THE CHINESE WAY OF THINKING-ÖйúÈ˵Ä˼·-Ó¢ÎÄ

THE CHINESE WAY OF THINKING-ÖйúÈ˵Ä˼·-Ó¢ÎÄ ½ÚÑ¡

¡¡¡¡¡¶ÖйúÈ˵Ä˼·£¨Ó¢ÎÄ£©¡·£º¡¡¡¡2.2.2 A Benevolent Ruler Has No Match¡¡¡¡Mencius said£¬ ¡°King Jie and King Zhou lost the world because theylost the people¡®s support. They lost the people¡¯s support because theylost the people¡®s hearts. There is a way to win the world£º win the people¡¯ssupport and you will win the world. There is a way to win the people¡®ssupport£º win their hearts and you will win their support. There is a way to win the people¡¯s hearts£º collect for them what they desire and do not force on them what they hate.¡±58¡¡¡¡From such proposiUons it is possible to feel that Mencius was genu-inely honest and simple£¬ and his cultural and moral idealism were perfect.The goodness of humanity£¬ people¡®s desire for goodness£¬ and the good-ness exercised by the monarch preasely constituted benevolent gover-nance £¨rule£©£¬ on the basis of which an earthly paradise would be built£¬ in wluch ¡°Happiness is shared with the people£¬¡± ¡°Outstanding people fill the responsible positions£¬¡± ¡°Punishments and fines are spared£¬ taxes and levies are reduced£¬ and the fields ploughed deeply and carefully weeded.¡±In addition£¬ ¡°If goods afe stored in the marketplace but not taxed£¬ and if goods are purchased by the state according to law when unsalable£¬ then all the traders in the world will be pleased to have stocks in his market-place. If there is only inspection but no duty at his frontier passes£¬ then aU the travelers in the world will be pleased to travel on his roads. If til-lers only have to help in the public fields but pay no taxes on their private land£¬ then all the tillers will be pleased to till the land in this territory¡±59 On the one hand£¬ histOfical facts show that China during the Spring and Autumn Period was torn by wars of injustice and rulers fought for power and gains using dirty tricks and schemes£¬ bloody slaughtef and often wild goose chases£¬ leaving no state untouched. On the other hand£¬ Confucian-ism held the idea that the benevolent were invincible and unrivaled£¬ and enjoyed popular support. As Mencius¡¯ famous remark says£¬ ¡°Do rever-ence to the elders in your own family and extend it to those in other fam-ilies£» show loving care to the young in your own family and extend it to those in other families - do this and you would find it as easy to rule the world as to roll something on the palm of your hand.¡±60 £¨Author¡®s Note£ºWhen I first heard the term ¡°communism¡± in my teens£¬ what immedi-ately came into my mind was the above quote. If it should come true£¬ all nations would be like one family and all people would be united as one£¬what else could it be than a paradise on Earth?£©¡¡¡¡Mencius held that it would not be more difficult to rule by the kingly way £¨benevolence£© rather than by force and to show mercy rather than cruelty to the people. In his words£¬ it would be as easy as ¡°breaking a twig for an elder£¬¡± and absolutely not like ¡°jumping over the North Sea with Mount Tai under your arm.¡±61 Emperors and kings failed to do it£¬¡°that is a case of not being willing to do it£¬ rather than a case of not be-ing able t0.¡±62 That was the only difference.¡¡¡¡¡­¡­