Research on Yan Xishan's Practical Political Philosophy and Village Governance Thought

Author: Han Lingmei
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-12-01
Features: As a significant historical figure, Yan Xishan played an extremely important role and had a profound impact on modern Chinese history, especially on the history of Shanxi. This is undeniable. Before the 1980s, academia generally replaced factual understanding with value-based judgments under the constraint of dogmatic political thinking. "Reactive" elements were deemed to be eliminated, and once Yan Xishan was labeled as a "reactionary warlord," it seemed there was no way out for him. However, Yan Xishan was still called the "King of Shanxi." During the turbulent period of the 20th century, the Xinhai Revolution propelled him to the forefront of the political stage, where he ruled Shanxi for 38 years. The most prominent feature of Yan Xishan's political thought was his lifelong pragmatic political philosophy, summarized by the principle that "existence is truth, and need is legitimacy." Such pragmatic political ideas were generally reflected in his governance, systems, policies, and ideological concepts.
To illustrate his points, Han Lingmei begins with Yan Xishan's "village governance" system, starting from general political behavior and gradually delving deeper, layer by layer, to re-examine and reinterpret. This allows readers to gain a new understanding of Yan Xishan's character, nature, thoughts, ideas, personality traits, and political spirit, differing from previous perspectives.