Yumin zhengce
| yumin zhengce | |||||||||
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| Chinese name | |||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 愚民政策 | ||||||||
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| Korean name | |||||||||
| Hangul | 우민정책 | ||||||||
| Hanja | 愚民政策 | ||||||||
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| Japanese name | |||||||||
| Kanji | 愚民政策 | ||||||||
| Kana | ぐみんせいさく | ||||||||
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Yumin zhengce (Chinese: 愚民政策; pinyin: yúmín zhèngcè, lit. 'policy of governing ignorant masses') is a chengyu and concept in Chinese political philosophy.
Summary
The term refers to the practice of a government deliberately keeping its population in a state of ignorance in order to make them more obedient to political authority and too incompetent to form effective rebellions against the state, thus rendering them more easily subjugated. A fundamental idea, derived from Legalist philosophy, held that by limiting the population's literacy their thoughts could be limited as well.
The systematization of yumin zhengce has been attributed to Shang Yang, a statesman of the Qin dynasty.[1] The 3rd century BC Book of Lord Shang states that "[when] the masses are kept ignorant, they are thus [made] easy to control" (民愚則易治也).[2]
Further reading
- Peterson, Glen (1994). "State Literacy Ideologies and the Transformation of Rural China". Australian Journal of Chinese Affairs (32): 95–120. doi:10.2307/2949829. JSTOR 2949829. Retrieved 21 February 2024.
See also
- Censorship in China
- Burning of books and burying of scholars
- Anti-literacy laws in the United States
References
- ^ McGregor, James (3 December 2012). "China went from being a closed system with open minds to an open system with closed minds". Quartz. Retrieved 21 February 2024.
- ^ "eBook of Shangzi". Project Gutenberg. Retrieved 21 February 2024.