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History of the Orchid Pavilion
Editor|History of the Orchid Pavilion
The first country where Telemax and Mentor arrived was Egypt. At that time, Egypt was ruled by King Sesostris, who had absolute power and a very strong state.
In his book, Feneron exaggerated the richness of Egypt at that time, which was like a thriving garden irrigated by countless canals. We stared intently at the banks of the river, with palatial cities, scattered country houses, land covered with golden fruits, and fertile pastures filled with livestock.
The reign of King Sesostris
Later, Mentor told Telemax that the reason for this sight was that "the king loves the people as he loves his own children, and the king is loved by the people because of it." The king's way of ruling is a kind of inaction, but the people feel more that their peace and happiness come from the king."
But the kings who feared the people were the "plague of the world", and although they succeeded in making the people fear themselves, the obedience they gained was based on hatred and fear, and under such rule, the people had to "fear" the king, but there was a fundamental difference from the reverence from the heart.
They were imprisoned shortly after their arrival because they had been arrested on board a Phoenician ship at war with Egypt, and the king's courtiers believed that they might have been preacherous agents sent by Phoenicia.
When they finally proved their identity to King Sesostris, Mentor pointed out that the Egyptian king's mistake was "to put himself above others, he could not see the truth through his own eyes, and the people around the king were careful to hide the facts from the king, deceiving the king that their interests were closely related."
Beneath the veneer of their enthusiasm hides personal ambitions, who pretend to love the king and in fact only care about the wealth that the king brings them: they do not love the king at all, but try to gain the king's favor, and they flatter the king at first and eventually betray him".
In this fable, Feneron expresses a similar point to that of the Catechism about how the king should choose his advisor.
If the king followed the advice of these people to wage war and chase luxury and glory, he could easily become a "foolish shepherd." Many kings were unfortunate, thinking they had ruled their men, but in fact they acted as tools to satisfy the personal interests and ambitions of the ruled.
Two utopian "ideal republics"
In The Adventures of Telemax, Feneron depicts two utopian "ideal states": Bétique and Salente.
The former is an idyllic republic, a small country with a pleasant climate and abundant products, and although the country is rich in gold and silver mines, the local people do not pursue luxury, but use gold and silver to make agricultural tools.
They do not trade with the outside world, there is no money circulation in the country, the entire people are engaged in agricultural production, there are only a few craftsmen who make the necessities of life, there are no craftsmen who produce luxury goods, and people are only satisfied with producing products necessary for life, and do not chase too much material wealth.
The people of Betica were struck by the politeness shown by Telemax and Mentor, who did not have these red tape in their dealings with people, a custom closely linked to the political system of their country. In his book, Feneron describes Betica's political system through the words of Adoam:
"They lived together and did not divide the land; All families are ruled by a patriarch, who is in fact the king of those families.
The parent of each family can punish his children and grandchildren for misconduct, but he often listens to the advice of other members of the family. These punishments are rarely seen because the people of this country are innocent and sincerely obedient to their parents and consciously turn away from evil.
They don't need judges, they rely on their conscience as judges. Everything is publicly owned, and the fruit on the trees, the harvest on the land, and the dairy products produced by livestock are so abundant that people can easily satisfy and do not need to be distributed.
All of them are free and equal. They only need the guidance of the most experienced and wise elders among them. ...... Within this country, fear, deception, violence, treachery and war are unheard of. Without human blood spilled on this land, even sacrifices to lambs rarely occur.
Feneron's real focus
When they heard of the bloody wars, rapid conquests and revolutions taking place in other countries, they were shocked: why should human beings, whose lives are so short, rush to put others in eternal death! ”
What Feneron really wanted to focus on was the kingdom of Salant, ruled by Idomeneus, who fought in the Trojan War with Telemax's father, Ulysses, and therefore received Telemax and Mentor warmly.
Idomeneus was very satisfied with his achievements in governing the country: "My enemies fear me, and my people love me. I rule over a powerful and warlike country, and my fame has spread among the most distant nations. I have a rich, prosperous kingdom in which more than a hundred cities pay tribute every year, and I am considered a descendant of Jupiter, who was born in Crete".
But it seemed to Telemax and Mentor that the capital of Idomeneus was being built at an alarming rate every day, but that it was the poor countryside that surrounded the bustling city.
The whole kingdom resembles a monster with a huge head but slender limbs. Idomeneus demonstrated his exploits through a grand sacrificial ceremony, and after the ceremony he asked the priest for God's will, as he prepared to wage a foreign war.
Although the two men discouraged him, Idomeneus insisted on launching an external conquest that he considered a threat to his kingdom.
The result of the war can be imagined, although Salant is a powerful kingdom, but at the same time against multiple kingdoms, facing multi-front battles, victories and defeats on the battlefield, the country is in a difficult situation.
Mentor's advice to Idomeneus
Mentor's advice to Idomeneus: "It is necessary to have a long peace before the population of your kingdom slowly recovers." Your energies should be focused on agriculture and enacting good laws.
Blind ambition will bring you ruin... You must correct your mistake immediately: stop building all palatial buildings; abolish all extravagance and grandeur that will destroy your new city; working to improve the situation of the majority of the population so that the population can be increased".
Among the advice offered by Mentor, the most important thing is to ensure that each family owns enough land. Land was divided into seven classes according to differences in social hierarchy, and one family could not be allowed to own the land it needed, nor could the nobility be allowed to annex the land of the poor.
The king's duty is not to reward those who produce the most products, but to punish those who do not produce enough products.
Feneron embodied an egalitarianism in the land issue, and the king's main task was to maintain a balance based on social hierarchy and necessary needs, which was intended to promote social equality rather than encourage competition and difference.
This social equality is not equality between different classes, but equality among members within hierarchies, with clear boundaries between different hierarchies.
The boundaries between these hierarchies are embodied in the intangible and tangible levels, and the intangible boundaries are the differences in rights, obligations and functions between social identities and social hierarchies.
Social hierarchy in France
French society at that time was divided into clergy, aristocracy and third estate, the first two of which were privileged classes, which were considered by the people of the time to be a preferential treatment for a certain class with special duties, and the nobility assumed the role of "warrior".
As a result, they enjoyed tax-free privileges and did not have to produce and work, and this "inequality" based on the reciprocity of rights and obligations seemed acceptable to people at the time;
Tangible boundaries are reflected in external manifestations such as dress and etiquette, and in France during the Ancien Régime, there were clear rules on the dress of different classes, the number of seats at public events, and the order and difference in ceremonies.
The reason why Feneron has always emphasized his opposition to luxury is that luxury is the encroachment of this hierarchical order, which breaks the so-called natural order between social classes and causes chaos.
Mentor's advice to Idomeneus was also what Fenellon wanted to say to Louis XIV,
"Remember that you are only king when you have subjects to rule, and your power is not judged by the number of territories you have, but by how many subjects you obey and support you."
In pursuing greatness, the king actually puts himself in danger, because greatness is like a magnifying glass that magnifies the king's shortcomings and mistakes infinitely.
The divine right of kings advocated by Feneron
Although in jurisprudence , Fenellon advocated the divine right of kings and believed that the king was the embodiment of God on earth, in political practice , he believed that the king , no matter how wise and wise, was still an ordinary man, and that the king's talents and virtues were imperfect.
The king's quest for greatness was to prove his divinity as a king, but in the process he exposed his flaws as an ordinary person in political practice.
When the king pursues greatness, the king is seen by the people as perfect, and they will gradually become accustomed to the great achievements of the king, but they will become more and more severe about the shortcomings and shortcomings in the king's actual actions. The result of this discrepancy was that the more power the king had in the state, the weaker his rule became.
For in such a country, the king regarded the kingdom and his subjects as his private property, and the subjects were the king's slaves. The subjects had to flatter the king and lie to the king in order to survive.
When the real problem arises, the king is either slow to make a decision or can easily make a wrong decision because he cannot hear it with his eyes closed, which will cause the king's "perfect" image to collapse among his subjects, the king's prestige will be lost, and the foundation of his rule will collapse.
This explains why, in a powerful country, even a small and short-lived rebellion can lead to the demise of the entire country, because a small rebellion is only a "spark", but it ignites the dissatisfaction and anger that people have suppressed for a long time.
bibliography
[1] [fr] Feneron, Telemax, Beijing: China University of Political Science and Law Press, May 2003, Cambridge History of Political Thought Original Series (photocopy), p. 152.