| The thought of "rule of virtue" could be traced back to the Yin and Shang Dynasty(1600?1046 BC),but it received unprecedented attention at the Western Zhou Dynasty(1046?771BC).The power transfer from the large Yin empire to the rather small Zhou empire demands a reasonable and convincing explanation.Otherwise,there wouldn't be stability in the society,nor would the reign last long.By creatively advancing the thought,"the mandate of heaven is not constant",Zhou people made the shift of the Mandate hinge on the "virtue".Namely,the heaven won't protect a ruler's governance for good.Instead it would alter the Mandate according to the ruler's "virtue".With the notion of the "virtue",the rulers of Zhou obtained an explanation for the vicissitude of the Xia and Shang Dynasties,as well as the rise of the Zhou Dynasty.Consequently,the rulers of Zhou regarded "virtue" as the core factor in the legitimacy and sustainability of their governance.There is a general consensus among researchers that the text of Zhouyi was written at the turn of the Shang and Zhou Dynasties.As for the writer's identity,researchers hold that he must be someone who ruled the country or participated in the country's governance,apart from which King Wen of Zhou must have a close and direct bearing on the book.King Wen reformed the divination system by stacking the eight trigrams in their various permutations to create the sixty-four hexagrams.Then he made the statements for every hexagram in the text of Zhouyi.Moreover,he reformed the divination systems.By doing so,he rendered the right and means of communicating with heaven,which was formerly in Shang ruler's hand,to Zhou ruler's.The purpose of the new divination system is no other than to proclaim the reason and inevitability for "the shift of Mandate",and to publicize the thought of Mandate shifting,which is based on the "virtue" and different from Shang's.Whereas the rulers of Zhou regarded the "virtue" as the core factor in the construction of the governance legitimacy,Zhouyi became the most desirable tool of the rulers of Zhou for their propaganda as well as practicing "the rule of virtue".Some scholars doubt the theory that the text of Zhouyi entails the thought of "rule of virtue",which is perceived as the reader's individual and subjective interpretation.However,there is sufficient evidence in the text of Zhouyi and in the social context of its formation proving that Zhouyi is not only a work of divination but also a work of "virtue and righteousness" moralizing-education,and a work of governance art.At the turn of the Shang and Zhou Dynasties,one of the major changes was the awakening of humane consciousness as the value of man gained more weight in the holy-mortal relationship.In a word,"Man" secured an increasingly prominent position when compared with "Heaven" and "God".The "Mandate of Heaven"proposed by the rulers of Zhou centers on the "common aspiration of people",which is also the basis for the thought of "rule of virtue" in the text of Zhouyi.Hence,both the rulers of Zhou and the text of Zhouyi involve the civilian-based consciousness that one may notice in the statements of hexagrams.The text of Zhouyi came into being in an era of suffering and turbulence,as a result of which the judgments of the book so frequently warn against dangers.As a special moral value and humanistic ideal in traditional Chinese culture,the consciousness of suffering,for the first time,was best embodied in the text of Zhouyi.The consciousness of suffering marks a sense of social responsibility rooted in a high degree of historical consciousness,a sense of compassion for daring to bear the human crisis,and a sense of fear and awe for future development.The initial line is placed at the bottom in a hexagram's image,signaling the start and the beginning.When compared with second line,it carres an inferior and ominous meaning.Therefore,the initial line statement of hexagrams gives the best expression of the consciousness of suffering.In troubled times,one might stop act rashly and blindly but he could not negatively escape from the fact.That is a word of advice extended by the book to the governors of the country and the founders of dynasties.In short,the text of Zhouyi is a Book of governing the country.Besides,it persuades people to cultivate their virtue when the country is chaotic."The things sixty-four hexagrams convey is all about cultivating virtues to prevent potential problems.And people should always be conscious of sufferings." said Kong Yinda,a Confucian scholars in the Tang Dynasty.The thoughts of "cultivating virtue to prevent potential problems"and "improving virtue and refining achievement" are embodied in most of nine fifth line statements,especially in the statements of Ch'ien.And all six line statements of Ch'ien literally describe a dynamic process of virtue cultivating and achievement refining with a faithful heart.Waiting one's time would only be an expedient measure of rulers for troubled times since their final purpose is to achieve the "virtue cultivating" and the "rule of virtue".As a leading principle to govern the country,the thought of "Match heaven with virtue" was attached great importance by Zhou rulers because it helped establish and maintain their status of leadership.The thought is shown in the line statements of the text of Zhouyi,whereas it is the highest level of the "rule of virtue".From the perspective of the text of Zhouyi,the rulers who keep the principle of "Match heaven with virtue" will enjoy heavenly protection for his reign.Although the text of Zhouyi and Great Commentaries both hold the thought of"rule of virtue",there are obvious differences between the two.The former stresses practical measures to achieve the "rule of virtue",while the latter tends to build up the"Tao" of "rule of virtue".Great Commentaries'thought of "rule of virtue" mainly comes from Confucian interpretation of the "virtue" in the texts of Zhouyi.It's easy to tell from the Great Commentaries copied on silk that Confucius held a clear view on the sequence of "divination" and "virtue and righteousness".Namely,humanistic"virtue and righteousness" should be placed ahead of the "divination".Same with the text of Zhouyi,civilian-based consciousness also serves as the foundation for the thought of "rule of virtue" in Great Commentaries which realizes the importance of people in governing the country.Great Commentaries believes that success lies in the well-being of people.It also suggests that when governing the country,the rulers should restrict their power,cultivate their virtue,make sacrifice for their people,be modest and approachable to their people,and adopt the rule of virtue prior to punishment.The necessary step to follow the way of the universe,according to the Great Commentaries,is to cultivate virtuous and sagacious people,which determines whether the governance would be successful or not.Compared with the text of Zhouyi,the Great Commentaries achieves a more systematic progress in regard to the thought of"rule of virtue".In addition,moralizing-education is the vital process to finally realize the "rule of virtue".The Great Commentaries teaches people what is the way of the universe and how to behave in accordance with it.It also takes the great virtue of heaven and earth as the highest level guiding people to uplift their own moral standards,and the basic principle for the "rule of virtue".The unity of heaven and man is the ultimate purpose of the thought of "rule of virtue" in the Great Commentaries.One of the prominent features of the thought of "rule of virtue" is its high practicability.The Spring and Autumn Period(771-476 BC),in the view of Confucius,was the era of "rites collapse and music collapse" when various schools of thought explored their ways to save the country.Confucianism was one of them,trying to find a countermeasure against the chaos and to restore the social order.Inherited from the text of Zhouyi,the study of suffering consciousness was further developed in the Great Commentaries which considered it as an important political wisdom to realize sustainable stability and security in the country.Nevertheless,the language style of the Great Commentaries had changed significantly.The thought of "rule of virtue" in the Great Commentaries,entitled with Confucian sense of mission and urgency,was more explicitly expressed than that in the text of Zhouyi.The Great Commentaries apparently upholds the strategy of "guarding the counrty with virtue" as the cornerstone of governance.The Western Zhou Dynasty is depicted by Confucians as an ideal age of rites,music and prosperity.It is well-manifested in the Great Commentaries that the Confucianism paid much attention to the dominance of "Heaven",namely,the way of the heaven,while undertaking the inheritance and promotion of "rite and music" in the Zhou Dynasty.With a cosmic view,the basic theoritical foundation,the Great Commentaries seeks to probe the law of social politics for governing the country and restoring the order.It has also repeatedly stressed the practical ability of its theory.Traveling among the kingdoms,Confucius and his disciples committed themselves to"self-restraint and restoration of rites",and tried to promote the state ruling strategy of"rule of virtue" but in vain.At the Spring and Autumn and the Warring States Period,no dukes could really be persuaded by the thought of "rule of virtue",let alone put it into practice.However,the Confucian exploration into the thought of "rule of virtue"did promote the thought itself by developing it into a system and laying a solid foundation for its application in the governance of the country in the Western Han Dynasty(202 BC-AD 8).The cosmic view in the Great Commentaries and its exploration into the thought of "rule of virtue" provided all the coming dynasties with theoretical,ideological and philosophical supports in the governance of the country.Granted,the supports are constantly updated according to the specific situation to better realize their purposes.Yi-ology of the Han Dynasty has a closer relationship with the Great Commentaries since the latter serves as the major theoretical basis for the former.One of the characteristics of Yi-ology of the Han Dynasty is its close integration with politics,revealing its high applicability to the governance of the country.There are mainly four aspects where Yi-ology supports the politics.First,it took part in the establishment of the new order in the Han Dynasty.During the reign of Emperor Wu of Han(141?87 BC),the "great unity"(unity of law and ideology over the whole country)was freshly formed and then a new ruling philosophy needed to give birth accordingly.As the Five Classics became the officially recognized textbooks,a new mechanism of politics began to work,when "the supreme rulers governed the country together with the scholar-officials".Second,it had a role in the establishment of religion educating system based on the Heaven-Man telepathy and the Yin-Yang alternation theories.The most positive meaning of the Yin-Yang alternation theory lies in the fact that scholar-officials could make use of the "Will of Heaven" to limit the king's abuse of power and then save the country.By practicing the thought of "rule of virtue" in the name of Heaven,it brought up requirements on the rulers.Therefore,it functions more than just as the moralizing-education of civilians,but as the warnings for the rulers.Third,Yi-ology never gave up its pursuit and exploration of an ideal political system even in the dark age of the late Eastern Han Dynasty(AD 184?220).At then,the court was highly not virtuous,and the scripture studies became more of a tool of the rulers to solicit private gains.Yet,in such a time,the commentator's Xiang-shu(image-number)school even witnessed prosperous development,proving that Yi-ology was still seeking for an ideal political system.During the Eastern Han Dynasty,the scholars who studied the text of Zhouyi paid much respect towards their predecessors'thoughts.They dedicated to sort out the text of Zhouyi while appending annotation for the original words.They made their best effort to reproduce the thoughts of former emperors and saints as well as their values in the governance of the country.Fourth,the construction and optimization of "rule of virtue" ideology based on the "Will of Heaven".The thought of the relationship between Man and Heaven had always been the essential part of the text of Zhouyi,especially the Great Commentaries.Inherited with the Great Commentaries' cosmic view,scholars of the Han Dynasty further promoted the study of the Heaven-Man relationship,which partly owed to the rise of Confucianism as the main state ideology,and the dynasty's political needs.The harmonious relationship between Heaven and Man was the ultimate purpose of the thought of "rule of virtue" in the Great Commentaries.Yi-ology promotion was the major component of the revival of Confucianism in the Song Dynasty(AD 960?1127).Among all the dynasties of China,the Song Dynasty boasted the largest number of the virtuous court officials.And the Confucians at then despised the doctrines of Buddhism and Taoism but entertained humanistic thoughts such as "considering the state affairs as one's own task" and"thinking of the state affairs with anxiety".Most of the well-known Yi-ologists in the Song Dynasty shared a common feature that they all take a hand in the national affair while promoting the Confucianism.So,they had three identities,Yi-ologist,officials and Confucians.The leading figures with such a feature were Fan Zhongyan,Ouyang Xiu,Cheng Yi,Su Shi,Sima Guang and etc.These Yi-ologists were committed to building up a framework of the country's governance based on the thought of"Internal saints and external kings".Whereas the essence of Yi-ology was to disclose the way of "understand thoroughly the truth of all things on earth and handle affairs successfully accordingly",Song Yi-ologists,led by Cheng Yi,thought that there were three key factors in the ideal governance of the country:a saint-like emperor,virtuous court officials,and classic laws.As for the proper solution to the relationship between the "Internal Saints" and the "External Kings",there hadn't reached a unanimous agreement among the Yi-ologists.While Li Jin,Ouyang Xiu,Sima Guang paid more emphasis on the"External Kings",Zhou Dunyi and Shao Yong fruitlessly tried for an organic unity of the two subjects.By making a conclusion of the thoughts of Shao Yong,Zhang Zai and Zhou Dunyi,Cheng Brothers(Cheng Hao and Cheng Yi)devoted themselves to further explore the thought of "understanding the saints'thoughts for the better application",trying to combine the theory with the practice.Thus,the key point of their thoughts on Yi-ology could be concluded as "the close combination of thoughts and practices".Zhou Dunyi was a key figure during the process where the theme of Song Yi-ology shifted from the "the better application" to the "understanding the saints' thoughts".As one of the five scholars of the Northern Song Dynasty(960-1127),Cheng Yihad been at the center of political swirl for his life time,a span of five periods,from the reign of Emperor Renzong to Huizong.Naturally,he had a deep understanding of the conflict between the ideal and the fact.Those Yi-ologists represented by Cheng Yi were persistent in the pursuit of governance system of"Internal Saints and External Kings".They made unremitting effort to the course of"extensively conferring benefits on the people,and able to assist all".Meanwhile,they were also showing a great anxiety towards the political conflict in reality.The obstacles encountered by the Song Yi-ologist in their practice wouldn't keep them away from building up their ideal governance system characterized by virtuous politics.They endeavored to realize the unification of "virtue improving and achievement refining" and "internal saints and external kings".After the Qin Dynasty,the exploration of "rule of virtue" first reached a climax in the Song Dynasty.Unlike the Yi-ologist of the Han and Tang Dynasty who emphasized the practicability of the text of Zhouyi,those of the Song Dynasty paid more attention to the unity of Heaven and Man as well as the unification of "Internal Saints" and "External Kings".Over the Xia,Shang and Zhou Dynasties,the culture passed down with gain and loss.In such a process of inheritance,the concept of "Virtue" had been constantly renovated.Ever since the Zhou Dynasty,the cultural renovation had never stopped its steps,as the rulers of every dynasty tried to combine the previous culture created by the Xia,Shang and Zhou Dynasties with its own specific conditions to generate a new one.And the core thought in the process of cultural inheritance and renovation was exactly the "rule of virtue".Considering "Virtue" as the core element of governance legitimacy construction and fundamental basis of power transformation,Zhou people set the tone for country governance with the thought of the "rule of virtue" which was delivered to the later dynasties with renewed characteristics.The ultimate pursuit of Confiucian ideology was also Virtue.Hence,the ideological system "Rule of Virtue",originated in the text of Zhouyi and the forefathers of Zhou Dynasty,was improved in the Confucian classics such as Great Commentaries,and then spread as the development of Confucianism.The thought of "internal saints and external kings",based on the Way of Heaven,was the purpose of Confucian ideology of "rule of virtue",conforming with the "virtue cultivating and achievement refining","striving continuously to strengthen oneself" and "having ample virtue and carry all things".On the one hand,"internal saints","virtue improving" and "having ample virtue and carry all things" signified the ideological aims;on the other hand,"external kings","achievement refining" and "striving continuously to strengthen oneself"served as the down-to-earth practice.In a word,the contents of the Confucian thought of "rule of virtue",originated from the Yi-ology,should consist of three parts.First,the ethics and morality of people-orientation and in line with the Way of Heaven lay the foundation of politics.Second,the thoughts of "striving continuously to strengthen oneself”,"having ample virtue and carry all things","cultivating the moral self,regulating the family,maintaining the state rightly and making all peaceful","taking people as the foundation of the country","virtue before law","wealth brings peace" are the practice of "rule of virtue" by the way of "unity of knowledge and action".Third,the moralizing-education,including "virtue improving","internal saints","achievement refining" and "external kings" would serve as the vital step of realizing the thought of "rule of virtue".The thought of "rule of virtue" and its practice inevitably have their limitations.They might have variations as the rulers in different dynasties entertained various purpose in their governance.In Records of the Grand Historian,a monumental history of ancient China written by Sima Qian,the word "disguise" was often used in the description of the courts' appeal to Confucianism.It was noted that,most of the time,the Confucianism was treated as a way to conceal the governor's autocracy.Also,there were some rulers who tended to be "pan-moralistic",and they thought the virtue could get everything done.Another tendency would be the transformation from "rule of virtue" to "rule of man".As a result,the "pan-moralistic" and the "rule of man"became the targets of criticism against the thought of "rule of virtue" and its practice.The limitations of "rule of virtue" and its practice could be attributed to the Confucianism itself and the later rulers.From the part of the Confucianism,Confucians might learn a lesson from their predecessors in the pre-Qin period.Namely,no state had ever actually practiced the Confucian thought of "rule of virtue" during the Spring and Autumn and the Warring States Period.Then,in regard to the needs of existence and development,the Confucians reset their relationship with the rulers.In other words,unlike their predecessors in the pre-Qin period who attempted to persuade the rulers,they would submit themselves to the power.If the "rule of man" prevailed,the practice of "rule of virtue" would be overly-dependent on the governors' "virtue".So long as the supreme leader was fatuous and evil,the real practice of "rule of virtue" would be impossible.From the perspective of maintaining social stability and governing the country,the moralizing-education is not the whole of the "rule of virtue".As two wings of the politics,the "rule of virtue" and the "rule of law" were complementary to each other and mutually-reinforcing.By regulating the people's conduct,both of them kept the society in order and the country at peace.The status of "rule of virtue" in the governance of the country,as well as the relationship between the "rule of virtue" and the "rule of law" should be constantly updated with the passage of time,the exploration into of the nature and connotation of the "rule of virtue" deserves in-depth and everlasting study. |
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