27th Liberation Book List | "Transformation of Song Dynasty": Reform Needs Excessive "Guan" Plan | Logic | Liberation Book List | "Transformation of Song Dynasty"

On the journey, I flipped through Xu Fuhai's book "The Song Dynasty: The Logic and Traps of Wang Anshi's Reform" and couldn't help but pause my one-day tour plan and read the entire book in one go. The analysis of Wang Anshi's reform in the book presents us with a complex scene of reform, including a determined emperor and a worried old minister; There are complex conflicts of interests, as well as the spirit of literati.

Xu Fuhai selected Wang Anshi's Reform from multiple examples in Chinese history as the object of analysis, demonstrating his good intentions. Wang Anshi's Reform is one of the most transformative and influential events in Chinese political, economic, and intellectual history. Wang Anshi's policy design is scientific, but why did it ultimately fail? What insights can we gain from it for governing the country?

The failure of Wang Anshi's reform may be related to his personality, the logic of the officialdom at that time, and the composition of society, but more importantly, Wang Anshi's reform did not have a significant impact. Here, "guan" refers to the "guan" from policy formulation to policy implementation.

Firstly, Wang Anshi's reform faced a ideological hurdle. "The unity of heaven and man" is the most basic philosophical concept of ancient Chinese people, and it is the basic concept of traditional Chinese culture, ethics, morality, ecology, and national governance. The Song Dynasty provides an in-depth analysis of Wang Anshi's change from the ancient concept of "harmony between heaven and man" and "interaction between heaven and man". He proposed the idea that "if heaven is not well done, there will be no evil", and that the natural way of heaven is to do nothing. He advocates that people should not be deceived or intimidated by the "changes in nature and disasters", nor should they dare to take action, nor should they let it go just because the "changes in nature and disasters" have nothing to do with me. Instead, they should adopt an attitude of "not hiding, not timid, not firm, not slack off", and actively play their initiative. Wang Anshi changed the Confucian tradition of "valuing righteousness over profit" and advocated for a balance between righteousness and profit. He emphasized the production of wealth and proposed the reform proposal of "changing customs and establishing the rule of law" by "leveraging the power of the world" and "leveraging the resources of heaven and earth" to "generate wealth for the world".

The Song Dynasty emphasizes that Wang Anshi's spirit of struggle, characterized by a lack of fear in the face of natural disasters, a lack of compassion in people's words, and a lack of adherence to the laws of his ancestors, embodies a revolutionary mindset that disdains natural disasters, is not afraid of people's words, and is determined to innovate. More importantly, "Bian Song" deeply analyzes Wang Anshi's proactive approach to seeking change in times of peace and security, and his ability to prevent small changes. It challenges the conservative tradition of ancient society, which values the past over the present, imitates the previous king, and pursues stability unilaterally. It breaks the social situation of feudal society where all horses are silent, and establishes a new atmosphere and new situation for China's national governance, opening a new era. Secondly, Wang Anshi's reform inspired the innovation of the national system. The governance system of ancient China highly relied on national ideology. In the more than two thousand years since the Han Dynasty's "overthrow of the Hundred Schools of Thought and exclusive reverence for Confucianism", there has been no subversive change in the ancient ideology of governing the country, and the core political concepts have not been fundamentally shaken. National governance has also always adhered to some of the most basic institutional logic and systems. To change customs and establish the rule of law, there must be breakthroughs in institutional innovation.

The Song Dynasty's financial distress and insufficient reserves were analyzed in depth in the book "Bian Song", which was due to the backwardness of management methods and the serious absence of mechanisms. Officials remained conservative, while Wang Anshi's reform focused on strengthening bureaucratic government intervention and enhancing the government's ability to absorb resources. For this reason, Wang Anshi implemented reforms in economic and livelihood aspects such as the Farmland Water Conservancy Law, the Equal Transportation Law, the Green Seedling Law, and the Municipal Administration Law. The Wang Anshi Reform highlighted the effectiveness of national governance methods. "There must be a law in everything, and then it can be achieved." The fundamental reason for the long-standing development of Chinese society lies in the desire for reform and strengthening. Only through reform and reform can we maintain the vitality and strength of national governance.

Finally, the lessons of Wang Anshi's reform are more enlightening. The overthrow and even long-term stigmatization of the Wang Anshi Reform forced us to face many of the problems inherent in the reform itself, and the lessons learned from it are even more worthy of our learning and reference. Traditional literati often need the support of imperial power to achieve their ideals. Due to the limited stage of historical development, Wang Anshi had to choose the method of "getting your way". To obtain the support of the imperial power, it must be in line with the political needs of the imperial power.

"The Song Dynasty" analyzes that Wang Anshi and Emperor Shenzong of Song came together due to the common goal of "enriching the country and strengthening the military", and they parted ways due to the different governance concepts, methods, and interests of this common goal. After learning Wang Anshi's reform tactics, the emperor "did everything on his own, only using first-class mediocre people to prepare for left and right obedience.". From this perspective, for the idealistic literati of the Northern Song Dynasty, they not only failed to construct an ideal social order through reforms, but also achieved authoritarian imperial power. A considerable number of them also became vassals of the imperial power from participating in the "co governance of the world" with the imperial power. In addition, the decision-making, organization, implementation, employment, and profit seeking issues that exist in the reform have also sparked a lot of criticism and reflection. In this sense, the problems existing in Wang Anshi's reform are more enlightening and instructive than specific measures.

Xu Fuhai narrates the various contradictions and conflicts in Wang Anshi's reform, as well as the decision-making process of decision-makers, in the book, which not only includes the author's analysis but also the verification of specific facts, making the book readable. Through reading the entire book, we find that it does not present a historical story, but rather uses it as an example to discuss the big social science issue of "good law turning into evil governance". The good wishes of policy designers, as well as the scientific and forward-looking nature of policy design, cannot determine whether they will deviate in policy implementation. We can ask whether the history of the Song Dynasty would have been rewritten if the decision-makers at that time had stronger execution abilities and the reform could break through the barriers?

"The Song Dynasty: The Logic and Traps of Wang Anshi's Reform" by Xu Fuhai, published by Peking University Press