Yao Yang: Inspirations from China’s Ancient Politics
Mar 08-2020
The NSD’s National Development Lecture Series for MBA students has been held over 30 times. Due to the epidemic, an online version has been launched, with Professor Yao Yang being the first speaker.
Prof. Yao, Dean of the NSD, spoke on the inspirations from China’s ancient politics for today’s state governance. More than ten years ago, he set off to study China’s modern-day political economics and seek answers to China’s economic growth. His research shows that China’s success is largely related to Confucianism, for many current practices, such as selection of talents, resemble the methods advocated by Confucianism.
He divided Chinese history into several political periods and summarized their respective characteristics. China’s ancient politics might not be as murky as many believe; rather, from the Spring and Autumn Period to the North Song Dynasty, the Chinese civilization and its political civilization were on a ascending trajectory, seeing the budding of the prototype of a modern nation, the commitment of state governance to building political order, and checks and balances between emperors and their prime ministers. Thus Prof. Yao asked: Does Confucianism-based politics have an ideal archetype? Can this archetype be complementary with that of democratic politics? Democratic politics stresses the equal contract between people and the checks and balances of jurisdiction and executive power, while Confucianism advocates officials’ virtues, political order and social harmony. Aren’t they complementary?
He also shared views on how human nature became the starting point for the ideal archetype of Confucianism, the overriding importance of people-first principle in Confucianism, as well as the four components of the ideal political structure based on Confucianism. He believed that China and the CCP’s success could be partly explained by their absorbing the quintessence of Confucianism.
Prof. Yao concluded his speech by inviting the audience to ponder over the future of global civilization. He believed that a global civilization would present itself in the future by pooling the advantages of various civilizations of today. “Looking into the horizon, we should distill the best of China and present a China narrative under the perspective of global civilization. Moreover, we should tell about China in a humanistic language that’s comprehensible to the rest of the world. This is our responsibility,” he said.
