Почему Древняя Китай навсегда отказался от концепции «маленького государства»

Описание: Two sides. One debate. 2,000 years of consequences.

In 81 BC, Confucian scholars faced off against Finance Minister Sang Hongyang in ancient China's most consequential economic debate. The question: Should the state control key industries, or should the people be free to trade?

The scholars won the argument—but lost the policy battle.

Their ideas became official ideology. Sang Hongyang's state monopolies became the crisis toolbox. And for the next 2,000 years, every Chinese dynasty flip-flopped between these two systems depending on whether times were good or desperate.

This is the Salt and Iron Debate—and it's still not settled.

🎯 WHAT YOU'LL LEARN:
The Confucian case for "Passive Governance" (small government, free trade)
Sang Hongyang's defense of "Active Governance" (state monopolies, big spending)
Why the "winners" became ideology and the "losers" became policy
How this 2,000-year-old debate predicted modern left vs right arguments

💡 THE PARADOX:
Confucian scholars wanted freedom. They got orthodoxy.
Sang Hongyang wanted control. He got a toolbox emperors only used during crises.

Nobody truly won—because the debate never ended.

Chapter Preview
00:00:02 Intro: Sang Hongyang & State Monopolies
00:00:30 The Opposition Arrives: The Confucian Scholars
00:01:39 Who Were the "Literary Scholars & Virtuous Officials"?
00:03:02 A High-Stakes Intellectual Showdown
00:03:42 Core Philosophy: Passive Governance & Low Cost
00:04:52 "Droopy Robes, Folded Hands": The Ideal of Non-Intervention
00:05:40 Domestic Policy: Virtue Over Law
00:06:20 The Limit of Law: "It Can Punish, But Not Make Honest"
00:07:34 Foreign Policy: An Early Form of "Soft Power"
00:09:10 The "Natural Boundary" of Empire: An Economic Concept
00:11:06 An Ancient Diagnosis of "Imperial Overstretch"
00:11:51 Argument 1: The One-Size-Fits-All Iron Tool (Failure of Central Planning)
00:14:08 Argument 2: State "Profit" is Actually "Plunder"
00:14:52 Argument 3: Bureaucratic Inefficiency & "Rent-Seeking"
00:16:23 Sang's Counter: The Fear of Private Oligarchs
00:16:48 The Real Threat: Crony Capitalism
00:18:06 The Logic of "Valuing Agriculture, Suppressing Commerce"
00:19:46 A Surprising Parallel: The French Physiocrats
00:21:33 The Result: A "Split Decision"
00:21:58 The Lasting Legacy: The Orthodox (Confucian) vs. Unorthodox (Legalist) Toolkit
00:24:14 Modern Relevance: Free Markets vs. State Intervention
00:24:50 Conclusion: Economic Insights Ahead of Their Time
00:25:52 Question for the Listener: Which Force Dominates Today?

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