공자의 분권적 제한군주정과 영국 내각제의 기원(1)-윌리엄 템플의 중국 내각제 분석과 찰스 2세의 헌정개혁

Abstract

The article discusses the historical event in which the Chinese cabinet system of Ming and Ch’ing dynasty was introduced by William Temple under Charles Ⅱ into Great Britain and after the Glorious Revolution (1688‒1689) developed to the modern cabinet system. The author will handle this theme in series of several parts. This part of the article is restricted only to the Chinese cabinet system itself and the Confucian political philosophy which supports this system. Confucius’ governmental ideal is a divided common ruling of king and ministers or limited monarchy according to the principle of ‘ruling by inaction (wuwei)’ and ‘king reigning without governing’. This divided common ruling of king and ministers consist in a power division between people’s sovereignty, king’s reigning power, and wise ministers’ governmental power, based on the theory of the popular origin of the right of kings. This philosophy of division of reigning and governing premises the ‘virtue‒founded politics’ of king which grounds on the empathy between king and people. The Chinese cabinet system of Ming and Ch’ing dynasty took as governmental ideal the limited monarchy of which Confucius dreamed. And it in a way realized this dream. Here the Monarch was regarded as a king on whom the kingship was conferred by the people, while the wise ministers was regarded as the wisest men who was recognized by all the people under the sky. This divided common ruling of king and ministers was in the Chinese history of Ming and Ch’ing dynasty realized as the divided government of limited monarchy founded on the cabinet system. The Ming Founder Hongmu Emperor(洪武帝) in the year 1380 abolished the corrupt Chancellor system and introduced his own advisory and secretary ad hoc privy council named Four Advisors of old literati, i.e. the sprout of cabinet. But it was difficult for him to employ old wise literati. So he 1382 again abolished Four Advisors system and employed as advisors and assistants the young wise men from the Academy Assembly. The third emperor(永樂帝) succeeded this ad hoc advisory privy council and institutionalized it as official organ. This organ was established by the fourth and fifth emperor (1424‒1435) as independent cabinet council with its own bureaucracy. In this period the cabinet members became as teachers of prince given preferential treatment. And in the period of the fifth emperor a deliberative power also was given to the cabinet. Meanwhile, the cabinet was established as the highest organ in the Ming government which could check the arbitrary working of the imperial power. In the period (1457‒1464) of the seventh emperor the cabinet at last monopolized the deliberative decision‒making power. At that time, the prime minister appeared spontaneously and became stronger as power‒holder who checked and balanced the imperial power. With the advance of the strong cabinet system under the strong prime minister, the emperor became weakened and nominalized to a ritual and ceremonial authority. And the inner structure of the cabinet also was changed from the deliberative council of equal cabineteers to a hierarchical board under the prime minister. In the period of the eighth emperor (1464‒1487) who was dependent on eunuchs the cabinet system became temporarily incapacitated. But in the period of the eleventh emperor (1521‒1567) the prime‒ministerial cabinet system became resurrected to a stronger organ. Thereafter this stronger cabinet system led the Ming‒period China to a world‒wide prosperity. But the cabinet system was destroyed due to the usurpation of imperial authority and cabinet power and the malgovernment by the eunuchs under the unwise emperors in the last dynastical period. With the collapse of the cabinet system Ming dynasty fell into ruin. Ch’ing dynasty succeeded the cabinet system of the Ming dynasty and more institutionally developed it. Ch’ing dynasty extirpated the possibility of the political involvement of eunuchs, and in some way modified the power position of the cabinet by the establishment of Military Privy Council as concurrent highest decision‒making organ, in favor of strengthening the personal governing by the emperor.