Sun Yat-sen’s favorite inscription in his life was probably “The world is for the common good”. According to statistics, among Sun Yat-sen's inscriptions, "Only those with the recipient's surname" and "The world is public" have been collected so far, there are 32 inscriptions, among which some were dedicated to Feng Yuxiang and some to Zhang Xueliang. Why did Sun Yat-sen have a soft spot for "the world is for the common good"? I think this is the state he hopes to achieve when he advocates and implements the Three People's Principles. Perhaps it can be said that his ideals, his goals, and the basic spirit of his ideological system are all condensed in the four words "The world is for the common good." middle.

The origin of "The world is for the common good"

In 1924, Sun Yat-sen proposed in "The Three People's Principles": "The true Three People's Principles are the world of great harmony that Confucius hoped for." The world of "Great Harmony" that Confucius yearned for refers to the ideal society described in "Book of Rites: Liyun": "The path of the great road is the same, and the world is for the common good." In this society, "old people will die, and strong people will be useful." "Young people will grow up, and widowers, widowers, lonely people, disabled people will all have something to support them." This is the so-called "Great Harmony". The "Liyun" chapter was written under the name of Confucius, but was actually compiled by scholars at the end of the Warring States Period or during the Qin and Han Dynasties. It reflects the political ideals of the Confucian school with Confucius as its founder and its vision for the future society. The source of Sun Yat-sen's thought of "the world is one common people" is the "Book of Rites·Liyun" which was compiled more than 2,000 years ago. However, Sun Yat-sen's thought of "the world is for the common good" is very different from the Confucian thought of "the world is for the common good". The former bears the imprint of the era in which Sun Yat-sen lived. It not only absorbed the essence of Confucianism, but also integrated the equality ideas of ancient Chinese peasant rebels, Western bourgeois democratic ideas, and the popular socialist ideals at the time.

"The world is for the common people" in the eyes of Sun Yat-sen

The word "公" for "the world is for the common people", according to the explanation of the Eastern Han Dynasty scholar Zheng Xuan, means "***" . "The world is for the common people", that is to say, the world is owned by all people in the world. When it comes to Sun Yat-sen, the content of "the world is one common people" is deeper and broader. He said: "The meaning of our Three People's Principles is of the people, by the people, and for the people. Of the people, by the people, and for the people means that the country is owned by the people, politics is governed by the people, and the interests are owned by the people. Everyone enjoys it. According to this statement, the people have not only ownership of the country, but also all rights. "The word "***" covers so much, "country", "Politics" and "interests" are all under its shroud. The country is "owned by the people", politics is "controlled 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 the masters of the country, all the people manage national affairs, and all the people enjoy equal happiness: “The people are truly the main people”; All 40 million people have the sovereignty to manage the country's major affairs"; there is no unreasonable situation of wealth disparity and the oppression of the majority of poor people by a few rich people, and the people of the country "live happily and equally". "Owned by the people," "governed by the people," and "for the people" have been fully realized, and the "universal world" as the ancients said has indeed been achieved. Sun Yat-sen confidently told the world that his ideal future society would have the prosperity of the capitalist economy in Europe and the United States, without the various drawbacks, class confrontation and social unrest that would inevitably come with the development of capitalism in Europe and the United States. The blueprint for transforming and building China drawn by Sun Yat-sen really moved the hearts of many people at that time, and became the goal of the Chinese people of that era.

The way to realize "the world is for the common good"

Sun Yat-sen tried to achieve "the world is for the common good" through the implementation of the Three People's Principles. He advocated the implementation of nationalism, that is, the implementation of national revolution, overthrowing the rule of the Manchu aristocracy, restoring China, and turning the world of one family and one surname into a "public world." After the fall of the Qing Dynasty, it continued to carry out the national revolution, opposed the dictatorship of bureaucrats and warlords, and turned the world of bureaucrats and warlords into the world of the people. At the same time, all ethnic groups in the country will be integrated into a very civilized and powerful unified Chinese nation in order to resist the oppression of the imperialist powers, regain lost land and rights from the great powers, and make China an independent, prosperous and powerful country.

He advocated the implementation of civil rights, that is, the implementation of political revolution, "breaking the old autocracy, advocating democracy and peace, and building a new Republic of China." In this "true Republic of China", sovereignty lies with the people and the country is founded by the people. Before the Revolution of 1911, the civil rights mentioned by Sun Yat-sen were indirect civil rights. Citizens only had the right to vote and could not directly exercise sovereignty. Instead, others, namely representatives, exercised sovereignty on their behalf. After the Revolution of 1911, Sun Yat-sen learned from Switzerland and advocated the implementation of a direct democratic system. Under this system, citizens have four major rights, namely, the right to vote, the right to vote, the right to create, and the right to dismiss from office. Sun Yat-sen said: "The people have these four powers, so they can appoint officials, use officials, control officials, and guard against officials, and then they can become the leader of a country without shame." But Sun Yat-sen also said that "power" must be combined with "power". "Ability", "regime" and "governing power" are separated. To put it simply, people with power should not take charge of things directly, but can entrust talented people to take charge of them. He said: “When it comes to national politics, the people must have the power fundamentally; as for those who manage the government, they must be given to capable experts.

"And the experts who are entrusted by the people to manage the government must be regarded as ordinary people. Even the president and chief minister of the Republic of China must be regarded as ordinary people. As for the issue of the separation of "political power" and "governing power", Sun Yat-sen It is explained like this: “The political power of the country must be divided into two parts. One is political power. This power must be completely handed over to the people, and the people must have full rights to directly manage state affairs. This political power is the democratic power. One is governance power. This power must be completely handed over to government agencies, and the government must have great power to manage national affairs. This power of governance is the power of government. "Sun Yat-sen's idea is very good, but it may not be easy to implement. After the people hand over the power of managing the government to "competent experts", they must not only let them exercise their powers, but also supervise them to prevent them from becoming servants. It is not easy for a public servant to become a master.

He advocated the implementation of people's livelihood principle, that is, the implementation of social revolution to prevent the shortcomings of capitalism. Before Xinhai, Sun Yat-sen proposed "equal land rights." That is to say, the "single tax system" for land. The specific method is to let the landlords self-report the land price. In the future, the state will collect land tax based on the land owners' self-reported land. When the state requisitions the land from the landlords, it will also purchase the land based on the land price increased due to the development of transportation. , should return to the country. Sun Yat-sen said, "This is of great benefit to the national economy and people's livelihood. The evils of monopoly held by a few rich people will naturally be eliminated forever, and this is the simplest and easiest way." However, the "equal land rights" he advocated only applies to "homesteads" and not to "cultivated land"; it only applies to cities It does not apply to the vast rural areas. Although Sun Yat-sen proposed the idea of ??"land to the tiller" in his later years, he did not put forward a specific and feasible plan for how to enable landless and landless farmers to obtain land. Moreover, this idea was not feasible. Very realistic. Sun Yat-sen wanted to develop capitalism in China, but also wanted to use methods to inhibit the development of capitalism and prevent its inevitable consequences. This was a major contradiction in his thinking. After the Revolution of 1911, Sun Yat-sen also proposed "control of capital." ” advocated. He said that in European and American countries, capital is monopolized by a few people, and solving economic problems is a hundred times more difficult than political problems. China should learn from the mistakes made by Europe and the United States. China must prevent the upcoming catastrophe as soon as possible. Capitalists monopolize capital. The method is to let the state control the economic lifeline and use the power of the state to develop the economy and benefit the whole society. Sun Yat-sen believed that this approach embodies the spirit of socialism. He called people's livelihood doctrine socialism or national society. Socialism, or collective socialism, or communism. His people's livelihood doctrine also has the Soviet economic system and policies (Sun Yat-sen called it the "communist system" and "state capital system"). ).

Sun Yat-sen knew that in order to realize "the world is for the common good", we must fight against those who regard the world as selfish. He pointed out: "The people and the country are the masters of the country. 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 disrupted the Republic of China refer to Yuan Shikai, Zhang Zuolin, Cao Kun, Long Jiguang and others, these bureaucrats , the warlords regarded the army as private property, the political power as private property, and the country as private property. Therefore, he said: "In the future, there will be no other hope of transforming the Republic of China without a revolutionary spirit. "Sun Yat-sen would have foreseen the corruption that would occur after the country was unified and the Revolutionary Party became the ruling party. He once envisioned using foreign administrative, legislative, and judicial powers, plus China's examination and supervisory powers. , forming a government with "five powers separated". According to him, with such "the most complete and best government", it can "prevent all abuses" and "achieve a country of the people, by the people, and for the people." However, it is difficult to say how much problems the "separation of powers" can solve.

Sun Yat-sen fought for the realization of "the world is for the common good" throughout his life. Although the Republic of China was still a fake sign until his death. , but his various attempts and efforts to realize "the world is for the common good" are beneficial. Today's era is fundamentally different from the era in which Sun Yat-sen lived, but Sun Yat-sen's inscription "The world is for the common good" still inspires the Chinese people. It is still the goal of the Chinese people. Naturally, "the world is for the common good" has a new connotation of the times.