The Political and Social Environment of Pre-Chin and Western Han Dynasty in the Development of Confucianism – Tung Chung-Shu as an Example

• Main Authors: Hong-Ming Ding, 丁鴻銘
• Other Authors: Guan-Ian Ho
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2007
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/25006033157669701118

碩士 === 華梵大學 === 東方人文思想研究所 === 95 === Since Pre-Chin, the sovereign policies in politics stem from the different schools of thoughts. China Hsiao-kung recruited Wei Yang to practice the Legalists’ political concepts. Chin-zheng relied heavily on Li Si to practice the Legalists’ ideas. During the first 70-plus years of the Western Han Dynasty, Shiao-Hui Emperor, Empress Lu to Wu Emperor in his early days all practiced Huang Lao’s strategy. Afterwards, Wu Emperor prioritized Confucianism in his governance. All these are good examples of Confucianism, Taoism and Legalists’ ideas were applied in politics. Therefore, it is fair to say that political ideas are reflections of their times. They are applications arisen from the demands in political and social environments as they are created to solve political problems. Therefore, any ideals or recommendations proposed by political philosophers are based on their enthusiasm for their times, whether they are passive or aggressive, pessimistic or optimistic. No matter how they express their ideas, they are echoing to their times. Therefore, they feedback the thoughts of their times and often respond to their topical political issues. This is why political philosophies are of great value and importance. In the middle of Seven Warring States Period, China Hsiao-kung resorted to the Legalists’ ideas to make Chin State strong and powerful. The Huang Lao practice during the early days of the Western Han Dynasty allowed citizens a breathing space. Wu Emperor prioritized Confucianism in order to strengthen his reign. These are all examples that political philosophies serve politics. The greatest mission of Confucianism followers is to realize their political ideas. However, ideals alone are not sufficient. The key lies in how to make the political leaders become interested to your political concepts. In other words, his “outer appearance” has to be visible to kings and emperors, in the same manner that a garment can attract their attention. Only when they are able to attract the attention of kings and emperors can they realize their political concepts. The question is how. Kings and emperors are also human and they all have the so-called “needs” and “wants”. Therefore, Tung Chung-Shu proposed a framework of political philosophy centered on All Unification Theory, to address the social and political needs of the Western Han Dynasty. His purpose was to resolve the situation of land divisions due to the reaches of lords and dukes so that the central government could secure their political reign. The aim was to achieve centralization and maintain a unified state; however, the personal desires and supreme power of emperors should also be placed under a check-and-balance mechanism to avoid issues typically seen in feudal, authoritarian societies. For example, in an authoritarian society, he defined the power of an emperor as being limited to “heaven”, so that an ideal social and political environment in which emperors and their subjects live in harmony could be achieved. In the eyes of Hsu Fu Guang, in the interactions between academics and politics, the latter is a dominate power, one of the major reasons that restrict the development of ideas. For instance, Wu Emperor announced to recruit those who are honest and capable because he was confined to many restrictions under the Huang Lao principle. Therefore, Tung Chung-Shu’s suggestion was an opportunity for Wu Emperor to achieve his own purposes. This was why Confucianism became the mainstream in politics. However, Tung Chung-Shu still managed to realize his political ideas in an authoritarian system. This shows that a Confucianism follower was able to adapt in a timely fashion in the face of powerful political forces. It is fair to say that although politics is a major fact that affects the development of academic ideas, philosophers are also to keep up with the times in order to achieve their political goals. Wu Emperor and Tung Chun-Shu are the best examples.