The Harmonious Society Ideology And Contemporary Value Of Mo-tse

The ideology of "harmony" and "harmonious society" is the great culture and ideological heritages of Chinese traditional culture. "Harmony" , which meant a kind of cooperative and orderly state in the Chinese ancient classics ,was applied to the complex relation among climatic,geographical and human conditions . The concept of "harmonious society" reflected the glorious ideal that the ancient people was pursuing."Harmony" has a profound implication. A large quantity of elements , different or opposed in nature, make an organic whole .Those opposed elements , which complement each other and coordinate each other so that they can step into a new state and can become a new object ,conveying the connotation of a "harmonious society". "Harmonious society" means giving shape to a ideal relationship of interdependence,mutual promotion and mutual development among every part and all component elements.There were many ideas about harmonious society in Chinese traditional culture . Whatever they emphasized either the harmony between people and nature ,human and human ,or the harmony between people and the society , they provide some available ideological resources for the foundation of socialist harmonious society from different aspect. The harmonious society ideology of Mo-tse not only comes down in one continuous line with Chinese "harmony"culture, but also is an important part of it.He described a grand blueprint about the ideal harmonious society for people : people work for mutual benefit ,there are no jingoism or violence ; the government choose solon to be officer ,people work and compete equally ; people live frugally and combat extravagence . This idea reflected the good wishes of people at the bottom of the society and give us some helpful hints for founding the socialist harmonious society.The formation of the harmonious society ideology of Mo-tse had a special history and cultural background . In that time there are too much social evils : the contradictions between the officials and the common people,the serious polarization between the rich and the poor, the tangled warfare among rival principalities .The formation of the harmonious society ideology of Mo-tse affected by the culture before Shang and Zhou and the thoughts before the Qin dynasty with a Confucianism base .The thoughts of Mo-tse mainly embodied in his ten claim , they are "universal love"," no unjust war or jingoism ","admiring solon", "unified order", "thrift", "frugal funeral", "no music and dance", " self-reliance", "follow to predestination ", " admiring ghosts and gods". These thoughts covers the aspects of politics , economy, ethic, philosophy, science, education, military affairs and so on , which are consistent with "harmony" and supposed to be the embodiment of the ideology of harmonious society.Two perspectives through which can analysis the frame of the harmonious society ideology of Mo-tse :One is the harmony in "Four relations" , the other is the harmony in the "Three section" .The harmony in "Four relations" refers to "universal love" in interpersonal relationship, "law-abiding and unified orders" in the relationship between the country and people ,"no unjust war and jingoism" in the relationship among countries, "follow to the predestination and admiring ghosts and gods" in the relationship between people and nature. The harmony in the "Three section" refers to "admiring solon and unified orders " in politics , " increasing production and putting down the expenditure" in economy, "no music and dance and self-reliance" in culture.These ideas begins with "universal love" and ends with it to build up a edifice of harmonious society theory .Certainly , the harmonious society ideology of Mo-tse has some history limitations : first, it separates from the reality and can not develop with the time ; second, there are some contradictions among his thoughts ; third, there are no concrete political ideas; fourth, it is lack of inclusiveness theoretically ,so it can not be a whole ideology.Although there are many ideas relating with Utopia and some history limitations ,it has some special significances in the new circumstances. There are still some ideas worth us learning : First , "unified order and admiring solon" can be acted as the support of social management. Second, "Increasing production and putting down the expenditure" can be acted as a means of economic construction and social development. Third, "Win-win situation" can be acted as a way to found the socialist harmonious society. Fourth."no unjust war and jingoism" can be acted as a common goal of founding the socialist harmonious society.