Translated from Chinese by Sherwin Lu (Incl. quotations from classics)

EDITOR’S NOTE: The following abstract provided by the author has said what this editor would like to say about his article --

 Abstract

         While it has been a consensus in both Western and Eastern academic circles that constitutional government originated in modern England’s constitutional monarchy, this article proves that it had existed much earlier in ancient China, i.e., in the state of Qi in the Spring and Autumn period over 2600 years ago in the form of constitutional monarchy. What was different in Qi constitutionalism from the modern Western version was that the former was people-oriented, protecting not only individual human rights but also the interests of the state, i.e., shared interests of the whole population; that it restricts not only the monarch’s and the government’s power but also that of the capitalist class; and that it adopted the rule of law and virtue combined, incorporating the principle of selecting the morally worthy and intellectually capable for government positions. That was a most nearly perfect version of constitutionalism in human history, which made it possible for Qi to quickly become the No. 1 superpower, a leading force for one time among the Chinese states in their efforts to maintain peace in that chaotic era.

THE TEXT

         It has been a consensus in both Western and Eastern academic circles that constitutional government originated in modern England’s constitutional monarchy after the “Glorious Revolution”. But as a matter of fact, constitutional monarchy was already instituted 2600 years ago in China’s Qi state, one based on the rule of law and virtue equally combined.

         According to modern constitutional theory, it is a political model with a constitution defining and limiting government power to ensure all citizens’ human rights.

         Hence, the rule of law and guarantee for human rights are the core elements of constitutionalism.

         It has been a regular phenomenon in the world history of constitutionalism that its implementation normally preceded a written constitution. Currently, there are some countries that have a constitutional government without a written constitution but instead they have a set of laws with a constitutional nature. Take Sweden for instance, her constitution is composed of Government Code (1809), Act of Succession (1810), Freedom of the Press Act (1949), etc. Some other countries have a constitutional government but not a full set of constitutional laws. For example, Britain’s Bill of Rights adopted after the Glorious Revolution was constitutional in nature but not complete as a constitution. Ancient China’s Qi had a constitutional government, but it was such a long time ago that too few historical records have survived cultural catastrophes like book burning in Qin dynasty and, therefore, one cannot be sure if there ever existed constitutional laws at that time. But some countries do have both a constitutional government and a constitution, such as France and the United States.

         Constitutionalism has appeared in two major forms: either constitutional monarchy or constitutional democracy.

         As constitutionalism implies restriction of monarchical power and protection of human rights, it does contain elements of democracy. However, democracy in constitutional monarchy does not have an equally important status as the rule of law and human rights. Only in constitutional democracy does it have the same status. Hence, the former has two essential factors while the latter three.

         The fundamental function of a constitutional political system is to prevent abuse of power by the monarch or by the government, including a democratic government, by limiting the monarch’s and the government’s power, so as to protect universal human rights of all citizens. Therefore, constitutionalism itself does not deal with the issue of how the monarch and the government acquire their power, nor the issue of legitimacy of their power, because the monarch’s power is inherited and the government’s is acquired through election.

II. Constitutional Monarchy

         In modern times, constitutional monarchy refers to a political model founded on constitutionalism with an inherited or elected monarch as the head of state. It is marked by the retainment of the monarch’s position while adopting a constitution to limit his/her power and at the same time protect that for the people, thus forming a de facto republic. As compared with autocratic monarchy, constitutional monarchy is a state system with limited monarchical power. On the other hand, it is different from constitutional democracy in retaining the monarch’s position with corresponding power. Therefore, it embodies a kind of compromise between the power of the feudal aristocratic monarch and that of the capitalist class.

         Constitutional monarchy can take the form of either a dual system or a parliamentary system. With the latter, the monarch has only a symbolic position, i.e., a figurehead without real power, while the prime minister acts as the chief administrator, such as in Japan; and not only the monarch but even the prime minister can neither step beyond the limits set by the constitution and other laws in governing the state.

         In a dual system, the authority is split between the monarch and the parliament: The former is in direct control of the administrative power to appoint or remove cabinet members, who are held responsible for the monarch, whereas the latter holds legislative power, though the monarch has the final veto against any bill the parliament may propose. In a nut shell, the dual system has three characteristics: “supremacy of the law”, “limited royal authority”, and “real power in the cabinet”.

         It is generally held in academia that Britain was the first state in the world to have constitutional monarchy, because the Magna Charter, which King John was compelled to sign in 1215, stipulated that the power of the aristocracy and the church should not be encroached on by the king, that the king’s power to tax people be restricted, and that the common people’s right to freedom and property be protected. This was followed by more constitutional laws after 1628, such as Petition of Right, the Habeas Corpus Act, the Bill of Rights, and the Act of Settlement, which all have combined to form a unique framework of an unwritten constitution typical of Britain. As a matter of fact, the major articles in the Bill of Rights adopted in 1689 best embodied the basic constitutional principles:

1.    The king may not issue or suspend any laws without the approval of the parliament;

2.    The king may not levy nor dispose of taxes;

3.    The king may not recruit or maintain a standing army during times of peace;

4.    The subjects have the right of petition to the king;

5.    The king shall convoke the parliament at due times; parliament members be chosen by the people through free election and their right to free expression in the parliament not be interfered with by the king;

6.    The king may not establish a separate religious court or any special court, nor abuse cruel punishments, nor confiscate a suspect’s property before a verdict.

         Hence such primary principles as the supremacy of the parliament, the independence of the court, and the inviolability of people’s rights and freedom are established together with the political system of constitutional monarchy.

         Constitutional monarchy in different countries at different times, however, may be distinguished from each other in their concrete patterns. For instances, that of Japan from that of Britain, and that of ancient China’s Qi from those in both the above two.

III. The State of Qi: Flourishing Market Economy and Political Revolution

         According to constitutional theory, the historical condition for the appearance of constitutional political system was the transition from feudalism to capitalism. The Qi state during China’s Spring and Autumn period 2600 years ago had just entered that stage of development.

        Jiang Taigong (姜尚, founder of Qi, ? – 1015 BC?) “paid great attention to promoting industry and commerce and facilitating fishing and salt-making so that people came from all directions to join Qi and made her a great power…” (Sima Qian: 《史记‧齐太公世家》). Qi’s industrial and commercial businesses were highly developed, “bringing about enormous wealth and abundant commodities” for the state. Jiang Taigong especially “encouraged women to perfect their skills for needlework” (Sima Qian:《史记‧货殖列传》), so much so that, as far back as the early years of Western Zhou dynasty, Qi already exported garments to all other states (“冠带衣履天下”, “海岱之间敛袂而往朝焉” – Ibid.).

         When Duke Huan of Qi (齐桓公, 685 – 643 BC) ascended to the throne, there had already been existing a free market for over 300 years, about as long as the history of modern capitalism. Because of the highly developed free market in Qi, there had happened alternately economic crises of overproduction or product shortage, as described by Guan Zhong (c. 723 or 716 - 645 BC), Qi’s prime minister:

         “If it is a year of bumper harvest, peasants find it difficult to sell their grains and have to dispose of them as food for dogs and pigs instead of for humans. If there is crop failure because of natural calamities, one fu (capacity unit of that time -- Translator) of grain would cost 10 strings of copper coins and there would be hungry people begging on the roads. Is it because the soil is too poor to produce enough grains? No. It is because grain prices in the preceding year were kept too low, so low that even pigs and dogs can enjoy human food, seriously hurting the peasants’ livelihood, so that they have to reduce their production, which causes the shortage of grain supply for the next year.

          “If commodity prices fall too sharply and cannot sell for even half the labor cost, sales yield could not cover what has been invested for production. If there is a price hike and one cannot get a product even at ten times the normal rate, people would not be able to get their necessities. Is it because there are not enough things produced and stored? No. it is because the time for people to reap and store is missed and supply and demand are not in balance, thus causing the wild fluctuations in prices.” (《管子》国蓄第七十三)

         In a market economy dominated by liberalist policies, big capital manipulates the prices and controls the market:

         “… if the merchants sell dear, the monarch follows suit, not doing anything to lower the prices; if the merchants sell cheap, the monarch also follows suit, not doing anything to raise the prices.” (《管子》揆度第七十八)

         What was more serious was that private big financial capital exploited people by means of usury and replaced state authority in controlling public financial business, creating a sort of financial crisis with, so to speak, “five kings taxing one state”:

         “…the officials’ report made on returning from an inspection tour shocked Duke Huan: The usurers had charged an interest rate as high as 100%. Their total loans in cash amounted to 3 million, those in grains to 3 million zhong (capacity unit of that time -- Translator) and debtor families to over 30 thousand. After four ministers finished their reports, Guan Zhong commented:

         “It is totally unexpected that Your Highness’s subjects are living in a state taxed by five kings. Under such circumstances, it is utterly impossible to lift the state out of poverty and our troops out of a weak state.” (《管子》轻重丁第八十三)

         Economic crises and plundering by the capitalist class aggravated the polarization of the society between the rich and the poor. Duke Huan once made a visit in disguise to an elderly man to find that all three of his sons were working as hired hands and all remained single because of poverty (《韩非子》外储说右下第三十五). This showed that hired labor was already quite common in Qi at that time. While people were degraded to hired labor in large numbers, there at the same time appeared a batch of big capitalists and business tycoons who could compete with the state in wealth. As Guan Zhong said when talking with Duke Huan about raising funds for military expenditure, “The grains stored by the rich families are enough to feed the whole army for five months” (《管子》山权数第七十五). Obviously, capital accumulation had already reached a mind-boggling scale.

        By adopting domestic policies, which fit well her geological and historical conditions, of promoting industry and commerce in a big way and a strategy in inter-state trade with stress on exporting clothing, fish and salt, Qi successfully brought about a rapid development of free market economy and the rise of capitalism. But big capital’s control of the market and financial capital’s control of state finance finally led to a crisis in Qi as “one state ruled by two kings”:

        “Once big capital appeared, a situation will follow in which it would seem that the state is ruled by two kings. If the state fails to implement appropriate policies, big capital would function as the equivalent of a king and take advantage of the state’s policy failure to make huge profits at others’ expense, depriving the poor of their scanty wealth and creating serious social crises marked by extreme polarization between the rich and the poor.” (《管子》轻重甲第八十)

        At that time, social contradictions in Qi were unprecedentedly sharp, so sharp that every time Duke Huan went out on a tour, he would have to be escorted by fully-armed guards to prevent possible attacks (《韩非子》南面第十八). Confronted with such an overall social crisis, the Qi state needed to solve the issue of how to adjust and balance the king’s, the government’s and the capitalist class’s power. This means that Qi was in urgent need of an all-round economic reform and a political revolution.