The title "Zhou Tianzi" means that the ideological and political hints of "great unification" have first appeared
The political historical nature of Chinese history is not innate, but has evolved from social history over a long period of time.
The thousand-year-old Shang Zhou, as a tribal alliance, has remarkable social historical attributes; However, the Western Zhou Dynasty is a typical "princely system of the Son of Heaven", and the title "Son of Zhou" means that the ideological and political clues of "great unification" have first emerged, and the ritual rule created by the Zhou Dynasty is also the basic institutional legacy of maintaining the grand unified politics, so the attributes of national history or political history deserve attention.
The Spring and Autumn Warring States period of more than 500 years in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty is almost equivalent to the city-state Europe after the Roman Empire, and its overall history is social history, but what the mainstream political system in the pre-Qin countries pursues and what the sons and daughters contend, are actually political ideas for governing the country, and all countries are running on the road of unification, so what seems to be a chaotic social history is actually a political history or national history with clear clues. This laid a solid historical foundation for the "Zhou-Qin Change", that is, from the "Son of Heaven princely system" of the Zhou Dynasty to the "Tianzi bureaucracy" of the Qin and Han dynasties.
After understanding the "Zhou and Qin Revolutions" and comparing the nation-states created by European wars, we can understand why Francis Fukuyama believes that Qin was the world's first modern state—and Westerners see the sovereign state as the most important symbol of modern politics.
After the Qin Dynasty, China entered the "national" period, and its history was naturally political history; Although there are also histories of division and civil strife similar to the Spring and Autumn Warring States such as the Wei and Jin Southern and Northern Dynasties, the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, etc., it seems to have a social history aspect, but the dynasties of these periods have a soft spot for the "great unification".
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China's political cognition is systematic, systematized and profound, no less than that of the West
Different from the writing tradition of Western thought, most of China's academic or ideological ideas are written by "front-line" politicians, summarizing their thoughts and their own practices as the way to govern the country, mostly expressed in the form of quotations, rather than conceptual and disciplinary expressions at the beginning, unlike ancient Greece. Nevertheless, China's political cognition is systematic, systematized and profound, no less than that of the West. "Politics" as an understanding of the "state" includes at least the grand unified order, the rule of propriety and law, the politics of popular hearts, and the tradition of governance. For the sake of ideological convenience, the importance of the rule of ritual law in the Chinese political tradition is not set aside here.
About the grand unified order. The history of ruling the world and the chaotic era is unified with the historical logic of the history of the unified country, which determines that Chinese's understanding of politics is certain. What politics or the state is used for, in the era of the Axis civilization, Chinese and ancient Greeks seemed to have a spiritual rhino, in order to achieve an ideal order, such as Aristotle's "highest good in the community", or as Plato called the "ideal state" under the philosopher-king, but the multi-unity of the community is difficult to achieve the "ideal state". In contrast, the Zhou Dynasty created a unified world order, Chinese first of all in the sense of a unified rule. As Dong Zhongshu said, "The great unifier of spring and autumn is the constant scripture of heaven and earth, and the friendship of ancient and modern times." Sima Guang of the Song Dynasty believed that "Gou cannot unify the nine states, and all have the name of the Son of Heaven and no reality." The Yongzheng Emperor of the Qing Dynasty did not forget to strengthen the great unification, "the inheritance of the lineage, the unity of the Chinese and foreign families since Yao Shun; The people used, large and small, the people of the Chinese and foreign families; The government practiced, the conquest of etiquette, the government of the Chinese and foreign families. ”
About popular politics. The grand unified order first needs to be "righteous" and "justified" in order to obtain the legitimacy of the rule. So, "Politician, Masaya." The righteous one, so the right one, also determines the destiny of all things. Confucius said, "When a saint governs, he must first correct his name." From the "mandate of heaven" of Yin Shang, the "virtue" of the Zhou Dynasty to the "people's heart" after the pre-Qin dynasty, this is where the legitimacy of politics lies. "The Son of Heaven is the mother of the people, and he thinks that he is the king of the world", "What the people want, heaven will follow", "Where the government is prosperous, it is in accordance with the people's heart", "In ancient times, the government is the ruler, and the love of the people is great".
People's politics must be people-oriented. The pre-Qin dynasty expressed it as people-based thinking, such as "the people are the state, the people are the state, the people are the state". Emperor Taizong of Tang believed that the people needed peace and tranquility, "for the sake of government, do everything in it." If China is not quiet, it will not benefit from afar. He also said, "The emperors of ancient times were in government, and they were all quiet in their minds, and they took the hearts of the people as their hearts." In the two thousand years of Chinese history after the Qin and Han dynasties, people-based thinking has been consistent. This history, which continues to this day, illustrates the inherent modernity of people-based thinking.
The politics of popular support must practice the government of "benevolence." Mencius said, "The benevolent loves others." Benevolence means extrapolating personal love: "The old man, and the old man; Childhood, and human childhood. Ren's extrapolation brings individuals into the community: "Take the world as one family, and China as one." "In this benevolent world, of course, the monarch must also practice benevolent government." The purpose of practicing benevolence and government is to achieve the unity of benevolence and harmony in the whole world: "If a gentleman is devoted to his relatives, the people will prosper in benevolence." ”
Most of Chinese's views on "politics" are based on "governance", that is, administrative management, governance and political governance of the country
If great unification is a state of course, the people's will is the ideological basis for realizing great unification, and governance is the practical basis of people's politics. As early as the pre-Qin period, there was a political economy of governance. Guan Zhongzhiqi's "Light and Heavy" and Shang Martin Zhiqin's "Shang Junshu" are what people call political economy thought today, which is described by later generations as "policy determinism". In comparison, there was almost no governance thought in ancient Greece and Rome, and the highest economic thought was Aristotle's observation on the division of labor (not to mention ideas), and economic thought has been in decline since Aristotle. As the Austrian school of economics believes, ancient Greece was basically a desert of economic thought, and after Aristotle's death, the development of economic theory declined, and by the Hellenistic era and Roman era between the 4th and 1st centuries BC, economic thought almost became blank. As for the political economy of Europe, that is, classical political economy, it was in the 17th century.
The tradition of governance of Chinese civilization has made most of Chinese's views on "politics" based on "governance", that is, administrative management, governance and political national governance. "Politics" in the administrative sense, such as "everything is given to the wild service, and the master is the wild people, and the handsome comes and controls the political prohibitions." "Whoever leads the dog is in charge of its politics." Xihan Jia Yi said in "On Accumulation and Storage", "Politics is not yet complete, and those who can doubt from afar will fight together." The Book of Sui recorded: "There are officials under the people who know that the county officials of Zhizhou County are politically harsh, infringe on the people, betray the public favoritism, and are not convenient for the people, and it is advisable to listen to the court's sealing, and there is no injustice in the world." ”
In the political sense, "politics" is national governance, as mentioned in the Book of Shang, "Taoqia politics, Zerun the people." There is a saying in Xunzi, "The moral (political) demand of speech is no less than the existence of peace; Words are no less than above. There is a saying in the "History", "If the king uses punishment to suppress violence, and the prince rewards the virtuous, then the politics are equal, and the punishment is a precaution." There is a saying in the "Records of the Three Kingdoms", "After the edict discussed the inconvenience of politics for the people, Fu Yi thought: 'To rule lies in Ren Xian, and to rejuvenate the country lies in farming.'" There is a saying in the "New Book of Tang", "The emperor asked the important points of politics, and sowed it: For the foundation of politics, there must be a Taoist sage to rule." ”
"Great unification - people's hearts - governance" roughly constitutes China's political logic or state theory since ancient times, and some scholars call it "governance theory". Great unification is the body of the country, the people's will is the political value, and governance is the political method of valuing the people. The politics of all periods are based on the purpose of a unified order, the people's mind, and the system of etiquette and law, so that political affairs can be effectively managed and the country can be effectively governed. Logically, only a certain and stable political order, that is, great unification, can win the hearts and minds of the people, allow the system to operate normally, and the country to be governed. Vice versa, only effective administration and state governance can maintain the system of propriety and law, gather the hearts of the people, and maintain unity.
Diplomacy is a continuation of internal affairs, and the same applies to the political analysis of ancient China. Internally, the unified politics based on benevolence and the people's hearts is externally a "public order" in which the world is united, the world is the public, and the world is one family. The principle of external behavior can be called "Confucius Improvement", which is the so-called "do unto others what you do not want" and "establish others when you want, and reach others when you want". In contrast to the zero-sum "Pareto improvement" that may benefit only a few, the Confucius improvement is a win-win behavioral paradigm. A community with a shared future for mankind based on the principles of consultation, co-construction and sharing is the political practice of "Confucius Improvement". To this end, in the "Belt and Road" initiative, advocating win-win results for all parties is also the realization of the "Confucius Improvement" principle.
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The "Confucius Improvement" level is higher
There is an important term in Western economics called "Pareto improvement" (or translated as "Pareto optimal"), which refers to the initiation of an action in a community, as long as no one's welfare is harmed, even if only one person's welfare is improved as a result, then it is an optimal path for resource allocation.
The level of "Confucius Improvement" is much higher than that of "Pareto Improvement". In Confucius's thinking, when I only want to develop, progress, and improve myself, without letting others follow me to succeed and become rich, this is not enough and not okay. Because our development must be linked with the common development and progress of others. This is the essence of the "Confucius Improvement". From the time of Confucius to today, China has always adhered to such a tradition of civilizational exchanges, and we have promoted the construction of the "Belt and Road" and proposed to build a community with a shared future for mankind, which is in line with this tradition. (Lu Qin)
(Original title: Political Cognition in National History)
Source: Beijing Daily Author Yang Guangbin and Li Huan (The authors are professors and doctoral supervisors at the School of International Studies, Chinese Minmin University, and doctoral students at the School of International Studies, Chinese Minmin University)
Process Editor: U027
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