A Study Of The Ideas Of Ancient Thinkers And Statesmen On Social Stability, Chaos, Prosperity And Decline

Social stability, chaos, prosperity and decline were the major issues to which statesmen and thinkers of any times in the past since the formation of class and state power paid the greatest attention. Such issues are and will be still the major concerns of statesmen and thinkers today and tomorrow. Many ancient thinkers and statesmen developed ideas on how to avoid historical cyclicity of "rapid rise and rapid fall" and how to maintain longtime social stability. History has demonstrated that some of these ideas are profound and rational. They are precious cultural legacy. But they disperse in many classical works including Confucian classics, historical records, philosophical and literary writings. This thesis, for the first time, considers such ideas as a special research topic in order to look into, from a new angle, the laws of ruling and social development to provide lessons for today's people.This thesis has five chapters. The first one expounds the purpose, importance, main content of the study, makes a survey of the former studies related to the topic, and explains how to undertake the research. Chapter two discusses the dominating forces of social stability, chaos, prosperity and decline. Eight kinds of forces have been identified. They are god, heaven and the mandate of heaven; time and fate; spirit; era and momentum; reason, fate and momentum; manpower; monarch; people. Chapter three looks into the causes of social chaos, decline and fall. It not only inquires into the relatively well-known causes such as excessive exploitation and oppression, land annexation, improper appointment of officials, war plundering, monarchy and official corruption, but also examines, for the first time, the indulgence in empty talks on abstract issues, which was actually an important cause of social chaos. Chapter four examines the strategies and tactics of avoiding social chaos, decline and fall and maintaining longtime stability. It discusses correspondingly the ideas of ruling a country through rule of benevolence, rule of virtue, rule of rite, rule of law and rule without intervention. This thesis takes the view that there is another idea of ruling a country, which has nor yet been discussed before, namely that of ruling a country through...