Two Directional Reflection on the Admonition System in the Late Qing Dynasty:a Case Study of Wei Yuan and Guo Songtao
Wei Yuan and Guo Songtao,both scholars of Hunan in the late Qing Dynasty,reflected on and criticized the system of admonition,but they took two different paths in their attitudes and positions.The ancient Chinese political tradition of"no admon-ishing official"is criticized by Wei Yuan,who hopes to break the monopoly of officials on public opinion to allow all social mem-bers to have a voice to prevent corruption of public power,abuse of public power and wrong decision-making.In contrast,al-though Guo Songtao also recognizes the political evil of"official speech,"he calls for the authorities to broaden the avenue for pol-icy debate,but with caution against"public opinion hijacking politics",he is cautiously conservative toward public opinion on pol-itics and highly alert against it.The reflection on the system of admonishment by Wei and Guo reveals two different directions of reflection:one toward the restriction of power by the people,and the other doubting the rationality of the people.This is indeed a classic example of the debate between populism and elitism.
admonishing official systemWei YuanGuo Songtaopopulismelitism
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