BOOK II RELATION OF ECONOMICS TO

OTHER SCIENCES

CHAPTER V

ECONOMICS AND OTHER SCIENCES IN GENERAL

I. DEFINITION OF ECONOMICS

was

THE equivalent of the English term "economics" in Chinese is "administering wealth." Such a term explains itself, and calls for no definition. Let us, however, trace the origin of the term. It occurs first in the " Appendix " of the Canon of Changes as follows: "That which enables men to live collectively, is wealth. Administering wealth, formulating rules, and prohibiting the people from doing wrongthis is called justice.' Since the "Appendix " written, the Chinese have usually used the term “administering wealth" for the art of political economy, and also for the science of economics. But the modern Japanese has adopted another Chinese term, ching chi, for the word economics; and Herbert A. Giles has put this term, ching chi, in his Chinese-English Dictionary for "political economy". The term ching chi, however, has a very broad meaning, and is not a good equivalent for the word economics. It generally means statesmanship, and covers the whole field of governmental action. It thus belongs to politics rather than to economics. It will be well, there

1 Yi King, p. 381.

as the

fore, to keep the old term "administering wealth equivalent of economics, since it is much more accurate and comprehensive than the term ching chi.

As we have taken the scientific term from the Confucian text, let us also adopt its definition. The term "administering wealth" covers the whole field of economics. "Formulating rules" and "prohibiting the people from doing wrong" refer respectively to the ethical and political life. All three of these aspects of life should be directed by the principle of justice, and their relations will be stated later. But we must remember that the object of "administering wealth" is man. Our reason for administering wealth is simply that men are living collectively and need wealth to support them. Man is our end, and wealth our means. From this we get as a definition: Economics is the science administering wealth according to the principle of justice, for the sake of men who live collectively.

II. GENERAL RELATION TO OTHER SCIENCES

From the above-quoted passage from the " Appendix " of the Canon of Changes, we can understand not only the meaning of economics, but also its relation to other sciences. Since the chief object of "administering wealth" is man, and man living collectively, when we administer wealth, we must deal with the whole body of men. Thus economics is very close to sociology. All the social sciences relate to man, so they all are also connected with economics. But there are two groups, most closely related to economics, that is, the moral and the political sciences. We cannot administer wealth in society without "formulating rules" as to what is right and what is wrong. The way to "formulate rules" is through moral teachings, and under this heading come the sciences of language, education, ethics and religion. We cannot administer wealth in a society

without "prohibiting the people from doing wrong". This we must do by political organizations, and in this group come the sciences of politics and law. All of these sciences -economics, ethics, and politics-are part of the science of justice, and they form a single group. But of them all, economics comes first, and is the most important. If we cannot maintain our economic life, we do not care to formulate our rules, and moral science is useless; we do not fear the prohibition of wrongdoing, and political science is without force. If there is to be any ethics or politics, there must be economic life before them. The "Appendix," therefore, tells us not only the close connection of economics with other sciences, but also the relatively higher importance of economics.

In the "Great Model" contained in the Canon of History, there are eight objects of government: "The first is called food; the second, commodities; the third, sacrifices; the fourth, the minister of works; the fifth, the minister of education; the sixth, the minister of justice; the seventh, the entertainment of guests; and the eighth, the army."

These eight objects of government are simply the eight objects of human activities. We can understand their relation to each other from their order. First of all, food is most important, to satisfy hunger; and this word indicates agricultural life. The word commodities includes all other economic goods, among which money holds a prominent place, and indicates commercial and industrial life. These two words, "food and commodities", represent the whole economic life, and they stand first before any other human activities. After the material wants are satisfied, religious worship begins. Then comes in the minister of works, to improve the physical environment; the minister of education,

1 Classics, vol. iii, pt. ii, p. 327.

to develop the intellectual and moral power; and the minister of justice, to enforce the law. Now, the life of polite society is developed, and this is called the entertainment of guests. Finally, the army is maintained to keep the whole society in peace.

If we compare the eight objects of the "Great Model " with the seven sciences that Roscher groups together-language, religion, art, science, law, the state and economy-we may say that art and science are included in the functions of the minister of works and the minister of education, that language is implied in education, and that the state is represented by all eight objects. If we compare them with the eight groups of Prof. R. T. Ely-language, art, education, religion, family life, society life, political life, economic life -we may say that the family life is a concern of the minister of education. It is remarkable that the statement of the Confucian Bible is so similar to that of the modern economists.

It should be noted that all the great historians, except Ssu-ma Chien, have entitled all the economic histories of different dynasties "Record of Food and Commodities ". This shows what great influence Confucianism exercises upon the economic thought of the Chinese.

From the "Great Model," we have seen the relation of economics to other sciences in general; and from the "Appendix", we have seen the relation of economics to sociology, politics and ethics in particular. Now, we shall study the relation of economics to these three sciences separately.

CHAPTER VI

ECONOMICS AND SOCIOLOGY

I. ECONOMICS AS THE BASIS OF SOCIOLOGY

SINCE economics is the science which administers wealth within human society, we shall consider first the relation between economics and sociology. In order to understand this relation, we must first raise the question, How does society come to exist? For the answer to this question, the "Appendix " has given the statement quoted above, “ That which enables men to live collectively, is wealth." Therefore, sociology is dependent upon economics. If there were no wealth, men could not live collectively, and there would be no society. Before many men can live collectively, man must live individually. The individual man cannot live without wealth, but can live without society, because he can get wealth from nature instead of men. Therefore, economics precedes sociology.

For the explanation of the fundamental cause of the formation of co-operative groups, Hsun Tzŭ gives a good sociological theory, and it answers the question as to why society comes to exist. He says:

The water and fire have breath, but without life. The herb and wood have life, but without knowledge. The bird and beast have knowledge, but without justice. Man has breath, life, knowledge, and also justice; hence he is the noblest being in the world. His strength is not equal to that of the bull, and his running is not equal to that of the horse; yet the bull and horse are subjected to him. Why? It is because man