王符의 經濟思想 연구

Abstract

Wangfu in the East Han Dynasty period looked squarely at the social phenomenon of inversion of the basis as well as the termini of the East Han society at that time due to economic problems, and thought that the phenomenon was actually reflecting political problems. Therefore, Wangfu did not limit the subject of references of such problems to the general public but expanded it to the ruling class. In addition, since Wangfu thought that people in all classes in the society were not faithful to the duties and positions they must perform, leading to the confusion of social values resulting in the destruction of social and political orders, thereby making the East Han society into a crucible of chaos. He became to assert ‘Wubenlun’ to correct the situation. The key points of the ‘Wubenlun’ put forth by Wangfu can be described in two aspects. One of them is understood as economy and the other is understood as moral edification. That is, he regarded that economic problems should be considered for farmers, merchants, and artisans (craftsmen) and moral problems should be considered for scholars (classical scholars). Eventually, the economic policy of ‘Wuben’ asserted by Wangfu can be regarded to have aimed to overcome the critical situation of the society at that time by clearly establishing the values ​​regarding the basis and the termini. The specific solutions presented by Wangfu for the critical situation as such can be largely summarized into two aspects. One aspect is the issue of agricultural policy encouragement in the field of economy; Wangfu presented opinions such as ‘time should be saved’ and ‘people and lands should be balanced with each other.’ The other aspect is the issue of ethical edification in the field of politics to which Wangfu suggested theories, ‘moral edification’ and ‘appointment of competent talent’.