A Study On The Thoughts Of Not Competing For The Benefit With The People In The Western Han Dynasty

The thought of“Not Competing for the Benefit with the People”originates from the criticism of King Li's monopolization of interest in the West Zhou Dynasty.With the social changes of the Spring and Autumn period and the warring States period,two tributary:Zi Si's“not Taking All Interests from People”and Xunzi's“not competing for the Industry with the People”was gradually formed.The development of the Western Han Dynasty for nearly two hundred years provides a broad space for the systematic and theoreticalization of the thought of“Not Competing for the Benefit with the People”.Firstly,the lesson of the Qin dynasty prompted the people of the early Han Dynasty to think about the boundaries of the state power.They gained wisdom from the thought of“not Taking All Interests from People”and they clearly opposed the behavior of the state competing for the benefit with the people.In the middle of the Western Han Dynasty,Dong Zhongshu summed up the reality based on the"xingli"(??)of Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty and put forward the idea that“the Country does not Compete for the Benefit with the People”.At the same time,Dong Zhongshu realized the ideology of Confucianism and the Confucianism of officials by exaggerating the fact that bureaucrats and aristocrats“compete for the benefit with the people”,therefore,he put forward the thought of“Officials are not allowed to compete for interests with the people”.At this time,the thought of“Not Competing for the Benefit with the People”has matured,including two meanings:“Officials are not allowed to compete for interests with the people”and“the Country does not Compete for the Benefit with the People”.However,this thought has been abandoned by the Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty.On the one hand,it didn't agree with the background of“xingli”(??),and on the other hand,the thought lack the consensus of the intellectuals.While with the side effects of“xingli”(??)gradually appearing,especially the inheriting of the cause of Emperor Wu in Zhao-xuan period,the spread of“Not Competing for the Benefit with the People”has a realistic basis.As Confucian scholars continued to enter the political power,it accelerated the spread of this idea.Both the“Yan Tie Conference”and the Xuan Emperor's arguments about atonement and“Chang Pingcang”reflect the confrontation between the idea of"Xingli"(??)and the idea of opposing“Xingli”(??)under the background of“Xingli”(??).This idea is constantly spreading and developing in this kind of confrontation,gradually expanding from the middle and lower levels of Confucianism to the upper level,and gradually rising from the criticism of the people to the court..The idea of“not competing with the people”eventually became the consensus of the court and the commonalty;Emperor Yuan only used the moral education method,he completely denied the“Xing Li”(??)policy of the Wu Zhao Xuan three dynasties,which opened the practice of“Not Competing for the Benefit with the People”.The denial of“Xing li”(??)is the practice of“Not Competing for the Benefit with the People”.Due to the aggravation of the social crisis and rulling class's extravagance in the late Western Han Dynasty,people's practice of this subject of thought has shifted from the state to the officials.They either opposed the bureaucrats and aristocrats to conduct business,or restrict the bureaucrats and aristocrats to encroach on land,and even use the“state competing for profit”to replace the“officials competing for the profit”,and finally fall into the vicious circle of“grabbing for profit”.The practice of the Western Han Dynasty showed that the“profit-seeking”behavior may be something that the imperial system China cannot avoid.