Shiwei Zhang, The Logical Deduction of Chinese Traditional Political Philosophy

Excerpt

The discourse about Minben and Minzhu are at the center of traditional Chinese political philosophy and are two untranslated contested terms in China. These terms are sometimes translated as democracy. Some scholars are critical of the concept Minben while others are accepting it. On the other hand, the concept Minzhu is sometimes translated as an erotic relationship between the west and China “they met briefly and said goodbye in a hurry” (p. 4). Many scholars such as Liang Qichao, Sun Yat-sen, Li Cunshan, Wang Renbo, amongst others, contributed to the discourse of the political philosophy narrative. Yet despite these contributions, the academic literature is insufficient and lacks a more in-depth description of the origin, stages and paradigm shifts which occurred over decades in the political philosophical thought of China. Against this background, The Logical Deduction of Chinese Traditional Political Philosophy shows the historical development of democracy, focuses on the conditions for democracy, and discusses the cultural order of modern democratic communication. Zhang applies more in-depth comparative analysis and methods used in social sciences compare to the quantitative methods of earlier scholars. Zhang emphasizes that modern democracy was not a regular phenomenon in China and appeared only once in China’s history, hence an excellent attempt of a complete grasp about traditional Chinese political thought, and social and political consciousness. …