The Great Harmony Society in Chinese Thought

The Great Harmony (大同, Datong) is an ideal social order envisioned by classical Chinese Confucianism in the 6th century BCE. Receiving its first systematic exposition in The Book of Rites (禮記, Liji), specifically within the chapter 'The Conveyance of Rites,' its core philosophical bedrock is the principle that 'The World Belongs to the Public' (天下爲公, Tianxia Wei Gong).

 

» When the World Belongs to the Public. « 

Central 天下為公 passage from The Book of Rites.

This concept advocates for the public ownership of power, rejects hereditary systems (世袭, Shixi), and promotes a strict meritocracy by selecting the "worthy and capable" (選賢與能, Xuǎn). Economically, it advocates the public ownership of goods and wealth, emphasizes that all members of society fulfill their respective duties, ensures that the elderly, the weak, orphans, and widows are cared for, and aims to construct a public order characterized by equality and mutual assistance for all.

 

Sun Yat-sen, Three Principles of the People.

 

Pre-Qin Confucians (before 221 BCE) regarded it as an institutional design opposing monarchical power and advocating that power be chosen by the people. Han Confucians (202 BCE to 220 CE) cited the Abdication of Yao and Shun as examples but still did not depart from the framework of monarchical designation. During the Sui and Tang dynasties (581 to 907 CE), the principle of "selecting the worthy and capable" gradually evolved into the Imperial Examination System, deviating from the initial concept of popular election. Neo-Confucianism elevated its ethical principles into the philosophical concept of "The Unity of All Things." In modern times, Kang Youwei proposed a vision of an egalitarian society in The Book of Great Harmony (1885-1902), and Sun Yat-sen integrated his Three Principles of the People (1906) with this concept. This concept was later incorporated into the theory of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics (SWCC), first coined by Deng Xiaoping in 1982, and into the official ideological framework of the Communist Party of China (CPC), becoming a significant intellectual resource of contemporary Chinese civilization.

 

See also:

Alex Krainer (2026) - Western Free Trade vs. National Systems of Political Economy.

 TPR (2015) - Confucius in the Age of Oligarchy.

Confucius in the Age of Oligarchy

One great tradition of anti-oligarchical thought in world culture stems from the influence of Confucius (551–479 BC). Confucianism can perhaps best be understood as a movement to save Chinese civilization from oligarchical depredations. Confucius began from a standpoint very much like that of Plato (428–348 BC): the need to secure good government capable of promoting the general welfare. He recognized that most governments in the divided and balkanized China of his time were unacceptable.  

 

 

The central political problem was the incessant private warfare among the military nobility of the Zhou dynasty, which served no useful purpose but kept the country weak and divided, without an effective central government. According to Confucius, bad government derived from the fact that rulers and high officials lacked the character and qualifications necessary to serve the common good. Confucius thought the main reason for this incompetence was the status of the rulers and the hereditary aristocrats around them. He regarded most of them as parasites and wrote in his Analects:

 

» It is difficult to expect anything from men who stuff themselves with food the whole day while never using

their minds in any way at all. Even gamblers do something, and to that degree are better than these idlers. «

»  Of the people, by the people, for the people. «

Sun Yat-sen, quoting Abraham Lincoln's famous formula to explain

his own core ideology, the Three Principles of the People (Sanmin Zhuyi).

Like Plato, he argued that government needs to be in the hands of the most capable and competent. Ability has nothing to do with birth, nobility, or wealth, but depends solely on character and knowledge, which in turn are the products of education. Confucius called for careers open to talent, in which appointment and advancement would be based on ability rather than property, hereditary rank, or title. In contrast, oligarchy represents an irrational principle based on domination and repression, justified neither by merit and ability nor by the results achieved.