"Salary in Lieu of Farming":The Notion of Salary in Pre-Qin Confucianism
The pre-Qin Confucianists placed significant emphasis on the distribution of social resources and wealth in economic thought and advocated for a rational division of labor among farmers,workers,merchants,and scholars to facilitate the division of labor and co-operation in social production.Confucius and Mencius referred to the salary as"salary in lieu of farming",that is,the reward ob-tained in lieu of farming labor.This not only reflects a distinct consciousness of division of labor but also embodies the concept of earn-ing in accordance with labor.For the emperor,princes,officials,and scholars,their labor lies in engaging in administrative work,and their remuneration is their salary.The legitimacy of labor determines the justice of earning based on labor,"labor first and then pay","virtue must be claimed,position must be claimed",which reflects the profound thinking of pre-Qin Confucianism regarding the corre-sponding relationship between virtue and power.
Confucianismsalary in lieu of farmingofficial salary
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