Excerpt from "On Your Millet" by Chao Cuo in the Western Han Dynasty, the original excerpt:
Now the law is cheap for businessmen, and businessmen have money; Respect farmers, farmers are poor. Therefore, the vulgar is expensive, and the Lord is also cheap; Humble officials are respected by law. On the contrary, likes and dislikes are good, but it is impossible to make the country rich and strong.
Translation:
Although the law despises businessmen now, businessmen are actually very rich; The law respects farmers, but farmers are actually very poor. Therefore, what ordinary people value is what the monarch despises; What ordinary officials despise is legal respect. On the contrary, likes and dislikes are reversed. In this case, it is impossible to enforce laws and regulations in order to make the country rich.
Extended data
Creative background:
At the beginning of the founding of the Western Han Dynasty, Liu Bang, the Emperor Gaozu of Han Dynasty, took a series of measures, such as stopping troops to return to his hometown, restraining business and reducing taxes, and gradually restored the agricultural production that was seriously damaged by years of war at the end of Qin Dynasty. Emperor Wen of Han continued to attach importance to agriculture and mulberry industry after he ascended the throne, which promoted the prosperity of agriculture and the development of commerce.
However, due to the development of commerce, farmers have suffered from poor grain, the annexation and occupation of farmers by big landlords and businessmen have intensified, a large number of farmers have been displaced, and class contradictions have intensified day by day.
In view of this problem, Chao Cuo published this article, which comprehensively discussed the importance of "attaching importance to millet" (attaching importance to grain), and put forward a series of propositions, such as attaching importance to agriculture and restraining commerce, adding millet to official positions, and worshiping nobles to eliminate crimes, which had certain progressive significance for developing production and consolidating national defense at that time.
Main idea of the article:
Through positive and negative connections, this paper discusses the decisive significance of attaching importance to agriculture over millet for the prosperity of the country and the stability of people's lives. When explaining the problem, the author uses the methods of comparison between ancient and modern times, comparison between farmer and wealthy businessman dajia, comparison between law and actual situation, etc., so that his thoughts can be expressed more vividly and the rulers can realize the seriousness of the problem.
About the author:
Chao Cuo (200 BC-65438 BC+054 BC), a native of Yingchuan (now Yuzhou, Henan), was a politician and writer in the Western Han Dynasty. Chao Cuo formulated the policy of "emphasizing agriculture and restraining business", and advocated taking millet as pride, increasing agricultural production and revitalizing the economy.
Although the starting point of his works is based on making contributions, the foothold is often the long-term stability of the Han Dynasty, and he makes suggestions for the consolidation and prosperity of the Han Dynasty with a strong sense of historical responsibility, revealing warm praise for the meteorology of the Han Dynasty between the lines, reflecting the style of the historical rise period. His representative works include Talking about Military Affairs, Guarding the Border and Persuading Agriculture, Talking about your millet, and Good Countermeasures.
Baidu encyclopedia-about your millet