Mencius Studies

Author: Dong Hongli
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2000-01-01
Features: Overall, Mengzi's people-centered thought belongs to the category of landlord class theoretical concepts and is closely related to the fate of the landlord class. During the Warring States period, feudalism was in its initial stage of rise and creation, and the landlord class was still a new and vibrant class. However, as an exploiting class, from the day it emerged, it was inevitably accompanied by contradictions with the exploited class. This contradiction was not the main social contradiction during the period when the landlord class was seizing power from the slave-owning class. But as the landlord class achieved political victory and feudalism continued to develop, this contradiction would deepen and intensify, becoming the main social contradiction. During Mengzi's time, the feudal transformation had been largely completed in the various vassal states, and they were moving toward establishing a unified feudal dynasty. The Legalists advocated completing this journey through farming and warfare, which was in line with the historical trend. However, the Legalists in dealing with the people and opposed efforts to win their hearts. Shang Yang said: "The people of ancient times were simple and honest, while the people of today are cunning and deceitful. Therefore, those who emulate the past should prioritize virtue and governance. Those who emulate the present should prioritize punishments and laws. When the people are worried, they think; when they think, they establish standards. When they are joyful, they indulge; when they indulge, they become lazy. Therefore, governing with punishments makes the people fear, and when the people fear, there will be no mischief. Without mischief, the people will be at peace. Governing with righteousness makes the people unrestrained, and when the people are unrestrained, there will be chaos. When there is chaos, the people will suffer the consequences of their misdeeds." (Shangjun Shu, Kaishi) "Fear" should be read as "fear," and "the people fear" means "the people fear." The core of this passage is that the people should be ruled with punishments, implementing a harsh policy to make them fear severe punishments so that mischief will not arise. If the people are joyful, they will indulge, and indulgence will lead to laziness. Another Legalist figure, Han Feizi, who lived slightly later than Mengzi, also said: "Those who suit the people's hearts will encourage mischief. The people are ignorant and do not understand chaos, and the rulers are weak and cannot change things. This is the failure of governance. The ruler should be bright and know governance, strict and must carry it out. Therefore, even if it goes against the people's hearts, establish governance." (Han Feizi, Nanmian) He also said: "Those who do not know governance must say: 'Desire the people's hearts.' Once the people's hearts are won, governance can be achieved. Then, Yin and Guan Zhong are useless, and we should listen to the people." (Han Feizi, Xianxue) He believed that winning the people's hearts to consolidate the regime was unreliable. Only "strict punishments and heavy penalties can govern the state." (Han Feizi, Jianjiao Yun Chen) Thus, they advocated autocratic monarchy and the use of force. The views of these two influential Legalist figures, although effective for a time, would quickly exacerbate the contradiction between feudal rulers and the people. Qin Shi Huang unified the world with this method but was soon overthrown by popular uprisings, a clear example. In contrast, led by Mengzi, the Confucians focused more on the growing contradiction between feudal rulers and the people, advocating the use of people-centered thought to mitigate this contradiction and achieve the unification of feudalism through benevolent governance. From the situation at the time, Mengzi's proposal did not fit the era well. He class, class、、、、，，、、、“”，、。，“”。 However, from a developmental perspective, the class contradiction emphasized by Mengzi was indeed an undeniable and cannot-be-ignored social existence. If it could not be resolved promptly and properly, it would inevitably erupt into a severe social crisis, shaking the rule of the feudal dynasty. As a political figure of the landlord class, Mengzi devoted himself to this issue, proposing the use of people-centered thought to mitigate the contradiction. This was inarguably justified, and it could even be said that Mengzi was a relatively clear-headed landlord class political figure. In Mengzi's people-centered thought, there were many democratic elements, reflecting many progressive ideas. First, people-centered thought, to some extent, reflected the wishes and demands of the people: the people hoped to obtain land, to live a stable and comfortable life, to reduce heavy taxes, and to avoid the ravages of war. However, they had no one to speak for them. Mengzi stepped forward at this time, speaking out for them with passionate words, exposing the unreasonable social reality, and condemning the cruelty and tyranny of the feudal rulers. Although he did so from the fundamental interests of the landlord class, objectively speaking, he played the role of a spokesperson for the people, which was certainly of some progressive significance. Additionally, people-centered thought before Mengzi were only vague and scattered fragments, lacking precise and systematic elaboration. Mengzi, building on the work of his predecessors and connecting it to social realities, developed people-centered thought into a more complete and systematic ideology. Especially the "theory of the people being more important than the ruler," was a brilliant proposition unprecedented in ancient times. It was an outstanding contribution of Mengzi to ancient people-centered thought. The "theory of the people being more important than the ruler" also had a profound impact on the emergence and development of democratic thought in China. Later, some political figures and thinkers with democratic ideas drew essential nourishment from Mengzi's "theory of the people being more important than the ruler." Huang Zixi, a thinker of the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, said: "In ancient times, the world was the master, and the ruler was the guest; today, the ruler is the master, and the world is the guest." He also said: "The chaos or order of the world does not lie in the rise or fall of a dynasty, but in the worries or joys of the people." (Mingyi Daitanglu, Yuan Chen) These democratic statements were indeed products of their time. However, it was not difficult to see the traces of Mengzi's people-centered thought in them. Yan Fu, a modern thinker, when explaining bourgeois democracy, said: "Mengzi said: 'The people are the most important, the state is secondary, and the ruler is the least important.' This is the common principle of all time." (Bi Han) and from this, he fiercely attacked the evils of feudal autocracy. Tan Sitong, a reformist, said in his second proposal: "The ruler should establish the people's livelihood. The establishment of the people's livelihood is the direct content that arises from people-centered thought. Mengzi believed that a ruler wanted the people's support, he must give them stable and unchanging property, and a stable and prosperous life. However, the reality of the Warring States period was that the great powers were vying for dominance, wars were frequent, and society was turbulent. The people had no security, and the rulers gave them only a tiny amount of property, making them 'not able to serve their parents when looking up, not able to raise their wives and children when looking down; in good years, they lived in lifelong hardship, and in bad years, they could not avoid death' (Liang Hui Wang I). When there were disasters or wars, the people would 'turn the old and weak into, and the strong would scattered to all directions,' 'parents and children would freeze and starve, and brothers and sisters and wives and children would be scattered' (same as above). However, the rulers of the various states were 'granaries full, treasury overflowing,' 'kitchens with fatty meat, stables with fatty horses,' living a 'dog and pig-like life of extravagance and waste.' How could they expect the people's hearts? Mengzi believed that the people had their own code of conduct, which was 'those with stable property have stable hearts, those without stable property have no stable hearts. If they have no stable hearts, they will go astray, indulge in evil, and do nothing but evil' (Teng Wen Gong I). When the people had stable property, they would have a stable heart to abide by the rules. If they did not have stable property, the people would think of chaos, take risks, and thus endanger the rule of the feudal dynasty. Therefore, the wise ruler must first establish the people's livelihood, making them 'able to serve their parents when looking up, able to raise their wives and children when looking down, able to live a lifetime of abundance in good years, and able to avoid death in bad years; then drive them to do good, so the people will follow lightly' (Liang Hui Wang I).