CON MINGBEN ZOU SIXIANG MINGZHU. Huangzongxi mingben sixiang guoji xueshu yanjiu taolonghui wenji. From Guang Zhubian. Hangzhou: Zhejiang guji chubanype, 2006. 478 p*

In recent years, the Chinese leadership has been pursuing a policy of combining the provisions of Marxism with the ideas of Confucianism, so it pays special attention to traditional culture and the heritage of thinkers of the past. One of them is a famous 17th-century Chinese philosopher. Huang Zongxi (Huang Lizhou), who played a prominent role in the development of Chinese enlightenment1. As Premier Wen Jiabao of the State Council of the People's Republic of China stated," Huang Zongxi's ideas about solving important state affairs based on the sorrows and joys of the people should not only be remembered, but also put into practice " (p. 9). In April 2006, at the birthplace of the thinker, in Yuyao (prov. Zhejiang), a special international symposium dedicated to the work of Huang Zongxi was held, which was attended by over 90 scientists from mainland China, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, the United States and Russia (the author of this review). 66 reports were submitted.

The book under review contains 43 articles written by the participants of the symposium, representing a wide range of opinions on various aspects of the Chinese philosopher's worldview.

In discussing the central theme, "Huang Zongxi's Ideas of People-reliance," the overwhelming majority of authors emphasize their democratic nature, which has stimulated the reform movement that emerged in China in the late nineteenth century. Many leaders of this movement (Kang Yuwei, Liang Qichao, Tan Xitong) Huang Zongxi's work "Ming yidai File"has been reviewed more than once2. At the same time, the authors of many articles emphasize that the ideas that

* From the idea of "the people are the basis" to the ideas of democracy. Collection of articles by participants of international scientific conferences. symposium, dedicated to Huang Zongxi's ideas / Chief Editor. Wu Guang. Hangzhou: Zhejiang Guji Publishing House, 2006. 478 p.

1 See: Fishman O. L. Chinese Satirical Novel, Moscow: Nauka. 1966; Burov V. G. Mirovozzrenie kitaiskogo thinker XVII veka Wang Chuanshan ' [The worldview of the 17th-century Chinese thinker Wang Chuanshan]. 1976.

2 There are various translations of the title of this work: "A Plan for a Prince", "Unfinished Notes on Mines and Barbarians", " Until the Dawn Comes "(see: Fishman O. L. Chinese Satirical Novel, pp. 171-172).

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developed by the philosopher, they have a modern sound and can be used to build a modern Chinese political democracy.

However, there are significant differences in the approach to assessing Huang Zongxi's views. First of all, this is observed in the interpretation of the idea "the people are the basis" and the concept of "democracy". According to some scholars, since the main meaning of democracy is that "sovereignty belongs to the people", and in creating a democratic system through elections, although, according to Huang Zongxi, the subject of the state is the people, but the ruler's power over it is not denied, it is only required to pursue wise policies and rely on scientists Therefore, the ideas put forward by him cannot be called propaganda of democracy. However, most articles have a different point of view. Huang Zongxi's statement, "The master is the Celestial Empire, and the ruler is only a guest," clearly indicates that " the people are the main thing in their home." Consequently, here we can speak about the rudiments of democratic enlightenment ideas peculiar to the philosopher, and in his criticism of the absolutist regime we can find features inherent in the ideology of Enlightenment.

There is also a difference in the authors ' approach to the characterization of the very idea of "the people are the foundation" and the possibility of its reinterpretation as a term of modern democratic politics. Objecting to the simplistic approach to the problem of comparing the concepts of "the people are the foundation" and "democracy", Ji Pengcheng (Foguang University, Taiwan) He argues that in a democratic government, those who hold power receive it from the people, while in a "people-based" government, they are based on the"principle of responsibility". In his opinion, only with a true understanding and awareness of the concept of "the people are the foundation" and its implementation in governance, in which the people live in peace and tranquility, can we talk about a democratic policy. In democratic governance, attention is drawn to the legality of the appearance of status in a political figure, i.e. the rights of persons in power should be entrusted by the people. However, this principle is also used when there is a need to certify the sacred nature of the ruler's authority, to transmit the "will of Heaven" or when power is inherited; in these cases, other methods are used to justify the legitimacy of power. And then, according to the author of the article, power should be transferred to the ruling circles by the people, they should choose them.

Regardless of how the ruling circles gained power, the main thing in this case is the results of government activities. We can only speak of a democratic policy when the government administration relies on the people in its activities. Wang Yu (Academy of Social Sciences prov. Zhejiang) argues that the main place in Huang Zongxi's system of values is occupied by the common people, so the goal of the ruler's policy should be to ensure their happiness and the idea of raising the political status of educated people, their active participation in state affairs.

For Peng Guoxiang (Tsinghua University), the thoughts contained in the chapter "Educational Institutions" of Huang Zongxi's work (according to him, it is more important than the chapter "On the Origin of Rulers") are central to the philosopher's views, since they suggest creating a system of public opinion expression based on schools. These ideas, according to Peng Guoxiang, have not yet lost their significance; in many ways, they are in tune with the ideas of modern Western democracy about public reasoning. The author of the article suggests making the ideas of gongyi ("universal expression of opinions", "universal participation in discussion") the central content of "modern democratic politics". Peng Guoxiang sees the fact that the Chinese leadership has put forward the concept of building a "(socialist) harmonious society " as an expression of national tradition, but believes that without the possibility of free expression of opinions, such a society cannot be created. He places the historical responsibility for its creation on both political figures and intellectuals.

Huang Zongxi was an encyclopedic scholar: he was interested in philosophical, historical and literary works related to antiquity and the Middle Ages, he had knowledge in physics, mathematics, geography, rare metals, and was the creator of the so-called Zhedong School of Thought. When discussing his philosophical teaching, Liu Shuxian (Hong Kong University of Science and Technology) emphasized that the thinker proposed to return to the system of government typical of the wise rulers of antiquity, i.e. under the Xia, Shang-Yin and Zhou dynasties, because in subsequent dynasties there was a violation of the "correct institutions" characteristic of the "ideal state". In addition, he expressed his rejection of those prices-

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popular trends in the modern West: "the search for profit at the expense of debt, the merging of politicians and merchants, a serious stratification between the poor and the rich..." (p. 447).

According to Xu Dingbao (Ningbo University), the soul of Huang Zongxi's teaching is the formation of self-awareness of the subject, who makes all his efforts in the interests of the state and the nation.

When discussing Huang Zongxi's economic views, the authors draw attention to their innovative nature. Back in 2000, based on the ideas of the Ming philosopher regarding the tax system in feudal China, Qin Hui (Tsinghua University) derived the "Huang Zongxi formula", according to which taxes should be levied depending on the quality of land.

The articles by Dai Yi (Tsinghua University) and Wu Gengyu (Wuhan University) emphasize that, according to Huang Zongxi, the development of society should be based on industry and trade. This meant a decisive break with the then prevailing ideas about the need to develop agriculture, and restrict trade. According to Wu Gengyu, Huang Zongxi's ideas in philosophy and economics in the last period of the Ming Dynasty contained a "breakthrough" in three respects: industry and trade are equally important as agriculture; a single monetary system fixed in prices is needed; and rich people need to be supported. The value of his economic program lay in the demand to multiply the national wealth, and not in increasing the financial and tax resources of the state, which belonged to the imperial family.

In an article by Zhou Jiafu (Beijing Normal University) The article examines Huang Zongxi's views on the need for a serious transformation of the traditional education system, the main flaw of which he saw in the fact that it did not bring knowledge to the people, since its main and only purpose was to prepare students for exams for obtaining an academic degree. As you know, educational institutions in China have always been given special importance. And it's not just the increased attention and respect for literacy and scholarship, but the fact that education also served an important socio-political function. Since the second century BC, the country began to operate an examination system, according to which obtaining an official position depended on meeting a certain educational qualification. In fact, the administrative and educational systems were merged. This circumstance negatively affected the training of officials. Huang Zongxi proposed to get rid of the" limitations " of the exam system, to put the achievements of antiquity in this area at the service of modernity. According to the thinker, it was necessary to improve the system of selecting officials altogether, since it was out of touch with life. Zhou Jiafu, as well as teachers of various educational institutions in Yuyao, Xie Lingling and Zhu Jianzhang write about this.

Another issue that was discussed at the symposium was the origins of Huang Zongxi's views. Traditionally, there was an opinion that they should be found in the Shujing ("Book of History"), in Meng-tzu and in the Confucian traditions, embodied in the ideas of" kinship with the people "and"humanity". However, in recent years, a great contribution to the development of this problem has been made by a prominent Chinese scientist, one of the brilliant experts in the work of Huang Zongxi, known for his numerous works on the history of Chinese philosophy - Wu Guang (Institute of Philosophy of the Academy of Social Sciences prov. Zhejiang)3. In a number of his publications, he emphasizes that it is not possible to limit oneself only to those sources that are commonly referred to, since there are many more of them. In the broadest sense of the word, he believes, Huang Zongxi's views are based on the ideas of "the people are the foundation" and "humane government", characteristic of Confucians throughout the previous history of traditional culture, as well as the idea of "no ruler", characteristic of Taoism.

According to Wu Guang, the direct or indirect ideological source for Huang Zongxi specifically came from many ideas from the Shujing:" only if the people are the foundation of the kingdom, the kingdom is calm"; Confucius: "the humane love people"; from Meng-tzu: "respect the people and neglect the ruler" and "about the ruthless despot"; Bao Jinyan: "when there were no rulers in ancient times, it was better than in the current era"; Fan Zhongyan: "when first the Celestial Empire takes care, then later the Celestial Empire reigns joy"; Deng Mu: the demand to oppose the ruler and take care of the people, to put forward a demand for the people's rights, to make a demand for the people's rights. to be wise and to appreciate the service people; Wang Yangming: the doctrine of "the unity of knowledge and action"; Huang Shengzheng:" discussion of the humanity or inhumanity of the system of fiefs, districts and counties"; Liu Zongzhou:"sincerity and prudence, love for people and perseverance in actions". Thus, Wu Guang considered-

3 One of the main organizers of this international scientific symposium.

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Huang Tsungsi's teaching is regarded as a kind of summary of the entire previous development of the history of Chinese philosophy.

At the same time, it was Wu Guang who gave a new interpretation to the" Zhedong School of Thought"; before him, it was usually qualified as a school that arose only during the Qing dynasty. According to Wu Guang, its origins should be dated to the era of the Song Dynasty, another thing is that under the Qing it reached its heyday. Before Wu Guang, this school was considered exclusively as a school of interpreters of classical texts, but he also drew attention to the fact that its representatives were also engaged in history, literature, and natural sciences. In his opinion, Huang Zongxi's ideas that "the people are the foundation" play an important stimulating role for the development of modern Chinese society, in which the interests of the individual should be in the first place.

In the program of transformation of the Minsk thinker, Wu Guang identifies four components::

1) The political model. Huang Zongxi strongly opposed absolutism ("the ruler harms the people"), defended the sovereignty of the people ("The Middle Kingdom is the host, and the ruler is the guest"), and proposed an even distribution of responsibilities "in the administration of the Middle Kingdom between rulers and subjects." Advocating a return to the ancient feudal system, Huang Zongxi considered it necessary to follow the system of territorial administration that existed at the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, in which local self-government served as a kind of barrier against the omnipotence of the center, limiting it. "It is obvious," writes Wu Guang, " that his political model was directed against the absolutist dictatorship of highly centralized power and had elements of simple democracy."

2) A law-based management model. Huang Zongxi was referring to China's historical past, when the laws of the three ancient dynasties were the laws of the entire Middle Kingdom. At the same time, he criticized the regulations that appeared later, calling the laws created by rulers and emperors "laws of one family", "lawless laws". He put forward the demand to "replace the laws of one family with the laws of the Middle Kingdom", while at the same time formulating the idea of "managing people on the basis of laws". In his words, the idea was voiced that " the Middle Kingdom is the Middle Kingdom for all the people, and not just for the ruler."

3) The economic model. Huang Zongxi repeatedly drew attention to the plight of the peasants, sharply criticized the system of tax collection that had existed for many centuries, and demanded the development of trade and industry.

4) The education model. According to Huang Zongxi, educational institutions are not only a place for training officials, but also a kind of representative bodies that express public opinion and bring it to the attention of the official apparatus and the emperor himself. Therefore, he proposed to create a wide network of public schools throughout the country, which, in his opinion," as in ancient times", should not only serve the purposes of education, but also become organs of expression of the people, for which they should be freed from all control by the central administration and subordinate to local authorities. Huang Zongxi believed that educational institutions should be intellectually independent, where free expression of views is allowed. He suggested "not to be a pedant" and not to be confined to the selection for an official position only by an "eight-part essay" 4.

A number of articles in the collective monograph raise the question of the enlightenment character of Huang Zongxi's worldview. Thus, the article of the author of this review emphasizes that when analyzing the views of a Chinese thinker, one should take into account the specific socio-economic background that existed during the life of Huang Zongxi, i.e., the feudal system of social relations. However, the theory that feudalism is a frozen, ossified society cannot be considered correct. Feudalism, as a mode of production, as well as other modes of production, underwent changes in the course of its historical development. The changes that have taken place over the years have led to certain changes in the specific-

4 The "eight-part essay" (wenzhang) was the main element of the official position examinations. It consisted of eight sections: 1) analysis of the topic; 2) distribution of the topic; 3) general reasoning; 4) special reasoning; 5) first argument, 6) rhythmized paraphrase; 7) second argument; 8) final argument. The subjects of the examination papers were commentaries on the books of the Confucian canon (see: Fishman O. L. Chinese Satirical Novel, pp. 9-11, 169).

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the main forms of manifestation of its essence. These modifications were more or less associated with the emergence of new socio-economic elements. In China, feudal relations are gradually disintegrating, new capitalist production relations are emerging, discontent with the absolutist regime is growing, spontaneous actions of peasants and townspeople are taking place, a kind of bloc is being created from such social groups as merchants, factory workers, artisans, small landlords who are dissatisfied with the policy of the Qing government and fought for their political and economic rights, there is a kind of opposition. The ideology of Huang Zongxi and other thinkers of this period reflected her demands.

The West put forward the ideal of "enlightened absolutism" (Voltaire), and the Chinese enlighteners also came to the same conclusion. They used their antiquity to refer to Confucian institutions of the "golden age". In comparison with real Qing absolutism, the ideal of "enlightened absolutism" was at least progressive. Therefore, in this article, Huang Zongxi is called a representative of the early Chinese enlightenment.

According to Yu Huaiyuan (Guizhou Normal University), Huang Zongxi had few theoretical sources for formulating a program of reform of the absolutist system, so it is not surprising that the social ideal he drew seems limited. Unfortunately, for several centuries after the death of the thinker, his ideas were unclaimed; moreover, he was criticized for "looking at the emperor as an employee", which confirms the reformist nature of his ideas. Therefore, the question of whether Huang Zongxi was a reformer is not speculative, but confirmed by practice: when the Chinese began to look for a path to democracy more than a hundred years ago, the leaders of the reform movement and those who promoted revolutionary transformation, it was Huang Zongxi's ideas that were raised to the shield.

Even those authors who are not inclined to recognize the enlightening nature of Huang Zongxi's worldview, nevertheless note his merits in putting forward ideas for reforming Chinese society. A well-known American scholar, author of many studies on the history of Chinese philosophy, Honorary Doctor of the Institute of the Far East of the Russian Academy of Sciences Chen Zhongying (University of Manoa, Hawaii) believes that in his attitude to "the evil generated by the absolutist system of Chinese dynasties and the ways he put forward to overcome it" Huang Zongxi could not go beyond the political philosophy of Confucius, Meng- Tzu and Xun-tzu. His thesis that "the ruler is a guest, and the host is the Celestial Empire" is actually a development of Mencius 'idea that" it is necessary to value the people and despise the ruler." It means that the will of the people becomes the will of heaven, but Huang Zongxi could not suggest any concrete measures to put this idea into practice. Obviously, he was only relying on the arrival of a wise ruler. "However, the very formulation of this problem," Chen Zhongying emphasizes, " is an extremely important merit of the thinker." Another of his important achievements, he considers the approval of the absolute necessity of governing on the basis of laws and the introduction of control over the actions of administrative bodies. Huang Zongxi took a new approach to Confucian political theory, but "his approach was not sufficiently comprehensive, and his understanding of human nature was not deep. Of course, in the field of theory, Huang Zongxi acted as a democrat, although he remained within the framework of abstract reflections and could not fully show that the will of Heaven is the will of the people, which must be implemented in practice," concludes Chen Zhongying (pp. 447-448).

A significant place in the articles of many authors is occupied by the problem of the correlation of the idea "the people are the basis" with modern theories of democracy. According to Wei Zhengtong, editor-in-chief of the Taiwanese magazine "China Forum", this idea itself is innovative in the history of ideas about democracy, but it has never been implemented in practice. Although Huang Zongxi's views influenced the democratic movement at the end of the Qing Dynasty, his ideas were comparatively far removed from the true ideals of democracy. When he declared that law-based governance is preferable to people-based governance, it was a step forward in the history of Chinese traditional political thought. "However, due to a variety of reasons, historical conditions, and limited ideological resources, "Huang Zongxi's message of" the people are the foundation " was not really a serious promotion of the ideals of democracy in China at that time. In support of his point of view, Wei Zhengtong refers to the proposals put forward by the thinker. They referred only, first, to a clear division of administrative functions between the emperor and the First Minister; second, to local authorities controlling the Center; and third, to the establishment of regional and county offices.

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meetings to discuss the activities of local governments. In my opinion, Wei Zhengtong's reproach to Huang Zongxi is unfounded, since at the end of the 17th century the thinker's proposals were of a serious reformist nature.

According to Li Cunipan (Institute of Philosophy of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences), Huang Zongxi's political philosophy has serious Chinese characteristics and has not been "baptized" in the mainstream of modern Western democratic thought. As you know, after the opium wars of the first half of the 19th century, the Chinese intelligentsia adopted only the ideas of saving the state and self-strengthening the nation from the West, but they ignored the thoughts of Western thinkers about individual rights and the interests of various social groups. This influenced the specifics of modern Chinese thought. By rejecting the system of monarchical power, it also retained the basic principle of collectivism for the idea of "the people are the foundation".

Building a truly democratic society in China, Li Cunipan emphasizes, requires achieving harmony between the interests of the collective and the freedom of the individual, so only ensuring universal prosperity in conditions of a certain differentiation of people's interests can be the key to forming a civil society with Chinese characteristics. In his opinion, it is necessary to draw a clear line of demarcation between the traditional Chinese idea of "the people are the foundation" and Western ideas about democracy. In the political teaching of Confucianism, "the power of the ruler" has always taken a subordinate place. Despite the transformation of Confucian ideas, over the centuries their social ideal of" doing what is useful for the Middle Kingdom and giving up their own benefits " remained unchanged. This position is also shared by Huang Zongxi, concludes Li Cunipan.

According to Fang Zuxiang (Ningbo University), when analyzing the differences between the models of Western and Chinese political thought, one should not proceed from "practical forms", but from the following three criteria:: 1) whether the relations between the state and an individual are antagonistic or harmonious; 2) whether the state protects the interests of only an individual or a certain group of people, or whether it cares about the sorrows and joys of the whole people, the promotion of benefits and the elimination of harm; 3) officials are educated by the people only during elections, or whether this is not the case. education is permanent, and as a result, a democratic political system is built on a moral basis. Naturally, Fang Zuxiang concludes, there are differences between Chinese and Western democracies, each with its own advantages and disadvantages. So, in the Chinese tradition, the emphasis is on unity and harmony, the main attention is paid exclusively to the general interests and the interests of individuals are completely ignored. Therefore, in order to create a more perfect democratic model of modern Chinese society, it is necessary to borrow elements of other countries ' democratic systems.

A collective monograph on the central idea of Huang Zongxi's social philosophy provides a comprehensive overview of the views of this prominent Chinese thinker, who played an important role in the historical and philosophical process in China. The articles published in it allow us to understand the development trends of modern Chinese philosophical science.

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