Economic And Ethical Thought. "tube" Study

"Guan Zi", a great ancient Chinese treasury of knowledge, expounds and develops the country-running ideas of Guan Zhong, an outstanding statesman. It has a deep and profound insight on how to administer a country from political, economic, social and cultural aspect. This thesis mainly focuses on its economic ethics. Although this modern cultural concept refers to the harmonious, purpose-fitting and should-be development of human economy and does not appears in the ancient time, the ethic ideas about economic development has a long history and witnesses its frequent appearance in "Guan Zi". The study of the ethic ideas in "Guan Zi" is, on one aspect, to better dig out and sort out China's ancient cultural treasury, on the other, to contribute to the construction of economic ethics system on the whole.The emergence of any idea or culture has its deep-rooted reasons, so does "Guan Zi". It is the result of the economic and political revolutions, frequent wars and free contention of different schools of thought during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period.The ethic ideas in "Guan Zi" are firstly manifested in its overall understanding of the macro economic development. That is, he advanced a programmatic demand on economic development from the ethic point of view, which is what I mean the ethic economic development thought of "Guan Zi". Distinguished in how to govern the people and administer a country, the most stressed point in "Guan Zi" is how to avail the social stability and development and how to effect the prosperity and powerfulness of a country. Therefore, in accordance with its general political and economic aim of developing and prospering economy, building up a strong army and conquering other states, "Guan Zi", first of all, establishes its economic ethic principle as "nation priority", which demands all economic activities subjectto the nation's benefits, and which sets the nation's benefits as the criterion to judge all economic values. Through the positive interference of the national machines and the energetic development of national economy can a nation be prosperous and powerful and realize its ultimate aim: to conquer all other nations. That is, the economic benefits and prosperity of a nation is the fundamental consideration of the economic ethic thought of "Guan Zi". After the establishment of "nation priority", this book advances its economic ethic target: the setting up of a benign economic order and a high degree of harmony in national economic life. Here the economic order mainly refers to the ordered operation of economy in line with the nation's intention; harmony refers to the satisfaction of the harmonious state set by the nation, in the book's words, "prosperous to the nation and sufficient to the people" and "moderate difference between the rich and the poor". The economic developing approach in the book is "engaged in the fundamental and rectifying the less important", meaning that farming is the fundamental and should be forcefully developed and meanwhile, the industrial and the commercial market as the less important should also be rectified and the abusive production of luxurious goods should be banned. Its purpose is to guarantee a normal economic development and to store national economic strength. It must be pointed out here that the "engaged in the fundamental and rectifying the less important" advocated in the book does not suggest an over-all rejection of the development of industry and commerce but an objection to the abusive production of luxurious goods. In "Guan Zi"'s concept of values, utilitarianism is very obvious. As a matter of fact, "utilitarianism" was first mentioned in this book as a human nature. It is also pointed out in the book that this selfish desire should be given enough attention to by the nation and what a nation does should be conformed to the benefits of its citizens. In this book, the benefits of a nation and those of its citizens are closely associated and the practice of the latter is regarded as the means to effect th...