“For the People”: Dispute of Public Opinion and Policy Making from Xi Ning to Yuan You in Northern Song China(1069-1094)
Date Issued
2009
Date
2009
Author(s)
Tung, Yung-Chang
Abstract
This thesis attempts to reveal the influence of public opinion upon political reform and anti-reform movements from 1069 A.D. to 1094 A.D., during the regimes of the sixth and seventh emperors of the Song Dynasty in China. hapter One discusses the difference between Wang An-shi’s and his opponents’ policies, especially those concerning relations between the financial status and people’s living. Although scholars have indicated their distinctions in social background and ideology, bureaucrats of reform and anti-reform factions shared a common ideology about the state’s obligation to benefit people. Even though bureaucrats such as Si Ma-guang and Su Shi criticized Wang’s finance-centered policy, Wang always regarded his scheme as the only solution to benefit both the state and the people. Even though Wang was under severe attack from his opponents, he claimed that his grandiose plan would disadvantage only small groups of big landowners or bureaucrats and that most ordinary people would get benefit from it. hapter two focuses on evidence cited by bureaucrats of both sides to support or resist New Policies. Wang An-shi’s confidence came not only from his ideology but also from the solid evidence gathered from people. With the gratefulness of the public, Wang declared that his policy was accepted by the majority, despite dissent merely from high-ranking officials and big landowners. Meanwhile, bureaucrats who rejected Wang’s reform found opposite evidence which in their eyes defied reformists’ propaganda. Bureaucrats of both sides insisted on the reliability of their evidence, and accused each other of blocking information channels to the emperor and of creating fake evidence, which led to the emperor’s misjudgments. n Chapter Three, I demonstrate bureaucrats’ defense of their policies while evidence against them seemed not so easy to deny. Wang An-shi was convinced that his plan was the only right one, even though some evidence showed that New Policies might cause damage to the people; he refused to give up the reform. Although he still claimed that the government would take dissent into consideration and make some modifications, his opponents regarded his reaction as a betrayal to people and thus abolished his policy after Emperor Shen-Zong’s death. hapter Four deals with the end of Wang An-shi’s grandiose plan. Anti-reformers abolished most of Wang’s policies and declared that the restoration of the old policies was based on people’s will. They appeared to have ideological schemes different from Wang’s. Nevertheless, they showed the attitudes as Wang’s towards the public’s reluctance to accept government policies, such as transcending dissent with higher ideological goal. These attitudes made them neglect dissent as well as became their accusation after Empress Dowager Xuan-Ren’s death. In the forthcoming restoration of the New Policies, Wang’s adherents again legitimated their movements based on people’s welfare. However, as factional conflict and political purge intensified, along with the disappearance of policy debates, it is hard and rare to observe the true reflection of public opinion.In conclusion, I try to evaluate the influence of people’s opinion on policy debates. Both reformers and anti-reformers sought to strengthen their agenda by citing people’s will or opinion as evidence, and this confirmed the importance of people. However, while people expressed feelings, of which bureaucrats were reluctant to take notice, the officials would try to transcend the public they appealed to and go back to the original intention and bureaucrats’ confidence. People’s will is important in legitimating policy; however, it is limited and subordinate to the bureaucrats’ will. Objectively speaking, both reformers and anti-reformers cull evidence supporting their positions and ignored the counter-evidence. This thesis also shows that bureaucrats viewed unfavorable evidence as unreal information, which in turn formed the solid base of their insistence and obstinacy. Without judging which evidence is more credible, this thesis reveals the interactions between bureaucrats’ will and people’s will during the reform in the 11th century China.
Subjects
Wang An-shi
Si Ma-Guang
New Policy
public opinion
dissent
SDGs
Type
thesis
File(s)![Thumbnail Image]()
Loading...
Name
ntu-98-R95123015-1.pdf
Size
23.53 KB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum
(MD5):0c3f470fea3dbe6decee22cc0ed6d8ff