On "People Are Primary,Sovereign is Secondary" and "Sovereign is Vessel,People Are Water:A Case Study on the Thought of People as Basis of Confucianism in the Pre-Qin Period

The thought of People as Basis (Min ben) is a very important theme of the Chinese traditional political philosophy.Mencius' "People are primary,Sovereign is secondary"(Mingui junqing) and Xun zi's "Sovereign is vessel,People are water"(Junzhou minshui) have deep influences on the history of China.In Mencius' opinion,people are the base of the nation.In Xun zi's opinion,people can destroy the nation,too.So,they thought that sovereign should treat people well.The thought of People as Basis is about how to control the nation.It is not a thought of the system of politics.The thought of People as Basis is close to democracy.But it is not democracy.According to the thought of People as Basis, Mencius and Xun zi had the same position on the history of Confucianism.