Ancient Chinese political thought, what are the aspects included?

Mainly, it refers to the political thought since the Shang Dynasty, the Western Zhou Dynasty to the time before the Sino-Japanese War. Political thought arose with the emergence of the state. Historians generally believe that the earliest state in ancient China arose in the Xia Dynasty. However, due to the lack of credible historical information, the study of ancient Chinese political thought generally begins with the Yin-Shang and Western Zhou periods.

Economic and political background Xia, Shang and Western Zhou were all slave societies. In the slave society, the slave masters possessed all the means of production and the slaves themselves, and politically practiced the dictatorship of the slave masters, while the slaves who created wealth were in a position inferior to that of cows and horses, with insecure lives and no personal freedom. The king was the biggest slave owner, and the state apparatus was centered on the king, forming a monarchy. The monarch was dictatorial and practiced tyrannical rule over the slaves. Slaves were often killed arbitrarily and even became the martyrs of slave owners. In order to get rid of their miserable fate, the slaves took various forms to fight against the slave masters. During this period, productivity was low, science was not developed, and slave masters often adopted religion and theocratic preaching to rule the people.

For more than two thousand years, from the end of the Spring and Autumn Period to the Opium War, China was a feudal society. In feudal society, the few feudal landlords owned most of the land, while the peasants had little or no land at all. Politically, the feudal monarchy of the landowning class was practiced, with the emperor having supreme power and establishing a huge bureaucracy with the landowning gentry as the mainstay, exercising brutal rule over the people. The masses of peasants did not have any right to participate in politics, only the obligation to obey. The contradiction between the peasants and the landlord class was the main contradiction in feudal society. In order to resist the economic exploitation and political oppression of the landlords, the peasants held hundreds of armed uprisings. The scale of peasant revolts and peasant wars in Chinese history is rare in world history.

Staging of Political Thought Ancient Chinese political thought can be divided into three periods: Yin and Zhou, the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, and the Qin and Han periods before the Opium War.

Yin and Zhou Dynasties During the Shang and Western Zhou Dynasties, China was in a slave society, and the religious worldview characterized by ancestor worship ruled everything at that time. In the Shang and Western Zhou dynasties, the dominant political ideology was the theocratic ideology, which was closely related to this religious worldview. Rulers ruled under the guise of religious superstition. Combining divine right and royal right, they preached the divine right of kings, claiming that the king came to the earth to rule by the order of the so-called supreme and sovereign "God". The replacement of the Shang by the Zhou gave a big blow to the concept of divine right of kings. In order to justify himself, the ruler of the Zhou put forward the idea that "the emperor has no relatives, and only virtue is a complement". In this way, the monism of God gradually transitioned to the dualism of virtue as a supplement to heaven, which emphasized both heavenly orders and human affairs. During the Zhou's struggle to replace the Shang, the Zhou rulers sensed the power of the people and put forward political ideas such as "protecting the people" and "prudent punishment," which was the beginning of the Chinese nationalistic ideology. (See the colorful picture [oracle bone fragments from Xiaotun, Anyang, Henan Province, with a record of the "emperor" who dominated the earth])

Spring and Autumn, Spring and Warring States Periods This was the period when China transitioned from a slave society to a feudal society, and when a feudal society was formed. The gradual change from the state-owned land system of the slave society to the private land system of the landowning class led to the change of class relationship, the superstructure of the slave society was disintegrating, the royal family was declining, the rites and music were broken, the vassals were fighting for supremacy, and "the rites and music and conquests came out from the vassals". This was an era of great social division and turmoil, in which "subjects killed their rulers and sons killed their fathers", "rulers and ministers had no permanent positions, and the gods of earth and grain had no permanent support", and there were frequent wars, making the people's lives very miserable. In order to realize the unity of the country and restore social order, some thinkers and politicians put forward the scheme of salvation from their respective class positions and understanding. At that time, society was in turmoil, the political control of the rulers was not very strict, there was no absolute authority in the society, and speech was relatively free. Especially during the war years, countries needed talents and intellectuals had a higher status, so they were more active and less concerned about politics and deliberation, which led to the formation of a hundred schools of thought and unprecedented prosperity of academics. At that time, the famous schools of thought were Confucianism represented by Kong Qiu, Meng Ke and Xun Zi, Legalism represented by Shang Yang and Han Fei, Taoism represented by the book of Laozi, Mozai represented by Mohism, and Agriculturalism represented by Xu Bei.

Kong Qiu, the founder of Confucianism, fantasized about returning to the relatively united and quiet Western Zhou society, using the Zhou rituals as the standard to unify people's speeches and actions, and establishing a social order of "ruler, minister, father, son". He appealed to the rulers to "follow the example of Yao and Shun, and adopt the Charter of Wen and Wu", and to treat the people and deal with all interpersonal relationships in the humanitarian spirit of "love of mankind". He suggested to the rulers that the state should be ruled by virtue and supplemented by punishment, but at the same time, he also put forward the idea of ruling the state with leniency to help the fierce and the fierce to help the leniency. He asked people to strengthen their moral cultivation and abide by the Middle Way and the Way of Loyalty and Forgiveness. He emphasized the rule of man, and advocated the "promotion of virtuous talents". Meng Ke, who was born in the Warring States period, believed that the key to solving the current situation was to realize the unification of China, and that only a benevolent person who "does not want to kill" could unify China. He put forward the theory of benevolent government, which was based on Confucius' idea of "the benevolent man loves the people", and further developed the idea of people-oriented government in the late Western Zhou Dynasty. His teachings were regarded by the rulers as pedantic, but Xun Zi, who came after Meng Ke, recognized certain aspects of Confucianism and corrected its pedantry, which was not suitable for the world. He advocated respect for the ruler as well as love for the people; he advocated the "promotion of rites" as well as the importance of the law, and made systematic use of the rites; he propagated benevolence, righteousness, and morality on the one hand, and the rule of law by way of penalties on the other. He believed that "there are rulers, no rule of law", advocating meritocracy and opposing nepotism.

The Legalists, represented by Shang Yang and Han Fei, advocated the enrichment of the country and the strengthening of the army, and advocated cultivation and warfare; they respected violence and emphasized the rule of law, and believed that the state should be governed by the law rather than by the rule of law, and they put forward the view that "there is no hierarchy in the punishment" and "punishment is not a punishment", and they denied all ethics and morality, and advocated unification by force. They advocated unification by force; they demanded the strengthening of social organization and strict control and supervision of the people. They also advocated absolute monarchical power and propagated dictatorship.

The Taoists, represented by the book of Laozi, advocated that everything should be in accordance with nature, advocated the rule of inaction, and aspired to the social life of a small country with a small population, opposing all legal systems and material civilization. Taoism asks people to be modest and to make concessions, to retreat in order to advance, and to "overcome the weak with the strong". It praises the heavenly way of "making up for what is lacking" and opposes the humanistic way of "not enough to make up for what is lacking".

The Moists, represented by Mo Zhai, advocated the idea of unity, emphasizing the unity of the world's thinking in the Son of Heaven and the unity of Heaven; advocated the idea of virtue, that is, the only way to employ people is to be virtuous; and advocated the idea of love and love, and non-attack, exposing the evils of unrighteous war.

The partisans of the agrarian school advocated that the ruler and the people *** plowing and eating, without the distinction of upper and lower ranks.

Before the Qin and Han Dynasties and the Opium War, this was the period of development of the "Three Principles and Five Constants", which was formed by taking Confucianism as the core and absorbing other schools of thought. This period can be divided into the following three stages:

① The theologization of Confucianism and the exclusivity of Confucianism, i.e., the theologization stage of the "Three Principles and Five Constants". The Qin dynasty unified the six states by practicing legalistic politics, but the absolutization of legalistic doctrines and the superstitious belief in violence led to a quick death. According to the Han monarchs, officials and thinkers, Qin's quick demise was due to the fact that "benevolence and righteousness were not practiced, and the situation of attack and defense was different". In response to the situation of the people's livelihood at that time, they advocated the implementation of a more lenient policy, in order to rest with the people, development of production, and stabilization of the social order, and so the Huanglao school of thought came into being, which drew on the strengths of Taoism, Confucianism, and the law. Huang Lao advocated tranquility and quietness, advocated doing nothing to rule, and practiced a policy of non-interference or less interference in the affairs of the people. However, Taoist thinking was negative in nature and could only provide temporary relief after major political upheavals, but could not be used as a long-term political guideline. As a result of the quick demise of the Qin Dynasty, the rulers, though unwilling to abandon the political doctrines of the Legalists, were reluctant to openly adopt their ideas, and thus Confucianism, which was characterized by moderation, steadiness, and elegance, and which emphasized entering the world, became the doctrine that politicians and ideologues revered. After being advocated by Lu Jia, Jia Yi and others, Dong Zhongshu put forward the timely proposal of "Dismissing the Hundred Schools and Exclusively Respecting the Confucians", which was adopted by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. Dong Zhongshu's Confucianism was not exactly the way of Confucius and Mencius, but was a modified Neo-Confucianism with Confucianism as the backbone and certain ideas of Yin-Yang, Taoism and Legalism absorbed. Philosophically, it publicizes "the harmony between heaven and man"; politically, it publicizes "the divine right of kings"; ethically, it puts forward the systematic "Three Principles and Five Constants", and believes that "the three principles of the Way of the King can be sought, and the three principles of the Way of the King can be sought, and the three principles of the Way of the King can be sought. The three principles of the Way of the King can be found in heaven". In the Eastern Han Dynasty, Neo-Confucianism developed into prophecy theology, metamorphosed into the superstition of prediction of good and bad luck.

② Confucianism metaphysical stage. At the beginning of the Jin Dynasty, the country was temporarily unified, and soon there was the "Rebellion of the Eight Kings", followed by the confrontation between the northern ethnic minorities and the Han Chinese people in the north and south, and the wars were endless, and the society was very dark. As a result of the social turmoil and the internecine fighting within the ruling class, intellectuals were often caught in serious trouble because of their careless words, and a climate of terror was formed in the society. People did not dare to express their political views distinctly, and thus metaphysics, which advocated Taoism and publicized nothingness and advocated the rule of inaction, appeared. He Yan, Wang Bi and other metaphysicians established an idealistic ontology by annotating Laozi, Zhuangzi, Lunyue, Zhouyi and other classics, utilizing the categories of Tao and "nature" in Taoist thought to justify the Three Principles and Five Rules, and propagating the idea that "the name of the religion is based on nature". "The Confucianism was metaphysicalized by the combination of Confucianism and Taoism. In addition, Cao Cao as the representative of the legalist thought, Bao Jingyan's thought of no ruler, Fu Xuan's pragmatic thought, "Liezi" book as the representative of the indulgence of thought in this period also has a certain influence.

③ Confucianism philosophizing stage. Sui, Tang and the Song dynasty are still pursuing Confucianism as the official political philosophy. In order to strengthen the attraction and control of Confucianism, the Tang dynasty Han Yu wrote "the original Road", the Confucianism to the "Road" height to understand and publicize, to Confucianism a layer of philosophical color. The ruler of the Song Dynasty and some intellectuals summed up the historical experience and absorbed certain contents of Buddhism and Taoism which were popular at that time, combining Confucianism with Buddhism and Taoism, so as to philosophize Confucianism and form the science. The Cheng-Zhu School of Reason represented by Cheng Hao and Cheng Yi of the Northern Song Dynasty and Zhu Xi of the Southern Song Dynasty is the objective idealistic school of Reason, while the Lu-Wang School of Mind represented by Lu Jiufen of the Southern Song Dynasty and Wang Shouren of the Ming Dynasty is the subjective idealistic school of Reason. Although the philosophical viewpoints of Cheng-Zhu and Lu-Wang Xianxue are different and they attack each other, the core of their thoughts is to defend the "Three Principles and Five Constants", to prove the rationality and eternity of the feudal system, and to rationalize the power of the king and the order of the feudal rule in the heavenly realm. They believed that whatever contradicted the dogma of "Three Principles and Five Constant Rules" was "human desire", and put forward the slogan of "Keeping Heavenly Reason and Destroying Human Desire" to suppress the revolutionary movement of the people and restrict the reasonable demands of the people. They also exaggerated the role of the human spirit. They also exaggerated the role of the human spirit, talking about sincerity, righteousness, cultivation of the body, family, country, and world peace, believing that as long as people's intentions are sincere and their hearts are right, the world will be peaceful. In the middle and late Southern Song Dynasty, Cheng Zhu's philosophy gained the status of the official philosophy of the ruling class, penetrated into all aspects of people's lives, and dominated the Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties for six to seven hundred years.

Main Issues of Debate in the Field of Political Thought The main issue of debate in political thought in Chinese slave society was whether to emphasize the Mandate of Heaven or personnel. The merchants respected the gods and emphasized the fate of heaven, while the Zhou people respected the rites and emphasized the personnel, and thus there is a record of "when the country is about to rise, listen to the people, and when it is about to fall, listen to the gods".

In feudal society, the main issues of political thought are:

Rites and the rule of law Rites and the rule of law is the political advocacy of Confucianism, the rule of law is the rule of law of the state. The rule of etiquette emphasizes preventing problems before they occur and solving them by gentle means. The rule of law emphasizes punishment after the fact, using violence to deter offenders. The methods are different, but the goal is the same, both of them aim to maintain the order of feudal society and consolidate the rule of the landlord class.

The Confucians denied the equality of human beings, believing that "the disparity of things, the feelings of things", and that "the lowly serve the noble, the ungrateful serve the virtuous, is the common sense of the world". They tried to establish a set of social norms featuring a hierarchical system to regulate people's behavior, so that people would be in their own place and would not encroach on each other in order to maintain the rule of the landlord class. Jia Yi of the Han Dynasty, Sima Guang and Wang Anshi of the Song Dynasty, as well as the Ming and Qing Confucians, all made a great deal of remarks about ritual. The Legalists did not deny the hierarchical system, but they believed that governance lay in reward and punishment. "They despised ethics and morality and were obsessed with the rule of law. They despised ethics and morality, were superstitious about violence, believed that the ten principles of "poetry, calligraphy, etiquette, music, goodness, cultivation, benevolence, honesty, defense and wisdom" were the things that killed the country, and propagated monarchical dictatorship and monarchical supremacy. They based the rule of law on the principles of violence, dictatorship and monarchical supremacy. In ancient China, there was no rule of law in the modern sense, and the debate between the rule of law and the rule of etiquette was reflected in the debate between the rule of virtue and the rule of punishment.

Rule of Virtue and Rule of Punishment The fundamental difference between the rule of virtue and the rule of punishment is that the former advocates convincing people by virtue, supplemented by punishment, while the latter advocates convincing people by force. The former is the political advocacy of the Confucian school, the latter is the political advocacy of the Legalist. Confucianism advocates the use of rites to restrain people and the use of indoctrination to sensitize those who do not observe the rites. Confucius said, "To govern with virtue." Meng Ke said, "He who practiced benevolence by virtue was king." Confucianism advocates the theory of sexual goodness, believing that everyone has the heart of compassion, resignation, respect, and right and wrong, and that it is possible to subconsciously make everyone Yao and Shun through indoctrination. They believe that this psychological transformation is the most fundamental transformation and the best way. Meng Ke said, "Those who convince people by virtue are pleased and sincerely convinced." They opposed the Legalist approach to punishment, believing that "the law can punish people, but it cannot make them honest; it can kill people, but it cannot make them benevolent." Legalists believe that human nature is evil, "solid pride in love and listen to the power", using persuasion to make people good is impossible, advocating violent politics, advocating force to convince people, "punishment to stop the punishment". Han Fei repeatedly emphasized the idea of violence, such as "the king of the bright cliffs its law, and strict punishment", "punishment is not as heavy as necessary, so that the people are afraid of it" and so on.

There have been several debates in history about the rule of virtue and the rule of punishment. During the Han Dynasty, Sang Hongyang believed that the rule of the people need to "bring to justice, broken by the punishment", while the representatives of the Xianliang literature advocated that the rule of the country should be "storage of benevolence and righteousness to the wind, broad virtue to the Huai" (Salt and Iron Theory). At the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, there was a debate between Wei Zheng and Feng De. Wei Zheng advocated the use of indoctrination as a means of governance, while Feng De emphasized that "the Qin dynasty is governed by law, and the Han dynasty is governed by a mixture of hegemony". Zhu Xi and Chen Liang of the Southern Song Dynasty also had a "king and hegemony" debate. Zhu Xi emphasized the way of the king, Chen Liang advocated "king and hegemony". Although Zhu Yuanzhang was harsh in his use of punishment, he issued many edicts refuting the suggestion of punishment. The politicians of the later generations regarded virtue and punishment as the two essential hands of governing the country and the people, or the punishment of virtue and the application of both, or the external Confucianism and the internal law.

Rule of man and rule of law The Confucians advocated the rule of man, emphasizing the rule by relying on the personal ability, intelligence, prestige and influence of the monarch and officials at all levels. They put the rise and fall of the country and the nation in the hands of a few rulers. They said: "The rule of civil and military affairs is based on square policies; if their people survive, then their rule will be realized; if their people die, then their rule will cease" (Rituals of the Middle Ages). Also said: "There are rulers, no rule of law." Therefore, they do not attach importance to the construction of the legal system, but emphasize the selection of officials, the use of talent; advocate the selection of the wise and capable, handsome in the position, and is very concerned about the utility of the ruler's role as an example. Kong Qiu admonished the ruler, said: "the government, is also; son handsome to the right, who dares not", and said: "its body is right, do not order; its body is not right, although the order does not follow".

The Legalists emphasized everything from the law, that "a people's track is not like the law". They believed that only with the subjective will of some people, is like Yao like the saints can not put the country well governed. On the contrary, a moderately qualified king could govern the country well if the law is well cultivated, and "if the middle lord keeps the law ...... then all will not be lost" (Han Fei Zi - Employing People). The so-called rule of law of the Legalists emphasized violent rule and harsh punishment, and the dictatorship of the monarch and the supremacy of the monarch that they advocated were contradictory to their principle of the rule of law. Therefore, it was practically impossible for the rule of law principles put forward by the Legalists to be seriously implemented. The debate between the rule of man and the rule of law in ancient China was actually still a debate between the rule of virtue and the rule of punishment.

Righteousness and Utilitarianism The debate between righteousness and utilitarianism has long existed in the history of ancient Chinese political thought. Confucianism emphasizes righteousness and believes that the political principles, political direction and feudal ethics of feudal society are the foundation of the state Confucius said: "The gentleman is a metaphor for righteousness, and the villain is a metaphor for profit." Meng Ke said: "Why should the king say profit, but also benevolence and righteousness." They advocate killing one's own body and sacrificing one's life for righteousness. Confucianism is not opposed to profit, but advocates to see profit and think of righteousness, "righteousness and then take", opposed to "see profit and forget righteousness". The School of Legalism emphasized utilitarianism and denied morality and righteousness, and they would do anything to seek utilitarianism. They publicized utilitarianism, advocated cultivation and war, and emphasized that everyone "should not disregard profit for non-merit" and that "the door to wealth and power must be out of the military". Han Fei denounced Kong Qiu, Mo Zhai, Zeng Sen, Shi Yu and other scholars as useless people.

Around the righteousness and utilitarianism, Confucianism and France have long been attacking each other, and both attacked its point, not as much as the rest. Legalists attacked Confucianism as "six lice", one of the "five moths". The Confucians attacked the Legalists for their eagerness for quick success and quick profit, and for their meanness and lack of kindness. After the Han Dynasty, although there was no pure school of Legalism and Confucianism, but the dispute over righteousness and profit did not stop. Sima Guang and Wang Anshi of the Song Dynasty, Zhu Xi and Chen Liang's "righteousness debate", that is, the Department of the continuation of this debate.

The Family World and the Public World According to legend, before the Xia Dynasty, Yao and Shun were ceded to each other, and the public world was practiced; Xia Yu passed on his son, and the family world began. After the Qin Dynasty was established, Ying Zheng regarded the world as his own and named himself "First Emperor", hoping that it would be passed on to future generations. Subsequent generations of emperors have practiced the family world and regarded it as a matter of course. However, the idea of a public world also existed in history. For example, the Book of Zhou recorded: Tang released Jie and returned to Bo, three thousand vassals Assembly, Tang warned: "This is the position of the son of heaven, the way to be able to deal with it, the world is not a family have also, the way to have also." The Six Towers recorded that Taigong said, "The world is not the world of one man, but the world of the world. Those who share the world's benefits gain the world, while those who monopolize the world's benefits lose the world." Lu Shi Chun Qiu (The Spring and Autumn Annals of Lu Shi) also says, "The world is not the world of one man, but the world of the world." In the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, thinkers such as Wang Fuzhi and Gu Yanwu advocated a "public world" and opposed a "family world". Wang Fuzhi pointed out: "the rise and fall of a surname, private; and the death of the people, public", and said: "the world is not a private surname" and so on.

The people and the government The people are the basis of the country, only to pay attention to the people, love and care for the people, the country can be peaceful, that is, the so-called "the people for the state this, this solid state Ning". After the Western Zhou Dynasty, this idea can be found everywhere in the canonical texts of the time. Such as "Shangshu" records: Gaotao said, governing the country "in the knowledge of the people, in the people", "the people is the benefit of the people, the people of Huaizhi". The Book of Yishu records: "Heaven sees what the people see, and heaven hears what the people hear", and "what the people want, heaven will follow". According to The Analects of Confucius: "Preventing the mouths of the people is more important than preventing a river, and when the river is congested and collapses, many people will be hurt". In Zuo Zhuan, it is written: "When a country is about to rise, listen to the people". Meng Ke developed this idea to a peak. The book of Mencius is full of "protecting the people and the king", "the benevolent are invincible", "there is a way to get the world, and if you get the people, you get the world", and "if you tyrannize the people, you will kill the country". If the people of the world are not killed, then the country will be killed" and so on. Jia Yi of the Western Han Dynasty further developed this idea. Liu Zongyuan of the Tang Dynasty put forward the official is "the people's service, not to serve the people" of the people's ideas. At the end of the Qing Dynasty, Tang Zhen also emphasized that "the frontier, the people of the solid; Treasury, the people of the full; court, the people of the respect; official positions, the people of the support." People-oriented thinking is a very valuable part of the history of ancient Chinese political thought.

The opposite of people-based thinking is the idea of the ruler. The monarchist believes that the monarch is supreme, and no matter how bad the monarch is, he should not be abolished, and that "even though the lord of the people is unscrupulous, the ministers do not dare to invade him" (Han Fei). Junben theorists advocate that monarchs should use power tactics to control their subjects, playing them in the palm of their hands and treating them as slaves. They emphasized the absolute authority of democracy, saying, "When a wise ruler does nothing at the top, his ministers are afraid of him at the bottom" (Han Fei), and "When there are merits, the ruler has his merits; when there are faults, the ministers are responsible for their sins" (Han Fei). They did not consider the demands of the people and imposed their will on them. Han Fei said, "To govern and expect to suit the people is the beginning of chaos, and not to be ruled," and added, "To suit the people's heart is to do what is wanton." They believed that the people did not recognize their own interests, and could only rely on the help of "heroes", because "the people's wisdom is not available, just like the heart of a baby", and so on. Huang Sheng, at the time of Emperor Wen of Han Dynasty, insisted on Han Fei's point of view, opposed to the Tang release Jie, King Wu to conquer Zhou, thought that "Tang and Wu were not commanded to kill", and said that the emperor is like a crown, "although the crown is shabby, it must be added to the head, and although the performance is new, it must be crossed in the foot, what is the difference between the upper and lower parts of the body" ("Han Shu - Yuangu Biography"). Regulus biography"). Li Shimin of the Tang Dynasty also warned that "although the king is not the king, the minister can not not be minister". Yongzheng of the Qing Dynasty publicized that "the sky is high and the earth is low, and the division between the ruler and the minister is fixed. As a minister, you should only know that there is a king".

Absolute monarchical power and relative monarchical power and the theory of no monarch Shang Yang, Han Fei and other legal thinkers advocate absolute monarchical power, that monarchical power is supreme. Shang Yang said, "The power is the sole control of the ruler." Han Fei said: "The one who can decide alone can be the master of the world." They believed that the words of the monarch were the absolute truth, and no one could criticize them, and they denigrated Guan Longfeng, Prince Bigan, Sui Jiliang, Chen Duiye, Chu Shenxu, Wu Zixu, and other figures in history, saying that "all the saints and kings of the ancient times couldn't tolerate them, and nowadays they will be used in the present time". They are not allowed to discuss the people's politics. When Shang Yang changed the law, he did not allow the people to say bad things about his law, nor did he allow the people to say good things about his law, and he thought that anyone who praised or criticized the law was "all the people of chaos", and that "all of them should be moved to the border towns".

Confucius and Mencius Confucianism also talk about the righteousness of the ruler, the father and the son, and advocate respect for the ruler to serve the parents, but they talk about the right of the ruler is relative, is conditional. The king enjoys the right, but also to fulfill the obligation, if the king does not fulfill the obligation of the king, the minister will have reason not to fulfill the obligation of the minister. Kong Qiu said, "A ruler makes his ministers behave in a courteous manner, and a minister serves his ruler with loyalty." He also said, "If the superior is good at etiquette, the people are easy to make." Meng Ke pointed out that: "If the king regards his ministers as his hands and feet, then he regards the king as his heart; if the king regards his ministers as his dogs and horses, then he regards the king as his countrymen; if the king regards his ministers as dirt and mustard, then he regards the king as a collateral."

In opposition to absolute monarchical power, Bao Jingyan of the Jin Dynasty put forward the theory of no monarch, pointing out that "the ancient monarchs are better than the present world." At the end of the Song Dynasty, Deng Mu wrote The Way of the King, fantasizing about an anarchic society with no monarch and no officials. At the end of the Ming Dynasty, Huang Zongxi, in the "original ruler", fiercely criticized the monarchy.

Equalization and Difference Equalization and difference is a theme in the debates on the history of political thought in ancient China. Excessive inequality in the distribution of social wealth is bound to cause social unrest. Therefore, the idea of equalization and equality is bound to arise in the field of political thought. Kong Qiu long ago said, "Do not worry about scarcity, but worry about unevenness." The Book of Rites - The Rites of Passage also says, "The world is a commonwealth when the Great Way is practiced." Dong Zhongshu also opposed the idea of big wealth and big poverty and advocated the idea of small wealth and small poverty, and Wang Anshi's change of law had the content of equalizing the rich and the poor. As for the peasants' revolts of the past generations, they all took "equalize the rich and the poor" as their slogan.

Contrary to the idea of equalization, some thinkers advocate differences and oppose equalization of wealth. Han Fei believed 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, and that if "levies are imposed on the rich to give to the poor, it is a way to take away the thrift of the rich and the laziness of the rich and the laziness of the poor" ("Han Fei Zi - Huanxue"). Su Zhe of the Song Dynasty attacked Wang Anshi's "desire to break the rich to benefit the poor" with the reasoning that "things are not in sync with each other, and the feelings of things are also in sync with each other". Sima Guang also attacked Wang Anshi's practice of equalizing the rich and the poor, he said that the disparity between the rich and the poor is people's intelligence and different decisions, not the poor to support the rich, but the poor rely on the rich to live, if the rich poor, the poor will lose their dependence, once the country is in trouble, "all the corn, silk, munitions, will be from whom to take the cost of?" (Sima Wengong Wenji) (Sima Wengong Wenji - Begging to Strike the Ordinance Division Changping Envoys疏)

Centralization and Decentralization The Western Zhou Dynasty practiced the feudal system, which led to the local domination of the vassal kings, and the tail was too big to fall off, and the Zhou Emperor existed in name only. Qin Shihuang and Li Si punished the mistakes of the Western Zhou by abolishing the feudal system, setting up counties, and strengthening the centralization of power, which gave rise to a great controversy between the feudalists represented by Chun Yu Yue and Wang and the county theorists represented by Qin Shihuang and Li Si. The feudalists emphasized on "learning from the past", and thought that what Chun Yu Yue and others said was "a matter of three generations, which is not enough for the law". The quick death of the Qin Dynasty was thought by some to be the result of the isolation caused by the abolition of feudalism, and the idea of partition was raised again. The Han Dynasty practiced a compromise, with counties and feudal states running in parallel. Soon after the establishment of the Han Dynasty, the kings of the same family name became powerful, and finally the "Rebellion of Seven Kingdoms" occurred. Jia Yi and Chao Qiu spoke out against the evils of the feudal states and petitioned Emperor Wen and Emperor Jing of Han to weaken the local powers. Before and after the establishment of the Western Jin Dynasty, Cao, Lu Ji and others advocated the feudal system, emphasizing that "Ancient kings must seal the same family name to show that they are close to each other, while those with different family names must make the same name to show that they are wise and virtuous". It was also said that the feudalization "made all the countries maintain each other, so as to become a solid rock". Western Jin Dynasty at the beginning, part of the implementation of the feudal system, which soon became the "eight kings of the rebellion", laid the root of the destruction of Western Jin Dynasty. At the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, Xiao propagated the thesis of "three generations of feudalism and longevity, Qin isolation and rapid death", which did not succeed due to the resistance of Wei Zheng and others. After wu zetian, liu chi and others advocate this theory, said "set up the title without land, the department of the official does not work, not the ancient way"; "county can be a small peace, can not be a long time". In the middle and late Tang Dynasty, adapting to the needs of the feudalistic forces, the feudalism theory appeared again. Liu Zongyuan wrote "The Treatise on Feudalism" to give a strong rebuff to the feudalism argument. The essay "On Feudalism" summarized the debates on local decentralization and centralization since the Qin and Han dynasties. In the early Ming Dynasty, there was also a struggle between feudalization and counter-feudalization.

Meritocracy and Proximity In ancient China, except for the royal family, who determined the heir to the throne according to the principle of "the eldest, not the most virtuous," the selection of auxiliary personnel was based on meritocracy, and both virtue and talent were emphasized. "Respect pro pro" is mainly the royal aristocracy in the material interests of the privilege, not the principle of selection of talent. Although there was no theoretical debate on meritocracy or nepotism in ancient China, the actual political life was full of struggles between meritocracy and nepotism. In response to the political phenomenon of nepotism, progressive thinkers and politicians in Chinese history published a large number of theories on nepotism. The Shangshu puts forward the principle of "Mingming yang side ugly" (promoting those who are lowly in status but virtuous), while Kong Qiu says: "If you raise the straight and wrong to the wrong, then the people will be convinced; if you raise the wrong and wrong to the straight, then the people will not be convinced." Mo Zhai said that people should be "not party to their fathers and brothers, not favoring the rich and powerful, not treating the color, and the virtuous should be promoted to the top. Meng Ke advocated "honoring the virtuous and making the capable, and the handsome in the position", and Xun Fong also had a lot to say. Later generations have advocated meritocracy and criticized the rhetoric of nepotism. For example, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, emphasized that "the virtuous are rewarded by the top, and the hidden virtuous are killed by the obvious". Zhuge Liang said: "the way to rule the country, it is necessary to raise the virtuous." Also said: "pro-virtuous ministers, far from the villain, the reason why the first Han flourished, pro-virtuous, far from the virtuous, the reason for the decadence of the Han afterward." Li Shimin of the Tang Dynasty is advocating meritocracy, against meritocracy, he often said: "I'm granted an official, we must choose the talent line. If the talent line is not to, although I am close to the family, but also not false authorization."

Ancient Chinese political thought is very rich in content, the above ten aspects of the problem is only the history of ancient Chinese political thought, debate, discussion, discussion of the most issues, not all, in addition, such as the idea of patriotism, the idea of ruling by doing nothing, the idea of industry and commerce are all the original thought is also discussed from time to time.

Characteristics The characteristics of ancient Chinese political thought are as follows: ① Reality of content. The issues involved in ancient Chinese political thought are generally a reflection of the realities of politics or a summary of the lessons of political practice. The successes and failures of a dynasty often became the material for the political thoughts of later politicians and thinkers. They pondered and argued about the gains and losses of the past, and provided new guidelines for future rulers to correct the mistakes of the previous generation, with absolutely no abstract discourse and cumbersome arguments. ② Stability of content. Chinese feudal society is a long historical period, in this period, the development of productive forces is slow, the relations of production rarely change, in line with this, the political ideological changes are also rare. In the three thousand years of Chinese feudal society, the expression of political thought from theology to metaphysics, from metaphysics to science changes, but theology, metaphysics, science expressed the central idea is basically the same, are the law of the heavens ancient, the three principles and five norms, benevolence, righteousness and morality, etc.; the debate is generally the rule of man and the rule of law, the rule of morality and the rule of criminal justice, the king's way and the way of hegemony, the people and the monarch of the supremacy of the people, the relative monarchial power and absolute monarchial power, respect for the virtuous and the pro-righteousness and the absolute monarchial power, the respect for the virtuous and the pro-rightness. (iii) Ethicalization of political thought. Throughout Chinese history, although the Legalist thinkers rejected ethics and morality, this kind of thinking does not dominate, but the dominant one is the Neo-Confucianism which is based on the political thinking of Confucius and Mencius and integrates the doctrines of other schools of thought. It closely integrates politics and ethics, and although it does not generally oppose violence, it attaches greater importance to ethics and morality, emphasizes "politics with virtue", publicizes "propriety, righteousness, honesty, and shame, the four dimensions of the state", and speaks of sincerity, righteousness, cultivation of one's self, family unity, governance, and peace, and considers the Three Principles and Five Principles to be the key to governing the country. The Three Principles and Five Principles were regarded as the basis for the rule of the country. Ethical political thinking has had an extremely important impact on Chinese society.