Newly Excavated Documents and the Multidimensional Development of the Historical Scenery of Pre-Qin Humanistic Thought
A collection of newly excavated documents presents us with a magnificent historical picture of the diverse generation of people-oriented theories of pre-Qin thought.Scholars either hold that pre-Qin people-oriented ideology had already emerged during the Xia Dynasty and even the Five Emperors period,or they firmly reject it.Based on excavated documents such as the Tsinghua bamboo-slips"Hou Fu"(厚父)and"Zuo Zhuan"(左传),there are at least two different theoretical approaches in the Xia people's view:"valuing the people"(重民)and"governing the people"(治民).In academia,the concept of"valuing the people"is often regarded as an invention of the Western Zhou Dynasty.However,according to the Tsinghua bamboo-slips"Yin Zhi"(尹志),"Yin Gao"(尹诰),and"Records of the Grand Historian,Yin Benji"(史记·殷本纪),it can be found that the concept of valuing the people had already begun to take shape in the early Shang Dynasty.The emphasis on the people did not stem from the compassion of the Shang king towards the lower class,but from his desire for the continued propagation of his clan members.During the Three Dynasties period,valuing and protecting the people was merely a means of using the people as a tool to continue the country's legacy.During the Spring and Autumn period,either with the emphasis on the people as a tool or with the emphasis on the people as a goal,two different theoretical approaches were adopted:"two river water diversion"(二水分流and"bidirectional expansion"(双向撑开).The Tsinghua bamboo-slips"Zi Chan"(子产)states that"the ruler has no personal matters,and people's affairs are important".This means that the ruler did not enslave the people to do his own private business,and this was a vivid reflection of their ideas about establishing a ruler for the people at that time.In the Warring States period,popular sentiment was raised to the attainment of the Dao,and the people's nature and emotions became the theoretical fulcrum for the construction of the people-oriented ideology by various scholars.The deep integration of people-oriented ideology with the concept of the Heavenly Dao(,theories of mind and nature,theories of enlightenment,and theories of abdication were pursued from multiple directions,ultimately achieving a transition from a tool of royal power to a theory of moral constraint.The basic principle of constructing the Chinese people-oriented ideological system is to take the ruler as the highest leader,and continuously strengthen the political responsibilities and moral obligations incumbent upon him while acknowledging his absolute power.Compared with the emphasis on the exercise of power in the West,China's people-oriented theory lacks constraints on the level of rulership and is more focused on guiding and regulating the moral realm of the ruler.
万方数据
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