Economic and political background Xia, Shang and Western Zhou were all slave societies. In the slave society, the slave owners own all the means of production and the slaves themselves, and they practice the dictatorship of the slave owners politically, while the slaves who create wealth are in a position inferior to cattle and horses, without living security and personal freedom. The king is the biggest slave owner, and the state machine is centered on the king, forming a monarchy. The monarch was tyrannical over the slaves. Slaves are often killed at will and even become victims of slave owners. In order to get rid of the tragic fate, slaves took various forms to fight against slave owners. During this period, productivity was low and science was underdeveloped. Slave owners often used religion and theocracy to preach to rule the people.
From the end of the Spring and Autumn Period to the Opium War, China was in a feudal society for more than two thousand years. In feudal society, a few feudal landlords owned most of the land, while farmers had little or no land. Politically, the feudal monarchy of the landlord class was implemented, the emperor had supreme power, established a huge bureaucratic system with landlords and gentlemen as the backbone, and exercised cruel rule over the people. The peasants have no right to participate in and discuss state affairs, but only the obligation to obey. The contradiction between the peasants and the landlord class is the main contradiction in feudal society. In order to resist the economic exploitation and political oppression of the landlord class, farmers held hundreds of armed uprisings. The scale of peasant uprising and peasant war in the history of China is rare in the history of the world.
The stages of ancient Chinese political thought can be divided into three periods: Yin and Zhou Dynasties, Spring and Autumn Period and Warring States Period, Qin and Han Dynasties and before the Opium War.
During the Shang Dynasty and the Western Zhou Dynasty, China was in a slave society. At that time, the religious world outlook characterized by ancestor worship ruled everything. In the Shang and Zhou Dynasties, the dominant political thought was theocracy closely related to this religious world view. The ruler ruled under the guise of religious superstition. Combine theocracy with kingship, publicize the divine right of kingship, and claim that the king is ruled by the so-called supreme and dominant "God". Shang dynasty in Zhou dynasty had a great influence on the concept of divine right of monarch. In order to justify himself, Zhou rulers put forward the view that "God has no relatives, and virtue is the supplement". In this way, the monism of God gradually transited to the dualism of paying equal attention to destiny and personnel, and supplementing heaven with virtue. In the struggle of Shang Dynasty in Zhou Dynasty, Zhou rulers felt the power of the people and put forward political ideas such as "protecting the people" and "being cautious about punishment", which was the beginning of China's people-oriented thought. (See the color map [The southern Oracle bones in Xiaotun, Anyang, Henan Province, are dominated by the "emperor"]
During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, China was in a transitional period from a slave society to a feudal society, from which a feudal society was formed. The state ownership of land in slave society gradually changed into the private ownership of land in landlord class, which caused the change of class relations, and the superstructure of slave society gradually collapsed, which led to the decline of the royal family, the collapse of rites and music, the hegemony of princes, and the situation of "rites and music conquering princes" appeared. This is an era of great social division and turmoil. "Those who kill the king have it, and those who kill the father have it." "The monarch and the minister are impermanent, and the country is impermanent." Wars are frequent and people's lives are very painful. In order to achieve national unity and restore social order, some thinkers and politicians put forward plans to save the nation from extinction from their own class positions and understandings. At that time, the society was turbulent, the political control of the rulers was not very strict, the society had no absolute authority, and the speech was relatively free. Especially in the war years, all countries are in great need of talents, and intellectuals have a high status. Therefore, they are more active and less worried in political discussions, thus forming a situation in which a hundred schools of thought contend and academic prosperity is unprecedented. At that time, the famous schools of thought were Confucianism represented by Mencius and Xun Kuang, Legalism represented by Shang Yang and Han Fei, Taoism represented by Laozi, Mohism represented by Thought, and farming theory represented by Xu Behavior.
Kong Qiu, the founder of Confucianism, dreamed of returning to the relatively unified and quiet Western Zhou society, unifying people's words and deeds with the standard of Zhou Li, and establishing a social order of "Jun Jun, minister, father and son". He called on the rulers of all countries to "uphold the virtues of their ancestors, be both civil and military" and treat people and all interpersonal relationships with the humanitarian spirit of "kindness". He suggested to the rulers to govern the country by virtue, supplemented by punishment, but at the same time he put forward the idea of combining leniency with severity. He asked people to strengthen their moral cultivation and observe the golden mean and the principle of loyalty and forgiveness. Monk, who emphasized the rule of man and advocated "promoting talents", was born in the Warring States Period. He believed that the key to solving the current situation was to realize the reunification of China, and only benevolent people who were not addicted to killing could unify China. He gave full play to Confucius' thought of "benevolent people love others" and put forward the theory of benevolent government, which further developed the people-oriented thought in the late Western Zhou Dynasty. His theory is regarded as pedantic by the rulers. After Mencius, Xun Kuang affirmed some aspects of Confucianism and corrected its pedantry. He advocated respecting the monarch and loving the people; It not only advocates "long ceremony", but also emphasizes law, which makes a systematic play to ceremony; On the one hand, he publicized benevolence and morality, and at the same time, he also publicized the rule of law in punishment. He believes that "it is impossible to govern people", advocates meritocracy and opposes cronyism.
Legalists represented by Shang Yang and Han Fei advocated enriching Qiang Bing and cultivating fields. Advocating violence, emphasizing the rule of law, thinking that governing the country should be governed by law rather than wisdom, putting forward the views of "no hierarchy of punishment" and "stopping punishment with punishment", denying all ethics and advocating unity by force; It is required to strengthen social organizations and exercise strict control and supervision over the people. They also advocate autocratic monarchy and publicize dictatorship.
Taoism, represented by Laozi, advocates letting nature take its course, advocates inaction, yearns for the social life of small countries and few people, and opposes all legal systems and material civilization. Taoism requires people to be modest, to retreat for progress, and "weak wins over strong". Praise the heaven of "loss is greater than supply" and oppose the humanity of "loss is less than supply".
Mohism, represented by Mo Zhai, advocated Shang Tong and emphasized the idea of unifying the world with the Emperor and Heaven. Advocate virtue, that is, appoint people on their merits; Advocate fraternity, do not attack, and expose the evils of unjust wars.
The partisans of the agricultural school advocate that the people * * * plow the fields to eat, and there is no distinction between up and down.
The period from the Qin and Han Dynasties to the Opium War was a period of development and change of the theory of "Three Cardinals and Five Permits" with Confucianism as the core and absorbing other thoughts. This period can be divided into the following three stages:
(1) Confucianism is exclusive and theological, that is, the theological stage of the theory of "three cardinal guides and five permanents". The Qin dynasty unified the six countries with legalist politics, but it made legalist theory absolute and superstitious about violence, which led to its rapid demise. Monarchs, ministers and thinkers in the Han Dynasty believed that the rapid demise of Qin was due to "benevolence and righteousness were not applied, and the offensive and defensive potential was different". In view of the depression of people's livelihood at that time, they advocated adopting a more relaxed policy to closely relate to the people, develop production and stabilize social order, so the theory of Huang Lao came into being, drawing on the strengths of Taoism, Confucianism and Legalism. The study of Huang Lao advocates quietness, inaction and non-interference or less interference in people's affairs. However, Taoism is essentially negative, which can only temporarily alleviate its role after major political turmoil and cannot be used as a long-term political guiding principle. Due to the lesson of the rapid death of the Qin Dynasty, although the rulers refused to completely abandon the political theory of the Legalists, they were unwilling to openly adopt the ideas of the Legalists. Therefore, Confucianism, which is characterized by gentleness, steadiness and elegance, has become a theory respected by politicians and thinkers. After the advocacy of Lu Jia, Jia Yi and others, Dong Zhongshu timely put forward the proposal of "ousting a hundred schools of thought and respecting Confucianism alone", which was adopted by the emperor. Dong Zhongshu's Confucianism is not entirely the way of Confucius and Mencius, but a new Confucianism with Confucianism as the backbone and absorbing some thoughts of Yin and Yang, Taoism and Legalism. Philosophically, it advocates "the unity of man and nature", politically, it advocates "the divine right of monarch", ethically, it puts forward a systematic theory of "three cardinal guides and five permanents", and holds that "the three cardinal guides of kingcraft can be sought from heaven". During the Eastern Han Dynasty, Neo-Confucianism developed into divination theology and degenerated into superstition that predicted good and bad luck.
② Metaphysical stage of Confucianism. In the early Jin Dynasty, the country was temporarily unified, and soon the "Eight Kings Rebellion" appeared. Then the northern minorities confronted the Han nationality in the north and south, and the society was very dark. Due to social unrest and internecine fighting within the ruling class, intellectuals often suffer great disasters because of an careless remark, and a horrible atmosphere is formed in the society, so people dare not express their political views clearly, so metaphysics appears, which advocates Taoism, nothingness and inaction. Metaphysicists such as Yanhe and Wang Bi have established an idealistic ontology by interpreting the classics such as Laozi, Zhuangzi, The Analects of Confucius and Zhouyi, and demonstrated the rationality of the Three Cardinals and the Five Permits by using the categories of Taoism and nature, advocating that "Taoism is based on nature", combining Confucianism with Taoism, and Confucianism is metaphysical. In addition, the legalist thought represented by Cao Cao, Bao Jingyan's thought of no monarch, Fu Xuan's thought of running the country and Liezi's thought of indulgence also had a certain influence in this period.
③ The stage of Confucian philosophy. The Sui and Tang Dynasties still regarded Confucianism as the official political philosophy. In the Tang Dynasty, in order to strengthen the attraction and control of Confucianism, Han Yu wrote The Original Tao, which raised Confucianism to the height of "Tao" to understand and publicize, and cast a philosophical color on Confucianism. Rulers and some intellectuals in Song Dynasty summed up historical experience, absorbed some contents of Buddhism and Taoism which were popular at that time, and combined Confucianism with Buddhism and Taoism to make Confucianism philosophical and form Neo-Confucianism. Neo-Confucianism represented by Cheng Hao in Northern Song Dynasty, Cheng Yi and Zhu in Southern Song Dynasty is an objective idealist school in Neo-Confucianism, while Lu Jiuyuan and Ming Dynasty are subjective idealists in Southern Song Dynasty. Although Zhu Cheng's Neo-Confucianism and Wang Lu's Neo-Confucianism have different philosophies and attack each other, their ideological core is to maintain the "Three Cardinals and Five Permanences", demonstrate the rationality and eternity of the feudal system, and rationalize the autocratic monarchy and the feudal ruling order. They think that anything that goes against the doctrine of "Three cardinal guides and five permanents" is "human desire", and put forward the slogan of "preserving righteousness and destroying human desire" to suppress the people's revolutionary movement and limit the people's reasonable demands. They also exaggerate people's spiritual function and talk about sincerity, integrity, self-cultivation, keeping the family in order, governing the country and leveling the world. They believe that as long as people are sincere and upright, the world will be peaceful. In the middle and late Southern Song Dynasty, Neo-Confucianism gained the status of the official philosophy of the ruling class, which penetrated into all aspects of people's lives and ruled the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties for six or seven hundred years.
The main debate in the field of China's slave society and political thought, whether to emphasize destiny or personnel. Businessmen respect God and value destiny; Zhou people respected ceremony and valued personnel, so there is a record that "the country will prosper, listen to the people, and listen to the words of God when it dies".
In feudal society, the main problems in the field of political thought are:
Rule by courtesy and rule by law are the political propositions of Confucianism, and rule by law is the general plan of legalists. Ritual rule emphasizes nip in the bud and solve problems by gentle means. The rule of law emphasizes punishment afterwards, and uses violence to deter offenders. Different methods have the same purpose, all of which are to maintain the feudal social order and consolidate the rule of the landlord class.
Confucianism denies the equality of human beings and thinks that "things are different, and things also have feelings" and that "cheap things are expensive and unfilial, which is universal." They tried to establish a set of social norms characterized by hierarchy to regulate people's behavior, so that people lived in their own places and did not invade each other, in order to maintain the rule of the landlord class. Jia Yi in Han Dynasty, Sima Guang and Wang Anshi in Song Dynasty, and Confucianism in Ming Dynasty and Qing Dynasty all made a lot of comments on etiquette. Legalists do not deny the hierarchy, but they believe that the way to govern the country lies in rewards and punishments. They put forward the principles of rule of law, such as "there is no wisdom in appointing laws", "the monarch and ministers should obey Dafa", "there is no hierarchy in punishment" and "stopping punishment with punishment". They despise ethics and are superstitious about violence. They believe that "poetry, calligraphy, ceremony, music, kindness, cultivation, benevolence, honesty, debate and wisdom" are things of national subjugation, and advocate absolute monarchy and supremacy of the monarch. They built the rule of law on the principles of violence, dictatorship and the supremacy of monarchy. There was no rule of law in the modern sense in ancient China. The debate between rule by courtesy and rule by law is reflected in the debate between rule by virtue and rule by punishment.
The fundamental difference between the rule of virtue and the rule of punishment is that the former advocates convincing people with virtue, supplemented by punishment, while the latter advocates convincing people with strength. The former is the political proposition of Confucianism, while the latter is the political proposition of Legalists. Confucianism advocates binding people with courtesy to educate and influence those who don't keep etiquette. Kong Qiu said: "Governing the country by virtue." Monk said, "Virtue is king." Confucianism advocates the theory of good nature, believing that everyone has compassion, resignation, respect and right and wrong, and everyone can become Yao and Shun imperceptibly through education. They believe that this psychological change is the most fundamental change and the best way. Monk said: "Those who serve others with virtue are happy and sincere." They oppose the penalty method of legalists, and think that "law can punish people, but it can't make people mean, kill people and make people benevolent". Legalists believe that human nature is evil and it is impossible to persuade people to do good. They advocate violent politics, believe in convincing people with strength, and "stop punishment with punishment." Han Fei repeatedly emphasized the violent thoughts such as "Qiao Fa, but heavy punishment" and "punishment is not enough and makes people fear it".
There have been several debates about the rule of virtue and the rule of punishment in history. In Han Dynasty, Sang Hongyang believed that it was necessary to "bring the people to justice and punish them with law", while the representative figures of virtuous literature advocated that governing the country should "preserve benevolence and righteousness with the wind and cherish virtue" (On Salt and Iron). In the early Tang Dynasty, there was a debate between Wei Zhi and Feng De. Advocating teaching as the rule, Feng De emphasized that "Qin Wei law, Han is overbearing". In the Southern Song Dynasty, there was another argument between Zhu and He. Zhu emphasized kingliness, while he advocated "both can be used". Although Zhu Yuanzhang used severe punishment, he also sent letters many times to refute the suggestions of punishment. Later politicians regarded moral punishment as an indispensable two-handed means to govern the country and the people, or both punishment and moral punishment, or external Confucianism and internal law.
Rule of Man and Rule of Law Confucianism advocates rule of man, emphasizing the ruling ability, intelligence, prestige and influence of monarchs and officials at all levels. They pinned the rise and fall of the country on several rulers. They said: "Civil and military politics are laid out in the plan. If people exist, it is political action; When people die, they lose their political interests "(the golden mean). He also said: "People are cured, but there is no cure. "So they don't pay attention to the construction of the legal system, but emphasize the selection of officials and personnel; He advocated selecting and appointing talents. When Jie Jun was in office, he paid great attention to the utility of the rulers to set an example. Kong Qiu warned the rulers: "Politicians are just; Zi Shuai is right, who dares to be wrong? "He said," Be upright and act without orders; Its body is not right, although it is not obedient. "
Legalists emphasize that everything should follow the law and think that "one person's track is nothing like law." They believe that even a saint like Yao can't govern the country well by the subjective will of some people. On the other hand, if the law is complete, a king with moderate qualifications can govern the country well, and "it is impossible to keep the master and master the devil" (Han Feizi, Employing People). Legalists' so-called rule of law emphasizes violent rule and severe punishment, and their absolute monarchy and supremacy contradict their principle of rule of law. Therefore, the principle of rule of law put forward by legalists cannot be seriously implemented. The dispute between the rule of man and the rule of law in ancient China was actually the dispute between the rule of virtue and the rule of punishment.
In the history of China's ancient political thought, there has been a long-standing debate about the concept of justice and benefit. Confucianism emphasizes justice and thinks that the political principles, political direction and feudal ethics of feudal society are the foundation of the country. Kong Qiu said: "A gentleman is righteous and a villain is profitable." Monk said, "Why should the king be selfish? Only benevolence and righteousness. " They advocate killing for life and sacrificing their lives for justice. Confucianism does not oppose profit, advocates "righteousness before taking it", and opposes "seeing profit and forgetting righteousness". Legalists emphasize utility and deny morality. In order to seek utility, it can do whatever it takes. They preach utilitarianism, advocate ploughing, and emphasize that everyone "can't make profits with non-merits" and "the door to wealth must come from the soldiers". Han Fei denounced Kong Qiu, Mo Zhai, Zeng Shen, Shi Yu and other scholars as useless people.
Around justice and utility, Confucianism and Legalism have long attacked each other, both attacking a little, not as good as the rest. Legalists attacked Confucianism as "six lice" and one of the "five bugs". Confucianism attacked legalists for quick success and instant benefit, meanness and ingratitude. After the Han Dynasty, although there were no pure legalists and Confucianists, the dispute between righteousness and benefit did not stop. The debates between Sima Guang and Wang Anshi in Song Dynasty and between Zhu and Wang Anshi are the continuation of this debate.
According to legend, before the Xia Dynasty, Yao Shun abdicated and ruled the world. Yu Xia gave his son to someone else and started his own family. After the establishment of the Qin Dynasty, Ying Zheng regarded the world as his own, calling himself "the first emperor", hoping to pass it on to future generations. From then on, it is natural that emperors should rule the country at home. However, there is also the idea of "ruling the world" in history. As recorded: Jie Guibo, at the meeting of three thousand governors, Tang warned: "The position of the son of heaven can be taken care of by those who have the means." There is no family in the world, and there is also a way. " "Six Towers" records: Taigong said: "The world is not the world of one person, but the world of the world. Those who win the world together win the world, and those who win the world well lose the world. " "Lu's Spring and Autumn Annals" also said: "The world is not the world of one person, but the world of the world." Wang Fuzhi, Gu and other thinkers in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties all advocated "ruling the world" and opposed "home to the world". Wang Fuzhi pointed out: "The rise and fall of a surname is private; And the death of the people, the public is also ",and said:" The world is not a private name "and so on.
People-oriented and monarch-oriented people-oriented theorists believe that people are the foundation of the country. Only by attaching importance to and caring for the people can the country be peaceful, that is, the so-called "people are the foundation of the country, and foundation is the foundation of the country." After the Western Zhou Dynasty, this idea can be seen everywhere in ancient books at that time. For example, according to the Book of History, Hao Tao said that to govern the country, "knowing people and keeping the people safe", "keeping the people safe is beneficial, and the people are pregnant with it". The Book of Escape records: "Heaven regards oneself and others, Heaven listens to oneself and others" and "Heaven obeys what people want". "Guoyu" records: "It is better to keep the people's mouth than to keep Sichuan. If the river collapses, it will hurt many people. " "Zuo Zhuan" records: "The country will be rich and strong, and listen to the people." Monk developed this idea to the peak. In Mencius, the book is full of arguments such as "keeping the people king", "the benevolent is invincible", "winning the way of the world, winning the world with its people" and "attacking its people violently will destroy its country". Jia Yi of the Western Han Dynasty further developed this idea. Liu Zongyuan in the Tang Dynasty put forward the idea that officials should "serve the people, not the people". At the end of the Qing dynasty, Tang Zhen also emphasized: "sealing the border and consolidating the people; Treasure is filled by people; Imperial court, respected; Official position, people support. " People-oriented thought is a very valuable part in the history of China's ancient political thought.
Contrary to the people-oriented thought, it is the monarch-oriented thought. Monarchists believe that the monarch is supreme, no matter how bad the monarch is, it should not be abolished. "Although your master is greedy, I dare not invade him" (Korean). Monarchists advocate that the monarch mainly controls his subjects with political skills, playing with them in the palm of his hand and treating them as slaves. They emphasize the absolute authority of democracy, saying that "a wise monarch is above everything, and a minister is completely afraid of below", and that "if you have meritorious service, you will have meritorious service, and if you have meritorious service, you will be punished by a minister" (Korean). They ignored the demands of the people and imposed their will on them. Han Fei said: "It is the end of chaos to suit the people for the sake of politics, and it cannot be treated with it." He also said: "Those who are in the hearts of the people will do whatever they want." They believe that people don't know their own interests and can only rely on the help of "heroes" because "the wisdom of the people is unavailable, and the heart of the baby is still there." Emperor Wen of Han insisted on Han Fei's point of view and opposed Jie He's attack. He thought that "Tang Wu was not ordered, but killed" and said that the emperor was like a crown. "Although the crown is open, it will be added to the head. Although the performance is new, it must be consistent with the foot. No matter what, it is divided into upper and lower levels "("Hanshu Biography "). Li Shimin in the Tang Dynasty also warned that "although a monarch is not a monarch, I cannot refuse to be a minister". In the Qing Dynasty, Yongzheng preached that "heaven is superior to the earth, and the division between monarch and minister has been decided". As a minister, you should only know that you have a gentleman. "
Absolute monarchical power, relative monarchical power and no monarchical power: Legalists such as Shang Yang and Han Fei advocate absolute monarchical power and think that monarchical power is supreme. Shang Yang said: "Whoever has the power, the monarch has the only control." Han Fei said, "He who can act arbitrarily can be the master of the world." They think that the monarch's words are the absolute truth, and no one can criticize them, denouncing Guan Longfeng, Prince Bigan, Sui, Chen, Chu, Wu Zixu and others in history, saying that these people "can't stand the ancient sages, but today, they will use them with confidence". They even forbid people to discuss state affairs. During Shang Yang's political reform, people were not allowed to speak ill of his law, nor were they allowed to speak well of his law. He thinks that anyone who praises or criticizes the law is a "mob" and "moved to the border town".
Confucianism of Confucius and Mencius also emphasized the will of the monarch, the minister and the father, and advocated the way of respecting the monarch and being close to him, but their monarchical power was relative and conditional. While enjoying rights, we should also fulfill our obligations. If you don't fulfill your obligations as a monarch, I have reason not to fulfill my obligations as a minister. Kong Qiu said: "The monarch makes the minister polite, and the minister is loyal to the monarch." He also said, "courtesy is good, and the people are good." Monk pointed out: "Your minister is like a hand and a foot, so I will treat you as a heart. If you treat me as a dog or a horse, then I will treat you as a Chinese." If you treat me like dirt, then I regard you as a coward. "
Bao Jingyan in Jin Dynasty opposed absolute monarchy and put forward the theory of no monarch. He pointed out: "The ancients had no monarch, so this life is better." At the end of the Song Dynasty, Deng Mu wrote about Jun Dao and imagined an anarchic society without monarchs and officials. At the end of the Ming Dynasty, Huang Zongxi made a fierce criticism of the monarchical power in the Yuan Army.
Equality and Difference Equality and difference is a topic of debate in the history of ancient political thought in China. Excessive uneven distribution of social wealth will inevitably lead to social unrest. Therefore, the field of political thought will inevitably produce equality and equal thoughts. Kong Qiu has long said: "Don't suffer from widowhood, but suffer from inequality." The Book of Rites and Li Yun also said: "The trip to the Avenue is also a business." Dong Zhongshu also opposes being rich and poor, and advocates being rich and poor. Wang Anshi's political reform has the content of equal wealth. As for the peasant uprisings of past dynasties, the slogan was "all rich".
Contrary to the idea of equality, some thinkers advocate differences and oppose equality between the rich and the poor. Han Fei believes that the reason why the rich are rich is the result of hard work and thrift, and the reason why the poor are poor is the result of laziness and extravagance. If you "collect from the rich and give it to the poor, it is a waste of energy and laziness" (Han Feizi Xianxue). In Song Dynasty, Su Zhe criticized Wang Anshi's practice of "trying to enrich the people and help the poor" with the principle that "things are not unified, and things also have feelings". Sima Guang also criticized Wang Anshi's practice of balancing the rich and the poor. He said that the disparity between the rich and the poor is determined by different talents. It is not the poor who raise the rich, but the poor who live by the rich. When the rich are poor, the poor lose their dependence. Once the country is in trouble, "who will pay for the munitions?" ("Sima Wengong's Anthology, Begging for Help, Planning and Planning")
Centralization and decentralization implemented the enfeoffment system in the Western Zhou Dynasty, which led to the separation of local princes and kings, and the outcome was too big to fail, and the Zhou Emperor existed in name only. Qin Shihuang and Li Si punished the funeral of the Western Zhou Dynasty, abolished feudalism, set up counties and strengthened centralization, which caused a great debate between the enfeoffment theorists represented by Chun and Wang and the county theorists represented by Qin Shihuang and Li Si. The enfeoffment theorists emphasize that "the past is not forgotten" and think that Chun and others have said that "it is related to three generations and we must learn". Some people think that the rapid demise of the Qin Dynasty was due to the isolation created by the abolition of feudalism, so the discussion on the enfeoffment system resumed. The Han dynasty adopted a compromise approach, and counties and counties sealed the country in parallel. Shortly after the founding of the Han dynasty, the king with the same surname grew stronger and stronger, and finally there was a "Seven Kingdoms Rebellion". Jia Yi, Chao Cuo and others spoke loudly about the disadvantages of sealing the country, wrote to Emperor Wen of Han Dynasty and Emperor Jing of Han Dynasty, and urged to weaken local power. Before and after the establishment of the Western Jin Dynasty, Cao, Lu Ji and others advocated the enfeoffment system, emphasizing that "the ancient kings must have the same surname, and the Ming dynasty has relatives, and the different surnames are wise". He also said that the enfeoffment system "makes all ethnic groups maintain each other and become rock-solid." The partial implementation of the enfeoffment system in the early Western Jin Dynasty quickly led to the "Eight Kings Rebellion" and laid the foundation for the collapse of the Western Jin Dynasty. At the beginning of the establishment of the Tang Dynasty, Xiao put forward the idea that "the feudalism of the three generations lasted for a long time, and the Qin dynasty died alone", but this idea failed to be realized due to the resistance of others. After Wu Zetian, Herry Liu and others advocated this saying, saying that "there is no soil to stand a knight, the official is not in place, and it is not an ancient road"; "Counties and counties can be Xiao Ning, not for a long time." In the middle and late Tang Dynasty, the idea of enfeoffment reappeared in order to meet the needs of the separatist forces in the buffer regions. Liu Zongyuan wrote "On Feudalism", which strongly countered the argument of enfeoffment system. The article "On Feudalism" summarizes the debate on decentralization and centralization since Qin and Han Dynasties. In the early Ming dynasty, there was also a struggle to separate the princes and fight against them.
In ancient China, apart from the royal family's determination of successors according to the principle of "not taking virtue as virtue", they all advocated meritocracy and having both ability and political integrity when selecting assistants. "Respect for relatives" is mainly the privilege of the royal family in material interests, not the principle of selecting talents. Although there was no theoretical debate about meritocracy or cronyism in ancient China, there was a struggle between meritocracy and cronyism in real political life. In view of the political phenomenon of cronyism, progressive thinkers and politicians in the history of China have published a lot of expositions on appointing people on their merits. Shangshu put forward the principle of "being honest and clean" (promoting modest but talented people), while Kong Qiu said: "If you raise it wrong, the people will obey, and if you raise it wrong, the people will not accept it." Mo Zhai said, choose and employ persons should "not form a party, not be partial to wealth, not seize the color, and saints should raise it". Monk advocates "respecting the virtuous and appointing the competent, and Jie Jun is king", and Xun Kuang also has many expositions. Later generations advocated meritocracy and criticized nepotism. For example, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty sought for sages, emphasizing that "sages are rewarded and sages are covered." Zhuge Liang said: "The way to govern the country lies in cultivating talents." He also said: "Dear ministers are far from villains. The reason why the Han dynasty flourished was that it was close to the villain and far from the sage. Since then, the Han Dynasty has perished. " In the Tang Dynasty, Li Shimin advocated meritocracy and opposed cronyism. He often says, "When I appoint officials, I have to make a choice. If you can't do it, although I am a close relative, it is not worth it. "
The content of ancient Chinese political thought is very rich. The above ten aspects are only the most controversial and discussed issues in the history of China's ancient political thought, but not all of them. In addition, ideas such as patriotism, inaction and business supremacy are also discussed from time to time.
Characteristics The characteristics of ancient Chinese political thought are as follows: ① The reality of content. The problems involved in ancient Chinese political thought are generally the reflection of real politics or the summary of political practice experience and lessons. The successful experience and lessons of a dynasty often become the material of political thoughts of politicians and thinkers in later generations. They think and demonstrate the gains and losses of the past, providing new principles for future rulers to correct the losses of the previous generation, with little abstract speculation and tedious argumentation. ② Stability of content. The feudal society in China is a long historical period. During this period, the development of productive forces was slow, the relations of production rarely changed, and correspondingly, political thoughts rarely changed. In China's 3,000-year feudal society, although the manifestations of political thoughts have changed from theology to metaphysics and from metaphysics to Neo-Confucianism, the central ideas expressed by theology, metaphysics and Neo-Confucianism are basically the same, all of which are respecting heaven and learning from the scriptures, the three cardinal principles and the five permanent principles, benevolence and morality. Generally, the issues under debate are the rule of man and the rule of law, the rule of virtue and punishment, kingship and hegemony, the supremacy of people-oriented and monarchical power, the relative and absolute monarchical power, the respect for sages and relatives, peaceful merger, national resistance and national surrender, justice and utility, etc. ③ Ethicization of political thought. Throughout the history of China, although legalist thinkers rejected ethics, this thought did not dominate, but Neo-Confucianism, which was dominated by Confucius and Mencius' political thoughts and integrated with other theories. It combines politics and ethics closely. Although generally not opposed to violence, it pays more attention to ethics, emphasizes "ruling the country by virtue", preaches "propriety, justice and shame, four dimensions of the country", stresses honesty, integrity, self-cultivation, keeping the family in order, ruling the country and calming the world, and regards the three cardinal principles and five permanent members as the foundation of governing the country. Ethical and political thoughts have a great influence on China society.