第一是思想上杰出,声称坚持“民本主义”。中国的职业治国集团要求其成员拥有超越一般百姓的政治思想,即“民本主义”。民本主义源自三千多年前的西周,其含义简单明了:政府存在的全部意义在于服务“百姓”的整体福祉,否则理应被人民推翻。此思想源于《尚书》所称的“民为邦本,本固邦宁”。既然“民之所欲,天必从之”,而且“天听自我民听,天视自我民视”,伤害了百姓福祉就“失天命”,就发生“革命”。⑦民本主义后来成为儒家思想的核心,亦是一千七百年选官考试和拔官考核的基本原则。当然,思想与现实不是一回事,而且从来就不是一回事,在哪里都不是。“民治”(government by the people)也是思想,不是现实。但思想影响现实,人民能用这思想来衡量和挑战现实。思想为改善现实提供依据。没有民本或民主思想,中国或欧美的现实将完全不同。
①[美]塞缪尔·P·亨廷顿:《变化社会中的政治秩序》,北京:三联书店,1989年。此书开篇首句即郑重宣称:“The most important political distinction among countries concerns not their form of government but their degree of government.”
Abstract: Since the arrival of industrial age, the ancient and contemporary institutional settings of the Chinese government have been a target of negation from both within and outside China. However, the institutional civilization could well be the core content of the so called "longest continuing civilization." This article describes its sophistication–a four–pillar minben polity, explains its social origin – from an "undifferentiated" society, and predicts a growing international recognition of its value – inspiring for other institutional civilizations.