A Study Of Traditional Internal Controls In "Lushi Chunqiu"

"Lushi Chunqiu" is a classic chronicle compiled by the retainers and the guests recruited by Lu Buwei with the aim to provide the guidelines for the Emperor Qin to govern his reunited nation at the end of the Warring States period(475-221 BC).Currently,some conceptions demonstrated in the book still exert great instructive influence on the internal controls in China.There are 7 chapters in the thesis.Chapter 1 is the prelude in which we give the background and the purpose of the research.The book is written during the Spring and Autumn and the Warring States period when the cultural thoughts are unprecedentedly prosperous.The various disciplines in the book prominently reflect the ultimate goal of political governance and contain an extremely rich array of internal control ideas.Against the background of exploring the contemporary values and significance from the Chinese cultural classics,the thesis aims to demonstrate ancient internal controls in the book and their enlightening influence in modern internal construction.It then provides the literature review and draws the inspirations from traditional internal controls in the book.Chapter 2 probes into the contemporary values of "Lushi Chunqiu".This chapter briefly introduces the background information and the great significance of the book.The book is compiled to govern the nation under the supervision of Lu at the end of Warring States period when the powerful Qin State is on its way to reunite with other six states.It combines all the thoughts at that period when one hundred schools of philosophical thoughts are contending with each other,hence noted as one of the best representative works in the Mixed School of Thoughts.Then the chapter elaborates on the book's main contents and contributions to the internal controls in China.The book has an integrity of thoughts and ideas with 12 Almanacs,8 Examinations and 6 Discourses.With the political thoughts at the core,it covers a wide range of scientific and rational conceptions in the field of philosophy,economy,education,culture,military,agriculture,medicine,etc.The research aims to explore the internal controls from three aspects of "being a good man","conducting properly"and "keeping the social order",as subtly demonstrated in the book.The third chapter is devoted to the internal controls from the aspect of "being a good man".The book first defines the principles on how to be a wise emperor,then on how to be a loyal chancellor,and finally on how to be an obedient subject.It focuses on the principles of being a wise emperor and of being a loyal chancellor.It insists that a wise emperor shall cultivate his moral values,first being benevolent,righteous,filial,and frugal himself,and then being kind and dutiful to his subjects,which is the only way to guarantee the long-term stability of the country.Chapter 4 deals with the internal controls from the perspective of "conducting properly" in the book.Most spectacular is the book's elaborations on the conceptions of "good conducts" with numerous historic records,mythologies,legends and fairy tales in different periods of China.The proper conducts include setting definite goals,hedging risks,self-reflecting and self-contemplating,being cautious in words and deeds,being a good learner and a wise man,distinguishing right from wrong,grasping the keys to the problems,balancing profits and efficiency,appointing wise men,drawing on collective wisdoms,complying with the laws,and keeping pace with the times,which still have contemporary values in the internal controls of China.The fifth chapter is focused on the internal controls from the respect of "keeping the social order".The traditional conceptions of the internal controls with regard to"being a good man" and "conducting properly " contained in the book are actually endogenous requirements which have loose constraints and can not eliminate "the reverse selection" to some extent.Therefore,a great number of emperors and ministers in history fail to realize that the insufficiently rational and effective social order leads to the subjugation of their country.That is to say,they impose too harsh or too loose controls in keeping the order of the society.The book insists that necessary rules and laws shall be reinforced to keep the social order such as establishing different divisions with definite responsibilities and strict appraisal systems,following the rulership of Heaven.These rules are consistent with modern internal controls,except the rulership of Heaven,which is dismissed as being superstitious.The sixth chapter sheds lights on the contemporary values of the internal controls demonstrated in the book.With an integrity of thoughts,an objective attitude,a panoramic perspective,an encompassing content,and a scientific method,the conceptions revealed in the book are instructive and meaningful in modern internal controls.The research shows that the internal controls are as a matter of fact the man's managements and controls,so the man's scrupulous and scientific attitudes are the key to the successful control,the enforcement and compliance of the laws are its guarantee,the achievements of efficiency and profits its life,and the inspection and appraisal systems its driving force.Hence further and deeper investigation into the internal controls shall be made to yield more fuits and have wider applications in reality.Although there is a big gap between the traditional conceptions and methods concerning the internal controls manifested in the book and those in modern society,the current control approaches are in fact the continuation of traditional ones as dialectical materialism tells that things are related to each other.Hence,the conceptions contained in the book have historical and realistic significance to modern internal controls.Chapter 7 points out the limitations of and the future explorations of the research.This chapter points out some limitations in the selection of historical materials,the interpretation of original texts and the comprehensive summary of the internal controls in the book.The research will be further explored in the future.