Huang Zongxi has experienced the demise of the Ming Dynasty and the rise of the Qing Dynasty. Based on his own experience, he has compared the history of the Ming Dynasty and the dynasties before the Ming Dynasty. After some consideration, Huang Zongxi discovered that the reasons for the great chaos in the world in the past dynasties can be attributed to the theory of the supremacy of the monarchy representing feudal despotism from various angles. Whether it is the peasant uprising to overthrow the tyranny, or the ministers seeking to usurp the throne, the turmoil of the court and the people's riots are mostly related to the monarchy in the hands of the high feudal rulers.
The minister's attempt to usurp the throne is nothing more than coveting the supreme superiority of the monarchy, while the peasant uprising is nothing more than some bureaucrats and aristocrats who use their power to squeeze the people, and the people cannot bear to initiate riots.
Tracing back to the source, Huang Zongxi felt that the source of the problem may be the supreme sovereign. Since Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Confucianism has almost become an unshakable mainstream thought in our feudal society. Of course, there are many unique ideas in Confucianism, but the Confucianism that was sorted by Dong Zhongshu during the Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was mostly set up to consolidate the stability of the monarchy. Among them, the distinctive distinction between the monarch and the ministers conveyed in the thoughts is a good example. . Therefore, since the Qin and Han dynasties, almost no one has questioned the reasonableness and unreasonableness of the statement that "the ministers and the people belong to the monarch to the monarch". People assume that the monarch can call them at will to a certain extent based on his own likes and dislikes.
However, Huang Zongxi is opposed to the statement that "the officials and the people must obey the monarch." In order to make his opposition appear more justifiable, Huang Zongxi separately explained the relationship between the emperor and the people and the relationship between the emperor and the minister. Regarding the relationship between the emperor and the people, Huang Zongxi put forward the idea of "the people are the mainstay and the king is the guest", thinking that the people are the masters of the world. Regarding the relationship between the emperor and the minister, Huang Zongxi believes that the emperor and his ministers are essentially the same, and they all serve the people, except that they are called differently, that is, "the emperor and the minister are actually the same but the names are different." Huang Zongxi's move is of great significance to the progress of feudal society, and his thinking is regarded by many scholars as the initial form of democratic thinking.
1. Huang Zongxi proposed that the origins of "democratic monarchs" and "theories of the emperor and ministers of the same name are different"
Huang Zongxi was a person from the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. He experienced the pain of extinction in his prime of life. He watched the Ming dynasty perish and had nothing to do.
In the last years of the Ming Dynasty, treacherous ministers used power, the common people, and the unbearable poor peasants rose to oppose tyranny. This gave the Manchu rulers in northeastern China a chance to annex the Ming Dynasty. Taking advantage of the chaotic situation of the peasant army uprising at the end of the Ming Dynasty, the Manchu soldiers entered the Ming Dynasty from Shanhaiguan and were very much in the Ming Dynasty where the peasant uprising war had broken out. Quickly broke through one city after another, the whole army was like a broken bamboo, and it didn't take long to overthrow the Ming Dynasty and establish the Qing Dynasty.
Huang Zongxi, an old man of the Ming Dynasty, also made some efforts to save the Ming Dynasty. He organized the rebels to carry out armed battles when the Qing army went south, but this armed force was dissolved soon after it was organized. At that time, Huang Zongxi knew that the overall situation was set at this time and it was an impossible wish to restore the Ming Dynasty. So he was a talented person and he did not enter the Caolu to concentrate on studying knowledge. Even if the thirsty Qing Dynasty ruler issued him several recruitment orders, he remained indifferent and decided to stay in seclusion.
During his seclusion, the Manchu and Han ethnic conflicts and the pain of national subjugation made him keep asking why the Ming Dynasty would continue to ask himself why Perish? Why are so many Han people surrendered by the Manchus, who are far less numerous than the Han people? He thought about it, and finally got an answer.
The Ming Dynasty fell because of problems within the Ming court. The bureaucrats of the Ming Dynasty and some royal aristocrats used their superior power to squeeze the people, so that the people had no way to survive, and the people started chaos, which made the Northeast The Manchus in the region can take advantage of it. So the Ming Dynasty, ruled by the Han people, perished, and the Manchus established the Qing Dynasty.
Huang Zongxi began to reflect on the reasons for the change of dynasties during the Ming Dynasty and before the Ming Dynasty, and he came up with an answer. Whether it is the Ming Dynasty or the dynasty before the Ming Dynasty, the root cause of social unrest lies in The feudal thought of "lord, the people are the guests" and the feudal despotism of the supremacy of monarchy.
Based on this, Huang Zongxi further reflected on the relationship between the people and the prince, and then put forward the " The thoughts of "democratic monarch and guest" and "the monarch and his ministers have the same name are different", and based on this, launched a severe criticism of the monarchy theory of feudal society.
2. Huang Zongxi's criticism of the monarch and the people: the monarch should serve the people
Huang Zongxi pointed out that the reason why mankind originally supported the monarch is not to enslave them, but to let the monarch. From the very beginning, the fundamental purpose of leading people to overcome difficulties and supporting the monarch is to benefit the people. At the same time, it is precisely because the monarch benefits the people that the people are attracted to admire and respect the monarch, and then they are willing to do things for the monarch. The reason for the people to serve the monarch is to express their reward.
Huang Zongxi believes that the original appearance of the monarch should be like this:
"Do not benefit from one's own benefit, but let the world benefit from it; don't take the harm of oneself, but let the world release The harm.”
That is to say, the monarch in Huang Zongxi’s heart values the interests of the world and despise his own interests, and it is his duty to release the harm of the world. Huang Zongxi pointed out that it is precisely because the monarch has such a virtue that he can be respected by all people. But I don’t know whether it was intentional or unintentional. The phenomenon of the monarch being worshipped by the people has been passed down, and the original reason why the monarch should be worshipped by the people seems to be unremembered. In Huang Zongxi’s mind, the relationship between the people and the monarch is reversed. The current monarch is supreme and believes that the people should serve themselves. The monarch puts his own interests first and allows the people of the world to serve him. The people are unconditionally surrendered to the monarch’s feet. There seems to be no objection to the matter. Huang Zongxi does not approve such a relationship between the monarch and the people.
Based on this, Huang Zongxi exposed the selfish selfishness of the feudal monarch in a rather profound way. He said that after Han Gaozu Liu Bang became a king, he said to his father: "Look, who has more property than my second brother?" There is nothing wrong with this sentence on the bright side, but when we dig out the overtones of this sentence, we may find some weird signs. Doesn't Liu Bang regard the world he has laid down as his own property? In other words, all the people in the world are his "industry".
Huang Zongxi caught this sign, and used it to criticize the behavior of the monarchs after the Qin and Han dynasties who regarded the people as their own "industry". In Huang Zongxi's eyes, this approach is very selfish and does not conform to the original election of the monarch. The original intention.
Huang Zongxi pointed out that this kind of action reveals the idea of the monarch, that the monarch puts himself in a high position, and the people are the "industry" at their mercy.
and the monarch’s idea is often hidden, and it is difficult for ordinary people to find it if they don’t think deeply. . Maybe Huang Zongxi’s thoughts are like this: the monarch uses time to downplay the original intention of the people to recommend the monarch, and also uses time to strengthen the phenomenon that the monarch should be worshipped by the people. Between the downplay and the strengthening of this phenomenon, after a period of time, feudal despotism It has become a reasonable existence, "the monarch serves the people as the guest", "the monarch and the ministers have to die", etc. These ideas of maintaining the feudal monarch's royal power are deeply rooted.
According to Huang Zongxi’s thinking, we can make an analogy. If the monarch wants to build a dam to prevent floods, the monarch’s more intuitive motivation on the surface may be for the people not to be harmed by the flood. In fact, the deeper reason may be to let yourself The "industry" is not hurt. Such behavior regards the people as objects at their mercy. At this time, the monarch regards himself as the subject.
The subject and the object have an opposite relationship. The monarch regards himself as the subject, so before doing anything, he will unconsciously defend himself as the subject. When dealing with the object, the monarch often finds it difficult to be wholehearted.
So many monarchs are likely to put the people at risk when weighing their interests. They will first protect their own interests, and then think of the interests of the people. Some monarchs don’t even care about the interests of the people. Gradually, the contradiction between the monarch and the people began to intensify, and when the contradiction reached a certain level, the dynasty was not far from ruin.
Therefore, Huang Zongxi believes that the true relationship between the monarch and the people should be the same as the relationship between the monarch and the people in ancient times. The monarch serves the people and the monarch should take the benefit of the world for his own benefit. From a relational level, the people should be the subject and the monarch should be the object.
Huang Zongxi views the relationship between the people and the emperor from the perspective of distinguishing between the subject and the object. This argument is quite profound. Under the social environment at that time, after being enlightened by Confucianism under the feudal system for thousands of years, it is really rare for Huang Zongxi to realize the unreasonable relationship between the monarch and the people.
Three. The relationship between the emperor and the minister in Huang Zongxi's heart: apart from the different titles, there is no difference between the emperor and the minister.
In Huang Zongxi's heart, both the emperor and the courtier are people who seek the well-being of the people of the world. There is no difference in essence between ministers and ministers, but their functions are different, and then they are called differently.
In order to prove this point, Huang Zongxi said in "Mingyi Waiting for Interview. Yuan Chen":
"The world is so big that one person can not rule by one person, but divide and rule by group work. , So I was born and served for the sake of the world, not for the king, for the people, and not for the same surname.”
Huang Zongxi means that this world is so big that not one person can govern. So there are some people who assume the "name" of ministers and monarchs to share the work of governing the world. Therefore, the fundamental reason why an official can be an official is not to serve the monarch and the monarch in one line, but to serve the people of the world.
Huang Zongxi’s sentence from the side also reflects a phenomenon in society at that time, that is, the main purpose of people competing to be officials was to "serve the monarch" rather than "benefit the people", and people at that time almost They all feel that it is reasonable and reasonable to regard "serving the monarch" as an official purpose, and there is nothing wrong with it. However, in Huang Zongxi's eyes, the behavior of "being an official in order to serve the monarch" turned the cart before the horse, because Huang Zongxi felt that officials exist because of the needs of the people.
At the same time, Huang Zongxi also carried on the imperial family members who were in high positions and did not benefit the people. In a merciful irony, he believes that members of the royal family and aristocrats have no contribution to the people, but because they have the same surname as the monarch, they are superior and let the people serve him. This phenomenon is unreasonable, and it also shows that the monarch protects and treats his surname bloodline. Selfishness.
Huang Zongxi’s thoughts are quite forward-looking, and are somewhat similar to our modern society’s sense of fairness and the fundamental proposition of "serving the people". It can be seen that Huang Zongxi has indeed seen insight into the shortcomings of the ancient feudal autocratic system of supremacy of monarchy. Where, this was very rare in the early years of the Qing Dynasty.
In Huang Zongxi’s words, it is not difficult to find that he is very disgusted with the supremacy of the monarchy in feudal society. He once bluntly pointed out:
"The rule of chaos in the world is not the rise and fall of a single surname." , And in the sorrow and joy of the people."
He is telling the people of the world that the rise and fall of the world has nothing to do with the rise and fall of the monarch, but only the sorrow and happiness of the people. If the people are worried, the world will be in chaos; if the people are happy, no matter who the monarch’s name or name is, the country will remain peaceful and peaceful.
Huang Zongxi’s statement is quite bold. He directly cuts off the connection between the rise and fall of the world and the rise and fall of the monarch. He believes that the happiness and worry of the people are the yardstick for judging the rise and fall of the world. So, further speaking, the role of the minister is to work for the welfare of the people and then stabilize the world, then the minister’s actions should be based on the people’sSorrow and joy, not based on the rise and fall of the monarch.
Therefore, Huang Zongxi came to the conclusion that the minister does not necessarily serve as the monarch. The head of the horse is looking. In other words, Huang Zongxi believed that the ministers were not designed for the monarch, so the ministers would not have to die for the monarch. The monarch and ministers are both set up for the people, so the monarch and ministers should die for the people.
Therefore, Huang Zongxi came to this conclusion on the relationship between the monarch and the minister: There is no difference in essence between the monarch and the minister except for the title. They all serve the people, that is, "the monarch and the minister are actually the same but have different names."
IV. Summary: Huang Zongxi believes that the emperor is not the "lord" of the world, and the people and officials do not have to die for the emperor. With the turbulent world, the pain of national subjugation and ethnic conflict made him deeply reflect on the phenomenon of dynasty change. He concluded that the fundamental reason for the rise and fall of the world lies not in who is the monarch, but in the sorrow and joy of the people. The sorrows and joys of the people are often closely related to the autocratic system of the supremacy of the king in feudal society. There are always people with wrong intentions who use power to squeeze the people, so that the people cannot live and cause turmoil. Therefore, Huang Zongxi pointed the finger at the feudal despotism monarchy theory.
In order to disintegrate the supreme authority of the monarchy, Huang Zongxi separately elaborated the relationship between the emperor and the people and the emperor and the minister, and then tried to break the authority of the monarchy.
First of all, Huang Zongxi pointed out that the reason why the king was originally established was not to allow the king to enjoy Worship is to make the monarch serve the people and benefit the people. However, since the Qin and Han dynasties, monarchs have placed themselves in a superior position and regarded the people as their own property. Many monarchs have consolidated their authority in the name of protecting the people. Sometimes, the monarch’s so-called measures like taxation and conscription for the sake of the world are actually just to satisfy his own selfishness and protect his own industry.
Therefore, Huang Zongxi pointed out that the concept of "the monarch and the guest" is an inversion of the cart before the horse. "The people are the mainstay and the king is the guest" is the normal relationship between the king and the people. In Huang Zongxi's thought, the reason for setting up a monarch at the beginning was to let the monarch benefit the people and serve the people.
At the same time, Huang Zongxi wants to disclose that in the long-term change of times, the monarch has secretly changed the original concept of "democratic monarch" and gradually reversed the "democratic monarch". This is the monarch's satisfaction with his "selfishness". "The trick." The relationship between the monarch and the people should be the people first, and the reason why the monarch is admired and worshipped by the people is not because of his precious blood or the supreme rights, but because of his dedication and dedication to the people. .
Secondly, Huang Zongxi pointed out that the relationship between ministers and monarchs should not be a master-servant relationship such as "the king wants his ministers to die, and the ministers have to die". The reason why ministers and monarchs were originally established was to benefit the people. Therefore, there is no difference between ministers and monarchs in essence, but they can only say that their functions are different. Therefore, it is obvious that the minister is not for the king, so the minister does not have to die for the king. In Huang Zongxi's mind, the correct relationship between the monarch and his subjects should be "the monarch and his subjects have the same quality but have different names", that is, "the monarch and his subjects have the same name but different names.
Whether it is the "democratic monarch" thought pointed out by Huang Zongxi, or the "jun" he pointed out by the same name "Different" theories are actually theoretical weapons used by Huang Zongxi to break the rationality of the supremacy of monarchy in theory. Huang Zongxi intends to pull the monarch down from a high position and tell the people of the world that the people themselves are the masters of the world. At the same time, Huang Zongxi is also admonishing the officials of the world that the object of their allegiance should be the people, not the monarch, and they should serve the interests of the people.Act instead of emptying your mind for the self-interest of the monarch. From this perspective, Huang Zongxi’s ideas of "democratic monarchs" and "monarchs with different names" are also well-intentioned.
Of course, Huang Zongxi’s criticism of ancient feudal autocracy has certain historical limitations, and the democratic atmosphere in his thoughts is not strong enough, but his valuing the people is undoubtedly of great significance to the progress of our ancient feudal society After all, many scholars believe that his ideas are the embryonic form of democratic ideas.
我是颜小二@颜小二述哲文, let you see the world from a different angle!
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