Social:Yumin zhengce
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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 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 State of Qin.[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. https://www.jstor.org/stable/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". https://qz.com/33449/china-went-from-being-a-closed-system-with-open-minds-to-an-open-system-with-closed-minds.
- ↑ "eBook of Shangzi". https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/7383/pg7383-images.html.
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