" Dying, resigned; God, a wise and upright man, also follows people. " (Thirty-two years of Zuo Zhuan and Zhuang Gong)
Maybe it's from the world
People-oriented advocates: "Those who win the hearts of the people win the world", and Mencius said: "Those who win the world win the world; As the saying goes, if you get the people, you will get the people "(Mencius on Li Lou) and" If you get the people, you will be the son of heaven "(Mencius devoted himself). "Protecting the people is king, and it cannot be violated" ("Mencius Hui Liang Wang Shang")
"Book of Rites": "Being a politician in the past, love is great". Dai Dai Li Ji: "Love the people because of attaching importance to the country" can "use the benefits without moving, but be soft".
"It is wrong to make a mistake and kill a mistake to win the world." ("Mencius Gongsun Chou")
"The winner is the way, and the winner is the emperor; Who wins by virtue, Wang; To win, Bo; The winner of force is strong. " ("Taibai is silent, the master is virtuous")
When Liu Xiu ascended the throne, the generals made it clear. "If a saint ascended to the throne, although Zhong Ni was the prime minister and his grandson was the general, I still feared that he would be incompetent and beneficial." (Biography of Emperor Guangwu of the Later Han Dynasty) In the eyes of people at that time, whoever was virtuous and became a saint deserved the world. What is a saint? Saints win people's hearts. Therefore, Confucius thought: "It is sacred to give to the people and help them!"
"It is your feud that my husband was bullied by Hong Wei." (Shang Shu Tai Shi Xia) "If you caress me, if you abuse me, you will be retaliated." (Shangshu Taishi) Zhou Wuwang used people-oriented thought to arouse people's hatred of Zhou Wang.
Mencius said, "He who loses the world loses the people." : He who loses his people loses his heart. "("Mencius Li Lou ")
"Want to be a gentleman, want to be a minister, both just yaoshun. It is also disrespectful to disrespect the monarch because of the principle of obedience; If you don't use Yao to rule the people, you will steal their people. If you attack your people violently, you will die. ..... If you violently attack your people, you will die; Not very good, then the country will be dangerous. " ("Mencius Li Lou")
You must try your best to be people-oriented. If you harm and abuse the people, you are a husband, not a regicide. What is a single husband? "Cai Chuan" said: "The destiny is dead, people go, and the husband has ears."
Lose the world without mercy
Mencius said, "Three generations won the world with benevolence, but lost the world with unkindness. The reasons for the destruction of the country are the same. The son of heaven is ruthless and does not protect the four seas; The princes are heartless and do not protect the country; Doctor Qing is ruthless and does not protect the ancestral temple; Shu Ren is heartless. He didn't protect his four bodies. Words will die. Today, it is evil to die and be happy. Drunk and strong drinking is still evil. " ("Mencius Li Lou")
Confucius said: "If the country has a way, it will be an official; If the country has no way, it can be rolled up. " (The Analects of Confucius Wei Linggong) Tao is naturally the Confucian Tao. The core of Confucianism lies in "people-oriented" thought. Mencius said that killing Xiezhou is not killing the monarch, but killing Shan Fu. In the eyes of Confucianism such as Mencius, the monarch is not the "monarch" in real political life. It is the "king" in conformity with Confucian orthodoxy and what westerners call "the king of philosophy". Once you lose morality and morality politically, you lose your status as a "monarch". Mencius, the king who loves life, said, "Those who are not addicted to killing can be killed." Now everyone in the world is grazing, and there is no one who is not addicted to killing. If there are people who don't like killing people, all the people in the world will look forward to it. If so, the people will return to it and the water will come down. Who can resist? "("Mencius Hui Liang Wang Shang ")
Whether the war will be fought depends on the will of the people. The King of Qi asked Mencius, Can Yan be crusaded? Mencius said to him: "If you take it and Yan Min is happy, take it;" In ancient times, there were people who did things, and the king of Wu also. If you are not happy to take Yan Min, then don't take it; In ancient times, there were people who did things, and Wen Wang also. Take the country of thousands of riders and cut the country of thousands of riders. Eating the meat in the pot to see Julian Waghann, is that him? Fire and water are incompatible. The deeper the water, the hotter the fire, and only luck. " (Mencius Hui Liang Wang Xia). Mencius was not an anti-war activist. The war he hoped for was a war to save the people's suffering. Mencius said, "King Wen is angry and helps everyone in the world. Now the king is angry and has helped the people all over the world. The people are afraid that the king is not brave. " ("Mencius Gongsun Chou")
Mencius said, "Tang Yizheng began in Ge. The whole world believes. Expropriation in the east and resentment in the west; South signing and north suing; Say, "I'm the queen?" People expect that if Yun Ni is also dry. Not only people who return to the city, but also land to the tiller. If it rains, people will be very happy. The book says,' After worrying about me, I will be late.' "("Mencius Teng Wengong ")
He denounced the war waged for the monarch's self-interest, saying that it was "the crime of leading the land and eating human flesh should not be allowed to die."
"If you can't be benevolent and rich, you are all abandoned by Confucius. What's the problem with fighting for it? Fight for land, kill people, and be wild; Fight for the city, kill for the city. This so-called rate of eating human flesh, sin is not allowed to die. " ("Mencius Li Lou")
Most people don't agree with what Mencius said. I didn't believe it until I read the Book of the Later Han Dynasty. In the Biography of Cen Peng in the Later Han Dynasty, Guangwu wrote to Cen Peng with emotion: "Every time you send troops, your head will turn white." He should be careful when considering the sufferings of the people in the war. Facing the harassment of Xiongnu and Wu Huan, the northern border people were displaced, but he still stopped Ma Wu and others' attack plans. He believes that the time is not yet ripe, and the war can't bring disaster to more people, so he still focuses on self-cultivation.
Ban Chao brought back a letter from the Western Regions to the East. The local people thought he was abandoned by Han Ting, and some officials committed suicide to stop Ban Chao. Geng Bing died, and Xiongnu bled pear noodles. Ma Yuan offered his toes, and the local people offered sacrifices to each family. Zhuge Liang's "seven captures of Meng Huo" brought advanced civilization to the local area, and there are still many commemorative activities there. This is the war that Confucianism wants.