“The new policies set out to once again foster a more proactive state… to ameliorate problems and to foster positive goals, foster positive goods for the people” (Packet 40). During eleventh century China, two political thinkers both studied Confucianism, but derived different perspectives on how Song China should be governed. Wang Anshi believed that there should be a strong central government, which involved itself in the issues of its society. He wanted to reform the existing government and implement systems to help the peasant people. On the contrary, Sima Gaung wanted a limited central government with local systems to tend to the society because the local rulers would be well-acquainted with the local issues. Based on the state of the Southern Song Dynasty in the 1000s, Wang Anshi’s reformist and centralized government would be most effective during that time period. Although Sima Guang makes a valid point about the personalization of local government, Wang Anshi’s idea of a centralized government is superior because it addressed China’s need for a larger entity to encompass all of China’s regions as one. Wang Anshi became the chief minister of Song China in the mid-1000s, after climbing the political ladder and studying the works of Confucius throughout his lifetime. During his time as chief minister he wanted to make many reforms to the government in order to solve many of China’s issues at the time. In order to do this, he wanted to make education more accessible to men of all classes, loan farmers with small amounts of money so that they did not become dependent on the help of the wealthy landowners, and enforce a graduated tax. The government would also put in place a leveling system in which the government bought “the specialized products of one area for sale in other regions, thereby helping to stabilize prices and making a profit for the government” (Fairbanks 128). Anshi’s purpose of these programs was to “foster a more benevolent, if interventionist, state approach to society and economy” (Packet 41). In integrating these programs, the government would become more involved in the issues of the society, which Anshi believed to be of the utmost importance. “’To stop giving [resources] out of stinginess will not help to enrich the country but only damage the prestige of the government’” (Packet 152). In this statement, Anshi also reveals his perspective on the importance of a centralized government in a society. He believed that instead of local nobles taking charge of an area, the power should be in the hands of a government official. Before Anshi was appointed to chief minister, bureaucratic factionalism began to grow because bureaucrats controlled more of the government rather than the aristocrats. When Anshi came into office, he “supported established bureaucratic procedures as they had developed in recent decades” (Fairbanks 128). Despite all deriving from Confucianism, other statecraft thinkers did not necessarily agree with Anshi’s policies of reform and centralization. One example of these statecraft thinkers
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Sima Guang’s ideas were in stark contrast of Anshi’s, and both men avoided each other, but the government slowly transitioned towards Guang’s ideas after Anshi left office. Sima did not approve of the reforms brought about by Anshi, and instead wanted a more traditionalist government, with self-sufficiency. “Sima argued for the cause of good government through moral leadership rather than by assertive measures and through the improved functioning of tested institutions rather than by drastic changes” (Sima Guang Sheet). An example of an institution that Sima did not believe to be beneficial was the taxation on the wealthy. “‘Financial experts’ I said, ‘do nothing but impose heavy and annoying taxation on the people in order to drain their wealth. As a result, the common people are driven to poverty’” (Packet 152). Guang believed that the central government had no reason to intervene in the workings of the local governments of Song China, and that each territory should have an elitist leader. “The state—the emperor in particular—should instead rely on those within society with a natural role as leaders… best equipped to provide an organic leadership within communities to address the problems” (Packet 41). Sima believed that the people within the society should be leaders because they know more about a particular area than a centralized government
Sima Guang’s ideas were in stark contrast of Anshi’s, and both men avoided each other, but the government slowly transitioned towards Guang’s ideas after Anshi left office. Sima did not approve of the reforms brought about by Anshi, and instead wanted a more traditionalist government, with self-sufficiency. “Sima argued for the cause of good government through moral leadership rather than by assertive measures and through the improved functioning of tested institutions rather than by drastic changes” (Sima Guang Sheet). An example of an institution that Sima did not believe to be beneficial was the taxation on the wealthy. “‘Financial experts’ I said, ‘do nothing but impose heavy and annoying taxation on the people in order to drain their wealth. As a result, the common people are driven to poverty’” (Packet 152). Guang believed that the central government had no reason to intervene in the workings of the local governments of Song China, and that each territory should have an elitist leader. “The state—the emperor in particular—should instead rely on those within society with a natural role as leaders… best equipped to provide an organic leadership within communities to address the problems” (Packet 41). Sima believed that the people within the society should be leaders because they know more about a particular area than a centralized government