Exploration And Discussion On People-first Thought Of Huang Zongxi

Huang Zongxi, known as the father of thought enlightenment in China, is a greatthinker and philosopher in the transitional period between Ming and Qing Dynasty.His political thoughts and philosophy have a profound impact on the development ofthe society, especially his people-oriented thoughts, which has inherited the traditionalConfucian people-first thought, pushing the traditional people-based thought to anunprecedented level. Huang criticizes the feudal monarchy from the stand ofpeople-oriented idea. His people-oriented thoughts are mainly demonstrated in hisbook “Ming Yi Dai Fang Lu”, in which he puts forward the famous proposition “Thepeople is in the first place while the king in the second place”. This proposal, withthe unique feature of the time and enlightenment, passes the first sound of changing tothe world, and brings light and hope for the people living in the political darkness.The research on Huang’s people-oriented thought is mainly based on his book“Ming Yi Dai Fang Lu”, where he expands and deepens the traditional people-basedthought in many aspects, and puts forward unique judgments: he thinks people aresuperior to the feudalism in terms of the relationship between people and themonarchy, namely “The rise and fall of the world is determined by the life of thepeople rather than the controller.” The aim of the monarch is to make the controller beresponsible to the people; as for the relationship between people and the monarchy, hecriticizes the traditional view that ministers are slaves of the monarch, he believes thatthe monarch and ministers should be liberated from the traditional thought and thethought of serving people should be established. He puts forward that the monarchand ministers are equal in place; as for the rule of law, he advocates “the law of theworld” rather than “the law of the monarch” and puts forward “the law exists beforethe manager”. The core of his people-based thought is to put people at the dominantposition of national political life. The nation will develop stably only when it followthe hearts and minds of the people. The wonderful discussion of Huang’speople-oriented thoughts makes him a thinker with keen eyes and high politicalconsciousness.Though Huang has passed away for more than300years, his critical spirit shown in his thought, his governing ideology and his sense of mission have already becomeprecious spiritual wealth, which worths to learn for ever. The study on thepeople-oriented thoughts of Huang is helpful to the cultivation of national spirit, andof important theoretical and practical significance for building a harmonious societyand a service-oriented government. This is the modern value of Huang’speople-oriented thoughts.