First, the construction of the theory of "attaching importance to the people" First, Wang Dao's theory of good nature and benevolent government is the theoretical basis of the theory of "attaching importance to the people". Mencius' people-oriented political thought is based on his theory of good nature. He regards Confucius' "benevolence" and "propriety" as the basis of human nature, thus putting forward the theory of good nature. He believes that the reason why people are different from other animals lies not in their "food habits" but in their kind nature. The essence of kindness is a kind of natural sympathy he found among people, which is also called "unbearable heart" or "compassion". Starting from the goodness of human nature, he led the ruler to be king and benevolent. Mencius said: "Everyone has a heart that can't bear others. The late king had a heart that could not bear others, and Sri Lanka had a policy that could not bear others. With an unbearable heart, you can't endure the politics of others and rule the palm of the world. " The so-called "politics that does not tolerate others" is benevolent politics and is called "kingly politics" by later generations. He extended benevolence and goodness to the political field, clearly put forward benevolence as the starting point of governing the country, and asked the ruler to be benevolent. It can be seen from Mencius' political thought that the basic path of his political thought is the extension of morality. His "Wang Dao Ren Zheng" inherits Confucius' political theory of ruling by virtue, and holds that improving moral cultivation is an important basis for improving political behavior ability. He put forward: "Benevolence is king with virtue." It can be seen that the rule of virtue is the basic premise of his political practice. Mencius also learned from historical experience and advocated "respecting the king and restraining the tyrant". "If you bully benevolence, there must be a big country." He who is benevolent is king, but the king is not big. Tang 70 Li, Wen Wang 100 Li. Those who persuade others by force are not persuaded and unable to support them; Convince people with virtue and convince them with heart "("Mencius Gong Sunchou "). Wang's "taking virtue as benevolence" is to seek the obedience of the people and the governance of the world; The bully's "filling benevolence with strength" is the fact that he uses force in the name of benevolence and righteousness. The former advocates the idea of benevolence, morality for the people, morality for teaching the people, and benevolence and righteousness are king, as well as the political ideal of "the behavior of the avenue is public" The latter advocates force, convinces people by force, and implements the policy of killing and tyranny in the name of benevolence and righteousness, in order to seek the private interests of one family and dominate the world, and regards the world and people as possessions and slaves. In Mencius' view, the key to establishing a unified and good political order is their benevolent governance and kingliness under the limited conditions of "soup 70 Li, literati 100 Li". The core issue of Wang Dao's benevolent government is diligent work for the people. Correctly handling the relationship between the monarch and the people, putting the people in the most important position in the practice of governing the country, paying attention to the people's livelihood, attaching importance to the people's love for the people and making profits for the people are the basic requirements of Wang Dao's benevolent policy. Second, the ancient thought of valuing the people is the source of the thought of valuing the people. The thought of valuing the people is the earliest scientific explanation of ancient thinkers on the relationship between heaven and man and between monarch and people. It was put forward by ancient philosophers after paying special attention to the dialectical relationship between destiny and human heart and realizing the social value of human beings and the important role of human heart. This is the source of the theoretical construction of "people-oriented". The thought of attaching importance to the people strongly criticized the theory of "divine right of monarch" and emphasized that attaching importance to the people and neglecting god was the embryonic form of ancient people-oriented thought. For example, "Shangshu Hao Tao Hume" said: "The sky is smart and people are smart; I am afraid of the dawn, and I am proud of myself. " Shang history also said: "Heaven regards oneself and others, and Heaven listens to oneself and others." The human heart is the heavenly heart, the public opinion is the destiny, and the people's feelings are the providence. The common aspirations, demands and interests of the people are natural. Paying attention to man is the correct understanding of ancient thinkers on human society, which shows that ancient philosophers have deepened their understanding of the relationship between heaven and man, believed that man is heaven, advocated paying attention to "man", and realized the transfer of attention from heaven and god to man. Therefore, the thought of attaching importance to the people is the initial affirmation to enhance the role and position of the people in the history of China. Pan Geng in Shangshu first put forward the concept of "attaching importance to the people", saying that "attaching importance to the people means endless killing". The rulers of the Zhou Dynasty saw the strong resistance of the people from the demise of the Shang Dynasty and had to admit the importance of the people to the survival of the country. They have realized that heaven is not credible, but human power is credible. It is not enough to guarantee rule by destiny alone, but also depends on whether the monarch has virtue and can win the hearts of the people. "Heaven will obey the wishes of the people." (Shangshu Zhou Shu Taishigong) Zhou Gongdan said that only by "protecting the people" can we "enjoy the destiny" (Shangshu Duofang). "Guanzi Quanxiu Chapter" puts forward: "Scholars, farmers and businessmen are the Shi Min of the country." In other words, the support of intellectuals, farmers, craftsmen and businessmen to the country is like the pillar of building a house. In political practice, he also applied the idea of attaching importance to the people to national governance and achieved good results. Since the Spring and Autumn Period, although the formulation of "people-oriented" has been put forward, it has not been extensively and rigorously demonstrated by thinkers, so a relatively complete people-oriented ideological system has not been formed. But it should be clear that the main feature of people-oriented thought in this period is to attach importance to the people. Mencius initiated a debate on Wang Ba, recommended the benevolent policy of Wang Dao, and advocated valuing the people over the monarch. He believes: "The people are the most important, the country is the second, and the monarch is the light." On the basis of the theory of good nature, through rigorous argumentation, the famous "theory of valuing people" was constructed. It is not only the core content and important part of Mencius' people-oriented thought, but also the symbol of the basic formation of ancient people-oriented thought. Source: Journal of Zhengzhou University (Philosophy and Social Sciences Edition)