In ancient times, there was the idea that "the people are noble and the monarch is light", believing that the common people are more noble than the monarch, and the monarch can only serve the common people. It seems idealistic and exciting, but in fact it is not, but a kind of sophistic logic, a pretext, or just to appease people.
It was Mencius who put forward the idea of "the people are noble and the monarch is light", and he has a certain people-oriented thought. It's precious, but it's not realistic. The reality is that the monarch is noble and the people are light, it is the monarch who rules all the people, and it is the people who submit to the monarch. So, who is expensive and who is cheap?In fact, the monarch is noble, and the common people are lowly. Just look at the actual conditions, the monarch enjoys glory and wealth, enjoys the money and resources that cannot be used up for several lifetimes, and lives a life of fine clothes and fine food, while the common people have no money in their hands, wear coarse cloth clothes, and work all day long, but they can't eat a full meal, and they can't eat meat when they want to eat during the New Year, let alone any noble status. But why do you still say that "the people are noble and the king is light"?
Because the saying "the people are noble and the monarch is light" can appease people's hearts, so that the people feel that they have been treated preferentially and feel that their status is noble. If there is no support from the people, the monarch and all the ** will be hungry, and even the country will die. So, who really matters?It seems that the common people are important, but in fact, the monarch is important. As long as the country is established, it will continue to develop for a long time, even if the dynasty changes and the monarch changes, the feudal ruling order will still be maintained, and the so-called democratic system will not be established, nor will it break the small peasant economic model and establish the capitalist economic model. The monarch does not want to change, and neither do the civil and military officials, so this political system will continue to develop and be passed on. Whether the magnates became kings or the peasant rebels became kings, they all had to maintain the feudal ruling order, and they also had to pay taxes according to the rules and regulations, and they had to serve in the military and conscription. In this way, the monarch has changed many people and changed the dynasty, but it cannot change the fact that the common people are oppressed and exploited.
The monarch and his relatives have become magnates, and ministers and their relatives have also become magnates, but they never participate in field work and do not directly create any value, but they can enjoy the best benefits, and they can even raise taxes privately, pay bribes, and sell official positionsIn this way, is it the monarch or the common people?Of course, the monarch is honorable. The monarch has supreme power, can divide the feuds, can take life and death, can lead people to engage in superstitious activities, and promote feudal morality, but does not emphasize the spirit of the law and the idea of populism. That is to say, in the process of the spread of Confucianism, the idea of "the people are noble and the monarch is light" was changed by the rulers, hidden, and not mentioned, and it was meaningless. Even if some ministers put it forward, saying that the monarch is like a boat, and the people are like water, "water can carry a boat, and it can also capsize a boat." It doesn't play a big role, because "people" is a group concept, not a single person.
Individual people form a group, and "people" is precisely a group concept, without leadership, blind, selfish, but easily fooled. The idea of "the people are noble and the monarch is light" is to fool the "people", and the "people" should farm with peace of mind and not think of rebellion. The group of "people" has no ideology, no spokesperson, and has a great blindness, so the monarch appoints spokespeople for the "people", that is, bureaucrats at all levels. Bureaucrats have become the spokesmen of the "people," often saying that "when you are an official, you must be the master of the people" and "love the people like children." It is all about the group concept of "people", not about individuals. If it refers to individuals, it is really beneficial to the common people. When the group concept of "people" is used by the power system, that is, when the sophistic logic of the idea of "the people are noble and the monarch is light" is widely implemented——— it is said to be universally practiced, but in fact it is just talk, not practiced.
The "people" group can't speak, has no right to speak, and needs to be able to speak on behalf of their interests, and ** is not one of them, but people within the ruling class, who will work hard to safeguard the interests of the ruling class, and will not stand on the side of the people to speak, nor will they really do things for the people. What they have to do is to maintain the existing ruling order, so that the common people can work hard and complain and continuously supply the ruling class with food and money that they need, otherwise the ruling class will not be able to maintain order and survive. That is to say, "people" is just an illusory group concept, which is used by the ruling class, but there is no way to justify itself, and there is no way to change the status quo, only to be content and happy, and can only follow the emperors or ** of the ruling class to engage in superstitious activities, and will also think that their rule has theological legitimacy.
"The people are noble and the king is light" seems to be just a statement, but it has never been realized. By ruling the world, the emperor allows the common people to get welfare benefits, and by doing things for the common people, the common people get good living conditions. However, both the emperor and the ** are in the service of the ruling class. In other words, when they implement a certain policy, the premise is to benefit the members of the ruling class, and they do not consider any populist ideas, let alone think that "the people are noble and the king is light". In addition to the idea that "the people are noble and the monarch is light" has been eliminated by the ruling class, that is, in fact, there is no idea of "the people are noble and the monarch is light", and some are just the ** or the emperor who represents the "people" and is unwilling to work or really do things for the people. What they want to do is to maintain the existing ruling order to ensure the continuation of the order that has remained unchanged for thousands of years, which is called "the eternal stability of the country". The more this is the case, the less the idea of "the people are noble and the people are light" will not be realized, but the monarch and the people will be light.
It is a pity that the idea of "the people are noble and the monarch is light" has the advanced nature of history, but it does not emphasize the living conditions of the individual and the freedom and emancipation of thought, so that it has been wantonly rewritten by the ruling class and turned into a foolish ideology of the people.