"The people are the most important, the country is the second, and the monarch is the light" comes from the "dedication" in Mencius. "The people are wise to the monarch" has become a famous saying widely circulated in later generations and has been quoted by people all the time. Monarchs and countries can be replaced, but only ordinary people can't be replaced. Therefore, the people are the most important.
Mencius said: "The people are the most important, the country is the second, and the monarch is the light. Therefore, those who win the hearts of the people are the sons of heaven, those who win the promise of the sons of heaven are the kings, and those who win the promise of the kings are the doctors. If the monarch endangers the land god and the country, he will change the monarch. The sacrifices are rich, the sacrifices are clean, and the sacrifices are held on time, but they still suffer from drought and flood, so they are changed to Tugu God. "
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This passage is the most typical and vivid embodiment of Mencius' people-oriented thought. "The people are wise to the monarch" has become a famous saying widely circulated in later generations and has been quoted by people.
It should be pointed out that "people" is a concept of collection. As a whole, "people" is more expensive and important than jun, but what about each individual of "people" and ordinary people? The whole "person" is composed of individuals, and each individual should be respected.
Just like today's society, we advocate democracy, equality, tolerance and pluralism. Just like "everyone is equal before the law", when the individual "people" are compared with the "monarch", they should also be equal, because the monarch is also an individual people. Therefore, it is inappropriate to say that individuals despise the monarch.