Deconstructing Autocracy: A Study of the People's Nature Thought in the Late Ming and Early Qing

Author: Feng Tianyu, Xie Gui'an
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-08-01
Features: If it is said that the Hundred Schools of Thought debated in the Warring States period provided spiritual support and theoretical guidance for the emerging and flourishing monarchy, then by the time of the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, when the monarchy had been in operation for over two thousand years, its flaws had become evident to the world. It became the mission of the new era to conduct a theoretical reckoning with the monarchy. In the 1960s, French philosopher Jacques Derrida elaborated on the theory of "deconstruction." Deconstruction refers to dismantling the structure of existing theories, disassembling its components, setting them free, and then reassembling them. Later, the term "deconstruction" was used more broadly to denote the negation and destruction of the established structure of existing systems or ideas in order to seek reorganization and renewal of meaning. In a certain sense, the progressive thinkers of the late Ming and early Qing dynasties were "deconstructing" the vast institution of over two thousand years of monarchy to explore new paths for the formation of political culture. It is worth noting that these philosophers accomplished this task using China's inherent intellectual resources without being significantly influenced by Western political ideas. The of this mission was extraordinary, and generations of predecessors had yet to complete it even until the modern era, after being exposed to Western winds and American rains. It is admirable that the philosophers of the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, as pioneers of deconstructing autocracy, faced challenges with great courage and challenged autocratic politics from an academic perspective. Their approach was to dissect autocratic monarchy, fiercely critique Legalist extreme veneration of the monarch—one of its two wings—and to discern, inherit, and develop the "emphasis on the people" and "mercy toward the people" aspects of Confucian popular governance theory—the other wing—while discarding and replacing the "veneration of the monarch" and "defending the monarch" elements. Thus, among the philosophers of the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, the popular governance theory that had evolved since the pre-Qin period was transformed and elevated. We call it "new popular governance" to indicate both its connection to and distinction from the popular governance theory since the Zuo Zhuan and Mencius. It also signifies that as an unfinished form of "deconstructing autocracy," "new popular governance" differs fundamentally from modern democracy but serves as the closest national cultural resource and forerunner for it.