A Study On The Thoughts Of Prosperity And Poverty In Ancient Chinese

The problem of prosperity and poverty is a hot and old issue. It is not only a realistic problem of the economic and social development, but also a historical problem in the history of human development. Since the country began to appear, how to deal with the relationship between prosperity and poverty had become a focus of the Chinese governments in the past dynasties. At the same time, with the growing tendency of polarization between prosperity and poverty, Chinese thinkers in the history expounded their views on it, put forward proposals to deal with the relationship and the gap between prosperity and poverty. These proposals laid experience foundations for the future generations to deal with the problem of prosperity and poverty.This dissertation investigates and examines the thoughts of prosperity and poverty along the Chinese history with a systematic and analytic study of its development and evolution. The development and evolution of the thoughts of prosperity and poverty in the ancient Chinese history can be divided into four phases. They are generation phase (the Pre-Qin Period), development phase (Qin-Han Dynasties to Sui Dynasty), transition phase (Tang-Song Dynasties) and perfection phase (Yuan-Ming-Qing Dynasties). Each phase will be elaborated in great detail.The first part of this dissertation mainly discusses the generation phase (the Pre-Qin Period) of the thoughts of prosperity and poverty. The Pre-Qin Period is the germinating and emerging period of polarization between prosperity and poverty. It is also the time that the thoughts of prosperity and poverty appeared. Pre-Qin philosophers proposed the thoughts like "the degree of prosperity and poverty", "the differences of prosperity and poverty" and "the sharing of prosperity and poverty" which have eternal value in the history of economic thoughts and have laid theoretical basis for the later generations.The second part focuses on the development phase (Qin-Han Dynasties to Sui Dynasty). Qin and Han Dynasties to Sui Dynasty is the development phase of the thoughts of prosperity and poverty. The polarization between prosperity and poverty developed and the gap between them expanded greatly. Thus to adjust the relationship between agriculture and commerce and to balance the taxes and corvee had attracted more and more attention. Three farmland systems as "jin-shape farmland", "limiting farmland" and "granting farmland" are systematically put forward and reflected in the relevant regulations, which is the most characteristic in this phase.The third part investigates the transition phase (Tang-Song Dynasties)of the thoughts of prosperity and poverty. In Tang and Song Dynasties, with the great economic and social development, the economic thought had undergone a huge transition. A lot of new ideas and thoughts came out. So was the thought of prosperity and poverty. "The debate between justice and profit" went further while "the idea of protecting the rich" began to emerge. And the idea became one of the distinct new economic ideas at that time.The fourth part of the dissertation examines the perfection phase (Yuan-Ming-Qing Dynasties). Yuan-Ming-Qing Dynasties are the perfection phase of the thoughts of prosperity and poverty. The thoughts integrated and absorbed all the previous thoughts since the Pre-Qin Period. It also considered "the idea of protecting the rich" as its core after weighing the pros and cons of all the traditional ideas. Until now the traditional thoughts of prosperity and poverty have been perfected and enhanced.With the systematic and analytic study, this dissertation considers that "the debate between justice and profit" and the idealistic pursuit of social equality run throughout the development and evolution of the traditional thoughts of prosperity and poverty. It is a fusion and evolution of two thoughts which are "the sharing of prosperity and poverty" and "the idea of protecting the rich". The ancient Chinese thoughts of prosperity and poverty provides a rich and valuable resources for the contemporary handling and solving the problems of prosperity and poverty.