The Political Theory of Mencius on Constitutionalism

【Abstract】The traditional studies think that Mencius represents the Confucian idealism. Based on the traditional interpretation of Mencius， this article will reconstructed the Mencius thought of rule of virtue， and analysis Mencius thoughts of rule of virtue from the perspective of constitutionalism.

【Key words】Mencius； constitutionalism； political philosophy

Constitutionalism is not the same as we often refer to the constitutional concept of “so-called constitutional， is a form of the rule of law and judicial barriers， based on democracy， the separation of powers as a means to safeguard the freedom of the individual as the ultimate goal of political and legal system”， but refers to a political doctrine – advocated national rulers or powers from the law and bound by the law. On Mencius Virtuous Administration， we can find some constitutional bud.

Reign of virtue is the content and basic feature of Mencius' political thought，but the aspect of legal thoughts has not talked about. In his writings also few directly recorded about the rule of law， but carefully watching the book of Mencius， or involves specific aspects such as legislation， law enforcement and law-abiding and so on. Menciuss thought of rule by law in his importance to the laws of the former rulers.

Mencius emphasized the laws of the former rulers， is actually attaches to the ceremony by rules， and Mencius also stressed compliance from your heart， not merely regulation. The western Zhou dynasty is the cornerstone of Chinese culture and the formation period， and the norm of etiquette of the west Zhou Dynasty is the success of the governing statutes. Mencius put forward etiquette and ethics thoughts， but then lost the domination of institutions， General Jung speaking only， so no Mencius road， and Sun Wu， Shang Yangs prominent up. But judging from ceremony beginning the prosperity of Han and Tang dynasties， losers are ways of running the world， but not of force and power of the road， not salvation.

When talking about constitutional thought of Mencius， we have to focus on this issue – how to limit the sovereign powers. This issue is that each State have， also is the dilemma of Mencius thinking. Mencius repeatedly suggested the restriction of the Kings power， carrying forward the Minister has the responsibility and authority to limit the sovereigns powers. This is one of the content of Mencius benevolent governance thought， reflects certain democratic politics.

Mencius believed that the people are more important than the ruler， people have the right to overthrow the tyrant. But in the case of Mencius， there is no ordinary people become a monarch. For example， overthrowing the rule of Emperor Zhou of Shang Dynasty was the Emperor Wu of Zhou Dynasty who was the governors of the Zhou Dynasty. Similarly， the king of Thomson killed the tyrant Xia Jie. If there is a feudal tyranny， people can gather together to overthrow him， but was not reappointed to the new sovereign power， because this power is unique to the Minister， in particular of their moral character.

From the above analysis it is not difficult to see， in fact actually Mencius has must of awareness on limiting the power of the monarch， but only the ruling class have the right to limit. Although it has some limitations， but for social environment at that time， already is a huge step， we can say that Mencius thought exists germination of constitutional government.

In Chinese political thought is there a presence of constitutionalism is not a problem. The real question is which kind of constitutionalism will be ser up in the Confucian moral and political environment and how to limit the political power effectively. Although Confucian concepts and ideas （such as destiny and the monarch， and the feudal） are no longer applicable in the present social， but their proposition of State power is bound by etiquette and morality provides an important reference to the search of a new social and political model.

作者簡介：饒龍霞（1992.7-），女，漢，湖北黃岡人，碩士研究生，四川師范大學文學院，研究方向：漢語國際教育。