Identification of the Relationship between Principle and Situation and Dual-Track Politics——A Discussion Based on the Land System in The Record of an Awoke Schoolar

Abstract: The “dual-track politics” proposed by Fei Xiaotong has the dual connotations of political structure and political consciousness. The interaction between Yongzheng and the Confucian intellectuals over the well-field system in The Record of an Awoke Schoolar(《大义觉迷录》) vividly demonstrates the continuity and power of dual-track politics as a political consciousness. Emperor Yongzheng refutes the well-field system with the “unity of reason and situation” view that the disparity between the rich and the poor is “the natural reason and situation”, which shows a break with the “separation of reason and situation” orientation of Confucianism. His deeper intention was to dissolve the legitimacy of Confucian orthodoxy. The essence of the Confucian intellectuals' defence and elaboration of the square-fields system was that they wished to put the meaning of the square-fields system to make the people live in peace and contentment in the system of future generations. In this sense, the political structure of traditional Chinese society has always been dual-track.