The publication of "The World is for the Public"
1924, Sun Yat-sen put forward in "Three People's Principles": "The real Three People's Principles are the big world that Confucius hoped for". The "Great Harmony" world that Confucius yearned for refers to the ideal society described in The Book of Rites and Li Yun: "A trip to the Avenue is also a business." This society "has an end to old age, a strong young age, and a support for widowed and lonely diseases", "goods are abandoned on the ground and don't have to be hidden in themselves; If you hate it, you don't have to do it for yourself. " This is the so-called "great harmony". "Li Yun" was actually compiled by scholars in the late Warring States Period or the Qin and Han Dynasties. It reflects the political ideal and vision of the future society of the Confucian school with Confucius as its founder. The source of Sun Yat-sen's thought of "the world is public" is Li Yun, which was compiled more than two thousand years ago. However, Sun Yat-sen's thought of "the world is public" is very different from Confucianism. The former bears the imprint of Sun Yat-sen's era. It not only absorbed the essence of Confucianism, but also integrated the equality thought of the peasant uprising army in ancient China, the western bourgeois democratic thought and the popular socialist ideal at that time.
In Sun Yat-sen's eyes, "the world is public"
According to Zheng Xuan, a scholar in the Eastern Han Dynasty, the word "Gong" means "* * *". "The world is public", that is, the world belongs to the world. By the time Dr. Sun Yat-sen arrived, the content of "the world is public" was deeper and wider. He said: "Our Three People's Principles are for the people, by the people and for the people. By the people, by the people, and for the people means that the country is owned by the people, the government is governed by the people, and the benefits are enjoyed by the people. According to this statement, the people are not only * * * property to the country, but everything is * * *. " A word "* * *" covers such a wide range that "country", "politics" and "interests" are all in its shadow. The state belongs to the people, politics is governed by the people, and the national interests obtained are enjoyed by the people.
In Sun Yat-sen's ideal future society, all the people are masters of their own affairs, manage state affairs and enjoy equality and happiness: "truly people-oriented"; "40 million people have the sovereignty to manage state affairs"; There is no disparity between the rich and the poor, and there is no unreasonable situation in which a few rich people oppress the majority of the poor. The people of the whole country "live a happy and equal life". "owned by the people", "ruled by the people" and "enjoyed by the people" have been fully realized, and what the ancients called "the world is public" has indeed been achieved. Sun Yat-sen confidently told the world that his ideal future society will have the prosperity of capitalist economy in Europe and America, but there will be no disadvantages, class opposition and social unrest inevitably brought about by the development of capitalism in Europe and America. Sun Yat-sen's blueprint for the transformation and construction of China really touched the hearts of many people at that time and became the goal of the people of China at that time.
The way to realize "the world is public"
Sun Yat-sen tried to "rule the world" by implementing the Three People's Principles. He advocated nationalism, that is, the national revolution, to overthrow the rule of the Manchu nobles, restore China, and turn the world of one family name into a "public world". After the demise of the Qing dynasty, he continued the national revolution, opposed the autocratic power of bureaucratic warlords, and turned the world of bureaucratic warlords into the world of the people. At the same time, all ethnic groups in China will be integrated into a very civilized, powerful and unified Chinese nation, so as to resist the oppression of imperialist powers, regain lost land and rights from the powers, and make China an independent and prosperous country.
He advocated democracy, that is, political revolution, "breaking the old autocracy and advocating the establishment of a new Republic." In this "real Republic of China", sovereignty lies with the people and the country is founded by the people. Before the Revolution of 1911, Sun Yat-sen said that civil rights were indirect civil rights. Citizens only had the right to vote, but could not directly exercise their sovereignty. They had to be exercised by others. After the Revolution of 1911, Sun Yat-sen used the Swiss method for reference and advocated the implementation of direct civil rights. Under this system, citizens have four rights, namely, the right to vote, the right to referendum, the right to create and the right to recall. Sun Yat-sen said: "The people have these four rights, that is, they can be officials, be officials, control officials, and guard against officials, so they are the masters of a country without humiliation." But Sun Yat-sen also said that "power" and "ability" should be separated, and "political power" and "ruling power" should be separated. To put it simply, people with power should not be directly in charge, but can be entrusted to talented people. He said: "When it comes to national politics, people should have rights; As for those who manage the government, they must pay competent experts. "Moreover, experts entrusted by the people to manage the government should also be regarded as ordinary people, even the president and chief executive of the Republic of China. As for the separation of "political power" and "ruling power", Sun Yat-sen explained it this way: "The political power of a country should be divided into two parts, one part is political power, which should be completely handed over to the people, and the people should enjoy full rights to directly manage state affairs. This regime is civil rights. One is governance, which should be completely handed over to government agencies, and the government should have great power to govern state affairs. This kind of governance is government power. "Sun Yat-sen's idea is very good, and it may not be easy to really implement it. It is not easy for the people to exercise their functions and powers after handing over the power of managing the government to "capable experts". They should also be supervised to prevent them from turning their servants into masters.
He advocated people's livelihood, that is, social revolution, to prevent the disadvantages of capitalism. Before Xinhai, Sun Yat-sen put forward "equal land rights". "Average land ownership" means "single tax system" of land. The specific method is to let the landlord quote the land price himself, and then the state collects land tax according to the land reported by the landlord. The land requisitioned by the state from the landlord shall be purchased at the land price quoted by the landlord. Due to the developed transportation, some land prices have risen when returning home. Sun Yat-sen said: "This is of great benefit to the national economy and people's livelihood. The disadvantages of a few rich people holding monopoly will naturally disappear forever. This is the simplest and easiest way. " However, the "equal land ownership" he advocated only applies to "homestead" and not to "cultivated land"; It is only applicable to cities and suburbs, not to the vast rural areas. Although Sun Yat-sen put forward the idea of "land to the tiller" in his later years, he did not put forward a concrete and feasible plan on how to let farmers who have no land or little land obtain land. And this idea is not realistic. Sun Yat-sen not only wants to develop capitalism in China, but also wants to prevent its inevitable drawbacks by restraining the development of capitalism, which is a major contradiction in his thought. After the Revolution of 1911, Sun Yat-sen put forward the idea of "controlling capital". He said that in European and American countries, capital is monopolized by a few people, and solving economic problems is a hundred times more troublesome than political problems. China should learn from Europe and America. China should stop big capitalists from monopolizing capital as soon as possible. The way is for the country to seize the lifeline of the economy, develop the economy with the power of the country and benefit the whole society. Sun Yat-sen believes that this practice embodies the socialist spirit. He put the people's livelihood socialism or national socialism, or collective production socialism, or * * * productism. His people's livelihood does have the shadow of Soviet Russia's economic system and policy (Sun Yat-sen called it "production system" and "state capital system").
Sun Yat-sen knew that to realize "the world is public", we must fight against those who take the world as their own private interests. He pointed out: "* * and the country, the people are the masters of the country, and officials are the public servants of the people. Ten years after the founding of the Republic of China, those public servants were so bad that they messed up China ... "The so-called" public servants "that Sun Yat-sen said disturbed the Republic of China refer to Yuan Shikai, Zhang, Cao Kun, Long Jiguang and others. These bureaucratic warlords regard the army as private, the regime as private and the country as private. So he said, "Without the revolutionary spirit, there is no hope of transforming the Republic of China in the future." Sun Yat-sen will not be unaware of the corruption that will occur after the reunification of the country and the revolutionary party becomes the ruling party. He once imagined that the adoption of foreign administrative, legislative and judicial powers, together with China's power of examination and supervision, would lead to a "separation of five powers" government. According to him, with such a "most complete and kind government", we can "guard against all evils" and "build a country of the people, by the people and for the people". However, it is really hard to say how much the "separation of five powers" can solve.
Sun Yat-sen has been fighting for the realization of "the world is public" all his life. Although the Republic of China was still a fake signboard until his death, his attempts and efforts to achieve "the world is public" are beneficial. Today's era is fundamentally different from that of Sun Yat-sen, but Sun Yat-sen's inscription "The World is Public" still inspires the people of China and remains the goal of the people of China. Naturally, "the world is for the public" has a new era connotation.