Gwanjung (B.C. 719-B.C. 645), a great premier of Qi in Chunqiu Period, is a outstanding Chinese politicians in ancient China. The figure Gwanjung is quite known to us as the idiom of David and Jonathan Friendship, but not as well as philosophers such ...
Gwanjung (B.C. 719-B.C. 645), a great premier of Qi in Chunqiu Period, is a outstanding Chinese politicians in ancient China. The figure Gwanjung is quite known to us as the idiom of David and Jonathan Friendship, but not as well as philosophers such as Confucius, Mencius, Lao-tzu and Chuang-tzu. The academic world in China and Korea featured the research of Confucianist and Taoist, which form the basis of the history of Chinese philosophy in the past and besides, researched Jejabaekga(諸子百家/Multiple Philosophers) thought such as Fachian or Mohist in general. China, which was a closed one-party system of communist party, shifted to the reform-opening line since the 1970s, and achieved rapid economic development by embracing market economy and capitalism.
Attempts to explain China's emergence in terms of ideology and theory also appear in Chinese academia, a representative example of which is the study of Gwanjung. The moralism of Confucianist, which emphasizes the just and great cause, or the idealism of Taoist, which ignores reality, are hard to explain theoretically about the transformed state of China today. The reason that Gwanjung attracts a lot of interest and excitement at this point of time is that Gwanjung, a great premier of Qi in Chunqiu Period, well show the economic development of China and the ideological foundations that are based on it. Order, and richness and power are the essence of Gwanjung. The ideology of Gwanjung that emphasizes the quality of economic life of the people, defense and diplomacy, and practicality and reality rather than ideals and causes, explains the Chinese temperament, the recent rapid economic development of China, and the expansion of strength of nation well theoretically.
Gwanjung was a realistic politician who emphasized the interests of the state and the people, and therefore he was a convergent thinker who applied multiple philosophers' thought which was popular at the time to his own view of politics by properly accepting and integrating. Thoughts appearing in 『Guanzi(管子)』 are so diverse that they may seem miscellaneous, but have their own organic logical structure. The most distinctive feature is that it forms a system of fusion of morality, etiquette and laws. The philosophical thought in Guanzi is different from Taoist's idealism or Confucianist's moralism, and Fachian's law-universalism.
Guanzi focuses on the law and does not forget the importance of morality and courtesy, showing characteristics of joint use of etiquette and laws, combination of morality and laws, and additional reign of virtue and laws. In the Tao thought of Guanzi, Tao is a source of existence and closely related to Ki, and at the same time is understood as a basis of life and political norms. In this part, it contains the characteristics of both of Taoist and Fachian. The function of the mind was regarded as the status of a monarch, emphasizing the discipline of the mind, and Jeong and Gyeong are covered as the method of discipline. Jeong can be related to the concept of Taoist and Gyeong, to Confucian concept.
Concerning the theory of human nature, he recognized and valued the human nature that pursue interest, and developed political ideology based on this. Guanzi can be reviewed as a figure who compromised between Seongakseol(the ethical view that human nature is fundamentally evil) and Seongseonseol(the theory that man's inborn nature is good) as he not only emphasized the interests and desires of humans, but also the importance of morality and courtesy. As for the ethical thought, the concept of benevolence appears in fragment in Guanzi. However, Guanzi valued etiquette rather than benevolence, and emphasized social ethic rather than personal ethics. Therefore, there is a big difference between the Confucian concept of InUiYaJi thought, which is a personal ethical concept, and the Guanzi's concept of YeUiYeomChi thought, which is a principle of national governance. The philosophy of Guanzi greatly influenced Xunzi(荀子) who studied in Jikhahak Palace, providing Fachian thought with the ideological foundation and contributing to overcoming the ideality of Mencius Confucianism.
Guanzi is centered on the political and economic contents for the wealth and military strength of a country, but it does not consist only of practical policy contents. This in-depth discussion of concepts such as Tao, Ki, Virtue, Righteousness, Law, and Mind provides idealistic philosophical insights while presenting realistic solutions to national problems. The philosophical thoughts of Guanzi can be commented as a pragmatic and flexible ideas that led to the development of the state of Qi by integrating and converging Taoist, Confucianist, and Fachian Thought, and other various Jejabaekga(諸子百家/Multiple Philosophers) thoughts. Such achievements of the times is newly spotlighted and provides a theoretical basis that explains well of the current rapid economic development in China. It will be a time worthwhile if not only the CEO of companies, the leaders of the state, but also many people from all walks of life, both young and old, explore the ideas of Guanzi, a great premier in ancient China.