中西政商关系伦理规则的历史根性差异

The Fundamental Difference of the Ethical Rules in Political and Business Relations between China and the West

任何国家处理政商关系(权力与资本关系)的理念、规则、制度等都会受到本国特定历史场域中政商力量格局、经济发展状况、传统文化积淀等诸多因素的制约,从而呈现出风格迥异的地区和国别特征。中国古代政商关系的本质特征是官主商辅,历代商业都要伴随所在王朝的兴衰成败而经历其升沉荣枯的周期性历史循环过程。欧洲古代社会政商关系的根本特质是政商分而不离,商人通过与王权和教权的长期博弈,最终将近代封建王国转变为现代性资本主义国家。中西古代政商关系之所以呈现出如此巨大的伦理视差,源自双方在人身自由、财产保护、终极命运等制度安排中的价值取向判若云泥。从马克思主义唯物史观的立场看,这两种性质迥异的政商关系类型各有其利弊得失,它们极大地影响了中西政商关系的现代性生成路径。

The philosophy,rules and systems of political and business relations(power-capital relations)in anycountry are subject to the constraints of political and business power patterns,economic development,traditional culture and other factors in the specific historical field of the country,while presenting very differentregional and national characteristics.The unique advantages of their respective political and economicoperation mechanisms are obviously demonstrated through studying the history of ancient political and economicdevelopment in the East and the West separately.However,the organic combination of ancient politics andeconomy needs to be investigated in order to deeply grasp the truth of ancient societies in the East and theWest.Examining the ancient politics and economy organically makes it possible to see the advantages anddisadvantages of the respective holistic systems of government and business in ancient societies,the interactionbetween politics and economy,state and market,government and firms,and officials and businessmen.Theessence of the political and business relations in ancient China showed that business was conducted throughpolitics,and the businessmen had to go through a historically cyclical rise and fall along with the success andfailure of their dynasties.Unlike ancient China,the fundamental characteristics of the political and businessrelations in European societies show that politics and business were separated,and the merchants eventuallytransformed modern feudal kingdoms into modern capitalist countries through a long-term game with the king’spower and religious power.The reason for such a huge ethical paradox in the political and business relationsbetween ancient East and West stems from the fact that the values of personal freedom and property protection,as well as the ultimate destiny of the two sides,are so different from each other in their institutionalarrangements.From the standpoint of the Marxist materialistic view of history,these two different kinds ofpolitical and business relations have their own advantages and disadvantages,and they have greatly influencedthe path of modernity in political and business relations in the East and West.In summary,it can be seen thatthe contemporary Chinese Communists have created a socialist government-led market economy with Chinesecharacteristics through the creative transformation and innovative development of ancient Chinese political andbusiness relations,which is essentially characterized by liberating labor,innovating power,and guidingcapital.The modern Western bourgeoisie has gradually evolved a liberal ideology-led market economy throughthe strong advancement of its ancient political and business relations,which presents the essentialcharacteristics of capital supremacy,lobbying power,and labor exploitation.It is particularly important topoint out that,along with the continuous improvement and rapid development of the socialist market economysystem with Chinese characteristics at the turn of the century,the monopoly of the Western capitalist marketeconomy system has been completely broken,and the scientific construction of a new pattern of modernpolitical and business relations in which each country competes for its strengths has been the inevitabledevelopmental trend of mankind.