the people are more important than the ruler(mín guì jūn qīng)

the people are more important than the ruler

Mencius' social and political thoughts. From the point of view of the world, the people are the foundation and the foundation, and the people are more important than the monarch. "The people are more important than the monarch" is the core of Mencius' theory of benevolent government, which has the color of people-oriented and has a great influence on the thinkers of later generations.

essential information

The people are more important than the monarch. This is the people-oriented thought.

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original text

(Mencius asked the king of Liang Hui) he said, "it's not against farming time, and the grain can't win the food; if you don't enter the pond, the fish and turtle can't win the food; if you enter the mountain forest, the wood can't win the use. Grain, fish and turtles are not to be eaten, and forests are not to be used. This is to make the people live and die without regret. It is the beginning of kingcraft that there is no regret in life and death. Five acres of house, trees with mulberry, fifty people can wear silk. When the chickens, dolphins, dogs and * animals are lost, the seventy can eat meat. Don't rob a hundred mu of land at the right time. A family of several people can live without hunger. In order to teach, we should uphold the principle of filial piety and fraternity. Seventy people eat meat and clothes, and the people are not hungry, but those who are not king are not. Dogs eat * human food but do not know what to do. When a man dies, he says, "it's not me, it's age." What's the difference between stabbing people and killing them, saying, "it's not me, it's soldiers." The king is innocent, and he is the people of the world. "In Mencius, there is fat meat in the Pao, fat horses in the stable, hunger in the people and hunger in the wild. This rate beast but cannibal also! Animals eat each other, and people are evil; for the parents of the people, administration is not immune to lead animals to eat people, and the evil is that they are the parents of the people? (Mencius · King Liang Hui) king Xuan of Qi asked, "Tang Fangjie, King Wu, who killed Zhou Mencius said to him, "it's said in the biography." He said, "can a minister kill his king?" He said: "a thief who is benevolent is a thief, a thief who is righteous is a cripple, and a person who is a cripple is a husband. I have heard of the killing of Zhou, but I have not heard of the killing of kings. " (Mencius · King Liang Hui Part 2) Mencius said: "Jie, Zhou lost the world, lost his people, lost his people, lost his heart. There is a way to win the world: if you win the people, you will win the world. There is a way to get the people: if you get the heart, you will get the people. The way to get it is to gather what you want and do not do what you hate. The people's return to benevolence is just like the water's going down and the beast's going out. Therefore, those who drive fish for the yuan are otters; those who drive nobility for Cong are rowers; those who drive people for Tangwu are Jie and Zhou. Mencius said: "the people are the most important, the country is the second, and the monarch is the least.". Therefore, it depends on the people of the hill to be the son of heaven, the son of heaven to be the princes, and the princes to be the doctors. When the princes were in danger of their country, they changed their position. When sacrifice is accomplished, when prosperity is achieved, it is clean. When sacrifice is offered, however, when drought and flood overflow, it becomes a state. " (Mencius with all his heart)

translation

(Mencius answers Liang Huiwang's question) if military corvee doesn't interfere with the season of agricultural production, the food will not be enough; if the fine fish net doesn't go to the deep pond to catch fish, the fish and turtles will not be able to eat up; if we go into the mountains with axes to cut down trees according to the season, the wood will not be used up. If food, fish and turtles can't be eaten up, and timber can't be used up, then the people have no regrets about living, raising and burying. It is the beginning of kingcraft that the common people have no regrets about living, supporting and burying. If people are given five mu of houses and gardens to plant mulberry trees, then people over 50 can wear silk. If the common people can raise chickens, dogs, pigs and other livestock in a timely manner, then the elderly over the age of 70 can eat meat. If every family has 100 mu of arable land and the government does not interfere with their production season, then the family of several people will not suffer from hunger. If schools are run seriously and the common people are repeatedly taught the principle of filial piety to their parents and respect for their elder brothers, then the gray haired old people will not be able to carry or carry heavy things on their own. People over the age of 70 have silk to wear and meat to eat, and ordinary people can't get hungry or frozen. It's never happened that they can't practice kingcraft in this way. In the Liang Dynasty, the pigs and dogs of rich families ate the people's food, but they did not restrain it; there were starving people on the road, but they did not open the granary for relief. When the common people died, they said, "it's not my fault, it's because of my bad years." What's the difference between saying "I didn't kill people with a knife, but with weapons"? If you don't blame him until Niancheng, then the people of the world will come to Liang. " (Mencius · King Liang Hui) there are fat and tender meat in the kitchen and strong horses in the stable, but the common people look hungry, and those who lie in the wild starve to death. This is equivalent to the person in the upper position leading the beast to eat people! Animals kill each other, and people still hate them. As the parents of the common people, they carry out politics, but they are not free to lead the animals to eat people. How can they be the parents of the common people? (Mencius · King Liang Hui) king Xuan of Qi asked: "Shang Tang exiled Xia Jie, and King Wu of Zhou crusaded against Shang Zhou. Are there really these incidents?" Mencius replied: "there are such records in historical materials." King Xuan asked, "is it OK for the officials to kill the monarch?" Mencius replied: "those who destroy benevolence are called thieves, those who destroy righteousness are called cans, and those who destroy benevolence and righteousness are called Dufu. I only heard that the only husband Zhou was executed, but I didn't hear that the monarch was killed by his subordinates. " Mencius said: "the reason why Jie and Zhou lost the world was because they lost the support of the common people; the reason why they lost the support of the common people was because they lost the support of the common people. There is a way to win the world: with the support of the people, you can win the world. There is a way to get the support of the people: if you get the support of the people, you can get the support of the people. There are also ways to win the hearts of the people: what they want, they will be satisfied; what they hate, they will not be imposed on them. That's all. The common people's obedience to benevolence is like water flowing low and animals running into the wilderness. Therefore, it is otters who eat fish for Shenchi, kites who eat birds for the forest, and Xia Ying and King Zhou of Yin who kill the common people for King Tang of Shang Dynasty and King Wu of Zhou Dynasty Mencius said: "the common people are the most important, the God of earth Valley is the second, and the monarch is the least. So if you get the favor of the people, you will be the son of heaven, if you get the favor of the son of heaven, you will be the princes, if you get the favor of the princes, you will be the doctor. If the vassals harm the country, they should be reformed. If the sacrifice is fattened, the sacrifice is clean, and the sacrifice is made at a certain time, but it still suffers from drought and flood, then the God of earth and grain will be established. "

Appreciation of articles

The idea of "people-oriented" is one of the fine traditions in ancient Chinese culture. Once human beings enter the civilized society and establish a country, how the rulers deal with the relationship with the people becomes a crucial issue. In order to consolidate the rule and stabilize the social order, thinkers of various schools put forward their own ideas at that time. Not only Confucianism, but also Taoism, Mohism, Zuozhuan, Guoyu, Guanzi and other works contain the idea of "people are the foundation of the country" in varying degrees. For example, in Laozi, there is the proposition of "loving the people and governing the country" (see Chapter 10), and it clearly states: "the sage has no ordinary heart, and takes the people as the heart." (see Chapter 49) from the works of the pre Qin Dynasty, we can see that the people-oriented thought has become a trend of thought at that time; comparatively speaking, the people-oriented thought represented by Confucianism is the strongest and most concentrated. The six passages in Mencius selected here all directly expound the people-oriented thought. The core of Confucius and Mencius' thought is "benevolence", benevolent people love, which is the fundamental starting point of people-oriented thought. Confucius once put forward the ideas of "saving and loving others, making the people have time", "cultivating oneself to make the people safe" and "giving generously to the people and helping the people" (see Mencius for all). He asked the rulers to restrain their selfish desires and give generously to make the people live and work in peace and contentment. Confucius' people-oriented thought was inherited and carried forward by Mencius. Extort excessive taxes and levies and vicious beyond measure. Meng Zi's people based thought is mainly reflected in the following aspects: first, criticizing the rulers to be extorted and exacting, and *, ignoring the interests of the people. The second is to emphasize the people's right to subsistence, which must ensure that the people are "not hungry or cold" and "have no regrets for their lives or death"; otherwise, it is no different from the "rate animals and cannibals" of the single man bandits. Thirdly, it emphasizes that rulers must first win the support of the people, and then puts forward the idea of "the people are the most important, the country is the second, and the monarch is the least". The fourth is to emphasize that leaders should put themselves in the interests of the people, worry about the worries of the people and enjoy the happiness of the people, so as to sublimate the people-oriented thought to a quite conscious political and moral realm. China's Traditional People-oriented ideology has always maintained its advanced nature in the development of ancient history, and it is a valuable spiritual wealth left by the Chinese nation long ago. Although there are differences and gaps between it and the modern people-oriented concept, there are internal relations in spirit essence, which should be fully affirmed and carried forward. The article of Mencius is fluent in language, brilliant in literary grace, and good at using metaphor, profound in reasoning, giving people a sense of eloquence.

About the author

Mencius (about 372-289 BC), named Ke and named Ziyu, was a native of Zou state in the middle Warring States period (that is, the southeast of Zou County in Shandong Province), not far from Confucius' hometown Qufu. He is a famous thinker, politician, educator, inheritor of Confucius theory, and an important representative of Confucianism. It is said that Mencius is a descendant of the noble Mencius of Lu state. He lost his father when he was young and had a poor family. He was once a student of Zisi. After he became a scholar, he lobbied the vassals and tried to carry out his own political ideas to Guoliang (Wei), Qi, song, Teng and Lu. At that time, several great powers were committed to enriching the country and strengthening the army, striving to achieve reunification by means of violence. He inherited Confucius' thought of "benevolence" and developed it into the thought of "benevolent government", which was widely accepted

Chinese PinYin : mín guì jūn qīng