A Study Of The People-oriented Thoughts In Qunshu Zhiyao

This paper mainly studies Qunshu Zhiyao(Compilation of Books and Writings on the Important Governing Principles), which was compiled in the fifth year(AD 632)during the reign of Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty. Qunshu Zhiyao covers sixty-five kinds of literature extracted from the three major book categories of Six Classics, the Four Collections of History and the Hundreds of Schools before the Tang Dynasty, the core of which is principles and experience on governing. As a book of reference for governance, Qunshu Zhiyao not only directly helped the great Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty to establish the glorious “Reign of Zhenguan”, but also created an era of peace and prosperity after circulated in Japan. Qunshu Zhiyao can be regarded as a summary of the wisdom essence of governing principles before the Tang Dynasty, as well as a classic compilation digging out traditional political wisdom of China. However, it is a pity that few studies have been made on Qunshu Zhiyao. This study starts with the Chinese characteristic “People-oriented Thoughts” in politics, to sort out the specific descriptions of “People-orientation” in politics, economy and culture, dig out the contemporary value of ancient governing thoughts, and provide references for rejuvenating the Chinese nation and culture today.The major methods used in this paper include documentation and interdisciplinary research. In terms of research ideas, the paper draws on the narrative mode used in domestic academic discourse system. The framework of the paper is designed by learning from the “Five Mysterious Meanings(Wuchong Xuanyi)” used by the Buddhist school named Tiantai in interpreting classics, and composed of interpreting the titles, explaining the theoretical bases, figuring out the purposes and discussing about the merits and virtues. The concept of “oneness”(man is an integral part of nature)runs through the paper, and provides a philosophical basis and a theoretical source for the people-oriented thoughts, which explains the “theoretical bases” of this paper. The paper is written on the basis of “the principles of Yin and Yang” and “the doctrine of the mean” in traditional Chinese philosophy, to establish the practical principles of“people-oriented thoughts”, which is the “purpose” of this paper. The practical“application” of “Yin and Yang” and “the mean” is reflected by “governing with virtues”, that is, “virtues befitting position” in politics, “virtues generating wealth” in economy and “virtues given priority over punishment” in cultural education. As“people-orientation” is a concept of governing, but not concrete measures for governing, it can only be realized by “governing with virtues”. Therefore, “governing with virtues” can be regarded as a synonym for “people-orientation”. This framework of analysis not only helps to clearly interpret the philosophical connotations of“people-oriented thoughts”, but also reflects the “consistency” of academic research in China and the “universality” of Chinese culture. Only by using Chinese discourse can the original meaning of Chinese classics be better interpreted.Through the analysis of Qunshu Zhiyao, it can be seen that the people-oriented thoughts are mainly embodied in “virtues befitting position” in politics, which means officials should be worthy of their “positions” for they have the “virtues” of loving the people. To be specific, the people-oriented politics is shown in the following aspects.Rulers and the people, as well as officials and the people, are united and share common prosperity. The world does not belong to any individual, but to all the people. Policies should be people-oriented and implemented for the well-being of the people. The way of governing should be the centralization of authority, and the dominant position of the rulers. Nevertheless, the dominant position of the rulers does not mean autocracy. It is shared governance dominated by the rulers. In benevolent governance, the pursuit of inner cultivation and exterior action, excellence in governing the country and resisting foreign aggression is all oriented to love the people. The essence of evolution is to follow the mandate of heaven and comply with the popular wishes of the people, and to benefit the people. The officials of a country are elected for taking care of the people,and the standards for the election of officials are the virtues of loving the people and the abilities of benefiting the people. Therefore, officials are not a fixed group, but an open and changing group. To govern with virtues, the state improves its ability of administration by managing the officials, so the so-called “loyalty to the rulers” in ancient times was actually “loyalty to the people”.In terms of economy, the people-oriented thoughts are mainly embodied in the concept of “virtues generating wealth”, which means the purpose of developing economy is to unite and bring benefits and interests to the people, and the law ofinteraction between economy and politics is “wealth gathers the people and separates the people”. The concept of “virtues generating wealth” resulted in the thoughts of leading the people by reducing the burden of taxation and cost, and cultivating the people by caring about their sufferings and helping them out of difficulties. In the aspect of production, the rulers of ancient China brought wealth to the people and enabled the people to live a better life by developing agriculture, thus stabilizing the society. In the field of consumption, ancient Chinese attached great importance to abstaining from desires and extravagence, to realize the sustainable development of society. In terms of apportionment, ancient people followed the principle of justice outweighing benefit, and realized that the wealth of a country coexisted with the wealth of the people, so the government should not grab the wealth of the people, but narrow the gap between the rich and the poor and promote social justice.In the field of culture and education, the people-oriented thoughts are embodied in the civilizing mode of “virtues given priority over punishment”. The premise of civilizing the people is the belief in that humans are good by nature, which also fundamentally reflects respect to the people. Ethics and morals should be given priority in the education of the people, as only when morality is valued can the society become harmonious and the people live in peace. The cultivation should follow a top-down sequence, based on the self-cultivation of the rulers. Rites and music were the major form and medium of education in ancient times, which influenced the people and formed moral customs through inner and exterior cultivation. Punishment is a necessary means of supplementing cultivation and preventing evil, but the purpose of punishment is not to punish but to let people feel ashamed through deterrence.Therefore, the measurement of penalty should be based on benevolence and justice,instead of tyranny and partiality. Punishment should not be abused but follow the order of nature. Though it is effective to govern the people by law, the articles of law should be easy to understand rather than complex and harsh. The relation between governing with virtues and governing with punishment is that the former is the basis of the latter,which is determined by the goodness of humans by nature.Through the research in the aspects of politics, economy and culture, it can be found that the theories and practice on “people-oriented thoughts” had been rather mature before the Tang Dynasty. The comparative study of ancient and presentpolitical situations shows that the wisdom has been put into practice in various fields of modern China, and become the characteristics and advantages of China. The historical inheritance of ancient political wisdom in modern times fully explains the profound historical origin and grand historical background of the Chinese path. The research on Qunshu Zhiyao provides materials for us to connect the ancient times with the modern era, to acquire the wisdom of carrying forward our cause and forging ahead into the future, and to find historical and cultural bases for building confidence in the path,theories and system of China.