Abstract
Society is a product of the relations among people. The assimilation of humans into society gives people diverse status in different historical stages and in different societies and nations. The assorted labels of subjects, nationals, peoples, citizens, and so forth, precisely reflect this process of historical socialization. In traditional Chinese society, imperial power was supreme. "All the lands within the six directions belong to the emperor" and "Wherever there is a sign of human presence, all are subjects of the emperor," in the words of the Grand Historian.1 The emperor was the Son of Heaven, standing above all humanity; he regarded his subjects as dogs and horses. His subjects abased and humbled themselves, some volunteering to be his dogs and horses and some forced to become his slaves. Confucian theory made this seem reasonable, and court regulations systematized it. The "three bonds" embodied this principle and its institutions.2 Thus the notion that "if the emperor tells his subject to die, his subject does not dare to live; if the father tells his son to perish, his son does not dare to go on breathing" became a kind of natural and unquestioned premise. This also formed the basis of a political culture deeply affecting two very different groups: the ministers (the class of officials) and the common people.
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