Naslov
Political Strategies for Maintaining Power: Power and Nature in Chapter 20 of the Chunqiu fanlu

Autori
Buljan, Ivana

Izvornik
Asian philosophy (0955-2367) 29 (2019), 4; 289-305

Vrsta, podvrsta i kategorija rada
Radovi u časopisima, članak, znanstveni

Ključne riječi
Power ; rulership ; Chunqiu fanlu ; manipulation ; desires ; wu wei ; Han Feizi ; ziran ; bureaucracy

Sažetak
‘Bao wei quan’ 保位權 (‘Preservation of position and power’) (hereinafter: BWQ) is an essay advising rulers on how to preserve their position of power and maintain control over the bureaucracy. It is a part of one of the most authoritative premodern Chinese texts, the Chunqiu fanlu 春秋繁露 (The Luxuriant Dew of the Spring and Autumn Annals), which is traditionally ascribed to pivotal Han dynasty scholar Dong Zhongshu 董仲舒 (c. 195–115 BCE). This paper argues that the BWQ establishes a type of naturalistic approach to rulership. In this vision, the state and its social and political order is rooted in the constitution of human nature, and is perceived as a place where human tendencies can be followed and fulfilled, but also controlled. In addition, the BWQ’s political discourse and its view of government is built around complementary processes, such as reward/punishment, political power/moral power, non-action/action, actuality/fame etc. The art of rulership thus consists of keeping these opposites in balance.

Izvorni jezik
Engleski

Znanstvena područja
Filozofija

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