A Study Of Liang Qichao’s Economic Ethics In Guan Zi Biography

Guan Zi helped Duke Huan of Qi "respect the king and fight against the barbarians",making Qi the first country to dominate in the spring and Autumn period,and writing a glorious chapter in history.Liang Qichao,as an important figure in the field of Guanzi research in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China,greatly expanded the scope of Guanzi research and wrote Guanzi Biography.During the reform movement of1898,Liang Qichao took the study of the Confucian classics as the guiding ideology,and made a comparative analysis of Chinese and Western systems,in order to seek a cure for China’s poverty and weakness at that time.Guanzi advocated paying equal attention to etiquette and law,and emphasized the combination of hardness and softness in terms of system,which was consistent with Liang Qichao’s governing philosophy.Liang Qichao drew on the western national economic thoughts at that time,explored and interpreted Guan Zi’s economic thoughts,which contained a series of economic ethics thoughts with practical value.Scholars have not fully explored Liang Qichao’s economic theory.There are few research results on his economic thought from the perspective of ethics,and few research results on Liang Qichao’s economic ethics in Guanzi Biography.There are rich economic ethics thoughts and discussions in Guanzi Biography.To explore it will help to expand the new dimension of Liang Qichao’s thought,especially Liang Qichao’s economic thought and economic ethics.The ethical thoughts of production in Guanzi Biography are mainly embodied in the ethical thoughts of "enriching the country and the people",the ethical thoughts of "people-oriented" production management,and the ethical thoughts of "emphasizing agriculture and business".To be specific,the ethical thought of "enriching the country and the people" has the national standard view of "accumulating in the storehouse that does not dry up" and the theory of "enriching the people is the center of people".The core feature of economic ethics in Guanzi Biography is to coordinate the conflict between the two,so as to achieve the balance of individual and collective interests.However,this kind of balance is not an average without principle.The wealth of the people is the basis of achieving the goal of wealth of the country,so it must have the characteristics of good means.To explore the root of the problem,that is,to judge the relationship between the rich country and the rich people,we always put the rich country in the central position."People oriented" production management ethics mainly includes "six virtues" production management ethics concept,"give more and take less" production management ethics security concept and "intervention reward" production management ethics measures concept.The ethical thought of production value of "emphasizing agriculture and controlling commerce" not only affirms the agricultural value of "land is the foundation of government",but also puts forward the industrial and commercial value of "benefit is then accessible",which fully reflects the difference from "emphasizing agriculture and restraining commerce".In the aspect of distributive ethics in Guanzi Biography,this paper first analyzes the causes of the gap between the rich and the poor in society,and holds that the main causes of the gap between the rich and the poor in society are the lack of production itself,the priority of policies and decrees,the annexation and manipulation of rich businessmen,and the innate differences in body and mind among individuals.On the basis of the recognition of the importance of distribution,this paper further puts forward the main contents involved in distribution: natural resources,social resources,labor products and tax collection,and correspondingly puts forward the ethical principles of distribution,such as "sharing power equally","morality as its position","sharing goods with the people" and "sharing wealth for the people".The fundamental goal of distribution ethics in Guanzi Biography is to realize the maximization of national interests,and at the same time realize that the satisfaction of people’s interests plays a great role in national interests.Therefore,in the utilitarian thought of distribution in Guanzi Biography,there are many elements of moralism,such as helping the poor,saving the poor and helping the poor,which embodies the characteristics of the combination of utilitarianism and moralism.On the ethical orientation of the distribution goal,it not only pursues efficiency,but also advocates fairness.The exchange ethics in Guanzi Zhuan includes the ethics of exchange motivation,the ethics of exchange behavior and the ethics of exchange norms.In the aspect of exchange motive ethics,it analyzes the merchant’s good profit nature,the moral value evaluation standard of "Abolishing the private and establishing the public" and the foreign trade and economic policy of supremacy of national power.Guanzi Biography concerns that the economic ethics of commercial exchange behavior will have an impact on economic policy and economic thought,and play a guiding role in economic life.Therefore,it attaches importance to commercial exchange behavior,recognizes the rationality of economic value and political value of commercial exchange behavior,and advocates market-oriented exchange behavior.However,in the absence of constraints,the exchange activities appear in the pursuit of material interests at the expense of others,endangering the interests of others.The emergence of exchange ethics is to better protect and realize the interests of both sides of the exchange.It not only guarantees the acquisition of interests,but also gives necessary restrictions on people’s greed,so as to achieve the balance between the two.The ethics of exchange norms in Guanzi Biography is mainly embodied in two aspects: the ethics of exchange subject and the ethics of exchange means.The consumption ethics in Guan Zi Biography advocates frugality and holds that frugality is not only economically reasonable,but also morally reasonable.Compared with the thought of thrift,the thought of extravagance is more noticeable in the thought of consumption ethics in Guanzi Biography.The main reasons why Guan Zi Biography puts forward the ethical thought of extravagant consumption are as follows: the human nature theory of "people’s desire";it is beneficial to guarantee social harmony,maintain social order,guarantee political stability and maximize national interests,and it is an important way to realize the political ideal of the king;extravagant consumption under certain conditions helps to stimulate and accelerate agricultural production;it is beneficial to the people to a certain extent The moral education of the masses plays a positive role in promoting the harmony and harmony between people.On the objective level,it can achieve the effect of poverty relief and famine relief,and provide more ways for the poor to make a living.The specific expression of the extravagant consumption ethics in Guanzi Biography in economic life is "to respect pearls and jade for corn" and "to respect the cause for good rites and music".The premise of the implementation of the extravagant consumption ethics is mainly when the country has natural disasters,or when the economy and production are in trouble,or when the property accumulation is sufficient.By combing the main contents of economic ethics in Liang Qichao’s Guanzi Biography from the four aspects of production,distribution,exchange and consumption,we can find that Guanzi Biography adheres to the theory of human nature of humanism and self-interest.Starting from "national departmentalism",he regards "people’s wealth" as an important means of "national wealth".At the same time,he also emphasizes economic justice.These characteristics together construct the theoretical characteristics of economic ethics in Guanzi Biography.Liang Qichao’s ideological system has the significance of connecting the preceding and the following,which integrates the practical application of traditional Confucianism with the ideological emancipation and development of modern times.At that time,when most people chose to transform their thoughts,Liang Qichao found a new way to adjust their thoughts.His adjustment and change of his own thoughts is a process of constantly adjusting his external thoughts to meet his internal needs.We can see his "personal identity".Guan Zi put forward many advanced and enlightened economic theories in the society at that time.Liang Qichao was inspired by his strong desire to save the country in modern times to introduce the basic principles of western economics into China,and to observe the fate of Chinese economy and enlighten the Chinese people with economic knowledge.Liang Qichao’s economic ethics in Guanzi Biography covers a wide range of aspects.There are some views beyond the times and ideological pursuit.In addition to having certain theoretical significance,it also has far-reaching practical value for the current socialist construction in China.Liang Qichao used European ideas to explain Chinese traditional thoughts differently from the past.In Guanzi Biography,Liang Qichao advocated actively starting the state machine to intervene in the operation and development of economy,which embodied Liang Qichao’s thought of government interventionism.Liang Qichao summarized the main pulse of western economic thought as interventionism and laissez faire.Among interventionism and laissez faire,he chose interventionism.He not only discussed the reasons for China to adopt interventionism,but also put forward the preconditions for the implementation of conservation policy,and defined the content and scope of government intervention.At the same time,utilitarianism,as a guiding principle,exists consistently in Guanzi Biography.His theory of human nature,value goal and evaluation standard all embody the connotation of utilitarianism.He agreed with Bentham’s idea of "pursuing happiness and avoiding suffering",and realized the rationality of the starting point of "self-interest",and realized that "the greatest happiness of the greatest majority" was the most ideal result that "self-interest" could pursue;while in Mozi’s view,Liang Qichao believed that "interest" was not contradictory to "self-interest" and "altruism" besides "self-interest".Through the analysis of western thoughts and Chinese traditional thoughts,Liang Qichao has a certain understanding of "self-interest" and "altruism",and his thoughts have also undergone important changes.A brief summary of Liang Qichao’s utilitarianism can be summarized as follows: private morality promotes public morality,and individuals promote groups.In addition,Liang Qichao also criticizes free competition,attaches importance to production justice and pays attention to moral care of economic fairness.He believes that free competition not only leads to the blindness of production and the waste of resources,but also leads to the social and economic crisis and the polarization between the rich and the poor.Liang Qichao emphasized the importance of production justice.The reason why he attaches importance to production rather than to the distribution of products is that he believes that in a "just" society,distribution belongs to compulsory justice,which is a problem of social system rather than the problem to be solved by economic policy.From the economic point of view,as long as the realization of rich products,in a society with a just foundation,justice can naturally be achieved.Liang Qichao’s theory of production justice attaches great importance to human beings and shows a strong humanitarian concern.He not only paid attention to poverty,but also advocated the minimum wage standard,labor freedom and human rights.Today,it is of far-reaching significance for China’s modernization construction,especially for the development of market economy to study the economic ethics in Liang Qichao’s Guanzi Biography.In Guanzi Biography,the economic ethics principle of "national standard" and the thought of "economic people oriented" characterized by instrumental rationality have certain reference value for us to strengthen the national ethical governance today,while the economic justice concept of "degree of wealth" urges us to strive to enhance the social equity of economic development.In addition,Guanzi Biography profoundly puts forward the "people-oriented" economic development strategy,which also has enlightening significance for modern society.