-- Excerpts from The Economic Principles of Confucius and his School, Book VIII, Chap 26

EDITOR’S NOTE: Over a century ago, a Chinese scholar, named Chen Huan-Chang (陈焕章), wrote the book in English The Economic Principles of Confucius and his School as his PhD thesis at Columbia University and had it published in the USA. The book has had great impact on several generations of masterly Western scholars in economics and economic policies in the West. For instance, the idea of changpingchang (常平仓, or regulative storage), which had been practiced for thousands of years in ancient China and was mentioned in the book, was adopted by the US parliament in its 1933 Agricultural Adjustment Act, sponsored by Henry A. Wallace (USDA secretary, 1933-1940), who had learned of it from the said book.

As the book is focused on only one of the several major ancient Chinese schools of thought, some other essential content in traditional Chinese economics, therefore, could not be covered, such as those of Guan Zhong (管仲), the Legalist chancellor and reformer of Qi state and, according to the author of this book, the first person who had put forward a complete system of thought on economics. However, many important ideas and practices discussed in the book had actually been shared by some other major schools of thought. That of changpingchang mentioned above is one typical example.

While this book is a comprehensive treatment of the topic as indicated by its title, whole six chapters are devoted to “socialistic policies” in ancient Chinese economy, which practice might not be expected by contemporary readers. We will post excerpts from these chapters in installments. Hope it will shed some light on how today’s world economy should be reformed.

PREVIOUS INSTALLMENTS

Socialistic Policies of Ancient China [1]: The Tsing Tien System:

 (I) History of the Tsing Tien System

(II) The Tsing Tien System of Confucius

THE TEXT

Chap 26: The Tsing Tien System (continued)

(III) History of the Destruction of Tsing Tien

    Toward the end of the Chou dynasty, in 202 A. K.¹ (350 B. C.), the state of Ch’in destroyed the tsing tien system. It was the policy of Shang Yang, minister of Chin. He thought that in the three neighboring states the people were poor and the land was not sufficient for them; and that in his own state the people were few and the land was more than they needed. Hence the land of Ch’in was not thoroughly cultivated, and the productive power of the oil was not fully utilized. Therefore, he lured in the people of the three neighboring states, with a special preparation of good farms and homes for them, and with an exemption of military duties for three generations; the only thing for them to do was the agricultural work at home. Then the native people undertook the charge of expeditions abroad. He destroyed the form of tsing tien which was created by the ancients, and opened the different roads and boundaries along the field for extensive cultivation. The people were allowed to take as much land as they wanted. The result of this policy was that within a few year, the state was rich and strong, and gained power for the consolidation of the whole empire.

This new law inaugurated a revolution in the economic history of China. It was the first time the people were given private ownership of land. From that time on, the land was not in the hands of the government, and the public could never control the wealth of the community.

In 336 A. K. (216 B. C.), the First Emperor of the Ch’in dynasty decreed that the people should themselves tell the amount of their land, in order to regulate the land tax. Since that year, throughout the empire, private ownership of land has prevailed, and everyone has been permitted to sell or buy land.

^{1. Year of Confucius -- The New Legalist editor.}

IV History of the Unsuccessful Attempts to Revive the Tsing Tien System

1. Limitation Policy

After the tsing tien system was destroyed, land was an object of sale and purchase. Therefore, the rich had an unlimited portion of land, and the poor had not even a single clod. In the reign of Han Wu Ti (about 432 A. K. or 120 B.C.), Tung Chung-shu was the first one to advocate the limitation of land-ownership. But his proposal was not carried out.

...

2. Confiscation Policy [omitted]

V. History of Revival of Tsing Tien [omitted]

[Note by The New Legalist editor: The revival was only partial, i.e., mixed with some form of private ownership of land. ]

VI. Opinions on the Tsing Tien System [omitted]

VII. Conclusion 

There is no doubt that the tsing tien system has passed away never to be revived.... [The time length of its existence] from the first year of Huang Ti to the date of destruction of tsing tien by Shang Yang is two thousand three hundred forty-eight years (2147 B. K. - 202 A. K. or 2698 -350 B. C.)....

...

In many of its essential ideas, the tsing tien system is similar to modern socialism. The two have the same object of equalizing the wealth of the whole society. Of cource, by the changes of methods and organizations, the modern industrial stage must differ from the ancient agricultural stage. In ancient times, land was the most important from of wealth. Therefore, when land was equally distributed, the wealth of the people was practically equal. Under the tsing tien system, the people did not own even their houses, and their whole economic life was controlled by the state. It was an extreme socialism, or state socialism. In modern times, passing from the agricultural stage to the industrial stage, the land is not so important as before. Even if the land could be equally distribute or nationalized, the wealth of the people would still be unequal, because besides the land, there are many other capital goods. Therefore, modern socialism has more difficulties to overcome than that of the ancients. But the essential ideas of modern socialism are not different from those of the tsing tien system. By the tsing tien system, everyone got the whole of what he produced, because there was no landlord. When Su Shun condemned the landlord, it was because he took half of the product from the cultivators. It is the same argument as that of the socialist, who would allow no capitalist to take half the product of the laborer. In a word, the tsing tien system and socialism both aim at equality of wealth, and at allowing the producers to get all that they produce.

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[Note by The New Legalist editor: For a just system of distribution in the industrial age, it should be based on a true-to-life recognition of the sources of value of all social commodities.]