EDITOR’S NOTE: This is an excerpt from the book The Economic Principles of Confucius and his School that was written by Chen Huan Chang (陈焕章), a Chinese scholar, as his doctoral thesis when he was attending Columbia University, U.S.A. (Gordon Press, New York, 1911) and of which a Chinese translation has recently been published in China. Though the book was written a century ago and the principles discussed were formulated millennia ago, many ideas contained in the book still bear on the world today. This excerpt is just one instance.
Actually the “regulation of wants” was not only advocated by the Confucian school, but has been jointly promoted by all traditional Chinese schools of thought and generally practiced by the Chinese for thousands of years, even when China was the most prosperous nation on this planet earth before the “licentious and violent” invasions from the West. Isn’t it the lack of “regulation of wants” and resulting universal moral decline that has led to the contemporary world’s “licentious and violent disorder” as predicted by ancient Chinese sages?
THE TEXT
Although the primary function of rites is for the satisfaction of wants, a secondary function is for their regulation. There are many bases according to which the regulation of consumption is made. But the ethical basis is the first one, that is, self-control. The “Record of Music” (A Chinese classic on music – The editor) says:
The ancient kings, in their institution of rites and music, din not seek to extend the wants of the appetite and of the ears and eyes to an extreme; but they intended to teach the people to regulate their passions of liking and disliking, and to bring them back to the normal course of humanity.
When man is born, he is still; it is the nature give by God. When he is affected by external things, he is active; it is the wants coming out from his nature. When things come to him more and more, his knowledge is increased. Then arose the passions of liking and disliking. If these are not regulated by anything within, growing knowledge leads him more astray without, and he is unable to come back to himself: his principle given by God will be extinguished.
Now, the moving power of things upon man is ceaseless; and if his passion of liking and disliking are not subjected to regulation from within, he is changed into the nature of things as they come before him; that is, he destroys the principle of god and gives utmost indulgence to the wants of man. From this we have the rebellious and deceitful heart, together with licentious and violent disorder. Therefore, the strong oppress the weak; the many are cruel to the few; the intelligent impose upon the ignorant; the bold make it bitter for the timid; the diseased are not nursed; the old and young, orphans and those who are solitary are neglected: such is the great disorder that ensues.
From this passage, we can understand why the ethical element comes into the economic field. First, man by nature has wants. Second, his wants become more active when he is affected by external things. Third, his wants increase as his knowledge increases, and the latter is the result of the coming of things. Fourth, things that affect man are ceaseless, and the wants of man are limitless. With all these four reasons, if man were driven only by economic wants without any ethical consideration, society would surely become disordered, and the majority of the human race would be unable to satisfy their wants.
In order to make everyone able to satisfy his wants to some degree, ir is necessary to make everyone able to regulate his wants. And such regulation is best made by each for himself. Everyone has a good nature given by God; if he can come back to himself, he will make his own mind the master of his body, and his passions will be controlled within. This is an ethical regulation upon the human wants, but it has two objects: on the one hand, it prevents the existence of rebellious and deceitful heart, and of licentious and violent disorder. This is the ethical result. On the other hand, it helps to supply the material needs for the weak, the few, the ignorant, the timid, the diseased, the old and young, the orphans and the solitary. This is the economic result. Therefore, we may ethically control our consumption, but its effect will help the consumption of others, and the distribution of wealth throughout the whole society. |
