Social Sciences in China, 2024

Vol. 45, No. 1, 2024

Tianxia Qingshi (World Circumstances) in the Political World of Traditional Chinese Scholar Officials: A Case Study of the “Green Sprouts Policy Polemic” in the Early Xining Period of the Northern Song

(Abstract)

Luo Yi’nan

How to deal with differences is a question that any political body must respond to. The individualist perspective emphasizes that actors will adopt measures to exclude or even eliminate divergent claims in order to gain control over interests power or statutory policy, but the rich experience of traditional Chinese scholar officials offers the possibility of going beyond the limitations of this perspective. The perspective of “tianxia qingshi (world circumstances)” as a new narrative reveals a unique practical logic and dynamic mechanism in Chinese political civilization that have been overlooked by the individualist perspective. The “Green Sprouts policy (qing miao fa) polemic” in the early years of the New Policies era of the Northern Song dynasty (960-1127) presents a historical situation that has not been given full attention by existing research.

Keywords:tianxia qingshi (world circumstances), “Green Sprouts policy polemic,” dispute, practice, scholar-official politics