Yan Fu Political Philosophy Study

The object of this thesis is to investigate the political philosophy of Yan Fu. The principles of liberty, democracy and equality in the west, which have streamed into China since modern age, produced profound influence on China. However, because of the differences in political and cultural background between China and the west as well as the special situation when these principles were introduced into China, Chinese intellectuals of the modern age comprehended these principles differently from the intellectuals in the west. As one of these intellectuals, Yan Fu shared with others some of the similarities among all the Chinese intellectuals, but his in-depth investigation into western political philosophy made him different from others. This thesis will try to find and account for the difference by analyzing and comparing all the ideas concerned.Yan Fu had a more accurate understanding of the principles of liberty, democracy and equality than his contemporaries. Other Chinese intellectuals regarded the principles as a starting point to build a rich and strong country while Yan Fu proceeded to reform these principles in pursuit of perfect social order.Yan Fu maintained that the traditional doctrine of "perfect order", which was characterized by "no changes", over-emphasized the stableness of the society, which in fact resulted in social disorder. He insisted that a perfect society should keep developing, change the old and pursue the new. But he also held that the ultimate goal was to build a stable society, which could be achieved by keeping the balance between "changing" and "being stable". In a word, Yan Fuassumed that a rich and strong China must be built and maintained in order to save the society from crises. In Yan Fu's eyes, only his reformed principles of liberty, democracy and equality could help China reach this goal.He advocated liberty but argue against anarchism; he pursued democracy but warned people against the bad effects of democracy; he argued for equality but opposed absolute equality. Yan Fu's political philosophy of perfect social order, which centered on liberty and morality, aimed to build and maintain a rich and strong and stable nation by way of developing the nation.Yan Fu promoted liberty, democracy and equality by maintaining the balance between "changing" and "being stable", which was manifested by his introduction of evolutionism. According to Yan Fu, there were two characteristics of social evolution?advance" and "in proper sequence". He believed that a perfect society also shared these two characteristics. Therefore, he insisted on a firm and cautious attitude in promoting liberty, democracy and equality. He recommended a compromise between absolute monarchy and liberalism, which he called constitutional monarchy. He tried to widen the horizons of the Chinese people, remove their self-concern and advocate individualism, according to which one is responsible for him/herself but does not overpass the boundary of liberty. All these suggest Yan Fu is firm and prudent in his pursuit and promotion of political philosophy.