Citation
Sima Qian was a great historian and writer of the Han Dynasty in China. The "Records of the Historians", which he endured humiliation and painstakingly completed, is the first general history of our country. The "Biography of the Goods and Colonies" in the "Historical Records" reflects Sima Qian's simple view of the free market economy. In addition, the "Book of Leveling" and "Book of River Canals" are also involved.
"Commodity breeding" refers to "breeding of goods and profits", that is, the use of the production and exchange of goods to carry out commercial activities and make profits from them. "Pingzhun" refers to the economic policy implemented by the state during the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty to uniformly requisition and transport goods in various places. Proposed by the big farmer Ling Kong only and Sang Hongyang.
This article briefly introduces Sima Qian's economic thoughts.
Sima Qian's version of "Homo Economicus".
This exposition of the "Biography of the Colonies" is well-known, and the following is excerpted:
Therefore, it is said: "Cang Liao knows etiquette and knows honor and disgrace when he has enough food and clothing." ”
Rites are born out of something and waste in nothing.
Therefore, the gentleman is rich and good at his virtues; The villain is rich, in order to fit the force.
The abyss is deep and the fish are born, the mountains are deep and the beasts go to it, and the people are rich and the benevolence and righteousness are attached.
The rich get what they can do, and if they don't, they will have nothing to do, and they will not be happy. Yi Di Yi is very good. (Note: 埶, through "potential").
As the proverb goes: "The son of a daughter does not die in the city." "This is not empty words.
Therefore, it is said: "The world is bustling, and it is all for profit; The world is crowded, all for profit. ”
The king of a thousand times, the prince of ten thousand families, and the king of a hundred rooms, are still poor, and the people of the family are still poor!
Respect the laws of the market "good people because of it".
Sima Qian directly expounded the people's pursuit of material desires and interests in the "Biography of the Colony of Goods":
Taishi Gong said: Before Fu Shennong, I didn't know. Since the beginning of Yu Xia as described in the poems, the ears and eyes want to be very good, the mouth wants to be poor, the body is comfortable and happy, and the heart boasts of the glory of potential energy. The people have been living for a long time, although they say that they will not be able to turn into a fool. Therefore, the good ones are seconded to benefit the way, followed by the teachings, followed by the neatness, and the lowest ones compete with them.
Meaning: Taishi Gong thinks: I don't know the previous situation of the Shennong clan. As for the situation since the Yu Shun and Xia dynasties described in the "Book of Songs" and the "Book of Books", people always want to make their ears and eyes enjoy ** and beauty, so that they can taste as much as possible the delicacy of livestock meat in their mouths, and try to be in a comfortable and happy environment for their bodies, and mentally show off the glory of their power and talents. Therefore the wisest way (of the king to the people) is to let nature be, then to induce them with benefits, then to educate them, then to bind them (by statutes), and the most foolish way is to compete with the people.
Guan Zhong advocated benefit inducement, while Sima Qian put "the good one because of it" in front of interest inducement. This reflects Sima Qian's simple concept of free market economy: advocating laissez-faire social and economic development, opposing "competing with the people for profit", and opposing direct economic intervention. This seems close to the economic outlook of the Austrian School, which pioneered neo-liberalism in the West.
It is not known whether the representatives of the Austrian School, such as Menger, Mises or Hayek, had read Sima Qian's Biography of the Goods and Colonies, written before 1900. However, Sima Qian made no secret that his proposal that "the good man is because of it" came from the inspiration of Lao Tzu. He quoted Lao Tzu's famous words at the beginning of "The Biography of the Colony of Goods", and the original text is as follows:
Lao Tzu said: "To the extreme, neighboring countries look at each other, the voice of chickens and dogs hears each other, the people are willing to eat, beautiful clothes, peaceful customs, happy business, until old age and death do not interact with each other." It can be seen that Sima Qian agrees with Lao Tzu's "rule by inaction".
Sima Qian further depicted the beautiful scene of the people living and working in peace and contentment under the conditions of a free economy: everyone is allowed to do what he can and does his best to get what he wants. Therefore, the cheap levy is expensive, the expensive levy is cheap, each advises its industry, enjoys its work, if the water tends to go down, day and night, do not call and come, do not ask and the people come out. Isn't it the way of the Tao, but the test of nature?
Meaning: People act according to their own talents and do their best to satisfy their own desires. Therefore, if the goods are cheap, the merchant will sell the goods where they can be sold at a high price; Items are expensive, and merchants will ship them from cheap places to sell. Each is diligent and devoted to his work, and is glad to do his work, like a water flowing downward, day and night without end, and they come without waiting for the call, and the people produce their own goods without asking. Isn't this lawful and naturally proof of this?
From this elaboration, it can also be seen that Sima Qian believes that the high and low changes will guide the flow of social resources, that is, the market plays a fundamental role in the allocation of resources.
Explain the necessity of the division of labor between agriculture and industry, and agree to get rich by ability
The biography of the goods and colonies expounds the necessity of the social division of labor by quoting the Book of Zhou, and the original text is as follows:
Zhou Shu said: "If the farmer does not come out, there is no food, if the work does not come out, there is no work, if there is no business, the three treasures are absolute, and if there is no food, there is little wealth." "There is little money and the mountains are not clear. These four are the origin of food and clothing for the people. The original big is rapor, and the original small is fresh. The top is a rich country, and the bottom is a rich family. The way of the rich and the poor is not to be taken, and the clever ones are more than enough, and the clumsy ones are insufficient.
Meaning: The Book of Zhou says: "If the peasants do not produce grain, food will be scarce; If the craftsman does not produce utensils, labor and life will be in difficulty; If the merchants do not circulate, then the grain, utensils, and wealth will be cut off; If the Yu people do not develop the mountains, there will be a shortage of resources. "On the other hand, if there is a lack of resources, the mountains cannot be redeveloped. These four industries are the source of food and clothing for the people. If the source is broad, it will be abundant; If the source is narrow, poverty will continue. They can make the country rich and strong, and the family can be rich at the bottom. Rich and poor are formed, no one can give them and no one can deprive them, but the wise can make the wealth more than enough, and the stupid people will have less money.
Although Sima Qian advocated getting rich through labor, he advocated that "the original rich is the first, the last rich is second, and the traitorous rich are the lowest." It means: getting rich by engaging in agricultural production is the first, getting rich by engaging in commerce and industry is secondary, and getting rich by stealing and playing tricks is the lowest.
But he also admits that if he has a little money, he will play tricks and compete for more interests: "There is no money to do, and there is little wit. It means: If you have no money, you can only sell your labor, if you have a little money, you will play with your wit, and if you are already rich, you will compete for time and profit, which is common sense.
And then he also ridiculed those poor people who were full of benevolence and righteousness: "Long and poor, good words are benevolent, and they are also ashamed." It means: Being in a poor position for a long time, but full of benevolence and righteousness, is enough to be ashamed.
expressed the helplessness of getting rich as the end
In the biography of the goods colony, it is said, "The husband uses the poor to seek wealth, the farmer is not as good as the worker, the worker is not as good as the business, and the embroidery is not as good as relying on the city gate. Meaning: to reach wealth from poverty, agriculture is not as good as work, work is not as good as business, women do embroidery handicraft is not as good as selling, the end of business here is the means for the poor to get rich.
He also said, "The right way to govern life is to be the right way to govern life, and the rich will win by wonder." Meaning: Careful budgeting, diligence and thrift are the right way to get rich, but those who want to get rich must also win by surprise.
He cited examples of getting rich by robbing tombs, gambling and other crooked ways: "Digging graves, adultery, and Uncle Tian started." Bo opera, bad karma, and Huan Fa is rich. It means: Tomb robbery was originally a crime, but Uncle Tian relied on it to make a living. Gambling was originally a bad practice, but Huan Fa got rich from it.
These narratives fully reflect Sima Qian's helplessness about the social reality of getting rich without working on the right path.
Sima Qian also further revealed the "mystery" of the rich people who further grabbed wealth with the help of public power: "To make money at the end, to keep it with the book, to use everything with force, to use the text to persevere, the changes are general, so the foot art is also." It means: to get rich by operating a business and industry, to engage in agriculture and to keep money by purchasing land, to seize everything by various powerful means, and to maintain it by written means such as laws and decrees, the changes in the way of getting rich are regular, so it is worthy of serious study and study.
In the end, Sima Qian concluded: "If you are rich and have no business, then there is no permanent owner of goods, and those who are capable will converge, and those who are not good will collapse." It means: getting rich does not depend on a fixed industry, and there is no certain owner of goods, people with skills can gather wealth, and people without skills will ruin their wealth.
It should be noted that Sima Qian only revealed the fact that getting rich is not as good as the end, but did not give a solution. In this sense, Sima Qian was a great historian and writer, but he could not be called an economist.
Postscript: Originally, I planned to publish two micro-headlines, but I felt that some of Sima Qian's expositions were very important and worthy of being simply edited and edited into a small article. The Book of Equalization mainly introduces the leveling policy objectively, and hardly reflects Sima Qian's views. Therefore, I will not introduce it in this article. 】
Exploration Chapter 04