A Study Of Chen Liang’s Theory Of Governance

The theory of governance originates from the western political science field, in the West it has a profound theoretical origin. Being different from the western thoughts, Chinese governance theory involves multiple aspects of nature, mind, and society. Chen Liang is a famous thinker in our country, and in his life, the country is facing a major problem of governance. The Song Dynasty is an important period in the history of Chinese ideology, and the rise of Neo-Confucianism is a major event. Chen Liang’s thought develops through three stages, eventually gets to separate ways with the mainstream science, and forms his own characteristics, which focus on the outside world. Chen Liang’s theory of governance is divided into three levels. For the nature, he thinks the heaven, the earth, and the human are three Cai, and he fully affirms the important position of the human. But he also stresses that people cannot defy fate. Humanity and heaven are interdependence. He also believes that the Tao exists in the daily life, and who can change the trend of the world must be the human. For the mind, Chen Liang firstly affirms the morals of the human, but also refers to old saying which points out that the human can fall. His think the human should keep going. But he also points out that due to the different circumstances of each person, we should seek to find a suitable way for our own self-cultivation. He also advocates that we should face the reality, and he criticizes people who just study on the mind. He makes a unified of moral and utilitarian. And for the society he firstly affirms the political premise is the mind. The governance of mind is the source of the governance of society, and it is the first thing to do. It is not possible for the big world to be ruled by a single man’s witness and force, so it should be decentralized. In terms of governance of the society, he believes that the Confucian governance of the Song Dynasty policy has a lot of problems. Combining with the history, he thinks the combine of Wang and Ba method is the most suitable for that time. In specific aspects of governance of the society, he puts forward a lot of opinions. On personnel issues, he puts forward what the talent selection standards are, and the King and his men should believe each other. On the issue of legislation, he affirms the role of law, but he also points that the use of law should be flexible. In financial issues, he advocates both agriculture and business, and he advocates streamlining financial institutions and decentralization of financial power. In issues of war, he advocates the importance of plans, and he is cautious of war. His final goal is to honour the king and drive off the barbarians, which means restoring the lost lands occupied by Jin Dynasty. Chen Liang’s theory of governance embodies the main qualities of Confucian. For the problems of today’s governance, such as protecting the environment, moral construction, legal construction, and financial issues, Chen Liang’s theory of governance can also give valuable inspiration.