Principles of Chinese Management [1 ed.] 9813365218, 9789813365216

Table of contents :
Foreword
Preface
The Purpose of Teaching
Distinctive Features
Division of Labor and Structure of Text
Acknowledgments
Contents
1 Overview
1 Proposal of Chinese Management
1.1 The Concept of Chinese Management
1.1.1 Chinese Management is not a Simple Copy of Western Management in China
1.1.2 Chinese Management is not Ancient Management
1.2 The Development Status of Chinese Management
1.3 Hot Research Topics in Chinese Management
1.4 The Future Development of Chinese Management Science
1.4.1 “Creative Transformation” of Traditional Chinese Management Thoughts
1.4.2 Theoretical Improvement of Chinese Management Practice
2 Research Objects of Chinese Management
2.1 Chinese Management Practice
2.2 Chinese Management Thoughts
2.3 Chinese Management Situation
3 Research Methods of Chinese Management
3.1 Common Research Methods of Western Management
3.2 Research Methods of Chinese Management
3.2.1 Case Study
3.2.2 Comparative Research Methods
Comparison of Chinese and Western Management
Comparison of Management Thoughts and Management Practices
Synchronic Comparison
Diachronic Comparison
3.2.3 Interdisciplinary Approach
4 The Significance of Studying Chinese Management
4.1 The Inevitable Choice of the World Economy Under Turbulent Conditions
4.1.1 Inherent Flaw in the Western Management Model Makes It Necessary to Seek Solutions from Management Models Outside
4.1.2 Western Management Models Face the Dilemma of Diminishing Marginal Utility
4.2 The Inevitable Reflection of China’s Economic Miracle at the Micro-level
4.3 The Inevitable Result of Chinese National Culture Consciousness and Cultural Self-confidence
4.3.1 Extending Chinese Traditional Culture
4.3.2 Extending Western Management Studies
4.3.3 Extending Modern Management Practices in China
4.4 The Compelling Obligation of Chinese Management Scholars to Shoulder Social Responsibility and Historical Mission (Chongqing 2011)
4.4.1 Chinese Management Scientists Are Required to “Discover the Rules, Explain Phenomena and Guide Practice” the Historical Breakthroughs and Challenges Faced During China’s Economic and Social Development
4.4.2 Chinese Management Science Development is in a Turning Point
Appendix: Several Theories of Chinese Management
Dongshui Su: Oriental Management School
Zhaoyun Wu: A Series of Studies on the Essence of Chinese Management Thoughts
Shiqiang Zeng: Chinese Management
Zhongying Cheng: C Theory
Rujin Huang: “He he” Management
References
2 The Development of Chinese Management Thoughts
1 Management Thoughts in Ancient China
1.1 Management Thoughts in the Pre-Qin Period
1.1.1 The Formation and Development of Management Thoughts in the Pre-Qin Period
1.1.2 The Main Contents of Management Thoughts in the Pre-Qin Period
Confucian Thoughts of Management
Legalists Thoughts of Management
Taoists Thoughts of Management
Mohism Thoughts of Management
Strategist Thoughts of Management
1.1.3 The Basic Characteristics of Management Thoughts in the Pre-Qin Period
Emphasize that Human is the Center of Management
Management Based on Organization and Division of Labor
Advocating the Idea of Governing the Country at the End of the Farming Business
Advocating Sentiments and Emphasizing Management Values
Emphasizing the Use of Strategies to Achieve Management Objectives
1.2 Management Thoughts from Qin Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty
1.2.1 The Formation and Development of Management Thoughts from Qin Dynasty to Tang Dynasty
1.2.2 Main Contents of Management Thoughts from Qin Dynasty to Tang Dynasty
Administrative Management Thoughts
Economic Management Thoughts
Military Management Thoughts
Cultural Management Thoughts
1.2.3 The Basic Characteristics of Management Thoughts from Qin Dynasty to Tang Dynasty
Established the Traditional Chinese Management System
The Institutionalization of Management Thoughts Has Been Realized
1.3 Management Thoughts from Song Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty
1.3.1 The Formation and Development of Management Thoughts from the Song Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty
1.3.2 The Main Contents of Management Thought from Song Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty
Wang Anshi’s Economic Management Thoughts
Hu Bilie’s Management Thoughts
Zhu Di’s Confucian Rule Thoughts
Kangxi, Yong Zheng and Qianlong’s Management Thoughts
1.3.3 The Basic Characteristics of Management Thought from Song Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty
The Keynote of Management Thoughts is Based on “the People”
Governing the Country with Confucianism as Its Main Body
Highlighting the Concept of “Governing the Country Based on Agriculture and Enriching the People and Developing the Country”
2 Modern and Contemporary Management Thoughts in China
2.1 Management Thoughts in Late Qing Dynasty
2.1.1 The Formation and Development of Management Thoughts in Late Qing Dynasty
2.1.2 Main Contents of Management Thought in Late Qing Dynasty
Wei Yuan’s Management Thoughts
Zeng Guofan’s Management Thoughts
Kang Youwei’s Management Thoughts
2.1.3 The Basic Characteristics of Management Thoughts in Late Qing Dynasty
2.2 Management Thoughts in the Republic of China
2.2.1 The Formation and Development of Management Thoughts in the Republic of China
2.2.2 The Main Ideas of Management Thoughts During the Republic of China
Sun Zhongshan’s Management Thoughts
Zhang Jian’s Management Thoughts
2.2.3 The Basic Characteristics of Management Thoughts in the Republic of China
3 The New Development of Chinese Contemporary Management Thoughts
3.1 Management Thoughts in the Planned Economy Period
3.1.1 Formation and Development of Management Thoughts in the Planned Economy Period
3.1.2 Main Contents of Management Thoughts in the Period of the Planned Economy
1950s: Learning the Soviet Union’s Management Mode
1960s–70s: Exploring Management Suited to China’s National Conditions
3.1.3 Basic Characteristics of Management Thoughts in Planned Economy Period
Production Oriented Management Theory Under Highly Centralized Economic Management System
Management Learns and Develops the Soviet Union Mode
Enterprise Management Theory Attaches Importance to Democratic Management
The Development of Management Has Distinct Characteristics of the Times
3.2 Management Thoughts in the Period of Enterprise Transformation
3.2.1 The Formation and Development of Management Thoughts During the Period of Enterprise Transformation
3.2.2 Main Contents of Management Thought During the Period of Enterprise Transformation
The Transformation of Enterprise Management Mode from Production Type to Production Management Type
Introduce and Learn Advanced Management Experience and Methods from Other Countries
3.2.3 The Basic Characteristics of Management Thoughts in the Period of Enterprise Transformation
Enterprise Management Mode from Production to Production and Operation
The Mainstream of Management Development is Tracking, Learning and Imitation
The Development of Management Science is Dominated by State-Owned Enterprises
Government Advocacy and Promotion is Still the Main Way of Management Development
The Content of Management Theory is Gradually Enriched and Perfected
Chinese Enterprises Have Made Useful Explorations in Management Practice and Innovation
3.3 Management Thoughts in the Market Economy Era
3.3.1 New Environment for the Development of Management Thoughts in China’s Market Economy Era
Blueprint for Building a Socialist Market Economy
Development Trend of the Global Economy
3.3.2 Main Contents of Management Thoughts in the Market Economy Era
State-Owned Enterprise Reform and Management Team Building
Go Out Strategy and Chinese Enterprises’ Overseas Investment Strategy
Encourage Non-Public Ownership Economy and the Development of Private Enterprises in China
Independent Innovation Strategy and Strategic Structural Upgrading of Chinese Enterprises
3.3.3 The Basic Characteristics of Management Thoughts in the Market Economy Era
Theoretical Research: Pay Attention to the Introduction of Various Advanced Management Theories Abroad
Practice and Exploration: Special Conditions Based on China’s Economic Restructuring
Appendix
References
3 The Appropriate Time—Management Based on the Relationship Between Human Beings and Nature
1 Complying with Tao: Management Based on Tao
1.1 Introduction
1.1.1 Introduction: The Connotation of Shun Tao
Correct Understanding of Tao and Feeling the Originality of Its Existence
Complying with the Requirements of Tao
1.1.2 The Application of Shun Tao
Management Concept Refinement
General Development Plan
Leadership Cultivation
1.2 Paying Attention to the Overall Management of Things: Integrating Yin and Yang
1.2.1 Keeping Yin and Yang Integrated
Complementarity
Diversity
Harmony
1.2.2 Promoting Yin and Yang Connected
Smooth Circulation Between Factors
Active Communication, Evading Disadvantage
1.2.3 Drive Development of Yin and Yang
Two Development Models “Change” “Flexibility”
Two Driving Forces “Hardness” “Softness”
Two Strategies “Yin” “Yang”
1.3 Management Methods to Maintain the Effectiveness of Handling Affairs: Governing by Non-interference
1.3.1 Acting Intelligently
The Subjectivity of Management Object
Managers and Subordinates Are Responsible for Their Duties
Conforming to Nature and Taking the Initiative to Make a Difference
1.3.2 Governing by Morality
Treating People with Kindness
Lead by Example
Complying with the Requirements of Subordinates
1.3.3 Treating Things with “Softness”
The Meaning of Softness
Showing Softness, Long-Term Prosperity
Learning the Soft Essence of Water
1.4 Management Methods to Control the Appropriateness of Practice: Adjusting with Golden Mean
1.4.1 Cultivate the Talent of Zhong Yong (Golden Mean)
Carrying Out the Virtues of Benevolence
Pursuit of Moderate Principles
Considering Secondary Methods and Adopting the Rampant Way
1.4.2 Promote Moderation Management
Not Go to Extremes
Strict and Gentle
Strong Pertinency
1.4.3 Keeping Pace with the Times
Acting According to the Times
Acting According to the Situation
Advocating Advanced
2 Following the Rules: Management Based on Rules
2.1 Introduction
2.1.1 The Meaning of “Following the Rules”
Adapting to the Rules Is the Key to Successful Management
The Rule of Nature, Social Rules, and Human Rules Have the Objectivity of Their Existence
2.1.2 Application of Following with the Rules
Exploring the Trajectory of the Rules
Developing Management Strategies
Understanding Management Adaptability
2.2 Management Method to Follow the Rule of Nature: Tao Follows the Rule of Nature
2.2.1 Clarifying the Rule of Nature
Congenital Nature of the Existence of the Rule of Nature
Understanding of the Dynamic Mechanism of the Rule of Nature
Interaction Between Regular Variable Factors
2.2.2 Following the Rule of Nature
Facing the Rules and Acting According to the Rules
Non-interference in the Rule of Nature
Advocating Harmony Between Human and Nature
2.2.3 Using the Rule of Nature
Understanding the Rules, Avoiding the Disadvantages
Human Nature, Combined with Nature
Conforming with the Time, Keeping Path with the Times
2.3 Management Methods to Advocate the Rule of Society: Simplicity
2.3.1 The “Natural” Attribute of the Rule of Society
The Roots of the Rule of Society
Dividing the System of the Rule of Society
The Intersection of the Rule of Society and the Rule of Nature
2.3.2 Application of the Rule of Society
Building an Environmental Ecology that Guides Self
Creating a Fair and just Competition Environment
Rational Use of the Rule of Society to Meet the Needs of Survival and Development
2.3.3 Promotion of “Te (Morality)” and “Li (Rite)” of the Rule of Society
Progressive Relationship Between “Te” and “Li”
Application of “Te Zhi”
Promoting Self-management
2.4 Management Method to Caters to the Rule of Humanity: Longevity and Long-Sightedness
2.4.1 Taking Advantage of the Rules to Imitate the World
Does not Grow from Itself, so Able to Live
Humanity Following the Heavens and Uniting with the Universe
The Act of Gaining Life Is Called Ominous
2.4.2 Longevity Cannot Be Altered; Keep Natural Innocence
The Theme and Object of Human Nature
Management Goal: Man in One with Nature
2.4.3 Following Tao and Te to Achieve a Win-Win Situation
Adapting to the Nature of Things, Making a Difference
Paying Attention to the Accumulation
Keeping Tao and Living for a Long Time
3 Emphasizing on Methods: Management Based on Methods
3.1 Introduction
3.1.1 Meaning of Emphasizing on Methods
Principle of Utilitarian
Principle of Initiative
Principle of Contingency
3.1.2 Application of Emphasizing on Methods
Solving the Problem of Antagonism
Solving the Difficult Problems
Solving the Complex Problems
3.2 Management Method to Grasp the Opportunity of Time: Seizing the Opportunity
3.2.1 Grasping the Opportunity, Taking the Lead
Xian Sheng (Win First)
Zhi Ren (Mobilizing Opponents)
Su Sheng (Quick Victory)
3.2.2 Adapting to Development, Adapting to Opportunities
Being Good at Discovering Opportunities
Taking Advantage of Opportunities
Paying Attention to the Turnaround
3.2.3 Counteraction with Quietness, and Combining Action and Quietness
Creating the Opportunities Proactively
Waiting for the Opportunities Patiently
Seizing the Opportunity Wisely
3.3 Management Method to Take Advantage of Space: Utilizing the Situation
3.3.1 Avoiding Revealing Facts and Striking the Weak
The Unity of Opposites Between the Strength and the Weakness
Subjective and Objective Aspects Guiding the Change of Reality
Avoiding the Strength and Attacking the Weakness to Win the Game Flexibility
3.3.2 Giving Full Play to Advantages and Avoiding Disadvantages
Being Good at Giving Full Play to the Advantage
Taking the Initiative to Avoid Disadvantages
Adapting Advantages and Abandoning Disadvantages Reasonably
3.3.3 Building the Momentum Actively, Moving with the Trend
Obeying the Natural Tendency
Creating a Favorable Situation
Not Sticking to the Tendency of One Pattern
3.4 Management Method to Improve Innovation Awareness: Taking the Unexpected Attack
3.4.1 Despising the Enemies and Inspiring the Soldiers, Winning by Psychological Warfare
Fully Mobilizing the Opponent
Grasping the Winning Conditions and Initiative
Improving the Morale and Taking the Lead
3.4.2 Fusion of Truth and Falsity, Trick Wins
Confusing Each Other
Enticing the Enemy
Keeping the Secret
3.4.3 Combination of Zheng and Qi, A Novel Attack
Basing on Zheng, Winning with Qi
Using Zheng in the Peacetime, Using QI in the Wartime
Reciprocal Transformation of Qi and Zheng Can Always Win
References
4 The Appropriate Location—Management Based on the Relationship Between Human Beings and Society
1 Governing by Law: Management Based on Order
1.1 Introduction
1.1.1 The Meaning of Governing by Law
Connotation
Characteristics
1.1.2 The Application of Governing by Law
Maintaining the Government
The Base of Governing the People
1.2 Advocating the Principle of “Taking the Law as the Keylink”
1.2.1 The Fairness of the Law—The Law of the World
What Is the Law of the World?
What is the “Law of no Law”
1.2.2 The Broadness of the Law—The Base of Ruling the People
The Rule Based on the Law
The Governance of a Monarch of Mediocrity
1.2.3 The Appearance of Law—The Norm of Everything
Code of Conduct
Objective Standards
1.3 Maintaining the Rule of “The Status of the Monarch and the Subordinates”
1.3.1 Choosing People by the Law
Measuring the Contribution
Choosing the Talents
1.3.2 Using the Law to Govern the Subordinates
Heavy Punishment
Supervision
1.3.3 The Authority of the Monarch
Constraining the Subjects
Preventing the Confusion
Reward and Punishment
1.4 Implementing the Method of “Subduing the Subjects by Force”
1.4.1 Benefitting the People
What Is the “Benefitting the People”
Two Aspects of Benefit
1.4.2 Education Assisted by Penalty
Compulsory
Severity
2 Governing by Harmony: Management Based on Balance
2.1 Introduction
2.1.1 The Meaning of Governing by Harmony
2.1.2 The Application of Governing by Harmony
Coordinating Interpersonal Relationships
Dealing with Contradictions
2.2 Harmonious Society: “Harmony Between Human and Nature, Complying with Human and Nature”
2.2.1 Political Harmony
Preserving the Regime
Maintaining the Society
2.2.2 Economic Harmony
2.2.3 Cultural Harmony
Chinese Culture
World Culture
2.3 Modernization Principle: “Stopping When It Should Stop, Acting When It Should Act”
2.3.1 Yin and Yang Are in the Middle
Implication
Application
2.3.2 Flat Theory
Moderate Management
Flexible Management
Harmonious Management
2.3.3 Raw Silk Without Dyeing, Logs Without Processing
Implication
Origin
2.4 Cooperation-Competition Theory: “Developing the Strengths, Avoiding Shortcomings and Learning from Others”
2.4.1 Cooperation-Competition of Traditional Culture
Cooperative Competition
“Harmony” and “Agreement”
2.4.2 Cooperation-Competition of Modern Enterprises
Competition of Modern Enterprises
Cooperation of Modern Enterprises
3 Governing by Moral: Management based on Morality
3.1 Introduction
3.1.1 The Meaning of Governing by Morality
Implication
Foundation
3.1.2 Application of Governing by Morality
Governing the Country and Ensuring the Security
Identifying the Loyalty and Interests
3.2 Management to Improve the Personal Virtues—Self-cultivation
3.2.1 Subjective: Learning Is as Important as Thinking
3.2.2 Binding: Being Cautious and Self-discipline Even Being Alone
3.2.3 Initiative: Unity of Knowing and Acting
3.3 Management to Maintain National Stability—Governing the Country
3.3.1 Basing on the Morality of Officials
3.3.2 Replacing Punishment with Morality
3.3.3 Treating People with Tolerance
3.4 Management to Coordinate the Social Contradictions—Pacifying the World
3.4.1 Touching People by Morality
3.4.2 Educating People by Morality
3.4.3 Practice
References
5 Harmonious Relationship-Management Based on Human Relationships
1 Human-Oriented—Management Based on Humanity
1.1 Introduction
1.1.1 The Connotation of “Human-Oriented”
Historical Origins
Connotation
1.1.2 The Significance of Human-Oriented Thought
Historical Meaning
Realistic Guidance
1.1.3 The Application of People-Based Management
Views of Yin and Yang
Views of Fair and just
The View of Loving People
1.2 Humanity: The Cornerstone of Human and Human Relationship Management
1.2.1 The Theory of Human Nature
The Theory of Human Nature Being Good
The Theory of Human Nature Being Evil
The Theory of Nurture Trumps Nature
1.2.2 Good Nature: View of Harmonious Human Nature
With Regards to Good or Evil, We Prefer Human Are Born Good
Even if We Admit the Existence of “Evil” in Human Nature, We also Think that “Nurture” Can Change
More Purposeful
1.3 The Way of Human-Oriented
1.3.1 Benevolent Love
1.3.2 Mutual Love and Mutual Assistance
1.3.3 Being Kind and Love People
2 Cooperation of Human—Management Based on Cooperation
2.1 Introduction
2.1.1 The Connotation of “Cohesion”
Historical Origins
Substantive Connotation
2.1.2 The Significance of Cohesion
Historical Meaning
Realistic Guidance
2.1.3 The Application of Cohesion in Management
Peaceful Competition
Harmonious Society
Survive Through a Strategic Alliance
2.2 The Cooperation of Human: The Essence of Human Relationship Management
2.2.1 Importance of Cooperation—Cohesion of People
The Key to Cooperate
Cooperation in Military Affairs—Diplomatic Strategy
Family Cooperation—Emphasis on Filial Piety
Interpersonal Cooperation—Advocating Benevolence and Righteousness
2.2.2 Jointly Making Progress: A Review of Harmonious Relationship
More Emphasis on Two-Way Interaction and Cooperation
Fair Cooperation that Discards Class Differences
2.3 The Way of Cooperation of Human
2.3.1 Advocating Rule by Virtue
Rigidity and Softness
Moralization and Education
Curb Evil Desire and Protect Rights and Interests
2.3.2 Cooperation in Competition
Harmony but Not Sameness
Mutual Benefit
2.3.3 Seeking Flexible
Being Tact
Linking up Through Communication
3 Way of the Human—Management Based on Development
3.1 Introduction
3.1.1 The Connotation of the Way of the Human
3.1.2 The Significance of Way of the Human
Historical Meaning
Realistic Guidance
3.1.3 The Application of Management Based the Way of the Human
Win the Will of People
Creating Atmosphere
Raising the State of Mind
3.2 Development: The Direction of Relationship Management Between Humans
3.2.1 The Meaning of Development
Following the Rule of Nature—Govern by No Intervention
Choose the Good—Doctrine of the Mean
3.2.2 Ways: People and Views of Development
More Emphasis on Self-development Initiatives
Paying More Attention to the Bidirectional Nature of Development
3.3 Following the Laws of the Way of the Human
3.3.1 Shi Ren (Being Able to Appraise a Person’s Ability and Character Correctly)
Observing the Unique Talents of Others
Identifying People’s Unique Advantages
3.3.2 Yong Ren (Making Use of Personnel)
Make Best Use of the Advantages and Bypass the Disadvantages
Seek Reality Following the Name
3.3.3 Su Ren (Educating People)
Shapingoneself
Shaping Others
References
6 Self-cultivation-Self-oriented Management
1 Introduction
1.1 The Connotation of Zhi Shen
1.1.1 Zheng Xin Cheng Yi (Rectifying Heart and Being Sincere in Thoughts)
1.1.2 Wei Xue
1.1.3 Xiu Xing
1.2 The Doctrine of Zhi Shen
1.2.1 Ren Li (Benevolence and Propriety)
1.2.2 Xing Shan (Kind)
1.2.3 Zhi Zhu (Contentment)
1.2.4 Ren Rang (Forbearance)
1.2.5 Kuan Rong (Tolerance)
1.3 The Application of Zhi Shen
2 Yang De (Cultivating Morals)
2.1 Moral Character
2.1.1 Honesty and Trustworthiness
A Man Cannot Succeed Without Integrity
An Enterprise Without Integrity Cannot Achieve Long-Term Development
2.1.2 Emulating Those Better Than Ourselves
Seeing Men of Worth, Think of Equaling Them
Emulating Those Better Than Ourselves in the Enterprise
2.1.3 Being Courageous and Decisive
Being Bold in Making Innovations and Dare to Take the Responsibility
Being Moderate and Balanced
2.2 The Philosophy of Life
2.2.1 Being Consistent with Words and Deeds
Yan Bi Xing, Xing Bi Guo (Promise Must Be Kept and Action Must Be Firm and Decisive)
Being Consistent with Words and Deeds in Enterprises
2.2.2 Being Modest
2.2.3 The Benevolent Loves Others
Respecting Others
The Heart of Benevolence
3 Xiu Zhi (Improving Wisdom)
3.1 Wei Xue: The Cultivation of Learning Ability
3.1.1 Bo Xue
Inclusiveness
Integration and Innovation
3.1.2 Shen Wen
Investigate and Query
Repeated Scrutiny
3.1.3 Shen Si
3.1.4 Ming Bian
Identify the Authenticity
3.1.5 Analyzing Problems
3.1.6 Du Xing
3.2 Xiu Yi: Cultivation of Professional Skills
3.2.1 Zhuan Jing (Specialization)
3.2.2 Zuan Yan (Studying Intensively)
3.3 Zong Heng: Cultivation of Systematic Thinking
3.3.1 Du Zhi—The Purpose of Learning
3.3.2 Bo Xue—Holistic Learning
3.3.3 Relatedness—The Organic Relevance of Learning
3.3.4 Persistence—The Dynamics of Learning
Step by Step
Keeping Learning
4 Xiu Xing
4.1 Zi Xing: Self-awareness
4.1.1 Self-knowledge
4.1.2 Taking Other People as the Mirror
Listening to Both Sides, One Will Be Enlightened
Heeding Only One Side, One Will Be Narrow-Minded
4.1.3 Learning from History
4.2 Zi Lv: Self-restraint
4.2.1 Being Strict with Oneself
4.2.2 Treating People with Tolerance
The Heart of Tolerance
Being Tolerant of Other’s Differences
Being Tolerant to Others’ Shortcomings
4.3 Shu Qing: Standing in Other’s Shoes
4.3.1 Distinguishing Between Right and Wrong
The Proper View of Right and Wrong
It Is Easy to Make a Clear Distinction Between Right and Wrong, But Difficult to Make a Choice
4.3.2 Being Friendly to Others
Accumulating Kindness to Become a Good Virtue
Considering Others in One’s Own Place
Harmonious Interpersonal Relationship
References
7 Governing the Public—Management to Others
1 Introduction
1.1 The Connotation of Zhi Zhong (Governing the Public)
1.2 The Principle of Zhi Zhong
1.3 The Application of Zhi Zhong
1.3.1 Application in Ancient Times
The People Follow the Ruler
National Stability
Social Development
1.3.2 Application in Modern Times
Enterprise: Strengthen the Cohesion Internally and Build the Image Externally
Nation: National Unity and Social Development
2 Ren Min (Treating People with Benevolence)
2.1 Always Keep an Idea of Getting Close to the People
2.1.1 Always Care about People
2.1.2 Always Have People in Mind
Ming Cha: Establish an Efficient Bureaucratic System
Site Visit
2.1.3 Enjoy What People Enjoy
2.2 Take Real Actions for the People
2.2.1 Highlight the Morality of Serving the People
2.2.2 Fulfill the Duty to Serve the People
2.2.3 Do Things for People Actively
2.3 Good at Listening to Advice
2.3.1 Show the Sincerity of Listening to Suggestions, Encourage Everyone to Give Advice
2.3.2 Hear from All Parties
2.3.3 Pay Attention to the Effect of Suggestions, Choose the Right Advice to Follow
2.3.4 Improve the System to Keep Admonition Channels Open
3 Zhi Min (Governing the People)
3.1 Use the Law to Zhi Min
3.1.1 The Basis of the Rule of Law
The Connotation of the Rule of Law
The Characteristics of the Rule of Law
The Basic Requirements of the Rule of Law
3.1.2 The Strategy of the Rule of Law
Use the Legal System to Govern Officials
Every Order is Executed Without Failure
Improve the Legal System
3.1.3 Revelation of the Rule of Law
Improve the Legal System, Standardize Management
Establish Authority, Take Effect
Temper Toughness with Tenderness, the Art of Leadership
3.2 Use Morality to Govern People
3.2.1 Foundation of the Rule of Virtue
The Connotation of the Rule of Virtue
The Form of the Rule of Virtue
The Relationship Between the Rule of Etiquette and the Rule of Law
3.2.2 The Strategy of Rule of Virtue
Regulate Yourself and Influence Others
Attach Importance to Education and Respect Talents
Educate the People with Etiquette
3.2.3 The Revelation of the Rule of Virtue
People-Oriented Management Philosophy
Make Money and Make a Difference
Establish a Good Corporate Culture
Self-Discipline and Pacifying Others
Honesty and Trustworthiness
3.3 Harmonious Management
3.3.1 The Basis of Harmonious Management
The Meaning of Harmonious Management
The Idea of Harmonious Management
3.3.2 The Strategy of Harmonious Management
Harmony is Precious
Seeking the Golden Mean
Combine Toughness and Tenderness
No Intervention
3.3.3 The Revelation of Harmonious Management
Harmonious Managerial Quality
Harmonious Employment Relationship
Harmonious Internal Communication
Harmonious Concept of Development
Harmonious Marketing Competition
4 Hui Min (Benefiting the People)
4.1 Value the People’s Livelihood
4.1.1 People-Oriented
Confucius
Mencius
Xunzi
Emperor Tang Taizong’s Idea That “The People are the Foundation``
In the late Ming and Early Qing Dynasties, The Thought of “the people are the foundation” had a new development
4.1.2 Practice of Ruling the Country
Attach Importance to people's Livelihood
Neglect the People’s Livelihood
4.2 Safeguard People’s Livelihood
4.2.1 Protect the People: Bring Peace and Stability to the Country
Prepare the Army
Avoid Invading Other Countries
4.2.2 Love the People: Policy of Benevolence
Keep Benevolence in Mind
Implement Policy of Benevolence
4.2.3 Nurturing the People: Make the Country Wealthy and Take Care of the People
Treat People with Tolerance
The People are Rich, the Country is Strong
4.3 Improve People’s Livelihood
4.3.1 Reduce People’s Burden of Life
Major Measures to Reduce the Burden on Farmers in Ancient China
Development of China’s Ancient Tax System
4.3.2 Developing Production
Stressing Agriculture and Restraining Commerce
Broaden Sources of Income and Reduce Expenditure
References
8 Dealing with the Things—Management to Transaction
1 Introduction
1.1 The Connotation of Dealing with the Things
1.2 The Principle of Dealing with the Things
1.2.1 The Principle of Moderation to Do Things Neither Not in Place Nor in Excess
1.2.2 The Principle of Rational Choice to Hold the Two and Adopt the Moderation
1.2.3 The Principle of Adoption to Adhere to the Law and Be Flexible
1.3 The Application of Dealing with the Things
1.3.1 Taking Confucianism as the Fundamental: Putting People First and Establishing Norms
Governing by Benevolence
Governing by Rite
Governing by Morality
Governing by Human Beings
1.3.2 Taking Legalism as the Application: Taking the Law as the Key Point and Carrying Out Comprehensive and Standardized Management
Taking the Law as the Guiding Principle
Judging in the Context of the Law
Using the Unified Law Made by the Manager
Educating People on the Law
Regarding the Law as Ever-Changing
1.3.3 Taking Military as the Vanguard: Taking the Military Strategy as a Guide, Pay Attention to Tactics
Theory of Being Vigilant in Peacetime
Theory of Strategic Attack
Theory of Victory in an Absolutely Dominant Position
Theory of Rapid Strike
Theory of Weak and Strong Points
Theory of Intelligence
1.3.4 Taking Taoism as the Basis: Basing on the Objectiveness and Respecting the Rule, “Do Not Struggle Against Nature and Do the Best for Things You Can Change”
Tao Follows the Rule of Nature
Relativism
Harmony Between Human and Nature
Governing by Non-interference
2 Observing Things
2.1 The Goal of Observing Things
2.1.1 Hearing All Parties
2.1.2 Evaluating the Situation
2.2 The Thought of Observing Things
2.2.1 Systematic Dialectic
2.2.2 Following Nature
2.3 The Method of Observing Things
2.3.1 Taking Reason as the Basis
2.3.2 Taking History as the Mirror
3 Planning Things
3.1 The Object of Planning Things
3.1.1 Planning for Oneself
3.1.2 Planning for the Others
3.1.3 Planning for the Time
3.2 The Concept of Planning Things
3.2.1 Benevolence and Rite
Rite is the Principle of Humanity to Identify the Interpersonal Relationship and the Rational Principle to Distinguish the Similarities and Differences
Rite is the External Norm of Fulfilling Internal Moral Emotions
Rite is the Ethical Norm to Impose Moral Requirements on Every Member of Society
Rite in Confucianism Theory is Following the Time
3.2.2 Profit and Righteousness
3.2.3 Honesty and Credibility
3.3 The Strategy of Planning Things
3.3.1 Winning by Judging the enemy’s Situation Accurately
Leaders Should Have Cautious on a Strategic Level, Take Measures, and Nip the Crisis in the Bud
Managers Should Know as Much as Possible in Advance and Fully Grasp the Information
3.3.2 Changing the Strategy with Changes of the Enemy
3.3.3 Knowing Your Enemy and Yourself Well
4 Doing Things
4.1 The Attitudes of Doing Things
4.1.1 Repairing the House Before It Rains
4.1.2 Remaining Indifferent Whether Favored or Humiliated
4.1.3 Making a Prompt Decision
4.2 The Methods of Doing Things
4.2.1 Definition of “the Theory of Constantly Changing by Law”
4.2.2 Basic Law of the Law of “the Theory of Constantly Changing by Law”
Contingency Does not Transgress the Law
Contingency Does not Hurt People
Contingency Does not Abuse
4.2.3 The Application of “the Theory of Constantly Changing by Law”
Ethics–The Most Important Thing in Chinese Culture is Ethics
Democracy–Confucius Advocates Accommodating Dissidents, Which is the Basic Conditions of Modern Democracy
Science–Chinese People Are Practical and like to Engage in the Performance of Physical Phenomena to Make a Truthful Description
4.3 The Mode of Doing Things
4.3.1 Being and Not-Being Grow Out of One Another
4.3.2 Using Both Kindness and Authority
4.3.3 Being Prepared for Danger in Times of Peace
References
9 Zhi Yuan-Management of Personal Relationship
1 Introduction
1.1 The Connotation of Zhi Yuan
1.1.1 The Connotation of Yuan
1.1.2 The Connotation of Zhi Yuan
1.2 The Principle of Zhi Yuan
1.2.1 The Effect of Qing, Li and Fa
1.2.2 The Application of Qing, Li and Fa
1.3 The Application of Zhi Yuan
1.3.1 The Effect of Yuan
Relationship Plays a Big Part in Defining Individual Identity
Different Types of Relationships Directly Influence the Way of Interaction in Human Relationships
1.3.2 “He” is the Objective of Zhi Yuan
1.4 Touching People with Qing
1.5 The Connotation of Qing
1.5.1 The Connotation of Qing
1.5.2 The Status of Qing
The Necessity of Qing
The People-Oriented Nature of Qing
1.6 Qing is Essential in Management
1.6.1 The Effect of Qing
Win people’s Heart with Qing
Pursuit Development with Qing
1.6.2 Investment of Qing
The Application in Ancient Management
1.7 Management Cannot Just Pay Attention to Qing
1.7.1 The Scope of Application of Qing
1.7.2 The Application Scenarios of Qing
1.8 The Art of Managing by Affection
1.8.1 Pacify Others: Meeting Demand
1.8.2 The Use of Personnel: Creating an Initiative
1.8.3 Love People: Managing People Like Their Parent
2 Convincing People with Li
2.1 The Connotation of Li
2.1.1 The Connotation of Li
2.1.2 The Status of Li
Li is the Objective of Qing
Li is the Standard of Fa
Li is the Center of Qing and Fa
2.2 The Management and Rationality of Li
2.2.1 The Management of Li
2.2.2 The Connotation of Rationality
The Connotation of Rationality
The Criterion of Judgment on Rationality
2.2.3 The Explanation of Rationality: The Doctrine of the Mean
The Doctrine of the Mean
From the Mean to Li
2.3 The Application of Managing by Li
2.3.1 Ming Li: Set Objectives
Management Needs Objectives
The Setting of Objectives
2.3.2 Da Li: Do What Should Be Done Without Overdoing
Lao Tzu’s Inaction
Do What Should Be Done Without Overdoing
Shuo Li: Establish Communication
3 Constraining People with Fa
3.1 The Connotation of Fa
3.1.1 The Connotation of Fa
3.1.2 The Status of Fa
3.2 The Effect of Fa in the Management
3.2.1 The Necessity of Fa
3.2.2 The Scientific Nature of Fa
The Management of Fa
Treat Fa Scientifically
3.3 The Application of Managing by Fa
3.3.1 Ming Fa: Bring System into the Public
3.3.2 Chong Fa: No Personal Privilege
3.3.3 Yan Fa: Implement Stoutly
References
10 Situational Governance-Management of Specific Situation
1 Introduction
1.1 The Connotation of Situational Governance
1.1.1 The Meaning of Situational Governance
1.1.2 The Source of the Model of “Shan Yin, Li Dao, and Zheng Qi”
1.2 The Method of Managing Under Certain Situation
1.2.1 The Type of Situational Change
The Type of Natural Development
The Type of Positive Guidance
The Type of Malignant Development
1.2.2 The Relationship Between the Model of “Shan Yin, Li Dao, and Zheng Qi” and the Situational Change Types
The Type of Natural Change
The Type of Positive Guidance
The Type of Malignant Development
1.3 The Application of Managing Under Certain Situation
2 Shan Yin—Situation Complying with Natural
2.1 A Situation Change by Following Oneself
2.1.1 Introspection and Sense of Shame
Introspection
Shen Du (Behave Oneself When Alone)
Zhi Chi
2.1.2 Xue Er Shi Xi (Learn and Review on Time)
Bu Chi Xia Wen (Feel no Shame to Learn from One’s Subordinates)
Xue Si Jie He (a Combination of Learning and Thinking)
Jin Er Bu Zhi (Never Stop the Progress)
2.1.3 Career Design
Managers Design a “Zhi (Will)” for Themselves and the Enterprise
Build a Learning Self and Enterprise
Attaching Importance to Important and Sensitive Periods of Time
2.2 Complying with the Situation Changed by Others’ Factor
2.2.1 Teaching Without Discrimination and According to the Aptitude
Teaching Without Discrimination
Give Systematic Guidance
Teach with Aptitude
2.2.2 Combining Xu and Shi, Yu and Zhi, Gong and Shou Flexibly
Xu and Shi
Yu and Zhi
Gong and Shou
2.3 Complying with the Situation Changed by Environmental Factors
2.3.1 All Things Are Continuously Growing, but Tian Does Not Say Anything
2.3.2 Neither Seek to Follow the Ways of Ancestors nor Establish Any Fixed Standard for All Times
2.3.3 Time Keeps Passing just Like a Flowing River, Does Not Matter if It Is Day or Night
3 Li Dao—Guide a Good Development Situation
3.1 Encourage Talented People
3.1.1 To Oneself: Complying and Inaction
Hidden in the Heart, Keeping as a Secret
Wise Lord Governs the Rule and Clears Division of Labor
Treat the Virtuous and Capable Person in a Polite Way, and Only Employ the Virtuous and Capable Person
3.1.2 To People: Wisely Observe People
Be Vigilant to Black Sheeps
Be Vigilant Against the Evil Plots
Investigate the Fact Wisely
3.1.3 To Officials: Rewards and Penalties Are Clearly Defined
Reward Fairly and Punish Strictly
Give Position Based on Capability
Judge People According to Facts and Clear Rewards and Penalties
3.1.4 Create Shi (Momentum) to Win
3.1.5 No Battle: Take the Strategy as the Head
3.1.6 Before the Battle: Know Both Ourselves and the Enemy
3.1.7 In Battle: Win First and then Fight
3.2 Consider Benefits and Harm as an Action Guide
3.2.1 Act When It Is a Benefit; Stop When It Is Harmful
3.2.2 Choose the Best Benefit; Choose the Least Harm
Seek Advantages and Avoid Disadvantages
The Obvious and Hidden Pros and Cons
Win-Win
3.2.3 Change According to Profit, Win Through Surprise Strategy
4 Zheng Qi—Situation Dealing with Malignant Changing
4.1 Ideological Education
4.1.1 A Stable and Strong State Will Dominate
Self-improvement
Strict Internal
Joint Efforts
Pacify the Masses
4.1.2 Long-Term Benefit Leads to Victory
4.2 Institutional Constraints
4.2.1 Be Strict to Internal Management
Popularizing the Law First, Knowing and Learning the Law
Strict Enforcement of Law, High Reward and Heavy Punishment
Everyone Should Be Equal Before the Law
4.2.2 Reform the Rule of System
Revise Timely
Implement New Law
4.3 Unified Management
4.3.1 Shi Zhe: Build the Authority of Management
Fa and Shu Are Indispensable
Enhance the Shi of Image
Reduce Shi of Others
4.3.2 Fen Shu: Identify the Object of Management
Problem of Establishing an Organization
Problem of Strategic Adjustment
Problem of Information Management
4.3.3 Xing Ming: The Process of Assisting Management
References
Appendix A Ancient Chinese Wisdom in Management
Appendix B Ancient Chinese Reference Books
Appendix C Ancient Chinese Thinkers
Appendix D The Classical Business Cases in Ancient China
Appendix E The Civil and Commercial Organizations in Ancient China—The Top Ten Commercial Gang
Appendix F The Development and Transformation of Personnel Management in Ancient China

Citation preview

Management for Professionals

Haibo Hu

Principles of Chinese Management

Management for Professionals

More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/10101

Haibo Hu

Principles of Chinese Management

123

Haibo Hu School of Business Administration Jiangxi University of Finance and Economics (JUFE) Nanchang, Jiangxi, China

ISSN 2192-8096 ISSN 2192-810X (electronic) Management for Professionals ISBN 978-981-33-6521-6 ISBN 978-981-33-6522-3 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-6522-3 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. The registered company address is: 152 Beach Road, #21-01/04 Gateway East, Singapore 189721, Singapore

Foreword

As the Oriental School of Management founder, I have always hoped that more and more young scholars could join the team to explore the spirit of the Oriental management culture and revive it. Therefore, when Haibo Hu, dean of the School of Business Administration in Jiangxi University of Finance and Economics, invited me to write a recommended preface to the book named Principles of Chinese Management, I readily agreed. After reading the manuscript, I think this book has the following characteristics: 1. A self-contained system with clear logic. Chinese management thought is the continuation of Chinese traditional culture and the new development under the modern era’s background. Therefore, it has become an obvious problem to figure out on what system and from what angle to summarize China’s management theories and practice. This book has made a meaningful attempt in this respect. This book is divided into three parts: introduction, theory, and application. The theoretical part borrows the traditional Chinese idea of “right time, right place and with right people,” constructing the theoretical basis of this book from the relationship of humans and nature, human and society, and relationships among human beings. The ancient Chinese philosophers and schools of thought also started from these three aspects, but with some differences in the discussion’s focus on how to solve these relations. In modern times, these relations are still the main contents we should pay attention to in management. Therefore, it can be said that such a starting point accurately grasps the essential characteristics of Chinese management. The application focuses on China’s management practice from five specific management areas: selves, workplace, others, personal relations, specific scenarios. These five areas basically cover all aspects of daily management and with strong pertinence and practicality. 2. Based on China, making dialogues between the East and the West. Without a doubt, Western management is in the mainstream position both in China and the world, which is an unavoidable problem in the study of Chinese management. How to deal with the relationship between Chinese management and Western management has become a problem to test the author’s ability. Some researchers either follow the Western management ideas completely, explain Western management ideas through Chinese management stories, or make farfetched

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statements without learning further. This book shows the author’s wisdom in dealing with this problem: the whole book is based on Chinese management ideas and practices, using a large number of unique Chinese management terms; and even all the introduction cases and the cases at the end of the introduction of each chapter have referred to the practical experience of Chinese enterprises. However, for some principles that are the same or interlinked in the Eastern and Western management, the book covers East and West dialogues. This shows that the author of the book has a unique view of Chinese management and pays attention to some new ideas and developments of Western management with an open and inclusive attitude. Of course, it also reflects the universality and particularity of management from another angle, which is the charm of management and the legitimacy foundation of Chinese management. Chinese management must have both its own uniqueness and universal ideas that apply to all. 3. The book integrates the ancient and modern culture and dares to innovate. Chinese management is not ancient Chinese management, which is common knowledge. However, in actual writing, Chinese management is often turned into ancient Chinese management. This book has solved this problem better. First of all, this book uses some space for modern and contemporary Chinese management ideas and practices and some contemporary management practices and entrepreneurs. Secondly, each chapter begins with ancient cases and ends with current cases. Last but not least, this book also studies the performance of ancient Chinese management ideas in the context of current management practice. 4. The book sees much in little and people-oriented. This book carefully selects a large number of small cases and tips, helping to deepen the reader’s understanding of the theoretical knowledge involved in this book, which benefits the readers to grasp the contents of this book better. In addition, the appendix of this book is also very distinctive, which includes the development of Chinese management history, representative theories of Chinese management, ancient Chinese civil and commercial organizations, and so on. These contents cannot be presented in the text, but it is essential for understanding Chinese management. I think this book fully demonstrates that the authors emphasize the concept of people-oriented and have the courage to practice this concept because they are willing to think from the perspective of the readers. In 2006, in order to promote the positive oriental traditional culture and deepen international cultural exchanges, I wrote Chinese Management Science with my students. As one of the three schools of Oriental management, we try to combine the new achievements of economic development and the new development of management theory since China’s reform and opening-up policy to form an innovative and leading book. Since then, other books with similar titles have been published, which is also called “with the same voice and the same spirit.” The publication of Principles of Chinese Management marks a further attempt by Chinese scholars in this field. Although there are some differences in these works’

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logical system with the same theme, I think this difference just reflects the concept of “harmony in diversity” in traditional Chinese thought. I hope this kind of work can be more and hope that the young scholars of Jiangxi University of Finance and Economics can have more masterpieces. This is an endorsement. Dongshui Su

Preface

According to Daniel A. Wren, an expert in the history of management thoughts, “management thoughts are not only a process of cultural environment, but also a product of cultural environment. Because management thoughts have the characteristics of open and systematic, it is necessary to study it in the cultural context.” From ancient times to the present, the management activities at any level and scale cannot be separated from the specific historical conditions and national cultural background, and the management thoughts produced from management activities are also engraved with the imprinting of national culture. Due to factors related to anthropology, history, and social psychology, China and the West have created different cultural systems with unique features as well as unique styles in their long process of national development. This cultural tradition with distinctive cultural traditions is permeated not only in the depth of people’s consciousness, but also in the whole process of social production and management activities, which also shows the different styles and characteristics of Chinese and Western management thoughts. As early as the 1960s, Harold Koontz, an American scholar, put forward the concept of “jungle of management theory” and summed up these theories into 11 schools in 1980, since then, theories such as “Business Reengineering” and “Fifth Disciplines” have emerged one after another. Most of these theories are based on the Western cultural background, and few scholars establish the Chinese management theory scientifically from this angle. In the report to the 17th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, General Secretary Hu Jintao pointed out: “promoting Chinese culture and building a spiritual home shared by the Chinese nation.” Now, we are in the tide of great development and great change. Neither China’s huge economic potential in the reform and opening-up, or the soaring of the Chinese business economy cannot realize without supports from Chinese traditional management culture. In the twenty-first century, if we are only satisfied with the study of Western management or operating management and disregard our own cultural traditions, we will give up our right of speech and that leads us nowhere. Therefore, we need to establish a scientific management system and modern enterprise management model with Chinese characteristics to meet the needs of the socialist market economy.

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In accordance with the requirements of the times, principles of Chinese management was formed under the guidance of the school of Business Administration, Jiangxi University of Finance and Economics. Guided by its principle, the study of this book follows the following three directions: first, it is the research on the development of Chinese management thought that studies the object, method, significance, and path of development of Chinese management principles. This is the starting point studying Chinese management, and also an extremely important fundamental work. Secondly, due to the lack of a systematic book of management in ancient China, we need to systemically organize and analyze all kinds of management ideas in China, and summarize a series of theoretical bases. Finally, we should also pay attention to the study of the bridging between the principles and practice of Chinese management and the management science of the West, which should be the focus of the study and an important part of establishing a modern management system with Chinese characteristics. Only in this way can we deepen the understanding of the connotation and essence of Chinese management principles, and lead researches to more in-depth areas to guide our social management practice.

The Purpose of Teaching “Teacher is the person who teaches students knowledge, tells students the way to live and answers students’ questions.” Textbooks are knowledge carriers that reflect teaching contents and teaching requirements. As the basic tools for teachers to carry out teaching activities, textbooks are important guarantees for improving teaching quality. The teaching purposes of this book: (1) Infiltrating the consciousness of “Chinese management” Since the reform and opening-up, management education in China has taken a road of importing and absorbing. This practice has made China’s management education rapidly on the same page with international management education and caught up with the new trend and tide of management development. But the dependence on Western thoughts of this method is increasingly revealing its limitations. Today, we have been used to thinking about problems within the concept and framework of Western management but ignoring the fact that these concepts and frameworks are produced in the context of Western culture and are not necessarily applicable to the situation in China. Therefore, the first objective of this book is to enable students to find another way of thinking other than Western management thinking model. (2) Supplementing Chinese management knowledge Management is not only a science, but also an art. It has not only knowledge that is applicable in any situation, but also has knowledge that is applicable in specific situations. Another purpose of this book is to supplement the

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knowledge which is applicable in the Chinese context and to help learners solve problems in practical management work. (3) Mastering Chinese management skills Management, a science emphasizing practice, must consider the needs of practice. Therefore, the third objective of this book is to help the learners grasp the management skills in the Chinese context, so that the learners can directly apply the knowledge to practice and achieve distinguished management performance.

Distinctive Features As a textbook, this book attempts to balance the following aspects: (1) Specialty and interestingness In recent years, Chinese management has become a hot research topic in the field of management and has accumulated rich achievements in scientific research. It is these efforts that make a solid foundation for the professionalism and science of this book. At the same time, this teaching book also strives to consider the interestingness. Increasing cultural content, storytelling, stylistic style, and richness of expression, and by inserting a certain number of small cases, tips, and dialogue between China and the west, to avoid large abstract paragraphs and enhance the reading and attraction. (2) Systematicness and pertinence Behind the prosperous development of Chinese management, a hidden problem is the appearance of “jungle” phenomenon similar to Western management, and this poses a great challenge to the compilation of the teaching materials. The writer must have a clear understanding of every tree in the jungle, and also avoid the limitations of “can’t see the wood for the trees.” Therefore, this book establishes an overall framework through the three successful conditions of timing, place, and people, and through five fields of effective management to elaborate, in order to achieve comprehensiveness and at the same time addressing key points. (3) Fundamentality and foresight As a textbook, this book is devoted to making the learners master the basic knowledge and concepts of Chinese management, so that they have a preliminary understanding. Therefore, in addition to combining the relevant knowledge in the main text, this book also supplements the relevant knowledge in the form of appendices. However, the Chinese management science is also developing continuously, so this book also looks to the future of Chinese management, and some exchanges and integration of Eastern and Western management are presented in the form of a dialogue between China and Western countries, so that the learners can understand some of the frontier knowledge of Chinese management.

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Division of Labor and Structure of Text The publication of this book has gathered many people’s efforts. Dr. Haibo Hu is the editor in chief, who is responsible for coordinating and designing syllabus and stylistic requirements as well as finalizing the manuscript. Dr. Ying Guo acted as deputy editor in chief and played a great role in the academic standpoint and format of the book. Lu Zhang, Yue Peng, Jianlan Liu, Lin Li, Jingyi Cheng, Shihua Ma, Yifen Wu, Ge Long, Can Guo, Tao Huang, and other graduate students who have a strong interest in Chinese management are also involved in collecting, collating, compiling, and reviewing documents. In the end, it was compiled and finalized by Dr. Haibo Hu. The book is divided into three parts and ten chapters, each part with different emphasis. The first part is the introduction, including the first and second chapter, which discusses the research objects and methods of Chinese management and the formation and development of Chinese management. It provides a guiding role in the study of Chinese management and the compilation of theoretical and applied articles. The second part is a theoretical part, including the third, fourth, and fifth chapter, which is the standard of dividing the relationship between man and nature, man and society, man and man. It corresponds to the three successful conditions of timing, place, and people in ancient China, and is the theoretical basis for the study of Chinese management. The third part is the application part, including the sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, and tenth chapter. According to the five fields of effective management “self, others, work, interpersonal relationships, specific situation” proposed by Dr. Robert K. Burns, the founder and leader of the enterprise relations center of The University of Chicago, the principles of Chinese management are discussed.

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Acknowledgments This book is mainly used as an undergraduate or graduate textbook for the economic management of higher education and has universal applicability. At the same time, it can also be used as a reference book for training to senior managers, management school teachers, scientific research personnel, and people who want to be engaged in business management. In the course of the compilation of this book, we have read the books and documents of many experts and scholars, and have compiled some contents which are in line with the requirements of the framework system of Chinese management. We would like to express our high respect and sincere thanks to the relevant authors. However, it is unavoidable that there are omissions and mistakes, and we thank you for your understanding. This book is one of the first series of Foundation in the Essence of Chinese Management Thought Series edited by Prof. Wu Zhaoyun, Vice President of Jiangxi University of Finance and Economics, which forms a complete system with the History of China’s Management Thoughts compiled by Prof. Wu Zhaoyun and it has been greatly supported and helped by Prof. Wu in the process of compiling it. Mr. Xu Ming, the teacher of the Contemporary Finance and Economics, and Dr. Zhong Wei, the deputy director of the China Institute of Management Thought, have also put forward many valuable opinions on the contents of this book, and we are here to express our sincere thanks to all of you. During the compilation of the book, we discussed and revised the contents of the compilation repeatedly, and then reviewed each other and collectively finalized it. Although many efforts have been made, the shortcomings and errors are unavoidable due to the limited knowledge of the editor. We also would like to invite experts and readers to criticize and correct the mistakes, so we can improve the content on a continuous basis. Nanchang, China

Haibo Hu

Contents

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Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Proposal of Chinese Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.1 The Concept of Chinese Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.2 The Development Status of Chinese Management . . . . . . 1.3 Hot Research Topics in Chinese Management . . . . . . . . . 1.4 The Future Development of Chinese Management Science . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Research Objects of Chinese Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.1 Chinese Management Practice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.2 Chinese Management Thoughts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.3 Chinese Management Situation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Research Methods of Chinese Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.1 Common Research Methods of Western Management . . . 3.2 Research Methods of Chinese Management . . . . . . . . . . . 4 The Significance of Studying Chinese Management . . . . . . . . . 4.1 The Inevitable Choice of the World Economy Under Turbulent Conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.2 The Inevitable Reflection of China’s Economic Miracle at the Micro-level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.3 The Inevitable Result of Chinese National Culture Consciousness and Cultural Self-confidence . . . . . . . . . . 4.4 The Compelling Obligation of Chinese Management Scholars to Shoulder Social Responsibility and Historical Mission (Chongqing 2011) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Appendix: Several Theories of Chinese Management . . . . . . . . . . References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Development of Chinese Management Thoughts . . . . . . . 1 Management Thoughts in Ancient China . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.1 Management Thoughts in the Pre-Qin Period . . . . . . . . 1.2 Management Thoughts from Qin Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.3 Management Thoughts from Song Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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2 Modern and Contemporary Management Thoughts in China . . 2.1 Management Thoughts in Late Qing Dynasty . . . . . . . . . 2.2 Management Thoughts in the Republic of China . . . . . . . 3 The New Development of Chinese Contemporary Management Thoughts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.1 Management Thoughts in the Planned Economy Period . . 3.2 Management Thoughts in the Period of Enterprise Transformation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.3 Management Thoughts in the Market Economy Era . . . . . Appendix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

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The Appropriate Time—Management Based on the Relationship Between Human Beings and Nature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Complying with Tao: Management Based on Tao . . . . . . . . . . . 1.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.2 Paying Attention to the Overall Management of Things: Integrating Yin and Yang . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.3 Management Methods to Maintain the Effectiveness of Handling Affairs: Governing by Non-interference . . . . . 1.4 Management Methods to Control the Appropriateness of Practice: Adjusting with Golden Mean . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Following the Rules: Management Based on Rules . . . . . . . . . . 2.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.2 Management Method to Follow the Rule of Nature: Tao Follows the Rule of Nature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.3 Management Methods to Advocate the Rule of Society: Simplicity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.4 Management Method to Caters to the Rule of Humanity: Longevity and Long-Sightedness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Emphasizing on Methods: Management Based on Methods . . . . 3.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.2 Management Method to Grasp the Opportunity of Time: Seizing the Opportunity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.3 Management Method to Take Advantage of Space: Utilizing the Situation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.4 Management Method to Improve Innovation Awareness: Taking the Unexpected Attack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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The Appropriate Location—Management Based on the Relationship Between Human Beings and Society . . . . 1 Governing by Law: Management Based on Order . . . . . . . . . 1.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.2 Advocating the Principle of “Taking the Law as the Keylink” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.3 Maintaining the Rule of “The Status of the Monarch and the Subordinates” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.4 Implementing the Method of “Subduing the Subjects by Force” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Governing by Harmony: Management Based on Balance . . . . 2.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.2 Harmonious Society: “Harmony Between Human and Nature, Complying with Human and Nature” . . . . . 2.3 Modernization Principle: “Stopping When It Should Stop, Acting When It Should Act” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.4 Cooperation-Competition Theory: “Developing the Strengths, Avoiding Shortcomings and Learning from Others” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Governing by Moral: Management based on Morality . . . . . . 3.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.2 Management to Improve the Personal Virtues—Selfcultivation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.3 Management to Maintain National Stability—Governing the Country . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.4 Management to Coordinate the Social Contradictions— Pacifying the World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Harmonious Relationship-Management Based on Human Relationships . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Human-Oriented—Management Based on Humanity . . . . . . . 1.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.2 Humanity: The Cornerstone of Human and Human Relationship Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.3 The Way of Human-Oriented . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Cooperation of Human—Management Based on Cooperation . 2.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.2 The Cooperation of Human: The Essence of Human Relationship Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.3 The Way of Cooperation of Human . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Way of the Human—Management Based on Development . .

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3.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.2 Development: The Direction of Relationship Management Between Humans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.3 Following the Laws of the Way of the Human . . . . . . . . . References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Self-cultivation-Self-oriented Management . . . . . . . . . 1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.1 The Connotation of Zhi Shen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.2 The Doctrine of Zhi Shen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.3 The Application of Zhi Shen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Yang De (Cultivating Morals) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.1 Moral Character . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.2 The Philosophy of Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Xiu Zhi (Improving Wisdom) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.1 Wei Xue: The Cultivation of Learning Ability . 3.2 Xiu Yi: Cultivation of Professional Skills . . . . . 3.3 Zong Heng: Cultivation of Systematic Thinking 4 Xiu Xing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.1 Zi Xing: Self-awareness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.2 Zi Lv: Self-restraint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.3 Shu Qing: Standing in Other’s Shoes . . . . . . . . References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Governing the Public—Management to Others . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.1 The Connotation of Zhi Zhong (Governing the Public) 1.2 The Principle of Zhi Zhong . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.3 The Application of Zhi Zhong . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Ren Min (Treating People with Benevolence) . . . . . . . . . . . 2.1 Always Keep an Idea of Getting Close to the People . . 2.2 Take Real Actions for the People . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.3 Good at Listening to Advice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Zhi Min (Governing the People) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.1 Use the Law to Zhi Min . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.2 Use Morality to Govern People . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.3 Harmonious Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Hui Min (Benefiting the People) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.1 Value the People’s Livelihood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.2 Safeguard People’s Livelihood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.3 Improve People’s Livelihood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Dealing with the Things—Management to Transaction . 1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.1 The Connotation of Dealing with the Things . . . . 1.2 The Principle of Dealing with the Things . . . . . . 1.3 The Application of Dealing with the Things . . . . 2 Observing Things . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.1 The Goal of Observing Things . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.2 The Thought of Observing Things . . . . . . . . . . . 2.3 The Method of Observing Things . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Planning Things . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.1 The Object of Planning Things . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.2 The Concept of Planning Things . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.3 The Strategy of Planning Things . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Doing Things . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.1 The Attitudes of Doing Things . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.2 The Methods of Doing Things . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.3 The Mode of Doing Things . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Zhi Yuan-Management of Personal Relationship . . . . 1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.1 The Connotation of Zhi Yuan . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.2 The Principle of Zhi Yuan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.3 The Application of Zhi Yuan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.4 Touching People with Qing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.5 The Connotation of Qing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.6 Qing is Essential in Management . . . . . . . . . . . 1.7 Management Cannot Just Pay Attention to Qing 1.8 The Art of Managing by Affection . . . . . . . . . . 2 Convincing People with Li . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.1 The Connotation of Li . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.2 The Management and Rationality of Li . . . . . . . 2.3 The Application of Managing by Li . . . . . . . . . 3 Constraining People with Fa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.1 The Connotation of Fa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.2 The Effect of Fa in the Management . . . . . . . . . 3.3 The Application of Managing by Fa . . . . . . . . . References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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10 Situational Governance-Management of Specific Situation . . 1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.1 The Connotation of Situational Governance . . . . . . . . 1.2 The Method of Managing Under Certain Situation . . . 1.3 The Application of Managing Under Certain Situation .

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2 Shan Yin—Situation Complying with Natural . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.1 A Situation Change by Following Oneself . . . . . . . . . . . 2.2 Complying with the Situation Changed by Others’ Factor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.3 Complying with the Situation Changed by Environmental Factors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Li Dao—Guide a Good Development Situation . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.1 Encourage Talented People . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.2 Consider Benefits and Harm as an Action Guide . . . . . . . 4 Zheng Qi—Situation Dealing with Malignant Changing . . . . . . 4.1 Ideological Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.2 Institutional Constraints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.3 Unified Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Appendix A: Ancient Chinese Wisdom in Management. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 383 Appendix B: Ancient Chinese Reference Books . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 387 Appendix C: Ancient Chinese Thinkers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 395 Appendix D: The Classical Business Cases in Ancient China . . . . . . . . . 401 Appendix E: The Civil and Commercial Organizations in Ancient China—The Top Ten Commercial Gang . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 409 Appendix F: The Development and Transformation of Personnel Management in Ancient China . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 417

1

Overview

Only things of national characteristic belong to the world. —Xun Lu, Demi-Concession Studio Essays The world of management is emerging an “Oriental upsurge.” —Dongshui Su (Dongshui et al. 2003)

Abstract

1. Chinese management is a discipline that studies management thoughts and management practices in the Chinese context. Its purpose is to find out the general laws of Chinese management. 2. The research subjects of Chinese management include Chinese management thought, Chinese management practice, and Chinese management context. 3. Management is a kind of social science. Western management studies more on the study of natural science. Therefore, its research methods are mainly based on empirical methods, supplemented by case studies. Chinese management is more focused on the humanities, so its research methods include case study methods, comparative research methods, and interdisciplinary methods. 4. The inherent flaws in Western management science determine that they need to learn from the East when facing difficulties. This is the first value of studying Chinese management. Studying Chinese management is still a compelling requirement of the sustained and rapid growth of China’s economy at the micro-level. It is also an inevitable reflection of the Chinese national culture consciously in the field of management. Moreover, it is also the social responsibility and historical mission that Chinese management researchers must undertake. Keywords




Chinese management Chinese management thoughts practices Chinese management context Case studies methods








Chinese management
Comparative research

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021 H. Hu, Principles of Chinese Management, Management for Professionals, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-6522-3_1

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2

1 Overview

Learning Purpose and Requirements Define the basic concepts of Chinese management. Understand the current situation and trending topics of Chinese management. Identify the research objects of Chinese management. Master the research methods of Chinese management. Understand the research significance of Chinese management.

Introductory Case During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, among the Jin merchants, there were many stories about “ten thousand silver and one sentence”, meaning if a family owed a debt of over tens of thousands silver to a Jin merchant, as long as the reasons were explained, the debt could be waived. The so-called Xiang Yu was the person or business who had business dealings with Jin merchants. The Jin merchants were very cautious when making choices of Xiang Yu. Jin merchants must have a detailed investigation and believe that the other party is of good creditworthiness before conducting business. Otherwise, they would reject it. Once it became a Xiang Yu, it would last till the end. Even if the other party has misfortune or even become unprofitable during the period, the relationship continues. And if the other party shut down, Jin merchant would forgive the debts. In the 11th year of the Republic of China (1922), Yang Laowu, the shareholder of Baotou Shuangshenggong and Shuangshengmao had a Xiang Yu relationship with the Fuzi. He owed 60,000 liang1 to Fusheng, and they were about to close down and could not repay their debts. Yang Laowu did nothing more than kowtowing to Qiao Yingxia, who is the shareholder of Fusheng. The Erbaoqing merchant owed Fushengxi 8000 silver liang and did no repay. Guang Yiheng Villus store borrowed 50,000 silver from Fushengxi, and was unable to pay off the debt. They only forgone one of their property with a value of several thousand yuan. However, the shareholder of Fuzihao had strict requirements for himself. If the subsidiary of Fuzihao appeared to be closed for loss, shareholders always sent someone to deal with it. All the money owed to others was paid off, and the money others borrowed was just forgiven. However, no matter which subsidiary had a loss, he must carefully check the accounts in case the shopkeeper cook the book. This performance and practice of Qiao Yingxia were believed to have a significant influence on the reputation of Fuzihao, so that the trade and business people of Baotou were very proud to be able to have a business relationship with Fuzihao. At first glance, this kind of Xiang Yu relationship is similar to the Western strategic alliance. However, under the detailed study, there will be obvious differences between the two: the first is that Xiang Yu can be either an enterprise or a person; the second is even knowing it would be a loss, it will cooperate with the other party, and if the other party goes bankrupt, it will not go to the court, which is in sharp contrast to the Western companies’ contractual relationship. Therefore, 1

A measure of currency.

1

Overview

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there are some management wisdom in Chinese business operations that are different from those in the West, and it is necessary to present them systematically. Source Xianhui (2009).

1

Proposal of Chinese Management

On the one hand, the development of globalization promotes the collision and exchange of various ideas and concepts, making people’s ideas unified. On the other hand, globalization has also promoted people’s attention to local ideas. In management, the current trend is that the world is learning the Western management theory. The introduction of management textbooks written by Western scholars is an important way of learning, which develops a unification trend. However, there is a shortage of rethinking the shortcomings of Western management theory and constructing management concepts that fit different nations and their characteristics. Few people are aware of the urgency and necessity. Therefore, it is necessary to study Chinese management theory and prepare management textbooks with distinctive Chinese characteristics.

1.1 The Concept of Chinese Management At present, many scholars have proposed the concept of Chinese management, and there are also some books titled “Chinese Management”, such as the version written by Su and He (Fudan University Press, 2006). They think China Management is a modern discipline that studies ancient, modern, and contemporary Chinese management thoughts and practices and explores the laws, principles, and methods that are generally applicable in Chinese management practice. In Liu and Chen’s version (China Social Sciences Press, 2010), they believe that Chinese management is a systematic study of the basic laws and general methods of Chinese social, economic, scientific, and military management activities. Li’s version (China Renmin University Press, 2005) believes that Chinese management is the sum of Chinese management theory and practical experience for thousands of years. The following points can be concluded:

1.1.1 Chinese Management is not a Simple Copy of Western Management in China Due to unique Chinese history, Chinese management thinking and management practices are unique. Firstly, China has a long history and cultural continuity, so tradition profoundly impacts the Chinese people’s thinking and behavior. Secondly, China has risen rapidly as an economy in recent years. China has embarked on a development path that is vastly different from the West. A group of Chinese companies has entered the world stage, and their models also have distinctive Chinese characteristics. Therefore, Chinese management needs to learn from

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1 Overview

Western management, but it does not equal Western management because it mainly focuses on some unique Chinese management phenomena and finds out the patterns behind these phenomena.

1.1.2 Chinese Management is not Ancient Management Although China’s history is very long, China’s Confucius, Lao Tzu, and Sun Tzu are world-class cultural celebrities. Their ideas have played an important role in promoting the formation of Chinese management thinking. However, history is constantly evolving; while some of their thoughts are still useful for our management today, others need to be abandoned. We study giants in order to stand on the shoulders of giants, not at the feet of giants. The purpose of researching history is to solve our current problems. Therefore, the study of ancient management is actually to surpass the ancients and serve our current management needs, and this is the first reason. The second reason is that modern management thoughts and management practices are also an important part of Chinese management. Our contribution to Chinese management while facing and solving problems today is not less than that of ancient management ideas. Therefore, this book believes that Chinese management is a discipline that studies management thoughts and management practices in the Chinese background, and its purpose is to find out the general laws of Chinese management.

1.2 The Development Status of Chinese Management At present, there has been a marked increase in the attention paid to Chinese management worldwide. There are six top management journals from 2000 to April 2009 publishing 61 articles focusing on Chinese management issues from foreign countries’ aspects (Yong and Qianni 2011). From domestic aspects, firstly, China knowledge Network (CNKI) had 104 articles about “China-style Management”, “Chinese Management” and “Oriental Management” from 1994 to 2008. The number of articles in the 5-year-period from 2004 to 2008 is bigger than the total number of articles in the ten-year period from 1993 to 2003. That is to say, in the last five years, there has been a significant increase in research on Chinese management (Yong and Baoping 2009). Secondly, there were 1283 articles (Jinlong and Yan 2012) related to “China Practice Management” in 30 important journals identified by the Management Science Department of the National Natural Science Foundation of China from 2001 to 2011. The research groups include Innovation Management and Sustainable Competitiveness Research Center of Zhejiang University, China Management Issues Research Center of Xi'an Jiaotong University, China Enterprise Strategic Management Research Center of South China University of Technology, Enterprise Strategic Management Research Center of Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Corporate Governance Research Center of Nankai University, Innovation and Development Research Center of Dalian University of Technology, Organization and Management Research Institute of East China University of Science and Technology, Oriental Management

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Proposal of Chinese Management

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Research Center of Fudan University, Center for Crisis and Problem Management of Shanghai University, Zheshang Research Center of Zhejiang Gongshang University, etc. On the one hand, domestic and international research on Chinese management has indeed grown significantly in recent years. On the other hand, there is a phenomenon of “management jungle” in the field of Chinese management research, such as the current influential concepts “Chinese management”, “C theory”, “Oriental management”, “management of Chinese characteristics”, “He He management” and so on. Harold Koontz pointed out that one of the reasons for the “jungle” phenomenon in management theory is semantic confusion. This kind of semantic confusion has caused multiple concepts coexisting in the field of Chinese management. This aspect helps different researchers dig deeper into some characteristics of Chinese management from different perspectives. On the other hand, the inconvenience of communication has made the accumulation of knowledge in this field face some limitations in quantity and quality. Therefore, it is necessary to find a way out of the “jungle”.

1.3 Hot Research Topics in Chinese Management The field of Chinese management research covered by foreign top management publications includes ① Transnational management research, including the development strategy of multinational companies in China, direct investment to foreign countries and cross-cultural management of international companies. ② Strategic management research, mainly including the research on the strategic development of Chinese state-owned enterprises and the research on Chinese enterprises’ strategic choice in the period of economic transition. ③ Organizational behavior research, including human resource management research, organizational change and innovation research, and organizational behavior research in China (Yong and Qianni 2011). The main focus of the articles published in the 30 major journals identified by the Department of Management Science of the National Natural Science Foundation of China in 2001–2011 is reflected from the following angles: ① Chinese management theory and methods and their relevance to practice. ② Practical research in specific areas, including the current management of Chinese organizations, the study of strategic management of domestic enterprises, the research of domestic enterprises’ innovation capabilities, and the influence of traditional culture on management practices (Jinlong and Yan 2012).

1.4 The Future Development of Chinese Management Science The future development of Chinese management science may be carried out in the following aspects.

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1 Overview

1.4.1 “Creative Transformation” of Traditional Chinese Management Thoughts The creative transformation of Chinese tradition is a concept put forward by Yusheng (1988), a Taiwan scholar. It refers to “reconstructing the symbols and value systems in some Chinese cultural traditions so that the transformed symbolic and value systems become seeds that facilitate change. Meanwhile, in the process of changing, transformed symbolic and value systems can preserve cultural identity.” Also, this argument is fully applicable to Chinese management. Because any management ideas will continuously change in practice, defining the absolute and static ancient management ideas is absurd. However, completely abandoning ancient management ideas to build Chinese management science will be like building a house on the beach where the foundation is unstable. Therefore, the best way is to creatively transform traditional management ideas, retaining the recognition of tradition and infuse creative activities from managers and researchers, so it meets the needs to fit in the modern context. 1.4.2 Theoretical Improvement of Chinese Management Practice The purpose of any system of learning is to spread knowledge quickly and to serve the practice better. It is true real companies can learn from some star companies, but this kind of learning is often a kind of superficial learning, often knowing how but not knowing why. Therefore, extracting general theories from Chinese management practices is not only beneficial to the study of many Chinese companies, but such learning can also bring fundamental changes.

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Research Objects of Chinese Management

A clear research object is an important indicator of whether a subject is mature. Compared with other disciplines, management is not mature enough. For example, we can find that physics and mathematics textbooks rarely have major revisions or rarely revise every few years. These textbooks can work for decades, but management textbooks cannot. It must add some new content every few years to reflect the new development of management theory and new changes in management practices. But constant revision does not mean that management has no clear, well-recognized research objects. Management is a study of how various organizations can achieve their goals through management functions, such as planning and commanding. Its research objects include people, money, things and issues and so on. Also, Chinese management studies must study these as well, and even when studying Chinese management, it is necessary to understand the research objects and research contents of Western management. Charles Horton Cooley, an American sociologist, put forward the view named “me in the mirror” in his book Human Nature and Social Order published in 1902. This opinion is that human behavior depends largely on the understanding of self, and this kind of

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Research Objects of Chinese Management

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understanding is mainly formed through social interaction with others. Others’ evaluations and attitudes toward themselves are a “mirror” to reflect oneself, and individuals know and grasp themselves through this “mirror”. Therefore, the human self is formed through interaction with others. For Chinese management, Western management is its own mirror, and through this mirror, we can better understand some of the characteristics of Chinese management. However, as an emerging discipline, the research object of Chinese management is certainly special. In summary, it contains the following three aspects of research content.

2.1 Chinese Management Practice As a country with a long history, China has a wealth of management practices. For example, in the management field of political organizations, various feudal dynasties have made a lot of attempts in the hierarchical design of government organizations, the division of imperial power, and the imperial examination system. The examination system was relatively fair and progressive at that time and was invented to select officials. Meanwhile, in military organization, a large number of attempts have been made, such as the recruitment and training of soldiers, the improvement of equipment, etc. Also, the commercial field practice is enormous, and the name of merchant “Shang ren” reflects that China had some relatively large-scale commercial activities during the Shang and Zhou dynasties. Si Maqian specially wrote the Biography of the Goods in Historical Records, which gives us a clear understanding of ancient business activities. A large number of businessmen have also left their footprints in history because of their excellent management, such as Bai Gui and Fan Li. China has not only rich and successful management practices but also has many failed ones. These lessons should become the research object of Chinese management because failure often causes people to reflect and improve. For example, in the early days of the founding of PRC, “Angang Constitution” was created with distinctive local characteristics, which once had an important impact on Japan’s high-quality management thinking. But in China, this management practice has not been able to last until now, and its cause of failure has become a question we must answer today. If we can solve this problem, it will undoubtedly have positive significance for us to cultivate more management innovations with Chinese characteristics in the future. Whether it is a successful experience or not, when studying these management practices, we should notice that these management practices are products under certain conditions, and some management practices can be introduced from one organizational domain to another. In other words, some management practices can extract theories with a wide range. Nowadays, many enterprises advocate militarized management, but merely transplanting some military organizations’

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1 Overview

management practices, and we rarely see military managed like enterprises. That is to say, some practices of business organizations cannot be transplanted into military organizations, and the generality of the theory extracted from practice is limited.

2.2 Chinese Management Thoughts In 1949, Jaspers, the German philosopher, proposed in his masterpiece The Origin and Goal of History that human history can be divided into four stages: prehistoric period, ancient civilization period, axial period, and modern era technology. According to Jaspers, the historical significance of the above four periods cannot be equal. Prehistoric and ancient civilizations can be intermittent, the axis period is a breakthrough period, and the modern era of science and technology is the second intermittent period. The axis period is more important than the other three periods; from 800 to 200 BC and centering 500 BC, the spiritual foundation of mankind began laid their groundwork simultaneously or independently in China, India, Persia, Palestine and Greece, and humans are still attached to this foundation until now. This era has produced all the basic categories that we are still thinking about and created a worldwide religion that people still believe today. Moreover, mankind has been living by everything that is produced and created during the axis until now. Every new leap recalls this period and is ignited by it. Since then, this has been the case, the awakening of the axial phase’s potential and the recall of the potential of the axial phase, or the revival of the sacral, always provide spiritual motivation. Therefore, the first thing to study Chinese management thoughts is to study the management wisdom contained in the thoughts of the Spring and Autumn Period. Generally speaking, when it comes to this period, we will think of a state of “hundred schools of thoughts.” It feels that there are contradictions in the thoughts from the hundreds of schools, but behind the differences on the surface, there is a unified discussion on how to establish a normalized and orderly society. It’s just different perspectives lead to different conclusions. For example, Confucian emphasizes the establishment of social order through the ruler’s love and recognition from the people. Taoists believes that the small country with a small Utopian society is an ideal form of social organization, while Legalists believe that law plays a crucial role in the social order. It can be said that these views reveal some basic laws in organizational management from a biased but very perspective. Therefore, what we need is a comprehensive perspective. In actual social management, the Chinese feudalism dynasty adopted the characteristics of tolerant externally, strictly internally. It should be noticed that these management ideas in ancient China are also constantly evolving. This is reflected in two aspects: first, scholars constantly expand these ideas, and scholars from different schools even learn from each other, which is particularly evident in Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism. Second, when these ideas enter the field of business organization management, they will also undergo some changes and adjustments from the field of social management. For example, in the field of social organization, there can only be one country and

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one leader at a time, so after the establishment of a new dynasty, there are often problems in dealing with heroes. For the pyramidal dynasty administrative organization, the more you go up, there will be fewer positions to switch, the smaller the space for promotion. For these founding heroes, it is basically impossible to motivate them through the promotions. Therefore, it is either “a cup of wine to release the military power” or to kill these heroes. But for a business organization, there can be a holding company, a subsidiary company, a related company, etc., or even, it is accepted that a person could leave the original enterprise to establish a separate one, so space for companies to motivate entrepreneurial elders through promotion is greater than that of political organizations. In other words, we must not only pay attention to the management ideas flashed in the traditional wisdom but also pay attention to the different manifestations of these ideas in various organizational types.

2.3 Chinese Management Situation The so-called context is the background of management activities, such as the country’s economic, cultural, and political factors and a region. We should pay attention to Chinese management situation because management does not happen in a vacuum environment. Moreover, both the subject and the object of management are often limited by certain situational factors. Therefore, when researching management, attention must be paid to the contextual factors in which these activities take place. Western management is mainly based on empirical methods, so it often ignores situational factors and finds some universal truths. However, the resulting management rules often only apply to some of the developed countries but not other regions. In this way, just as fish need to focus on the water of their own life, people pay attention to the air they breathe. Although people are in a certain environment, it is not easy to perceive its existence. We must attach great importance to it and study Chinese management, and it is inevitable to pay attention to the management situation in China. On the one hand, to study Chinese management is for creatively applying the Western management rules so that it can be applied to the reality of China, avoiding the opposite situation. On the other hand, it is sometimes difficult to tell the differences between the situation and management activities. In this case, studying Chinese management context will help to explore some of China’s unique management theories, thus better guiding Chinese management practices. Of course, we must notice the fact that situational factors are constantly changing. For example, the situational factors of Chinese enterprises in the early stage of “reform and opening up” are significantly different from the situational factors today in some aspects, with globalization accelerating (Table 1).

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Table 1 Situational factors at the country level (Xiaoping et al. 2008) Situational factors

Examples

Physical situation Historical situation Political situation Social situation Economic situation Cultural situation

Type/geography, climate/temperature, living environment

3

Sovereignty, colonization, language Political system, legal system Education system, family composition, religious belief Economic system and its development, technology, commercial system, industry policy Beliefs, values

Research Methods of Chinese Management

For the understanding of science, there are generally two views in the world: (Pengsen and Lie 2000) one is mainly represented by the United States and the United Kingdom. From this school’s perspective, science should be highly rigorous in logic and should establish a unified knowledge system in an empirical way. This kind of knowledge system needs to meet two conditions at the same time: ① Science is highly rigorous in logic, which means that it should be formulaic as much as possible. It is best to use mathematical models to represent it. The minimum standard is that science is at least a theory that can be justified. ② As empirical knowledge, science must be able to undergo direct observation and experimental testing. Germans represent the other school. From their point of view, all systematic knowledge can be called science as long as people have established a relatively complete knowledge system after systematically studying. No matter this knowledge system is as regular as natural science, it should be included in the science category. Therefore, according to the British and American views, only the natural sciences are strictly science, the social sciences can barely count as science, and the humanities cannot be regarded as a science. In this case, countries like the United Kingdom and the United States divide all disciplines into three categories: natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities science. The humanities science can only be a study, a subject, and cannot be called science. But according to German understanding, the humanities should also belong to science. The Germans divide all science into two categories: the natural sciences and the spiritual sciences (cultural sciences). It is clear that the spiritual or cultural sciences here include the social and human sciences. Because Western management is mainly dominated by the United Kingdom and the United States’ management theory, this book adopts the division method of the United Kingdom and the United States and believes that

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science is divided into three categories: natural science, social science, and humanities science. In this way, management should be a social science.

3.1 Common Research Methods of Western Management Western management science, which is based on the study of the United Kingdom and the United States, has shown that it has moved closer to the natural sciences from the beginning of Taylorism and hopes to establish a rigorous knowledge system like natural science. Therefore, it shows the natural science imitation in research methods, and the research method is mainly empirical method. The empirical method is the mainstream method of Western management, and it emphasizes the exploration of the nature of the phenomenon through the observation of a large number of recurring management phenomena and the construction of the model. This method’s advantage is that it provides a set of common standards for scholars to test each other’s results, which plays an invaluable role in the accumulation of management knowledge. However, this method has the following problems: ① Management is a dynamic, complex, and contextual social activity, thus management phenomena are often unique, continually changing, and challenging to reproduce. It causes Western scholars to cut a large number of unique management phenomena into the same kind of phenomenon when constructing a theory so that they make mistakes at the source of the theory, or the number of repeated management phenomena is insufficient, and the conclusions are unpersuasive. ② Because of the emphasis of observations on empirical methods, Western scholars’ research priorities are often tangible and superficial, and those intangible and implicit things are often ignored. This flaw is not particularly obvious when studying management aspects but is most exposed when researching the most important and noblest factor-people. Therefore, it can be found that the starting point of Western modern management theory is Taylorism. This theory’s core element is the standardization of actions because the actions are easy to observe and measure. However, Tyrone himself repeatedly called for a “psychological revolution”, but the end result was that the implementation of the Taylorism triggered the resistance of the workers. Therefore, Tom Peters criticized: “The problem for American companies is that they focus too much on management tools, and these tools are overly biased toward measurement and analysis. Costs are measurable, but these tools cannot measure the value of employees in Metag or heavy industry companies producing high-quality products or the value of a salesperson in Frito-Lay running a mile for an ordinary customer” (Waterman and Peters 1982) In other words, this method is either neglecting the irrational factors of employees’ emotions, loyalty, passion and so on, or well-meaning but ineffectual. ③ Since this method is based on the natural sciences, the hidden goal behind it is to establish a set of universally applicable management principles, but management involves not only physical factors but also human factors. It has the characteristics of natural science and has some characteristics of social sciences and humanities.

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Therefore, this method often pays insufficient attention to the social and humanistic sides of management, and thus it is inevitable to have Western bias.

3.2 Research Methods of Chinese Management 3.2.1 Case Study Thanks to Harvard Business School, which has adhered to the case teaching method all the way, the case method is well known in the management field. In the 1960s and 1970s, the empirical school and the contingency school felt the complexity and variability of managing research objects, and because of the limitations of empirical research, they began to advocate case study methods vigorously. Robert K. Yin, a well-known management case study expert, points out that case studies are an empirical inquiry, which studies temporary phenomena in the real-life context (Contemporary Phenomenon); in such a research context, the boundary between the phenomenon itself and its background is not obvious, and researchers can only use a large number of case evidence to conduct research (Yin 1984). A good case study is also of great importance to the development theory. Its role is embodied in the following aspects: ① Proposing and analyzing new research questions, constructing a new theoretical framework, or contributing to the development of new theories’ necessary research methods and procedures. ② Expanding the scope of the explanatory power of the existing theoretical system and solving problems that the existing theories cannot reasonably explain. ③ Strengthening or correcting related categories in existing theories, structural relationships between concepts, and related principles by confirming or rejecting existing theoretical assumptions or existing case studies (including comparative research or further in-depth research based on existing theoretical contribution case studies). Therefore, the case law is good at discovering problems that traditional empirical research is easy to ignore and can also review the problems found in empirical research. Chinese management studies badly need a case study approach. On the one hand, the positivist research method advocated by Western management studies makes it possible to extract patterns that deviate from the specific situation, and on the other hand, it brings the defects that are easily overlooked in the special management phenomenon. Therefore, simply applying the positivism of Western management science may prove what has already been proved in Western management science in China’s context or just reconfirm the correctness of Western management. However, case study methods allow us to conduct a detailed study of Chinese management practices, discovering things that cannot be explained by Western concepts and theories, rather than fitting Chinese management reality to Western concept frameworks. In other words, the case study method helps us discover things that Western management theory ignores to construct a new theory. Moreover, this is not only a contribution to Chinese management but also a reference to Western management. A number of companies with international influence have emerged in China since the “reform and opening up”, and these enterprises’ business activities have also provided rich materials for case studies.

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Research Methods of Chinese Management

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3.2.2 Comparative Research Methods Comparison of Chinese and Western Management The East and the West have created different historical processes, due to differences in geographical location, cultural characteristics, and ethnic groups. In terms of management, there are some identical things on both sides and also some obvious differences. For example, although there are differences in ethnicity between the East and the West, there is no difference in human nature (obviously, there is no Eastern brain anatomy and Western brain anatomy, and there are no structural differences in the Orientals’ brains and Westerners in nature). Therefore, the ancients emphasize “the East China Sea and the West Sea, the same mind.” However, people with the same human nature will have different external manifestations in different environments. For example, there is a part to pursue profits in humanity, but the West restricts profits to a reasonable range by means of contract. While Chinese traditional approach emphasizes the use of “righteousness” to control the mind of pursuing “profit”. Therefore, the comparison between Chinese and Western management requires discovering the “Yi”, which is a unique feature of Chinese management, and discovering the common things between East and West. Comparison of Management Thoughts and Management Practices Studying Chinese management science must involve things at the level of management thoughts, such as the management ideas contained in the philosophers’ thoughts in the Spring and Autumn Period, or the enlightenment of the thoughts of Confucian, Buddhism, and Taoist on management. These thoughts are not only the source of Chinese management we study today, but Western management scholars also use these ideas to overcome some of the shortcomings in Western management thinking, such as Herbert Simon, Peter St., and others who have admired systematical views in ancient Chinese thoughts. However, a basic reality in ancient China was that the whole society was divided into four levels: the scholars, the peasants, the workers, and the merchants. In this case ordinary businessmen’s understanding of classic books is questionable, not to mention applying them in business management. Another reality in ancient society is that there are not many scholars in the whole society, and the level of education is not high; in addition, the ordinary civilian’s exposure to classic books is not as convenient as today’s people. Therefore, there must be a gap in these classic ideas and everyday life, and this gap can only be filled with folk or practical things. Therefore, in addition to studying the management ideas in ancient classics, we must also study how the society or businesses work, such as the regulations of the Shanxi merchant ticket number in the late Qing Dynasty. The ideas behind these rules and regulations that are followed in practice and the kind of relationship they have with Confucian classics must be undoubtedly studied in depth.

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Synchronic Comparison When studying the northern Jin merchants and the southern Hui merchants in Ming and Qing Dynasties, we can find that both sides are striving to create a loyal culture in the business community. Therefore, both sides will carry out ideological education for the employees through the way of worshiping gods, but there are certain differences in the specific implementations. For example, the Jin merchants, who are mainly Shanxi people, have added Guan Yu in the gods of worship because Guan Yu is the embodiment of loyalty and was from Shanxi, according to folk saying. And the Hui merchants, whose main origins were in Anhui and Jiangxi’s Wuyuan, added Zhu Xi to the gods of worship because Zhu Xi’s ancestral home was Wuyuan in Jiangxi province. Then, through the comparison of the two major business groups that are relatively close in time and have great spatial differences in organizational culture construction, we can find that both sides are aware of the situation where employees scattered in distant areas are prone to immoral behaviors when the feudal society is underdeveloped, and the information transmission speed is slow. In this case, in addition to the formal rules and regulations, how to use flexible things to ensure employee loyalty becomes a common problem for both groups of merchants. Behind the difference, both groups of merchants adopt the same approach, which is to build employees’ recognition of certain values with the help of local cultural resources. Diachronic Comparison The synchronic contrast emphasizes the contrast of different management forms at a certain point in time, while the diachronic contrast emphasizes the development and evolution of the management form over a continuous period. For example, shortly after the publication of Taylor’s Scientific Management Principles, Mu Ouchu translated it into Chinese and practiced it in his factory. From then on, to the outbreak of the War of Resistance against Japanese aggression in 1937, it constituted the first stage of Taylorism’s promotion in China. In the process, some domestic entrepreneurs paid attention to the integration with China’s actual situation and expanded and revised Taylorism. And when the People’s Republic of China was first established, we adopted a blindly following approach and learned the Soviet Union’s way of economics, introducing Taylorism again (the so-called “Ma Gang’s Constitution”). But in practice, this learning eventually evolved to the “An Gang Constitution” with distinctive Chinese characteristics. If we can compare the two practices and variations of Taylorism in China, it will undoubtedly help discover regularity in Chinese management.

3.2.3 Interdisciplinary Approach It is generally believed that modern Western management science’s content is mainly derived from three disciplines: economics, sociology, and psychology. Economics provides rational human assumptions for Western management and the method of optimization; sociology brings the humanity assumptions of social and cultural people, the general ideas of organizations, and psychology has an important impact on Western management in terms of employee motivation.

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Chinese management is less educated at the maturity level than Western management; thus, it is necessary to continuously absorb perspectives from other disciplines. In addition to finding solutions to problems in social sciences such as economics, sociology, and psychology, Chinese management needs to find inspiration in history, literature, philosophy, and other humanities, because a distinctive feature of Chinese management is to value people and focus on people, and an important function of humanitarian science is to answer the meaning of life.

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The Significance of Studying Chinese Management

4.1 The Inevitable Choice of the World Economy Under Turbulent Conditions Since the financial crisis in 2008, the world economy has constantly been adjusting in turmoil. Enterprises, the main components of the microeconomy, find it inevitable to create new management methods. The two problems in the Western management model determine that it must seek answers from the East and China.

4.1.1 Inherent Flaw in the Western Management Model Makes It Necessary to Seek Solutions from Management Models Outside The philosophical tradition of individualism behind the Western management model determines that it attaches great importance to competition and ignores the important role of cooperation and harmony in human society development. Its research method based on natural science makes it too biased towards rationality, ignoring the role of human emotions and passions in management. For these shortcomings, the Western management model is constantly adjusting to achieve a breakthrough. And the starting point in the modern sense of Western management science—Taylorism is a typical representative of Newtonian physics applied in the field of management. Its emphasis on rationality, order, and efficiency has once greatly propelled the development of Western enterprises, but many problems have been exposed at the same time, such as increasing the labor intensity of workers without increasing the salary, and workers in turn were on strike to counter the implementation of Taylorism for many times. In order to solve these problems of the Taylorism, the Western management model has created the interpersonal relationship school, and began to pay attention to the needs of workers’ emotions. The related knowledge represented by Maslow’s humanistic psychology has also greatly promoted Western management models’ transformation. However, this kind of adjustment is only a tinkering work for the shortcomings of the Taylorism and leaves the Western management model’s basic characteristics untouched, which is based on rationality. After World War II, the rise of the quantitative school made the Western management model enter the golden period once again until the Western world,

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1 Overview

especially the United States, has fallen into stagflation on a macro-scale until the 1970s. At the micro-level, American companies were pushed to corners when facing Japanese companies, forcing them to adjust one more time. But this time, it chose to seek the source of ideas from others rather than its own management model, which led to the rise of the Japanese management model. And then, corporate culture school has become a prominent school in management. Western management models’ emphasis on factors such as emotions has increased from the individual level of employees to the level of enterprises. In the 1990s, the Western management model gave birth to a new wave of rational management model which is based on process reengineering. Actually, the essence of this adjustment was to re-optimize the traditional process in the context of the emergence of computer and network technology, where the process is still a manifestation of rational thinking. By the outbreak of the financial crisis in 2008, Western companies have faced a difficult situation once again, while China’s economy continued to improve, and a series of outstanding companies have emerged. Therefore, this fact makes it necessary for Western companies to adopt the management model of China as an important source when making adjustments to the management model.

4.1.2 Western Management Models Face the Dilemma of Diminishing Marginal Utility When a new technology first appeared, the utility was exceptionally high, and as time passing by, the utility would gradually decrease. The same is true for management, and it must be acknowledged that the Western management model has been dominating the trend for a long time, and it has greatly promoted the development of the world economy, but we also need to notice that it face the problem of diminishing marginal utility. Taylorism solves the management problem at the workshop level in a rational way, while the quantitative school extends the rational management thinking to all aspects of the enterprise by means of operations research and other methods. The process of reengineering is to rationally rebuild the enterprise by means of information technology. It can be concluded that on one hand, every adjustment of the Western management model expands the scope of rational application in the enterprise; on the other hand, it cannot always escape its inherent limitations. Therefore, if Western management models want to fundamentally solve the problem of diminishing marginal utility, they should learn from other management models and make radical changes, and Chinese management model is undoubtedly an excellent reference.

4.2 The Inevitable Reflection of China’s Economic Miracle at the Micro-level China’s economy has maintained sustainable and rapid growth for a long time since the reform and opening up. China’s total GDP has jumped to the second place in the world, surpassing Japan, second only to the United States. Some people even

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The Significance of Studying Chinese Management

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predict that China’s economic aggregate is possible to surpass the United States as the world’s number one in the near future. Many scholars try to explain this kind of economic miracle from different aspects, such as the advantage of China’s low labor cost, or China’s foreign capital and technology introduction, but one thing is certain: this miracle is supported by the outstanding performance of countless Chinese companies. Therefore, to explain China’s economic miracle, it is necessary to explore the characteristics of these enterprises in China, and their management models, how are they similar and different to Western companies, and whether these differences can explain the outstanding performance of Chinese companies. Only by finding these differences can we understand how China’s economic miracle is created, and that also enables us to foresee the challenges that China’s economy faces, so as to make pertinent adjustments and changes, and find answers to the long-term success of China’s economic miracle.

4.3 The Inevitable Result of Chinese National Culture Consciousness and Cultural Self-confidence The so-called cultural consciousness bears the meaning of cultural self-awareness literally. According to Fei Xiaotong, the phase means that people living in a certain cultural and historical circle have self-awareness about their own culture and have a full understanding of their development process and future. In other words, cultural consciousness means self-awareness, self-reflection, and self-creation of culture. Fei Xiaotong pointed out: “Cultural consciousness is an arduous process. Only by knowing your own culture, understanding and accessing the infrastructure of multiple cultures can you establish your position in this emerging multicultural world. This is done through independent adaptation, learning from other cultures’ strengths, building a common co-existing basic order, and setting an environment where multi-cultures can coexist peacefully each with their own strengths, and jointly developing the principle of coexistence.” Later, the conscious process is summarized by Fei Xiaotong as “Every form of beauty has its uniqueness. What’s precious is to appreciate other forms of beauty with openness. If beauty represents itself with diversity and integrity, the world will be blessed with harmony and unity.” As one of four ancient civilizations, China is the only country that has retained a complete history and has a rich historical and cultural heritage. Although in the modern era, the Chinese nation has once fallen behind, and politically, it has been once bullied by the imperialist countries. China’s economy was once left behind by the Western countries and culturally, China was forced to learn from the West. But since the founding of New China, we have gained a firm foothold in politics and found a socialist system with Chinese characteristics, which was suited to our own national conditions. We have re-entered the forefront of the world economy. Also, we have rid ourselves of the imitation of Western culture culturally. Realizing Chinese civilization’s uniqueness, we have a clearer understanding of our own cultural characteristics, and we should neither be blind nor arrogant.

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1 Overview

Management is a product of a certain culture. Different cultures create management models with different characteristics. And even some scholars believe that management itself is a culture. Therefore, the cultural consciousness and self-confidence of the Chinese nation must also be reflected in management. In other words, we should see the strengths of Chinese management, not only to summarize our advantages but also to recognize the merits of Western management while promoting our management model to Western management scholars to achieve mutual respect and learn from each other. In this case, some scholars have suggested that we should learn from Feng Youlan’s suggestion that Chinese philosophy should shift from “speaking to the example” to “following to speak individually” and realize the transformation of Chinese management from “ Interpreting facts and achievements” to “Extending facts and achievements”. This transformation should be reflected in the following three aspects (Chongqing 2011).

4.3.1 Extending Chinese Traditional Culture The traditional Chinese culture dates back a long time ago and continues till today. The treasures of wisdom contained in it are always an important source of thoughts for the Chinese nation and the whole world. The unique management wisdom contained in this has an important role in solving the deep-rooted defects in Western management, and it is also beneficial to solve the management challenges we face today. 4.3.2 Extending Western Management Studies This kind of continuation refers to getting rid of Western management science based on a full understanding of Western management, paying attention to China’s unique situation, and integrating the things of universal management in Western management into Chinese management practice that they can construct new regularity. 4.3.3 Extending Modern Management Practices in China Since the founding of new China, country has also made many breakthroughs and innovations in management. For example, Mao Zedong’s “An Gang Steel Constitution” (two participations, one reform, and three combinations (workers participate in management, government officials participate in labor; reform unreasonable rules and regulations; combine workers, cadres, and technical personnel) and the entrepreneurial practice of Guangdong businessmen and Zheshang businessmen who have emerged since the reform and opening up. These are also the contents that we will explore and expand nowadays.

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4.4 The Compelling Obligation of Chinese Management Scholars to Shoulder Social Responsibility and Historical Mission (Chongqing 2011) 4.4.1 Chinese Management Scientists Are Required to “Discover the Rules, Explain Phenomena and Guide Practice” the Historical Breakthroughs and Challenges Faced During China’s Economic and Social Development As an interdisciplinary science, management has both the characteristics of natural science as well as social sciences and humanities. Therefore, management must discover laws like natural science and influence on practices through research, like social sciences and humanities. The reasons behind China’s GDP growth from none to the second largest and rules to follow at the micro-enterprise level are the questions that Chinese management scholars must answer today. Although today’s China has created an economic miracle, it still faces various challenges. To find a sustainable and healthy development path and better integrate into the wave of globalization, we should import thoughts and export our thoughts. Facing the future challenges, it is even more necessary for Chinese management scientists to actively participate in practice and guide how to do, instead of imprisoning themselves in the ivory tower. 4.4.2 Chinese Management Science Development is in a Turning Point Management science research and management education have developed rapidly in China since the reform and opening up, and it has become a prominent and highly-focused school. From now on, all aspects of society require not only initial study, reference, and imitation, but a summary of China’s own management laws and the construction of Chinese management science. Therefore, Chinese management scholars should be aware of this demand from the practice field, actively facilitate the transformation of their roles, and devote themselves to Chinese management’s construction. Review and Discussion 1. What is Chinese management? Why is Chinese management not the same as ancient management? 2. What is a management context? 3. Why is management a social science? 4. How to understand the similarities and differences between Western management and Chinese management in research methods? 5. How does the concept of cultural consciousness help Chinese management? 6. Some people think that studying management theory in China only needs to learn Western management theory and don't have to learn Chinese management. What do you think of this? Talk about your opinions.

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Case of this Chapter Kun Li, president of Shenzhen Airlines, talked about the establishment of a Chinese-style enterprise management model One of the four inventions that propelled the development of modern civilization in the world is the compass. Its magnetic pointers were adjusted continuously with changes in the external environment, but they were always able to show direction with precision. This invention, which follows the laws of natural physics and is full of the ancients’ wisdom, brings new wisdom in corporate management to Shenzhen Airlines, promoting the philosophy and practice of Shenzhen Airlines management to create a precedent for modern enterprise management. Simply speaking, the compass management model is a management model with Chinese characteristics, which sets the pointer as the goal, internal, middle and external disks as support and realize harmonious development of the direction, position, degree, change, and balance. Compass management is a management system consisting of a compass management philosophy and a compass management model. The compass management model’s five major connotations are direction, position, degree, change, and balance. The compass management philosophy is based on the traditional Chinese compass theory. The basic idea is to take the direction first, the position as the body, the degree as the method, the change to be the basis, and the balance as the key. Direction, that is to say, the goal, is the first essential point of enterprise development; the position, meaning the coordinate positioning, is to make a correct judgment for the development direction of the enterprise with accurate and reasonable analysis; the degree, in other words, the precise quantification, is to provide a solid guarantee for the development direction of the enterprise with precise and detailed rules; change, also named the dynamic innovation, means that the development of the enterprise should have substantial flexibility and adapt to the development of the times to make constant changes; balance, being the system harmony, is to realize the enterprise at the same time of development goals. Last, we must achieve a harmonious state of the internal and external environment of the enterprise. The compass management philosophy is the concept of enterprise development with its direction, position, degree, change, and balance. The compass’s basic function is pointing out the direction, which uses the principle of like poles repel and unlike poles attract to tell the direction. The most distinctive feature is that the compass’s magnetic needle will adjust itself under all circumstances and finally point to the direction of identification without deviation. The directional characteristics of the compass are closely related to the vision and strategic management of modern enterprises. “Targeting” is one of the important concepts of compass management thinking in enterprises’ development and application. It combines the oriental tradition, specifies, implements the enterprise’s vision, and exerts the guiding role of “direction” to the enterprise. Orientation is one of the main functions of the compass. This function is the embodiment of the traditional Chinese culture, believing that everything in the

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world “has its place” and partially is “all in place”. According to Book of Changes, the highest level of positioning is “attaining the middle”, that is, it stays where it should be. For the management of Chinese enterprises, they must also stay where it should be. With the rapid development of China’s economy and the acceleration of economic globalization, the living environment of Chinese enterprises has changed from relatively stable to dynamic, and the impact is reflected in two aspects: on the one hand, Chinese enterprises are facing more and more opportunities; on the other hand, fierce market competition has also determined that Chinese companies must change their business thinking of “go with the flow``. They must judge the situation and do what they can. Therefore, the guiding significance of the idea of “positioning” incorporates management practice is also prominent. Moreover, not only do enterprises need to be positioned, but everyone in the enterprise also needs to grasp their own development with the idea of “position”. The two main categories of Chinese and Western thought, Tao and Logos, are often used to compare, and the differences between China and the West are often described as the fact that China is good at the overall abstract thinking, while the West is good at the logical thinking. However, with the development of the times, China and the world gradually deepen their understanding the traditional Chinese culture, and people are increasingly aware that Chinese thinking on the surface seems to be based on the overall abstract thinking, while being refined and rigorous in practice. The practical application of the compass also proves the existence of logical rigor in Chinese traditional culture. Chinese traditional compass circle is very complex, but the precision is very high, and each circle has a unique and accurate positioning and interpretation. The compass of this precision and rigor is the embodiment of the concept “degree” of enterprises’ ideological connotation. The precise and quantitative thinking embodied in “degree” makes management more orderly and easier for managers to control the whole management process, which is another inspiration for modern enterprise management. A compass is a forecasting tool merging time and space. The subtle differences in location, direction, and time will cause great changes. The direct ideological basis is Book of Zhou Yi in which “Yi” means “change”, “If the situation is extreme, then seek change, and change will bring long-lasting applications” (Book of Changes, Xi Ci). Xi Ci comments on the basic thought of Book of Changes with “life is change”, which is to say that the development of all things in the universe is endless, circulating, and reforming is the origin of all things. The sixty-four hexagrams evolved from the change of Yin and Yang reflect the growth and decline of all things and the endless communication between humans, then humans and nature, and humans and the universe. Especially, Eight Hexagrams and Six Yao are not static but dynamic structures. The Six Yao lines are arranged from the beginning to the top, representing the moving process from beginning to end. When things develop to its extreme, will then go back to the beginning, and start a new round of movement. Through the so-called interaction between Yin and Yang and the Eight Hexagrams, it is fully proved that all-natural systems develop from disorder to order, and from order to disorder. Book of Zhou Yi stresses that the universe and all things can only move and change in time and are profoundly influenced by the

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factors of time. And if we grasp the time sequence, we can control the fate. As a dynamic and open system, the compass will also change according to the external “field” changes, reflecting the overall idea and change cycle in the Book of Changes. Therefore, the compass management brings another inspiration to modern management, which is the concept of “dynamic innovation” from “change”. The concept of “balance” is often embodied in Chinese traditional culture. The management principles of “the hexagram body must have six characters to become a chapter” and “be based on rigid and flexible” in Book of Zhou Yi fully embody the holistic thinking, while “attaining middle” embodies the management thought of combining rigidity with softness and balancing Yin and Yang. The compass, as the essence of Chinese traditional culture, gives full play to this concept. Compass includes the Tianchi (human disk), the inner disk (heavenly disk), the outer disk (site). These three major parts, symbolizes the unity of heaven, earth and human. The various levels of the inner disc are related to each other though they form a system, reflecting systematic thinking. In the actual framework, the orientation of the Tianchi, the positioning of the inner disk, the auxiliary support of the outer disk is also interrelated and coordinated. As for the modern marine aviation compass, we should also pay attention to the coordination and balance of natural environment, technology, and other factors in its use. The concept of “balance” embodied in the “compass” is a concrete demonstration of the concept of “systematic harmony” in modern business management. The five Chinese traditional elements are mutually reinforcing, and the five concepts of compass management are interrelated and integrated. The operation and management of an enterprise is from the position to life, from the degree to the change, and the continuous change is always called the balance. Suppose an enterprise can repeatedly examine itself with the concept of “direction, position, degree and change”. In that case, it can systematically coordinate the seven key elements of enterprise management, namely, system, leadership, strategy, mechanism, culture, talent and brand, and then reach the realm of “balance” in management concept, internal operation and external relations. Source Kun (2009). Questions 1. Where does the Shenzhen Airlines’ compass management model learn and absorb the Western management model? 2. Where does the Shenzhen Airlines’ compass management model achieve creative transformation of traditional Chinese wisdom? 3. What is the meaning of Shenzhen Airlines’ compass management model for creating a Chinese-style business management model?

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Appendix: Several Theories of Chinese Management Dongshui Su: Oriental Management School Dongshui Su, founder of the Oriental Management School, chief professor of Fudan University. He is a major pioneer in the study of Oriental Management, Human Science and Management Psychology in China. His core idea of “people-oriented, morality first and making proactive steps to improve human life” has been widely recognized by Chinese and abroad academic circles, and has been hailed as a master of Chinese management. His contributions to management disciplines include creating Eastern management disciplines, creating a management psychology system based on “human learning”, and his contributions to management science and business management disciplines. The core of the Oriental Management School can be summarized as “three studies”, “three behaviors”, “four rules”, “five elements,” and “three-sums”. “Three studies” refers to Oriental Management, Chinese Management, and Chinese Business Management. “Three behaviors” means people-oriented, morality first, and making proactive steps to improve human life. “Four rules” refers to the theory of governing the country, the career, the family, and the body. “Five elements” refers to reason, heart, fate, strategy, and talent. “Three-sum” means three different kinds of harmony. As far as the management philosophy is concerned, Eastern management elements can be summarized as 15 aspects: Tao, change, people, power, reality, harmony, tools law, faith, planning, strategy, surgery, effectiveness, diligence and roundness.

Zhaoyun Wu: A Series of Studies on the Essence of Chinese Management Thoughts Zhaoyun Wu, vice president of Jiangxi University of Finance and Economics, doctoral tutor, professor, director of the Oriental Management Research Center, and his main research direction is Chinese management thinking. The series of “The Essence of Chinese Management Thoughts” entitle Zhaoyun Wu as the chief editor. This project brings a group of young and middle-aged experts and scholars interested in Chinese management culture and have rich experience in research, expertise, and management practices. This series of research aims to construct a modern management theory system with Chinese characteristics and Chinese style, promote innovation and reform of world management theory, export Chinese management thinking to the world, and enhance the soft power of Chinese culture. The research contents are as follows: (1) Macro basic research. It mainly includes the study of the history of Chinese management thought, the study of Chinese enterprise history, the study of Chinese management principles, and the study of Chinese management philosophy.

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(2) Management thinking research. It mainly includes the study of Pre-Qin management thoughts, the study of Qin and Han management thoughts, the study of Sui and Tang dynasty management thoughts, the study of Song Dynasty management thoughts, the study of Ming and Qing dynasty management thoughts, and the study of modern management thoughts. (3) Management of the School of Thoughts. It mainly includes Confucian behavior management research, Confucian ethics management research, Confucian talent management research, Confucian entrepreneurship management research, Confucian opinion management research, Confucian relationship management research, Taoist innovation management research, military strategic management research, and Buddhist heart management Chinese medicine harmony Management research. (4) Management representative thoughts research. It mainly includes the study of Sun Tzu’s competitive strategy, Lao Tzu’s leadership research, Guan Tzu’s organization management research, crisis management research of The Book of Changes, and ethics management research of Sima Fa. (5) “Red Management” study. It mainly includes base production management research, base organization management research, and base information management research.

Shiqiang Zeng: Chinese Management Shiqiang Zeng, the father of Chinese-style management, specializes in Chinese-style management, comparison of Chinese and American management, comparison of Chinese and Western management thoughts, Da Yi management, national characteristic of Chinese people, etc. He is known as the master of Chinese management, one of the three Chinese management scientists and one of the top ten names that are most popular among businesspeople. His main works include Chinese-style management, Chinese-style management behavior, middle-way management: M theory and its application, management thinking, management avenue, Da Yi management and so on. His book, Chinese-style management, proposes that Chinese-style management refers to the proper use of Western modern management science with Chinese management philosophy, and fully considers Chinese cultural traditions and psychological behavior characteristics to achieve better management effect. Chinese-style management is rational management, which emphasizes that management is the process of self-cultivation. Chinese-style management takes “foster people” as its ultimate goal, and thus is more inclusive; based on the theory of the Book of Zhou Yi, it reasonably responds to the HR phenomenon of “diversity and similarity”; it advocates that one should start by cultivating self, and then get qualified to engage in management, while the career is only a practical exercise of self-cultivation, family, and governance.

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Zhongying Cheng: C Theory Zhongying Cheng is a world-renowned management philosopher and one of the representatives of the third generation of Neo-Confucianism. He has been engaged in the study of logic and language philosophy, philosophy of science, management philosophy, philosophy of the book of Changes, Confucianism and Neo-Confucianism, for a long time and is the founder of “C Theory”. His book, C Theory: Chinese Management Philosophy, is based on the Book of Zhou Yi, and aims at integrating Chinese traditional wisdom and Western scientific spirit, with the theme of “Scientific Management of China, Management of Science in China”. Also it is characterized by the trinity of science, culture and art, and focuses on the integration and combination of management functions and Chinese cultural resources (especially philosophical wisdom and moral values), which benefits by the synergy of combining the two. Finally, the result is the birth of “C theory”. “C Theory” by Cheng Zhongying, involves the difference between Chinese and Western cultures, the differences between Eastern and Western social organizations, the philosophical thinking of East and West, the value experience and historical experience, and the theory uses philosophical thinking of Book of Zhou Yi. In addition, it thoroughly applies the seven traditional Chinese academics (Learning of Book of Changes, Confucianism, Taoism, Military strategist, Mohist, Legalist, Doctrine of Zen Buddhism) into the functions of management and the overall management system, and it not only becomes an intellectual resource of management, but also becomes moral resources with management functions; the book attempts to correct the lacking in humanistic thinking in microeconomics, so that management can better meet the needs and ideals of human development. This has important reference value on the development of Chinese management and even Chinese enterprise management. Zhongying Cheng believes that C theory’s meaning is: C stands for China, Chang (Book of Zhou Yi), Confucianism, Culture, Chung-ying Cheng (Cheng Zhongying). The intrinsic meaning of C theory is: C stands for Centrality (centered self-cultivation, and can benefit nearly all the people in the world), Creativity (growth, unremitting), Coordination (coordination, tolerance), Contingency (rule), Control (ruling of the king’s way). C theory’s five aspects can be embodied in five functions in management science: Centrality, Creativity, Organizational, Coordination, Coordination, Contingency, Control, and correspondingly assign the five elements of soil, wood, fire, water, and gold.

Rujin Huang: “He he” Management Rujin Huang is currently an associate researcher at the Institute of Industrial Economics of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and executive director of the China Enterprise Management Research Institute. His main research interests are management theory, strategic management, and comparative management.

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His book, He he Management, is based on the Chinese philosophy of harmony. It is based on the traditional Chinese harmony management and it refers to the ancient Yi and the Dao De Jing, “Dao gives birth to the universe, the universe became Ying and Yang, and from Ying and Yang all things are created”. The view of “three generations of all things” puts forward the dialectical thinking of the “three-point method.” The basic tactical principle of harmony management is to follow the dialectical thoughts of let nature take its course and active intervention, the harmony of Yin and Yang, the combination of hardness and softness, and the golden mean. The essence of harmony management is “Harmony makes money, cooperation makes success” (what has been used in the field of public administration is “harmony and common, cooperation to win” or “peaceful coexistence, cooperation to win”).

References Bingyan, L., & Wenzhi, C. (2010). Chinese management. China Social Sciences Press. Chongqing, G. (2011). It is time for Chinese management scholars to make their debut. Chinese Journal of Management (12). Dongshui, S., & Peng, H. (2006). Chinese management. Fudan University Press. Dongshui, S., et al. (2003). Oriental management. Shanxi Economic Publishing House. Jinlong, Z., & Yan, Y. (2012). Analysis of research focus on management practice in China. Chinese Journal of Management, 9(3). Kun, L. (2009). Research on the establishment of Chinese-style enterprise management model. Nanjing Social Sciences (7). Pengsen, W., & Lie, F. (2000). Humanities and social sciences foundation. Shanghai People’s Publishing House. Waterman, R. H., & Peters, T. J. (1982). In search of excellence: Lessons from America’ s best run companies. New York: Harper & Row. Xianhui, G. (2009). Five hundred years of business: Jin merchants and traditional culture. Shanxi Economic Publishing House. Xiaoping, C., Shuying, X, & Jingli, F. (2008). An empirical approach to organization and management research. Peking University Press. Xuefeng, L. (2005). Management in China: Harmonizing the wisdom of the past and the present. China Renmin University Press. Yin, R. K. (1984). Case study research: Design and methods. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications. Yong, S., & Qianni, G. (2011). Management in China—Chinese management studies in international top journals. Business Management Journal, 33(3). Yong, S., & Baoping, Y. (2009). Research on oriental management: Theory review and development direction. Chinese Journal of Management, 6(12). Yusheng, L. (1988). Creative transformation of Chinese tradition. Sanlian Bookstore.

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Our nation has thousands of years of history, with its unique characteristics and many valuable products. For these, we are primary school students. Today’s China is a continuation of Chinese history; we are Marxist historians, and we should not cut out history. It is of great help from Confucius to Sun Zhongshan. —Zedong Mao

Abstract

1. The management thoughts of the Pre-Qin period mainly include Confucianism represented by Confucius, Legalism, Taoism represented by Lao Tzu, Mohism and military thought represented by Sun Tzu, which all have great influence on the formation and development of the management thoughts of the later generations. 2. The management thoughts from Qin Dynasty to Tang Dynasty cover administration, economy, military affairs, culture and so on, showing the characteristics of inheritance and development. 3. The basic characteristic of the management thought from the Song Dynasty to the Pre-Qing Dynasty is people-oriented and the Confucianism-oriented thought of governing the country. 4. In the late Qing Dynasty, different classes had their own opinions. The landlord class reformers were the pioneers in seeking the truth of saving the country from the West; the Westernizes put forward the idea of “strengthening oneself” and “seeking wealth”; the bourgeois reformers put forward the reform measures to establish a bourgeois constitutional monarchy state; and the bourgeois © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021 H. Hu, Principles of Chinese Management, Management for Professionals, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-6522-3_2

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revolutionaries put forward the idea of “striving for prosperity”. The macro management thought characterized by “the Three People’s Principles”. The most distinctive management thought in the period of the Republic of China was the enterprise management thought of the national bourgeoisie entrepreneurs, which fused the Western scientific management thought with the Chinese traditional management thought and created the modern national bourgeoisie enterprise management model with Chinese characteristics. During the period from 1949 when New China was founded to 1978 before the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, the study of enterprise management in China kicked start and was gradually established. In 1960, Mao Zedong instructed the Charter of the An Gang Company. In 1961, the work of the state-owned industrial enterprises bill (namely industrial seventy) was promulgated. Before and after 1958 and in 1969, China has carried out two large-scale enterprise reform attempts and expanded the autonomy of enterprises to a certain extent. During the period of enterprise transformation, the management model of the enterprise changed from production to production and operation. At the same time, it introduces and learns advanced management experience and methods from abroad. The content of management theory is gradually enriched and perfected. Since 1992, under the new environment of building the socialist market economic system and the trend of global economic development, the focus of Chinese management has shifted to the reform of state-owned enterprises; the building of management talent teams; the strategy of “going out”; the strategy of overseas investment of Chinese enterprises; the encouragement of non-public ownership of businesses and the development of Chinese private enterprises; the strategy of independent innovation and the upgrading of strategic structure of Chinese enterprises. Keywords







People based thought Following the nature with low intervention Concurrent love Win the war without fighting Grand unity thought Take agriculture as the base The three people’s doctrine An gang constitution Seventy pieces of industry



















Learning Objectives and Requirements Understand the three stages of Chinese management thought development. Understand the formation and development process of Chinese management thoughts. Be familiar with typical representatives of management ideas in various historical stages in China.

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Master the basic characteristics of Chinese management thoughts in every historical stage. Introductory Case In the Analects of Confucius, Zi Gong once asked Confucius for wealth and his way of dealing with things. Zi Gong said, “what about being poor and not flattery, rich and modest?” Confucius said, “That the pretty decent. But it is better if people are poor and happy, rich and seek good manners.” Zi Gong is an important communicator of Confucius’s Confucianism. Sima Qian commented in the Records of History: “It is Confucius’s students like Zi Gong who made him well-known.” In later generations, Zi Gong was worshiped and given titles by emperors of all dynasties, and his descendants also received favorable treatment. Up to now, there is still a saying in the Henan area that “why should the South Yue learn from Tao Zhu since scholars learned from Zi Gong in Li Yang?” Some scholars once published articles calling Zi Gong “the first scholarly rich man” and “the first Confucian businessman since ancient times”. Zi Gong pioneered the scholar’s business and became famous for his spirit of self-cultivation, family unity, statecraft, courage, diligence, generosity, humility, and filial piety. Zi Gong and his business and diplomatic activities have made Confucianism widely spread and developed in the business and political circles. He is worthy of being the ancestor of Confucian businessmen, business models, and political elite. China’s traditional culture is extensive and profound, and with a long history. Confucianism is the most influential school in ancient China. And as a proud disciple of Confucius, Zi Gong has penetrated Confucian culture’s essence and applied it in the economic field. Zi Gong has become the first person of Confucian businessmen, which has a great inspiration for modern entrepreneurs to do business. Source: Zhiyou (2011). Management as an independent discipline appeared in the early twentieth century, but management activities accompanied by the initial human common labor or labor cooperation appeared way earlier. There will always be some management ideas in management practice. China is an ancient civilized country with a history of 5000 years. The history of Chinese management thought is as long as the history of Chinese civilization. According to the development of Chinese history, the development of Chinese management thought can be divided into three stages (see Fig. 1): the formation and development of ancient Chinese management thought; the formation and development of modern Chinese management thought; and the formation and development of contemporary Chinese management thought. According to this clue, this chapter will introduce the formation and development, typical representative and basic characteristics of Chinese management thought in different periods.

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Management Thoughts in Ancient China

China is an ancient civilization with a long history. It has more than 5000 years of recorded history. The ruling ideology in Chinese long feudal society represents the interests of all ranks of the ruling class, thus manifesting itself, work as a mixture of various schools of thought throughout all historical periods. Its development and change are only based on the shift in people’s living conditions and social relationships. The ruling policy of imperial dynasties in the past dynasties is a unified manifestation of this thought. This section will follow China’s historical development, analyze the political, economic, and cultural background of the management thought of the past dynasties, and introduce the management thought of ancient China from Pre-Qin to pre-Opium War.

1.1 Management Thoughts in the Pre-Qin Period Pre Qin refers to the historical period before Qin unified six countries. From 770 B. C. to Qin Shi Huang (The First Emperor of China) unified China in 221 B.C., it is known as the Pre-Qin period. During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, as the “axis period” of social transformation and the ideological turning point in ancient China, the formation of traditional Chinese management thought was a crucial node. We take the Western Zhou Dynasty as the historical starting point of this social background here.

1.1.1 The Formation and Development of Management Thoughts in the Pre-Qin Period After the fall of the Western Zhou Dynasty, King Zhou Ping moved to Luoyi, which was called the capital of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty. And then the society entered a turbulent era, marks the beginning of the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. The Spring and Autumn Period was a period of social transformation in China. The feudal states in the early Zhou Dynasty were becoming more and more powerful. On the contrary, the royal family of the Zhou Dynasty was greatly weakened because of internal and external troubles. “The Zhou Dynasty was declining, and the feudal princes were strong and annexed the weak.” But none of the vassal states had the strength to replace it. Thus, the vassal states fought for supremacy to control and manage the other vassals under the name of supporting the king of Zhou. There appeared “five masters in Spring and Autumn stages” of Qi Huan Gong, Jin Wen Gong, Song Xiang Gong, Qin Mu Gong and King Chu Zhuang. With the intensification of the wars among the various vassals, small countries were annexed, and the great powers were stronger. The emergence of the seven vassal states were Qin, Chu, Qi, Yan, Han, Zhao and Wei —“the seven powers of the Warring States Period”, which marked the beginning of the Warring States Period, a period of the formation of Chinese feudal society. It is a long process from the five hegemony in the Spring and Autumn Period to the Seven Great Powers in the Warring States Period. During this period, kings strive for hegemony,

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talented ministers support their kings, and different schools advocate their own thoughts to manage a country. People’s thoughts are not constrained, as long as their thoughts “hold on to reason, and make sense” (Tsunzi Fei Twelve Chapters), everyone can have their own voice. However, the great turbulence and splitting of society catalyzed the formation of numerous schools of philosophers, resulting in the contention of a hundred schools of thought.

1.1.2 The Main Contents of Management Thoughts in the Pre-Qin Period As early as the early Western Zhou Dynasty, the Book of Zhou Yi summarized by Fu Xi and King Zhou Wen is the source of Chinese thought and national spirit, and the earliest management thought to deal with the relationship between human and nature. Systematically speaking, the schools of thought in the Pre-Qin period were divided into “six schools” (Confucianism, Mohism, Taoism, Legalists, Logicians, and the Yin-Yang School) and “ten schools and nine streams” (Confucianism, Taoism, Yin-Yang School, Legalists, Logicians, Mohism, Political Strategists, general school, and agricultural school). The four schools of thought with great influence were mainly Confucianism, Legalists, Taoism and Mohism, which were the main parts of traditional Chinese management thought. During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, in order to win in the war, the vassal states must also study and explore the war strategy. Sun Wu’s thought of military management came into being at that time. Confucian Thoughts of Management The Confucian management thought represented by Confucius is mainly to establish a Western Zhou-style country, and put forward the idea of “ruling the country by rites” as the core of ruling the country. It contains both the management thought of “ruling through country” and the management thought of “through human”. Its main contents include: ① People-based thinking. It is emphasized that management activities should be “people-oriented”, and pay attention to human factors, as well as advocate “rule by virtue” and “benevolent government”. ② The doctrine of the mean is the foundation of Confucius’s and Confucianism’s management thought. Its original intention is to talk about the impartiality, compromise, and reconciliation of things. ③ People and ideas. Confucius and Confucianism advocated the use of etiquette and harmony. ④ The concept of righteousness and profit. Confucius’s emphasis on “righteousness” refers to the ethics of etiquette. “Profit” means interest (utilitarian). Confucius emphasized that “gentlemen are after righteousness, and villains are after profit” (Analects of Confucius). Here the gentleman can be understood as the manager, their value orientation should be prioritizing righteousness rather than benefit, prioritizing others rather than self, and the value orientation of those under management should be first benefit, also known as “get people rich so you can educate them”. ⑤ Education view. Confucius attaches great importance to teaching students in accordance with their aptitude and overall quality. Managers should pay attention to talent selection and talent cultivation.

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Knowledge There is only one economic problem in the book The Great Learning, that is, the problem of national wealth. Strictly speaking, it is a national financial problem, and “morality” is the first problem that needs to be paid attention to. In the The Great Learning, the author wrote, “therefore, a gentleman should be prudent in virtue”. If the ruler has virtues, he will be supported by people; if there are supporting people, there will be lands to farm; if there are lands to farm, there will be wealth; if there is wealth, the country will have surplus. The book, The Doctrine of the Mean puts forward a new viewpoint, which affirms that industry also creates wealth. The great development of the handicraft industry in the Warring States Period produced two opposing views on handicraft industry, one opposing or even attempting to suppress them, the other affirming the importance of their social functions and rewarding them. The doctrine of the mean is the representative of the latter view. It clearly pointed out that “promote various handicraft industries and financial problem will be solved” and regarded “a hundred laborers” as one of the so-called “nine classics” in the world, in parallel with self-cultivation, respecting the sages, revive destroyed counties and clans, which shows the importance of the rival industries. Source: Jiazhen (1991).

Legalists Thoughts of Management Historically, the Legalists of the Pre-Qin Dynasty included both the management thought of “ruling by the state” and the management thought of “ruling by life”, which played an important and positive role in the production of the economic relations of production of the feudal landlord class, the unification of the state and the establishment of the feudal centralization system. The main representatives are Li Li, Shang Yang, and Han Feizi etc. Their management thoughts can be summarized as follows: ① The administrative management thought of “rule by law”. The main content of the rule of law is severe punishment and high reward. Legalists emphasize the rich country, but they also advocate making people weak, prudent and uneducated. They believe that weak people make the country strong. The purpose of the legalists’ rule of law is to achieve the goal of “strengthening the country and strengthening the people”. ② The idea of “rich country through agriculture”. Legalists are extreme agriculturists. They regard agriculture as the

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only way to enrich the country. They think that agriculture is the national economy. Their thought of attaching importance to agriculture has become the core of the Legalist school’s “theory of enriching the country”, and put forward many good economic management ideas. ③ Personnel management thought of “employing talents based only on merits”. Legalists advocated the idea of employing people only by merits, advocating the implementation of a reward and punishment system by using people’s nature of seeking advantages and avoiding disadvantages. They opposed the personnel management principle of employing people solely based on personal preferences. Taoists Thoughts of Management Lao Tzu is the founder of Taoist school. He is the author of Lao Tzu, which contains a wealth of management ideas, both “governing the country” and “using troops”; both macro-control and micro-power is known as the “king’s strategy of the South”. During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States period, Taoist school representatives were Lao Tzu, Zhuang Zhou, Yang Zhu, and so on. Lao Tzu’s management thought has great influence. Its main contents are as follows: ① The management principle of governing by doing nothing and following the nature, which is the highest principle of Lao Tzu and his Taoist school, has the following obvious characteristics: Firstly, it is applicable to all people, but first, it is the requirement of the upper rulers, especially the kings. Secondly, a universal principle applicable to any management process, whether political, economic, military, or socio-cultural, cannot be excluded. Thirdly, as a macro-management principle, it means that the State adopts a non-intervention and less intervention attitude towards private activities (especially economic activities), i.e. a laissez-faire attitude. ② The management strategy of “winning with inferior force” in Lao Tzu includes the following contents: First, “winning by siding with justice” is the premise of “winning with inferior force”. Secondly, the foundation of “governing the country with justice” is to with by inferior force, that is, to do a good job of internal governance to strengthen their own strength. Thirdly, the principle of “defeating the enemy by not initiating movement” is how to realize winning with an inferior force, that is, to employ troops by surprise. Its greatest feature is to advocate the principle of “make moves after the enemy’s aggression and seek opportunities to win”. ③ The good use of personnel thought. Lao Tzu compared the river and the sea to leaders, and the river to many talents. “The reason why the river and the sea are the kings of valleys is that they can be the king of valleys because of their ability to listen and accept people of lower class.” Leaders should be modest in dealing with talents. Besides, leaders should always be “good at saving people” so that they can’t abandon people. Mohism Thoughts of Management Mohist management thought is aimed at the realistic problems of the society at that time, standing in the position of persuading the authorities to govern the country, expounding the management issues, which has rich connotation and is worth learning. Mohist is the most famous book that has been circulated all over the

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world. Among them, the Mohists’ emphasis on “equality”, “advocating virtue”, “universal love” and “saving money” is a reflection of the social consciousness of small producers from the lower classes of the people. The main contents of its discussion are: ① Management objectives of enriching the country and people. Mohist believed that the rulers governed the country “should desire the country’s wealth, the masses of the people, the rule of punishment and politics” (Mohist Shangxian Shang). ② The idea of interpersonal management which is both in love and in favor of each other. The so-called “love all” requires that all ministers, fathers and sons, brothers should love each other, “if a lover loves his body”. At the same time, Mohist put forward the idea of “mutual benefit” and advocated that people should be mutually beneficial. ③ The same administrative management ideas. Mohist’s thought of “Shang Tong” is highly totalitarian. ④ We should respect the personnel management thought. A monarch should see those who are virtuous and able. ⑤ The principle of consumption. Mohist was the most prominent representative of the thinkers who advocated thrift in the Pre-Qin Dynasty. His basic viewpoints were as follows: to meet people’s basic needs as the standard; to limit the luxury consumption of the upper-class rulers as the goal; to ensure the basic needs of workers and maintain the simple reproduction of small producers; to make and use money to determine the wealth of the country; saving is the main means of enriching the country and enriching the people; the extravagance of the rulers is an important reason for the poor people in the country. Strategist Thoughts of Management Sun Tzu is the greatest thinker of military strategists. The Art of War of Sun Tzu is profound in thought and strong in theory and has been circulated for thousands of years. Its management value is mainly embodied in the rich strategic management, information management, talent management, contingency management, and other aspects of thinking. As a product of the great social transformation from slavery to feudalism in China, the Art of War of Sun Tzu reflects the military management thought of the new landlord class. The main ideas are: ① The thought that the human factor determines the victory or defeat. Attaching importance to the army building, use “wisdom, trust, benevolence, courage and strictness” as the criterion to evaluate the general, and emphasizes the common goal and unity of officers and soldiers. ② The idea of “not fighting and win the war”. These include psychological warfare, political and diplomatic strategies and so on. But in the final analysis, it is strategy and wisdom to defeat the enemy. ③ Prediction and decision-making is key. Emphasizing the importance of “Miao Suan” as military decision-making and the relationship between war and various factors such as politics, economy, diplomacy, astronomy and geography, it points out that “know your enemy as well as yourself, you will always be the winner”, “flawless intelligence ensures victory” (The Art of War of Sun Tzu’s Topography). ④ Flexible strategy and tactics. “War strategy is not constant; water has no constant shape; make plans in accordance with the enemy, and it is the way of the god of war.” “It is the mind that makes the most of the troops”. We should use our troops flexibly according to different conditions, such as the enemy’s situation, our situation, the

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weather, the earth and so on. ⑤ The only people is the idea of protecting the masses. Sun Tzu said, “if we go on without seeking fame and retreating without pushing responsibilities, protect the people only and align interests to the king, the way is the treasure of the country.” (The Art of War of Sun Tzu’s Topography). It should protect the people and benefit the people, also unite the people with the monarch. This is the basis of war decision-making and fully embodies the idea of emphasizing the people.

1.1.3 The Basic Characteristics of Management Thoughts in the Pre-Qin Period Emphasize that Human is the Center of Management (1) Management of the state should be people-oriented. The idea of “taking the people as the foundation” has always dominated the management thought in the Pre-Qin period. “The people are the most important, the state the second, and the monarch the least.” Ancient thinkers fully recognized the philosophy of “people like water”, “water can carry a boat, and can also overthrow the boat”. (2) Managers must “love their people”. Confucianism advocates that managers should care about people and implement policies to benefit the people. (3) The success or failure of management lies in employing people. It is an important employment principle in the management thought of Zhouyi to know others well. (4) Managers should learn to know people, as a fusion of the ideas of the various schools of thought, Lu Spring and Autumn put forward the “eight views and six experience” of people, it can be seen that the Pre-Qin period in China has reached a fairly high level of people.

Management Based on Organization and Division of Labor (1) Organizational system hierarchy. Confucius divided people into different levels; Mencius, from a social point of view put forward four levels: individual, family, country, the world, and the goal is to cultivate self, regulate family, manage the country, and bring peace and unity to the world, progressing layer upon layer. (2) The idea of division of labor. Guanzi’s “four classes for workers focusing on their own job” has strengthened the social division of labor among scholars, agriculture, industry, and commerce, and promoted the industry’s professionalization. (3) Clarify the relationship between organizations. Ancient management thought emphasized the relationship between social members clearly. Tsunzi believed that the relationship between the emperor and the people was “the key point of

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ritual and law”, while the relationship among the scholars, agriculture, industry and commerce was “the great difference between ritual and law”. (4) Family is the most basic form of organization. Confucianism and Legalism both regard a family as a unit and individual agriculture as the basic form of social production.

Advocating the Idea of Governing the Country at the End of the Farming Business (1) Promoting agriculture enrich countries. Guanzi Rule of the State holds that agriculture is the industry of enriching the country and the people, and that “wheat is the base of the king and the great task of the owner, Grain is the key to get support from people and necessary for developing a country”. (2) Emphasis is placed on protecting farmers. Shang Yang believed that only putting more people engaged in agricultural production and fewer people skilled in merchants is the way to prosper. Otherwise, it will inevitably lead to the country’s poverty and weakness. Therefore, he decided to “make businessmen under control” and control the number of businessmen. (3) Advocate for agriculture and consolidate the country. Shang Yang believed that only by assigning farmers to their lands can they be efficiently drafted into the army in times of war. They worked at home on weekdays, enlisted in the army during wartime, and made the people protect their country.

Advocating Sentiments and Emphasizing Management Values (1) Values of righteousness and profit. Righteousness and profit are about moral behavior and material interests. Confucius advocated that the principle of “seeing the benefit and think if it is righteous” and “make sure it is just first and then take” should be in conformity with social laws and moral norms, and that the interests should be obtained by proper means. (2) The values of righteousness and gain. Mohist advocated “righteousness is benefit”, “loving each other and giving mutual benefit”, which is emphasizing the equal emphasis on justice and benefit. (3) Highlighting the influence of morality on people.

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Emphasizing the Use of Strategies to Achieve Management Objectives (1) Winning the battle is the best policy. The art of war emphasizes the strategy of defeating the enemy. The first-class generals are the ones who win the battle with strategy instead of brute force. (2) Emphasis on contingency. The main idea of the book of changes is to change the word “to change and adapt”. (3) Think ahead of management.

1.2 Management Thoughts from Qin Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty The period from Qin Dynasty to Tang Dynasty is the period from the establishment of Qin Dynasty in 221 B.C. to the establishment of Song Dynasty in 960 A.D., when the first peak of human productivity appeared in China. With the rise of economy and politics’ maturity, management thought has been developed unprecedentedly and institutionalized continuously.

1.2.1 The Formation and Development of Management Thoughts from Qin Dynasty to Tang Dynasty From the historical track of Chinese management thought, the management thought from Qin Dynasty to Tang Dynasty belongs to the development period of management thought, divided into 3 stages. Namely Qin and Han Dynasties, Three Kingdoms, two Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties and Sui and Tang Dynasties. The Qin and Han Dynasties were the important stages of the development of management thought in this period. After the Qin Shi Huang unified China, he established the first highly centralized feudal regime. Qin Shi Huang adopted the centralized management measures to consolidate the regime, including political centralization, economic centralization, and cultural centralization, which were followed by the feudal dynasties. The Han Dynasty inherited the Qin Dynasty, carried out highly centralized political and military management, and regulated the market through financial control, including the grain, iron, salt, wine, and other industries. And they were related to the national economy and the livelihood of the people, forming a national economic control system. During the period of the Three Kingdoms, two Jin and Southern and Northern Dynasties, there was in a long-term state of division in China. At that time, there were frequent wars, social chaos, and relatively stagnant management ideas. However, many politicians and strategists merged, such as Cao Cao, Zhuge Liang. They had many successes in governing the country and the army. In addition, with the development of agricultural production, the agricultural management monographs appeared, which was represented by Qimin Yaoshu.

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Sui and Tang Dynasties are another important stages in the development of management thought in this period. Sui and Tang Dynasties reunified the whole country, Tang Dynasty pushed the Chinese feudal dynasty to the peak, and Chinese traditional management thought has been fully developed. Emperor Sui Wen, Emperor Tai Zong, Wu Zetian and other monarchs of the outstanding governance strategy and Liu Yan, Yang Yan, and other ministers of outstanding management strategy existed. After the introduction of Buddhism into China from India, Buddhism gradually adopted and spread. It became prosperous in the Eastern Jin Dynasty and the Sixteen Kingdoms. Many schools appeared in the Southern and Northern Dynasties. Eight schools were formed in the Sui and Tang Dynasties, and then Buddhism entered its peak period.

1.2.2 Main Contents of Management Thoughts from Qin Dynasty to Tang Dynasty Administrative Management Thoughts After Qin Shi Huang unified China, he established the first highly centralized feudal regime in Chinese history, and formed the Chinese government. The three Gong and nine Qing officials system had a clear division of labor, allowed government officials to perform their duties and sharing responsibility for the emperor. When a local organization was established, the county system instead of a vassal state was established, and the emperor appointed local government officials. The system of “inheriting Qin Dynasty from Han Dynasty” has been improved slightly: a new system of selecting officials has been established, and talent has been selected by means of “investigation and examination” and “conscription”; the system of Cishi in Cangzhou has strengthened centralization of power. During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, Emperor Wendi of the Sui Dynasty established the imperial examination system while carrying out the system of three provinces and six ministries and streamlining the local administrative organs; Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty established the system of deliberation, popularized and improved the imperial examination system created by the Sui Dynasty, and organized and compiled the “Zhenguan Tang Law”. Economic Management Thoughts During this period, the economic management thought that the feudal state should intervene and control the economy dominated. Implementing the state’s policy of controlling economy in Qin Dynasty, the important economic lifeline was controlled. The main manifestations were as follows: First, “unified road and transportation, unified textbook and united moral standards” in all the vassal counties. The two are coercive and strict laws. In the Western Han Dynasty, the rulers learned the lessons of Qin’s fall, and implemented the economic policy of “let farmers recover and produce”. In the period of Emperor Wudi of Han Dynasty, because the people were rich and the country was strong, the government implemented the policy of interfering in the economy again. The state-controlled the main economic lifelines, such as iron, salt, transportation,

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commodity price, etc., controlled the power of foundry, quantity, investment, and management, and hit the rich merchants. Military Management Thoughts During this period, wars were frequent, the scale of wars was expanded, and long-term war practice brought up many outstanding militarists. Cao Cao and Zhuge Liang were typical representatives. Cao Cao’s military management thought shows prominently that he chooses a development strategy when guiding strategy and adopts responsive tactics when implementing strategy. Zhuge Liang’s military management thought is mainly manifested in the strategic decision-making thought of assessing the situation. Longzhongdui is a successful example of strategic decision-making. Cultural Management Thoughts To adapt to the centralized management in politics and economy, the cultural management in this period was mainly manifested as the centralized management in culture. Qin Shi Huang first carried out cultural centralization, unified handwriting as well as ruling thought. In order to adapt to the political unification, Emperor Wudi of Han Dynasty adopted Dong Zhongshu’s idea of “depose other schools of thought and respect Confucianism alone”, and Confucianism became the orthodox thought of Chinese feudal society. During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, with the country’s prosperity, social stability and material prosperity created favorable conditions for cultural prosperity. The imperial examination system in the Sui and Tang Dynasties opened the door for lower class people to gain power and status. The ruling ideology is also open to the outside world. Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism are three peaceful coexistence. The ideological circles are more active and freer.

1.2.3 The Basic Characteristics of Management Thoughts from Qin Dynasty to Tang Dynasty Established the Traditional Chinese Management System Numerous schools of thought at the end of the Warring States period were unified in Qin Dynasty. Since Qin Shi Huang established the first highly centralized country in Chinese history, the Legalist management thought has been fully practiced and developed under the autocratic centralized system, emphasizing the rule of law. Then, after the peasant uprising in the late Qin Dynasty and the Chu-Han War, the Han Dynasty was established. The Taoist Huang Lao’s “governing by following the nature” came into being; social relations and social economy were changed. In the period of Emperor Wu in the Western Han Dynasty, Dong Zhongshu’s suggestion of “depose other schools of thought and respect Confucianism alone” was adopted, and the Gong Yang theory was the main idea and blended with Yin. The new Confucianism of Yinyang, Legalism, Taoism and other miscellaneous schools formed the management thought of “ruling with both morality and law” and became the fixed management mode of rulers in successive

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dynasties. The development of Confucian classics became the mainstream of management thought in the Han Dynasty. In the Eastern Han Dynasty, Confucian classics was established in the form of code of laws, and Confucian orthodox management thought the system was formed by combining the Confucian thought of rites with Dynasty politics. During the period of the Three Kingdoms, two Jin & Southern and Northern Dynasties, there was in a long-term state of division in China. At that time, there were frequent wars, social chaos and Confucianism declined for a time, giving space for rise of metaphysics, Buddhism, Taoism and other ideas, as well as agricultural management monographs represented by Qiminyaoshu, which re-formed social and cultural management thought of diversification and saw profound growth. With the reunification of the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the rulers of the Tang Dynasty reconstructed their ideological management system, and used the social influence of religion to serve the political consolidation of the dynasty, also formed a mixed management ideological system of Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism. The Institutionalization of Management Thoughts Has Been Realized The Qin and Han Dynasties to the Sui and Tang Dynasties first established the administrative management thought to aim at the autocratic centralized system. At the same time, the economic management thought of the feudal state’s economic intervention was carried out. Also the rich military-strategic management thought and the centralized cultural management thought were formed. Secondly, it has practiced the management principle of selecting talents and appointing talents, combining etiquette with law, strict management means, etc. It has institutionalized the management thought formed in the Pre-Qin period, thus further developing the autocratic centralized management system. The official system, the imperial examination system, the land system, and the tax system have become a fixed framework and then constantly developed and improved through the bureaucratic establishment. In this stage, the theory of management thought is quite rich, including the centralized management thought of King Qin Shi, the management thought of Han Gaozu, the management thought of Han Wudi, the economic management thought of Sang Hongyang, the agricultural management thought of Jia Sixie and the political management thought of Sui Wendi. With the Tang Dynasty to the peak of the feudal society, the development of traditional Chinese management thought began to move towards another climax, with the emergence of Taizong and Empress Wu as the representatives of the country’s management.

1.3 Management Thoughts from Song Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty The period from the Song Dynasty to the early Qing Dynasty was before the first Opium War between China and Britain from 960 to 1840. During this period, although the society continued to develop, the feudal society has declined from the peak, all kinds of contradictions have become increasingly acute, and the rule of the

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feudal dynasty has been seriously threatened. Compared with the management thoughts of Qin and Han Dynasties to Sui and Tang Dynasties, there was no substantial change in this period, only a partial adjustment and reform of the management system.

1.3.1 The Formation and Development of Management Thoughts from the Song Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty During the Song and Yuan Dynasties, the feudal society began to decline gradually. To save the feudal rule crisis, the rulers advocated making some adjustments and changes from top to bottom without touching the feudal system. Fan Zhongyan’s “Qingli New Deal” in the early Northern Song Dynasty was an outstanding representative of Wang Anshi’s management thought reflected in his reform in the middle Northern Song Dynasty. The Yuan Dynasty was a regime established by the Mongolian people. The thought of “governing the country by Confucianism” of YeluChucai was conducive to alleviating national conflicts and consolidating the unified feudal regime. By the Ming Dynasty and the Pre-Qing Dynasty, China’s feudal society had entered a period of decline; the feudal system’s contradictions were fully exposed. The courage of Zhang Juzheng’s reform in the late Ming Dynasty was quite great. He put forward a series of progressive reform programs concerning administration, economic management and military management. Huang Zongxi, GuYanwu, Wang Fuzhi, Kangxi and Yongzheng, the three great thinkers in the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties, put forward many unique and profound management ideas. 1.3.2 The Main Contents of Management Thought from Song Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty During the development of management theories and practices from the Song Dynasty to the Pre-Qing Dynasty, many representative management thoughts emerged, among which Wang Anshi, Hu Bilie Khan, Zhu Di, Kangxi, Yongzheng, and Qianlong were the most typical ones. Wang Anshi’s Economic Management Thoughts Wang Anshi believes that if people are not rich, the country is not strong. They should develop production, lighten their burdens, and suppress monopolies. He suggested that the ruler should rely on the nation’s strength to accumulate wealth, and people should do their best to win the talents of the nation. Among the reforms, he formulated and implemented the farmland water conservancy law, the green seedling law, and the exemption law, which all played a role in lightening farmers’ burden and protecting the rural productive forces. Wang Anshi advocated that we should restrict monopolies on land, narrow the gap between the rich and the poor, change the nation’s wealth, and carry out tax reform. In industrial and commercial tax, he advocated promoting commodity circulation first and believed that the industrial and commercial tax would increase only if the logistics channels were smooth.

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Hu Bilie’s Management Thoughts Hu Bilie Khan was the grandson of Genghis Khan and the first emperor of the Yuan Dynasty. His management thought involved education, religion, and military. ① As for the educational management thought, Hu Bilie believed that Confucianism, such as “Three Principles and Five Constants” was conducive to his ruling of the empire and strongly advocated the study of Confucian culture and disseminating Confucianism. He founded various ways to promote school officials, selected erudite old Confucianism. And Confucianism rapidly spread throughout the country, training a large number of Confucian talents. ② In the aspect of religious management thought Hu Bilie adopted a policy of inclusiveness in the face of vast territories, numerous nationalities, different customs, ideologies, and religious coexisting. ③ In military management, he advocated the combination of diplomacy and military conquers, the variety of war and pacification, put emphasis on military strength and avoiding fighting on two fronts; he was good at using such tactics as long-range rush, flanking, encirclement as well as joint operations of infantry, cavalry, sailors and artillery to win the victory. He believed that the militia is the foundation of the country and attached great importance to the army’s building and the strengthening of centralization. He advocates promoting morality, fair reward, and punishment, and ensuring law enforcement. Zhu Di’s Confucian Rule Thoughts Zhu Di, Ming Dynasty’s founder, was named Yongle Emperor after he acceded to the throne. Zhu Di’s Confucian political thought is mainly manifested in the following aspects: ① Respecting nature and ancestor. ② Protect the people like the innocent child. Zhu Di believed that if the ruler wants to maintain his own ruling position, he must implement benevolent government, and the benevolent government should love and protect the people, let the people get enough food and clothing, and alleviate his punishment. ③ Educating and restricting people with the law. Zhu Di believed that rites could maintain the order of social hierarchy while pleasure could cultivate people’s emotions and make the people peaceful. Simultaneously, it also needed to use enlightenment to subjugate the world and use the law to restrain the people who destroyed the order. ④ Retain talents for good advice. Zhu Di believed that governing the country requires talented people, selecting talented people, and giving full play to the chosen talents, making full use of their talents. Kangxi, Yong Zheng and Qianlong’s Management Thoughts The management thoughts of Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong in the early Qing Dynasty are manifested in the following aspects: ① the thought of “grand unity”. They have a very valuable concept of “grand unity” as the monarch of Chinese ethnic minorities. Yong Zheng said, “on the shore of Zhaoji East Sea”, I will unite China and conquer the world. Since the unification of Yao and Shun, China and foreign countries have been unified. Regardless of the amount of effort, the people who worked for the empire are all people that we should treat as family. The politics, the rites, and the music expedition, are the orthodoxy of China and foreign

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countries. They broke through the Han nationality’s self-superiority, abandoned the narrow prejudice of the Confucian traditional concept of contempt for ethnic minorities in the border areas, and regarded China as a “big China” including the hinterland of the Central Plains and the vast border areas. ② Advocate practice and innovation. Kangxi and Yong Zheng both respect the practice and make innovations in their abilities. For example, the imperial entrance system founded by Kangxi and the six Southern patrols, the Yongzheng Dynasty implemented the “extraction and consumption of envy” and “apportionment” as a more influential tax reform system.

1.3.3 The Basic Characteristics of Management Thought from Song Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty The Keynote of Management Thoughts is Based on “the People” Emperor Taizu of the Song Dynasty obtained military power by peaceful means of “peacefully overtake military power from generals through persuasion”. He practiced his “people-oriented” management thought by reducing taxes and punishment, properly resettling the people, developing agricultural production and building water conservancy. Qianlong said, “The people are the foundation of the state””. The rich help each other, and we should not worry about them, for ordinary people, we should allow them to keep surplus after tax, that is, to keep things going on, the so-called “keep wealth for people,” and “if the people are well-off, the ruler cannot be in deficit” is also the case. The purpose of the people is to consolidate imperial power. Governing the Country with Confucianism as Its Main Body In the Song Dynasty, both the administrators and thinkers to the early Qing Dynasty praised Confucianism and were devout Confucian disciples. Hu Bilie advocated Confucianism, people’s hearts, morality, and national stability. Zhu Di said that Confucianism is the first rule of state, and we should not think it is too slow and efficient. The emperors of the Qing Dynasty adopted the family law, which was expecting the nature, keeping the way of ancestors, being diligent at managing the empire and loving the people. These have played a certain role in inheriting Chinese culture, regulating people’s behavior habits and stabilizing society. Highlighting the Concept of “Governing the Country Based on Agriculture and Enriching the People and Developing the Country” Agriculture is the pillar industry that determines the lifeline of the country. Throughout the Song Dynasty’s history to the Pre-Qing Dynasty, rulers of all previous dynasties have attached great importance to the development of agriculture; “agriculture-oriented” has been the ruling concept of the feudal dynasty. Hu Bilie Khan made the first imperial edict at the beginning of his reign, emphasizing that the country should be people-oriented, people should be producing food and clothing, and food and clothing should be based on agriculture and commerce. Emperor Kangxi emphasized agriculture as the basis, respecting agriculture,

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emphasizing agriculture, sympathize farmers, care for agriculture, love agriculture and deal with agriculture. Pre-farming altar, tillage and weaving map, Feng Zeyuan and imperial melon nursery were the “propellers” for the brilliant development of farming civilization in Qing Dynasty.

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Modern and Contemporary Management Thoughts in China

The first Sino British Opium War broke out in 1840 and opened the curtain of modern Chinese history. From the historical trajectory of Chinese management thought, modern management thought belongs to the fusion period of management thought, divided into two stages: the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China. This section will follow the development track of modern China, analyze the political background, economic background, and cultural background of its management thought, and introduce modern Chinese management thought.

2.1 Management Thoughts in Late Qing Dynasty The late Qing Dynasty generally refers to the period from the Opium War (1840) to the 1911 Revolution. Due to Western capitalist powers’ invasion, Chinese society gradually changed from feudal society to semi-colonial and semi-feudal society. During this period, the transformation of Chinese management thought was also seeking truth by far-sighted people from western countries.

2.1.1 The Formation and Development of Management Thoughts in Late Qing Dynasty After the two Opium Wars, facing the unequal treaties of power loss and humiliation, the Chinese people believed that the Western military power was stronger than China, so they believed that only by learning and introducing western military technology can they become a powerful country, and took “striving for strength” as the goal. Later, Wang Tao and Zheng Guanying criticized the view is biased and superficial, believing that getting strong cannot last before getting wealthy, and put forward the management goal of “wealthy and then strong”. In terms of management mode, before the Sino-Japanese War, it advocated “protecting merchants”, that is, allowing and encouraging merchants to invest and operate new industries and Commerce in a capitalist way, and the state should protect and adjust them to a certain extent, so as to protect private industry and commerce which were in a weak position in the infant stage and had a terrible external environment. However, later, the Westernization School bureaucrats monopolized several industries under the name of “insuring merchants” and firmly controlled several businesses. In view of this situation, Zheng Guanying and Wang Tao denounced the “official supervision

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over business” and put forward macro-scale protection and regulatory requirements to the government of Qing.

2.1.2 Main Contents of Management Thought in Late Qing Dynasty In the late Qing Dynasty, different classes had their own opinions. The landlord class reformers were the pioneers who sought the truth of saving the country from the West, and made the first attempt to introduce the western management thought; the Westernization school put forward the idea of “strengthening oneself” and “seeking wealth”; the bourgeois reformists advocated the establishment of the bourgeois monarchy constitution. The bourgeois revolutionaries raised the idea of macro-management characterized by the Three Principles of the People. Wei Yuan’s Management Thoughts Wei Yuan compiled the first monograph on world history and geography in modern China, Haiguo Tuzhi, to explore the causes of China’s failure in the Opium War, and to advocate “learning from foreigners to fight foreigners” as a connecting link between the past and the future in Chinese management ideology. His management thought mainly includes: ① Put forward different opinions to the traditional management thought: First, make new explanations to the traditional view of “stressing the core industry and restraining unimportant industries”. He thinks that agriculture is “core” and commerce is “the least important”. But from the current situation, it is common to sell agricultural products and eat the remaining commerce before agriculture. And this is a major breakthrough. The second is to put forward a new explanation to the traditional view of “avoid extravagance and be prudent”. He believes that the wealthier middle and small landlords, as well as businessmen should be allowed and encouraged to a certain degree of “extravagance”. Thirdly, he advocated reform in water transport, salt administration and tax administration. He proposed that river transport should be changed into sea transport and government-owned transport should be changed into commercial transport. ② Learn from Western advanced management ideas. First, under the slogan of “Shi Yi”, the idea of porting western new industries was raised. Second, in foreign trade, we use the analysis of “trade balance”. Zeng Guofan’s Management Thoughts Zeng Guofan’s knew the corruption and decline of the Qing Dynasty after “the prosperity of the Qianjia era” clearly. He thought: “The bad governance of the officials is due to nepotism; the root of this problem is how to get talents and eliminate nepotism.” Based on this, Zeng Guofan put forward his management thought: ① In the aspect of human resources, he advocated that “the most important thing in administration is to get talents”. In times of crisis, people who need both virtue and tools should advocate a clean and honest atmosphere, conduct benevolent government by courtesy, and oppose the people’s tyranny and harassment. ② In the aspect of financial and economic management, he believed that the way to manage the money was to make a profit, be pragmatic, keep away from

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corruption and to serve the public. He also attached importance to agriculture. “People’s livelihood is the first thing, and the good national plan is based on a harvest year.” He demanded that “state agriculture is the first priority” in today’s counties. ③ In the aspect of Chinese and Western relationship, on the one hand, he hated the invasion of China by the Westerners; on the other hand, he did not blindly exclude foreigners and advocated learning science and technology from the West. ④ In the aspect of military management, he put forward such strategic tactics as “when resorting to arms, it should be Quiet as a child moves like a hare”, “sort out internal affairs then deal with the enemy” and so on. Kang Youwei’s Management Thoughts Kang Youwei, together with a thousand scholars, initiated a petition. He launched the famous “Gongche Letter” and got the support of Emperor Guangxu and carried out the reform. However, because of the destruction and suppression of reactionary forces represented by Empress Ci Xi, the reformist movement failed. Kang Youwei’s management thought is mainly manifested in three aspects: ① The administrative management thought of advocating constitutional monarchy and reforming control. It holds that only by implementing the constitutional monarchy and resolving the fundamental problems can other reforms be carried out in a second order. So that China can be saved from total destruction and embark on the road of prosperity, strength, and independence of capitalism. ② Put forward the idea of “rich country” and “raising people” to develop the capitalist economic program’s economic management ideas. Among them, the rich country’s law includes six programs, namely, banknote law, silver casting, railway, machinery boat, mining, and postal service. And the law of supporting the people includes four programs, namely, farming, helping workers, benefiting merchants and showing sympathy for the peasants. ③ Reform the theory of “eight Gu” and set up the ideology of culture and education management in modern education. It is pointed out that “nowadays there are many ministers, but no one can do anything because of the fact that all of them are selected because they were good at eight Gu.” The imperial examination system is reformed, and the examination content is reformed to select the scholars by policy and theory on the premise of retaining the original examination system. In addition, It needs to establish modern education—the new school. The establishment of the Capital University and the establishment of primary and secondary schools all over the country constitute a new educational system integrating the large, middle, and primary schools.

2.1.3 The Basic Characteristics of Management Thoughts in Late Qing Dynasty After the Opium War, Chinese society gradually changed from a feudal society to a semi-colonial and semi-feudal society. Great changes have taken place in society’s nature, and many changes have taken place in the ideological field of economic management. It is essentially the product of thousands of years’ historical and cultural legacies in China, and the extension of ancient Chinese management thought under the impact of Western culture. But modern China did not form its

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own characteristics of the era of relatively mature management ideas, and there are some ideas in the transition period of old and new changes. ① Modern economic management thought reflects the strong desire and requirement of some merchants, landlords and bureaucrats to invest in new industries. “Getting rich before strong” has become the general goal of national economic management in this period. ② Reformers hoped to make the national economy’s management adapt to the needs of the development of the capitalist economy through “reform” (top-down reform) under the Qing regime.

2.2 Management Thoughts in the Republic of China The period of the Republic of China refers to the period from the 1911 Revolution to the founding of the People’s Republic of China (1949), which basically belongs to the period of the Republic of China (during which the three warlords were in a chaotic war, and the emergence of a revolutionary regime led by the Communist Party and its base areas).

2.2.1 The Formation and Development of Management Thoughts in the Republic of China In 1911, the bourgeois-democratic revolution broke out in China, that is, the revolution of 1911. Although the “Three People’s Principles” was put forward before the 1911 Revolution, it mainly played a role in the period of the Republic of China after the outbreak of the 1911 Revolution, so the “Three People’s Principles” was put in the period of the Republic of China. Simultaneously, because the 1911 Revolution promoted the development of a capitalist economy, and because imperialism relaxed its aggression and control over China during the First World War, the pace of development of Chinese national capitalist enterprises quickened and a powerful group of national bourgeois entrepreneurs formed. The most distinctive management thought in this period was the enterprise management thought of the national bourgeoisie entrepreneurs, whose representatives were Zhang Jian, Mu Ouchi, Rong Zongjing, Rong Desheng and Liu Hongsheng. While introducing the western scientific management thought, they also used the traditional Chinese management thought to integrate the two and create Chinese characteristic modern national bourgeoisie enterprise management mode. And it still has unbelievably valuable references significance and references significance today. 2.2.2 The Main Ideas of Management Thoughts During the Republic of China Sun Zhongshan’s Management Thoughts Sun Zhongshan was a great forerunner of the democratic revolution in modern China. His management thoughts are mainly manifested in: ① In the aspect of administration; he put forward the “Three People’s Principles”, namely nationalism, civil rights and livelihood. Nationalism is the combination of the national revolution

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and the political revolution to carry out the national liberation movement. Sun Zhongshan also put forward the national policy of “five nationalities Republic” and pointed out that “the nation’s foundation lies in the people. The unification of Han, Man, Hui and Tibet is national unity. Sun Zhongshan’s thought of civil rights is closely related to the ideals of the bourgeois republic. He carried out the revolution in order to overthrow the Man and Qing dynasty, and then set up a national government, “all the people are equal to participate in the political power.” ② The thought of social economic management. Sun Zhongshan’s principle of people’s livelihood is his social reform program. The core of people’s livelihood is to solve the land problem, that is, “allocate land rights”. Appraise land price base on capital appreciation, and the land and the tax should be used to balance the rich and the poor. Furthermore, with the development of industry, we should control capital and eliminate the social malpractices of monopoly capital on the basis of the nationalization of major industries. Zhang Jian’s Management Thoughts Zhang Jian is the leader of an important national capital group (Dasheng Group) in modern China and a typical representative of the national bourgeoisie’s upper class in modern China. He started from scratch, and after many struggles, he finally achieved success. In the practice of managing enterprises, he has been discussing and summarizing the management of the national economy and the enterprises and gradually formed a set of management ideas. The main contents are as follows: ① The accumulation of profits is an important prerequisite for enterprises’ survival and development. The accumulation of profit is the lifeblood of business and occupies an important position in the business. Without the accumulation of profits, the improvement of production technology level, the renewal of machinery and equipment and the expansion of production scale cannot be carried out. ② Cost management thought. It is believed that cost is the decisive factor of the product price, which is directly related to enterprises’ operating efficiency and profit level, so cost management is very important in enterprise management. ③ Management ideas on supply and marketing. It is considered that the reproduction process of an enterprise is manifested in the process of production, supply chain, and marketing. Production is important, but the supply and marketing are also related to the survival of the enterprise. ④ Personnel management thought. Knowing the drawbacks of under qualifying in the feudal society and opposing the practice of artificially creating positions because of people, Zhang Jian formulated a series of personnel management systems, such as the post responsibility system and regular inspection of all aspects of work. ⑤ Culture management thought. In business management, Zhang Jian pays more attention to people’s role, advocates “benevolence, righteousness, courtesy, faith” and other norms in enterprises, attaches importance to the Confucian ethical proposition, and treats customers and competitors with good faith. He is a sincere and trustworthy Confucian businessman.

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2.2.3 The Basic Characteristics of Management Thoughts in the Republic of China During the Republic of China, a powerful group of national bourgeoisie entrepreneurs formed, and the rise of these industrialists is the product of a specific historical era in China, their management ideas have infiltrated into the factors of capitalism. ① The oppression of foreign capitalism and the Qing government on Chinese national capitalist enterprises hindered the development of the national capitalist economy. Therefore, national entrepreneurs made resolute struggles, disclosures, and criticisms. ② Entrepreneurs of Chinese national enterprises are good at using their own advantages and creating famous brand products. Firstly, Chinese modern national enterprises have the determination and perseverance to survive and develop under the threat of foreign economic aggression; secondly, they should make full use of their resources, markets, and advantages to develop enterprises; finally, they should attach importance to the role of innovation and science and technology and be willing to invest in scientific research. ③ The Chinese national entrepreneurs are good at adopting the strategy of “laying low and making profits when enemies are not paying attention” to survive and develop under the oppression of foreign economic powers.

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Since the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the domestic political situation has been stable, and the research focus of Chinese management ideology has shifted to enterprise management. Initially, on the one hand, Chinese enterprises learned and introduced the Soviet Union’s management model, on the other hand, Chinese enterprises also summed up a lot of Chinese characteristics of enterprise management experience and model. But the real beginning of the development of Chinese management thoughts was after 1978, with the background of China’s reform for opening up and the process of high-speed industrialization. Especially in the 1990s, with the acceleration of the marketization, industrialization, and internationalization, the academic research of Management in our country has made great progress in the practice of management innovation and in exploring the law of management activities the condition of the market economy. This section will follow the development of management since the founding of the People’s Republic of China, analyze the economic and social background of different periods, and introduce Chinese management practice innovation in the new era.

3.1 Management Thoughts in the Planned Economy Period During the period from 1949 when New China was founded to 1978 before the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the Communist Party

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of China, the study of enterprise management in China began from scratch and was gradually established. The development of enterprise theory can be divided into three stages: learning from the Soviet Union, starting to explore the establishment of China’s socialist enterprise theory stage, and “cultural revolution” stagnation stage. In 1960, Mao Zedong instructed the “An Gang constitution”. In 1961, the work of state-owned industrial enterprises bill (the seventy) was promulgated. Around 1958 and in 1969, China has carried out two large-scale enterprise reform attempts, to a certain extent, expanded the autonomy of enterprises.

3.1.1 Formation and Development of Management Thoughts in the Planned Economy Period In the 1950s, after democratic and production reform, China established a basic socialist industrial and enterprise system. Under the unified deployment of the government’s economic management departments, the Soviet Union’s enterprise management system and methods were introduced and implemented in an all-around and systematic way. At this time, the core of enterprise management was strict planning, instructions, and production management. In the 1960s and 1970s, a modern enterprise management theory system was established with Chinese characteristics. In March 1960, Mao Zedong put forward the “An Gang constitution” of Chinese enterprise management on the basis of the experience and gave it a high remark. In September 1961, the state industrial enterprise work bill was issued, namely Seventy Rules of Industry. The practice of enterprise management shows that enterprise management’s system and method have greatly advanced compared with the first Five-Year Plan period. Unfortunately, due to the “Cultural Revolution”, the theory and method of enterprise management that began to take shape in our country were destroyed, and enterprises’ management was negated completely, resulting in confusion in the management circles. 3.1.2 Main Contents of Management Thoughts in the Period of the Planned Economy 1950s: Learning the Soviet Union’s Management Mode In 1953, China began to implement its first five-year plan and entered a period of large-scale economic construction. The state has concentrated a large amount of manpower, material resources and financial resources to build 156 key projects. At the same time, China began to comprehensively introduce the Soviet Union’s enterprise management system. The main contents of this system and method include the implementation of the management plan, the production operation plan and the establishment of production responsibility system the technical management, the production technology preparation, the formulation of technical standards, labor quotas, quality inspection and other systems, the economic management, the establishment of the economic accounting system, the training of cadres and workers, and other various systems. Also, everyone should make best effort and gain based on work performed, establish and polish the production command system and management organization, and so on. However, in the

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process of learning the experience of Soviet enterprise management, there are also problems of not analyzing and copying everything. 1960s–70s: Exploring Management Suited to China’s National Conditions (1) The constitution of An Gang. The main contents of the typical representative of the theory of enterprise management in this period are: adhering to political leadership, strengthening the leadership of the Party, carrying out mass movements, combining “two participation, one reform and three combinations” and carrying out technological innovation and revolution. In fact, the instructions in the report on the development of the movement of Anshan city by Mao Zedong include three aspects: ① Political leadership and technical revolution based on the front like workers, which are the guiding ideology of enterprises. ② Factory director system that is different from the director’s responsibility system under the Party committee’s leadership, and is the leading system of the enterprise. ③ Two references, one transformation and three combinations: cadres participate in collective labor, workers participate in enterprise management, reform unreasonable rules and regulations, and implement the combination of leading cadres, technicians, and workers in the reform improvement of production, technology and management. This is the management system of enterprises. The Constitution of An Gang was an important attempt to socialist industrialization, which embodied the reasonable requirements of democratic and scientific management for China’s industrial enterprises at that time. In addition, the “The Constitution of An Gang” is a reflection of management thinking in the “Great Leap Forward” period, with a strong ideological and political background, its birth and promotion to a greater extent is for meeting the political needs of the time, and it is the product during the period of political movement and “mass line”. (2) The seventy articles of industry. On September 16, 1961, the central government organized an enterprise management investigation group. Through a systematic investigation and study of enterprises such as Beijing No. 1 Machine Tool Factory, it formulated the “Draft Regulations on the Work of State-owned Industrial Enterprises” (“Industrial Article 70”). This ordinance clearly puts forward the nature and basic tasks of state-owned industrial enterprises and stipulates the relationship between enterprises and the state. At the same time, it stresses that we should liberate our thinking, break superstitions, respect science and act in accordance with objective economic and technological laws in the management of enterprises, realize the collective leadership of Party committees, and establish a unified commanding system headed by factory directors. First, the production command system should rely on the masses and follow the mass line and establish a responsibility system and serious labor discipline. We should strengthen ideological and political work, implement spiritual encouragement, and implement the principle of distributing reward

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based on work performed, and implement material incentive. “Industrial Article 70” is the first article of the association on enterprise management in China since the founding of New China. It was an essential document for the restraining disorder, rectifying industrial enterprises and improving enterprise management at that time. It systematically summarizes the experiences and lessons of leading state-owned enterprises since the founding of New China, puts forward the basic guiding principles of enterprise management based on real situation at that time, and explores enterprise management’s legal construction. It is of great significance to the development of the theory of enterprise management and management in our country. It is a trial of putting scientific management in the planned economic system instead of blind production directed by subjective judgment. Its promulgation and implementation will help implement the policy of adjustment, consolidation, enrichment, and improvement; it will restore and establish normal production order and promote productive forces’ development.

3.1.3 Basic Characteristics of Management Thoughts in Planned Economy Period Production Oriented Management Theory Under Highly Centralized Economic Management System During this period, enterprises lack the basic right to operate independently. For the state-owned enterprises which are absolutely dominant in quantity, scale and function, the change of any management system and the introduction of management methods are almost all unified arrangements from top to bottom by the government’s economic departments through the issuance of documents, promotion, implementation and regular inspection of administrative plans and orders. This was implemented even as a mass activity, promoted by the central government at the national level, and a highly centralized economic management system has been formed. The basic feature of enterprise management theory is that enterprise management only pays attention to the study of production management within the enterprise but hardly studies the field of circulation outside the enterprise, and therefore forming management theory that is biased towards production. Management Learns and Develops the Soviet Union Mode In order to meet the needs of the large-scale construction of “the first five-year plan”, the enterprise management system and methods of the Soviet Union were introduced systematically and comprehensively throughout the country. The mode of “One-Long-Term System” and “constitution of Ma Gang” of the Soviet Union were implemented in the industrial enterprise management, which made the enterprise management of our country begin to enter the orbit of scientific management.

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Knowledge “One-Long-Term System”: An important management principle and method of leadership of the Soviet economic and administrative departments, that is, to confer broad powers necessary for state organs and business leaders to perform their duties, and to stimulate their personal responsibilities for the results of their work. The purpose is to strengthen the management of organs, enterprises, and institutions and to combine the firm leadership of managers with people’s participation in management activity. The Constitution of Ma Gang refers to the Soviet Union’s long-term management method represented by the experience of the Magnitogorsk metallurgical complex. Its characteristics are: implementing the “long-term system”; engaging in material stimulation; relying on a small number of experts and a set of complicated rules and regulations to run enterprises with minimal attention; not engaging in mass technical revolution. It is opposite to the system that stresses the need for democratic management, the participation of cadres in labor and the workers in management, the reform of unreasonable rules and regulations, and the combination of the masses of workers, leading cadres and technicians.

Enterprise Management Theory Attaches Importance to Democratic Management Democratic management has always been an important feature of China’s business management theory from the old and new enterprise management stage to the stage of socialist construction. When the People’s Republic of China was founded, it was necessary to change the unreasonable way of enterprise management in the old society so that the people could truly become the masters of enterprises and participate in enterprises’ management. The Eighth National Congress of the Communist Party of China proposed to implement the responsibility system of factory director or manager under the collective leadership of the Party Committee in enterprises and decided to implement the system of workers’ Congress under the leadership of the Party Committee in enterprises to strengthen democratic management. The Development of Management Has Distinct Characteristics of the Times After founding the People’s Republic of China, China’s enterprise management first went through democratic reform and production reform and established a basic socialist industrial system and enterprise system. Secondly, under the unified deployment of the government’s economic management departments, the Soviet

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Union’s enterprise management system and methods were introduced and implemented in an all-round and systematic way throughout the country, whose core is the Soviet Union’s enterprise management system and the production-oriented management of production processes under strict planning instructions. Finally, China gradually established its own business management system.

3.2 Management Thoughts in the Period of Enterprise Transformation From the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (1979) to the Third Plenary Session of the Fourteenth Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (1992), the practice and theory of enterprise management are in a transitional period. During this period, through the enterprise “group” learning and enterprise management knowledge repolarization, enterprise management was back to the correct track. The introduction of many advanced western management ideas and scientific management methods has broadened the horizons of Chinese business managers and made clear the goal of catching up. Especially after comrade Deng Xiaoping inspected the Southern economy in 1984, foreign-funded enterprises began to enter China, reform of state-owned enterprises quickened the pace, and many local enterprises grew up. Correspondingly, the science of enterprise management has been restored. Chinese management started by learning and imitating the Western theory of enterprise management and gradually carried out their own exploration.

3.2.1 The Formation and Development of Management Thoughts During the Period of Enterprise Transformation After the fact that “Gang of Four” was defeated, all the work remained to be done. The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China soon put forward the task of restoring enterprises’ management. In July 1978, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China formulated the “Decision on Several Questions Concerning the Acceleration of Industrial Development (Draft)”, namely the Thirty Articles of Industry, which provided a proper policy basis for the scientific management of enterprises. The Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the Communist Party of China held in December of the same year, called on the whole Party and the people of the whole country to shift the focus of their work to the socialist modernization development. “Right now, power is unnecessarily centralized in our economic management system, it is desired to give autonomy to some local as well as manufacturing and agricultural enterprises under the unified guidance of the country”. “Right now we should expand the autonomy of enterprises, and the quality of enterprise management with the material interests of workers linked to enterprise management performance”. To implement the spirit of the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, the Central Working Conference of April 1979 put forward the policy of “adjustment, reform, rectification and improvement”. At the beginning of

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1982, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China made the Decision on the Comprehensive Restructuring of State-owned Industrial Enterprises, which calls for a comprehensive reorganization of all state-owned industrial enterprises in two or three years from 1982, in a planned, step-by-step, combining pilot units and mass application, staged and batched fashion. In the same period, the CPC Central Committee and the State Council issued the Interim Regulations on the Work of Factory Directors in State-owned Factories, which put forward the basic principles of enterprise management: collective leadership of the Party committee, democratic management of workers and administrative command of factory directors. In addition, the government and theorists have done a lot of fruitful work in the recovery and construction of business management theories and disciplines: ① Sending experts and scholars to Japan and the United States to study the theory and experience of business management. ② The State Economic Commission and relevant organizations have held many seminars and exchanges of experience on the modernization of enterprise management. At the end of 1985, the overall rectification of enterprises nationwide was successfully completed, and the focus of enterprise management began to shift to the modernization of enterprise management.

3.2.2 Main Contents of Management Thought During the Period of Enterprise Transformation The Transformation of Enterprise Management Mode from Production Type to Production Management Type The transformation of China’s enterprise system starts with expanding the autonomy of enterprises. Expanding enterprises’ autonomy is an important part of the CPC’s reform after the Third Plenary Session of the 11th CPC Central Committee. In the reform and opening up in the 1980s, enterprise reform is the first step. The guiding ideology of the reform of state-owned enterprises from 1984 to 1993 was the separation of the two powers, and the reform of property rights in a broad sense began at this stage. In the fourth quarter of 1978, Sichuan first conducted pilot projects in 6 state-run industrial enterprises. Pilot enterprises have been expanding since 1979. With the development of enterprise expansion, people are facing more economic responsibility problems. As a result, the reform has gradually expanded to the economic responsibility system, reforming the distribution system and labor system, and achieved varying degrees of results. The industrial economic responsibility system is a kind of management system that combines enterprises’ economic interests with their economic responsibilities, economic benefits, and labor achievements. It is not only the product of economic restructuring but also the progress of enterprise management. It is also the beginning of enterprises from production-oriented management to production operations-oriented management.

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Introduce and Learn Advanced Management Experience and Methods from Other Countries The theory of enterprise management in our country has made great progress in this stage because many new management theories abroad have been introduced, digested, and absorbed in time. Chinese enterprises began to contact and learn some advanced foreign management experience and modern management methods, applying those to their own management and achieved good results. Some world-famous multinational corporations, such as Coca-Cola, Panasonic, Motorola and KFC, have invested in China, which makes Chinese enterprises feel the huge gap in operation and management. This period’s landmark event is the advocacy and promotion of “total quality management” in China. This is the first “intimate contact” between Chinese enterprises and advanced international management concepts and methods. For Chinese factory directors and managers who have just opened their doors to see the world, “total quality management” is undoubtedly the first enlightenment course for Chinese enterprises to receive modern management education, fresh and fruitful. Since then, the modern management of enterprises has been put on the agenda. At the same time, foreign enterprises also gradually feel the importance of management localization.

3.2.3 The Basic Characteristics of Management Thoughts in the Period of Enterprise Transformation The transition from a planned economy to a market economy and from a closed state to an open state means an overall and essential change for any Chinese enterprise, which is full of opportunities and challenges. The theory of enterprise management in China has also introduced some foreign management theories and started some explorations. Enterprise Management Mode from Production to Production and Operation With the change of enterprise system and market environment, the management activities of enterprises are no longer confined to production and manufacturing processes, but now facing the market to adapt to the change of the entire operating environment, from simple production management to the management of the whole process of production and operation. Enterprise leaders also began to assume overall leadership responsibilities, focusing on production like they did in the past, finding the market, and the overall management of enterprises. The Mainstream of Management Development is Tracking, Learning and Imitation This period is the stage of imitation and comprehensive learning of the scientific management of Chinese enterprises. Unlike the previous study of Soviet management theories and methods, both the government and enterprises are open-minded, bold to learn from Japan, the United States, Europe and other countries’ business management theories and methods. Especially in the specific business management

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activities, the operational, process-oriented Western scientific management methods and techniques can be fully used for reference. The Development of Management Science is Dominated by State-Owned Enterprises Property rights theory has become one of the main contents of management theory in this period. At this stage, state-owned enterprises are still the main body of China’s enterprises, so state-owned enterprises still dominate enterprises’ reform. Especially after Deng Xiaoping inspected the Southern economy in 1984, the enterprises’ reform was mainly addressing state-owned enterprises expanding power and transferring profits, contracting management responsibility system, turning profits into taxes, and appropriating loans. The scientific and modernized management promoted by the enterprise system’s reform is mainly carried out in state-owned enterprises. Accordingly, the theory of enterprise property rights reform has become one of the main contents of enterprise management theory in this period. Government Advocacy and Promotion is Still the Main Way of Management Development The government’s economic departments continue to play a leading role in promoting the scientific management of enterprises. The changes in enterprise management are neither compulsory or quasi-compulsory. It is the basic path for management’s scientific practice to have the government releasing relevant documents, unifying the standards and procedures, and having the enterprises promote and implement it comprehensively. The introduction and implementation of advanced management methods are often promoted by the government through the model of “selecting pilot projects—summing up experience—setting benchmarks— mass adoption”. In view of the state-owned enterprises’ reform, development, and management situation at this stage, such a scientific promotion model of enterprise management is fruitful. However, it also reflects that at this stage, enterprises still lack the autonomy to a large extent, and the motivation of scientific practice and innovation of conscious management is generally insufficient. The Content of Management Theory is Gradually Enriched and Perfected The change from enterprise management mode to production and management promotes enterprise management theory’s scope and content to be greatly expanded. In the mid-1980s, a series of foreign monographs on corporate culture were translated and published in China. The theory of corporate culture was widely disseminated in China and had a great impact. In China’s theoretical circles, we began to pay attention to corporate strategy in the middle of the 80s. Professors Pan Chenglie and Liu Jisheng earlier put forward the idea of “business strategy” and carried out the research. The Chinese Enterprise Management Association held a seminar on Chinese enterprises’ development strategy in the 1990s in Suzhou in 1988.

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Chinese Enterprises Have Made Useful Explorations in Management Practice and Innovation The process of enterprise management modernization is a process of integrating external experience and independent transformation. Many enterprises begin to explore new management methods more suitable for their own conditions based on learning modern management methods abroad. Some enterprises in the forefront of scientific management seize the opportunity of entrepreneurship and development and accumulate capital, talent and management knowledge, laying the foundation for large-scale management of scientific practice.

3.3 Management Thoughts in the Market Economy Era The Decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party on Several Questions Concerning the Establishment of a Socialist Market Economic System, adopted at the Third Plenary Session of the 14th CPC Central Committee, points out the reform’s direction of the economic system of the Communist Party of China. On the macro level, it is necessary to establish a socialist market economic system and straighten out the relationship between the government, enterprises and the market; On the micro-level, it is necessary to transform the operating mechanism of state-owned enterprises and establish a modern enterprise system with “clear property rights, clear rights and responsibilities, separation of government and enterprises, and scientific management”. This policy orientation determines that the dominant idea of Chinese management science development is “based on the national conditions, integrating into the world”. Based on China’s national conditions, the theoretical development and practical exploration of Chinese management must be based on China’s special institutional background, integrating theory with practice; integrating into the world requires that the development of Chinese management to keep pace with the times and integrate into the global market competition pattern.

3.3.1 New Environment for the Development of Management Thoughts in China’s Market Economy Era Blueprint for Building a Socialist Market Economy Establishing a socialist market economic system is to make the market play a fundamental role in the allocation of resources under the state’s macro-control. In order to achieve this goal, we must adhere to the principle of taking public ownership as the main body and developing various economic components together, further transform the operating mechanism of state-owned enterprises, establish a modern enterprise system with clear property rights, clear rights and responsibilities, separate government from enterprises and manage scientifically, and establish a unified and open market system throughout the country, realize the close integration of rural and urban market. The domestic market is closely linked up with the international market to promote the optimal allocation of resources; the functions of

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the government in managing the economy are transformed; a sound macro-control system based on indirect intervention is established to ensure the healthy operation of the national economy; and the income distribution system based on work performed as the main body, efficiency first and at the same time sticking to fairness is established. We should encourage some people in some areas to become rich first and take the road of common prosperity, establish a multi-level social security system to provide social security for urban and rural residents at the same pace as China’s national conditions and promote economic development and social stability. The establishment of the market economic system has determined the new development direction of Chinese management science and has greatly promoted the development of Chinese management science theory and practice. Development Trend of the Global Economy Since the end of the twentieth century, several major trends have emerged in the global economy in the form of globalization, networking and knowledge-based. These new trends in economic development have profoundly affected the development trend of global management and Chinese management. In 2001, China successfully joined the World Trade Organization (WTO). Since then, under the guidance of the “going out” strategy of the state, the degree of globalization of Chinese enterprises and China’s economy has been increasing day by day. The practice of internationalization of Chinese enterprises has brought a new topic to Chinese management: how can the theoretical system of management effectively guide Chinese enterprises’ internationalization? At the same time, the solution of this problem has greatly promoted the integration of Chinese management theory and world management theory and promoted the development of Chinese management theory. The networking trend has changed the relationship paradigm among market participants and promote enterprises to build network platforms to enhance their control over market resources. This kind of transformation has brought many opportunities and challenges, requiring enterprises to overhaul their processes to meet the various management challenges brought by the network paradigm. In the aspect of the knowledge economy, it is a knowledge-based economy in contrast to agricultural economy and industrial economy, and it is a new kind of economic form full of vitality. Knowledge-based economy has a far-reaching impact on the way of investment, industrial structure and growth patterns, and has a significant impact on Chinese management theory and practice.

3.3.2 Main Contents of Management Thoughts in the Market Economy Era With the acceleration of mercerization, industrialization and internationalization in China, great progress has been made in both the practice of management innovation and the academic research of management, which is responsible for exploring the law of management activities under the conditions of market economy. This paper will list a few focus of Chinese management below and expound the main thread of Chinese management development since the Third Plenary Session of the 14th CPC Central Committee and show China’s great achievements development. Since the

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Third Plenary Session of the 14th CPC Central Committee, the major decisions of China’s economic restructuring include the reform of state-owned enterprises and the construction of managerial staff, the strategy of “going out” and the strategy of overseas investment of Chinese enterprises; the strategy of encouraging non-public ownership and the development of Chinese private enterprises; the strategy of independent innovation and the strategic restructuring of Chinese enterprises. State-Owned Enterprise Reform and Management Team Building In the fourth Plenary Session of the 15th CPC Central Committee, the Communist Party of China pointed out that the reform of state-owned enterprises is the central link of the whole economic system reform. To establish a sound socialist market economic system and realize the effective combination of public ownership and market economy, the most important thing is for state-owned enterprises to form a management system and operating mechanism to meet market economy requirements. The direction of the reform of state-owned enterprises is to establish a modern enterprise system, i.e. a new enterprise system based on the sound enterprise legal person system, guaranteed by the limited liability system, mainly in the form of companies, characterized by “clear property rights, clear rights and responsibilities, separation of government and enterprise, manage scientifically”. An important condition for the reform of state-owned enterprises is building a management talent team. For this purpose, the government strongly supports the construction of the managers’ market, and calls for optimizing the allocation of human resources in accordance with the principles of openness, equality, competition and merit-based, breaking through the division of all sectors of human resources, and promoting the rational flow of human resources. In this economic environment, the construction of managers and their teams has become an important branch of management research in China, embedding reform in human resources management, corporate governance and organizational management and other aspects, and becoming an important part of the reform of state-owned enterprises. Go Out Strategy and Chinese Enterprises’ Overseas Investment Strategy In line with the trend of economic globalization and the needs of China’s economic restructuring, the Chinese government emphasizes that the development strategy of “importing” must be changed to the combination of “importing” and “going out”. Implementing the strategy of “going out” is an important measure in the new stage of opening up to the outside world. Our government will encourage and support all forms of business with comparative advantages to invest abroad and promote the export of goods and services so as to form a number of powerful multinational enterprises with strong brand equity and actively participate in regional economic exchanges and cooperation. After the 16th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, Chinese scholars have paid more and more attention to Chinese enterprises’ global operation, and more and more attention has been paid to the research in this field.

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Encourage Non-Public Ownership Economy and the Development of Private Enterprises in China Since the reform and opening-up, China’s private economy, private enterprises developed out of nothing, grew from small to large, and has become an important part of China’s economy. The importance attached by the CPC Central Committee and the State Council to the private economy and the promulgation and implementation of relevant policies have promoted the development of the private economy in China from the institutional level, and at the same time prompted the academic circles to attach importance to the study of the private sector. Since then, the relevant research on private sector has flourished, involving the legal status of the private economy, industrial restructuring, financing channels, governance structure and manager market, as well as the case analysis of exemplar private enterprises. Independent Innovation Strategy and Strategic Structural Upgrading of Chinese Enterprises The Fifth Plenary Session of the 16th CPC Central Committee clearly put forward the development strategy of optimizing the industrial structure and improving the ability of independent innovation, which provides a broad space for Chinese enterprises, governments, and individuals to innovate. Management practices and academic research on the strategy of industrial restructuring and independent innovation have been developing rapidly. In terms of innovation practice, the reform of government institutions, industrial restructuring and enterprise innovation strategy have increasingly become a social hot spot, and the innovation model has also transformed from technology import to independent R&D. A vital application of independent innovation is to carry out strategic structural upgrading of enterprises. Therefore, Chinese enterprises need to upgrade their strategic structure by means of independent innovation to gain a place in the competitive international emerging industries such as energy, biology, and pharmaceuticals.

3.3.3 The Basic Characteristics of Management Thoughts in the Market Economy Era China’s reform and opening-up is a process of “Groping one’s way and advance”, which determines that the development of Chinese management has two basic characteristics: in theory, we should pay attention to introducing various advanced management theories from abroad; in practice, we should base on the special national conditions of China’s economic system reform. Theoretical Research: Pay Attention to the Introduction of Various Advanced Management Theories Abroad With the advancement of market economic system reform, the reform of state-owned enterprises urgently needs the guidance of management theory to meet market economic development needs and integrate into the global competition. In the stage of establishing a modern enterprise system, in order to combine the deep reform of state-owned enterprises with strengthening enterprise management, theories and methods of foreign enterprise management have been introduced successively. The

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domestic system has also introduced a series of teaching materials of various disciplines under the management of industry and commerce, enabling business management teaching to advance to international standards gradually. Practice and Exploration: Special Conditions Based on China’s Economic Restructuring With the establishment, perfection and development of China’s socialist market economic system, the scientific and modern level of China’s business management practice has been greatly improved by the promotion of management academic research and management education, which are all based on the special conditions of China’s economic system reform. Since the Third Plenary Session of the 14th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, the development of Chinese management has gone through four important periods, namely the period of enterprise property rights reform; the period of implementing the “going out” development strategy; the period of encouraging the development of the private sector and the period of putting forward the development strategy of independent innovation. The development of management in China is synchronized with the reform of the economic system. Review and Discussion 1. What were the main contents and basic characteristics of management thought in the Pre-Qin period? 2. What were the main contents and basic characteristics of management thoughts from Qin Dynasty to Tang Dynasty? 3. What were the main contents and basic characteristics of management thoughts from the Song Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty? 4. In the late Qing Dynasty, what were the views of different classes and factions? What was the most distinctive management thought in the Republic of China? What was the impact on the China’s economy at that time? 5. What were the Charter of the An Gang and the industrial seventy? What were the characteristics of China’s economy at that time? 6. Under the new environment of global economic development, Chinese enterprises are learning more from the Western management ideas, introducing Western management methods, and achieved certain results. Do you think Chinese enterprises should also learn from Chinese management thoughts? What is the difference and connection between Chinese and Western management thoughts? Case Zhang Ruimin, President of Haier group, talks about management As we all know, Zhang Ruimin, president of Haier Group, in his daily life reads numerous books; his bookstore has too many studies of Chinese ancient civilization; his management ideas also have a lot of reference to the idea of Chinese culture, which shows that Chinese culture is very important for an enterprise.

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Zhang Ruimin always stands in a higher and deeper realm of thought and culture to think about problems. A Hong Kong journalist asked Zhang Ruimin what qualities an entrepreneur should have in the first place. He thought and answered: the quality to have is that of a philosopher. Zhang Ruimin’s quiet character is based on his philosophical accomplishment. Zhang Ruimin once visited a large company in Japan. The chairman liked to discuss philosophical issues, especially some wisdom quotes. He told Zhang Ruimin that the starting point of his company’s production was “truth, kindness, and beauty”, and that it was a quote from Lao Tzu. Zhang Ruimin told him that there is no “truth, kindness, and beauty” in Lao Tzu’s Tao Te Jing, but there is a saying that essentially bared the same meaning, “all things in the world are born from tangible matters, and tangible matters are born from the intangible”. Zhang Ruimin highly praised Lao Tzu’s Dao De Jing, which he had read many times. He said that when it comes to business management, two points have always been his motto: one is to emphasize that intangible things are more important than tangible things, that is, “all things in the world are born from tangible matters, and tangible matters are born from the intangible”. The biggest drawbacks of an enterprise are: from the top leader to lowest rank employees, there are too much emphasis on visible results, too little attention to intangible gains, for example, chasing for profit and production output; no one pays attention to corporate culture, and many units do not even have a corporate culture, and an enterprise without culture is equal to having no soul. In Lao Tzu’s Dao De Jing, the intangible is the soul. He thinks that “Dao gives birth to the universe, the universe became Ying and Yang, and from Ying and Yang all things are created”. The root of all things is the Tao, and the Tao is an essential but invisible thing. Zhang Ruimin also has a deep feeling in the Dao De Jing, which is “the weak beats the strong”. He said: “in the old version, the interpretation of this sentence is negative””. It shows a process of transformation, weak can be strong, small can turn big, the problem is how to see it. Enterprises are always in a weak position, if you can put yourself in a weak position, you have a goal can always move forward. Matsushita’s corporate philosophy also emphasizes Taoism. In Matsushita’s garden, there is a bronze statue of Lao Tzu, engraved in Chinese on the stone pedestal below: The Tao that can be told is not absolute Tao. In early April 1997, Zhang Ruimin was invited to visit Panasonic. During a visit to the Panasonic Museum, we talked about Panasonic’s management philosophy with some of the “Panasonic philosophers” in the museum. They were very excited and talked more and more about it. During the conversation, Zhang Ruimin quoted Jia Dao, a poet of the Tang Dynasty, who wrote Seekers Do not Meet: “Ask a boy where is his mater under a pine, the boy says he went to collect medicine, he is in the mountain but I do not know exactly where.” Then he said, “Mr. Matsushita’s philosophy of management is as profound as this poem says, but it is unconventional. The effect depends on everyone’s own understanding and application. In fact, people who succeed in doing business often feel “knowing that he is in the mountain, but not exactly where”. The speech won the Panasonic philosophers’ admiration. Less than

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a week after returning to Qingdao, Zhang Ruimin received a fax from Panasonic and earnestly hoped to come to Qingdao for corporate cultural exchanges. He hoped that the exchanges would be substantive and that both sides could talk out some truth without making superficial remarks. In May 1997, Mr. Bo led the Japanese Panasonic delegation to visit Haier. During the conversation, Mr. Bo felt that Haier’s “Kung Fu” study of Matsushita was very deep. Zhang Ruimin said: “I have a deep understanding of Mr. Matsushita’s reservoir philosophy, that is, to ‘accumulate momentum’, only ‘accumulate momentum’ can have an impact.” He went on to say, “There is a Chinese philosopher named Lao Tzu, who once said such a phrase, which has a great influence on me.” Lao Tzu said, “I have three treasures: one is kindness, the other is prudence, and the third is not being the first to attempt.” Mr. Nakajima, a member of the delegation who stayed in China for 31 years, was very impressed and immediately translated to Counselor Bo: “Mr. Zhang said that he insisted on human-oriented management, thus forming Haier’s cohesion today, such as the “Great sister-in-law” noodle restaurant we went to see. Some were originally the backbone of production, but now are the big sister-in-law business experts, which shows how responsible President Zhang is to his employees; second he is prudent and is opposed to wasting; third he will not be the first one to try things, but actually advocate honest learning and accumulating strength, so he can be the first in the world!”. This atmosphere of talking about metaphysics has a great influence on Haier people. Many of Haier’s ideas and action programs emerged from the discussion of metaphysics and eventually gathered into a unique Haier culture. Source: Taoist philosophy and Zhang Ruimin’s management thought. One yuan one Guoxue net. Questions 1. What is Zhang Ruimin’s Taoist thought in this case? 2. Zhang Ruimin thinks that entrepreneurs should have the qualities of philosophers. Do you think Chinese entrepreneurs should learn such philosophical ideas? Why? 3. With the strengthening of communication between Chinese enterprises and foreign enterprises, business management ideas are also increasing. Do you think foreign countries can recognize Chinese management ideas? Why? 1840 770 BC

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Appendix Memorabilia of management development in China In ancient times, King Xuanyuan Huang wrote Huangdi Jing, which is the origin of Chinese culture and expounds human survival wisdom. It paid attention to agricultural development and opened the first thought of agricultural management thought. In the middle and late period of the Neolithic Age, Fuxi created the Eight Diagrams, summarized everything between heaven and earth with eight simple but profound symbols, and expounded the management thought of Tiangan-Dizhi and the time. In the early Western Zhou Dynasty, King Wen summed up the book of Changes, which is the source of Chinese thought and national spirit, and the earliest management thought to deal with the relationship between man and nature. In the Western Zhou Dynasty, Zhou Gongdan wrote Zhou Li, which was a work expressing the plan of governing the country through the official system and involved all aspects of social life. It was rare in ancient literature management thought. During the Zhou Dynasty, Lao Tzu’s Dao De Jing was the forerunner of Taoism and Taoism’s most important representative work. In the Spring and Autumn Period, Guan Zi, compiled by Guan Zhong and Guan Zhong School, put forward for the first time the principle of macro-management based on agriculture and the macro-management means of weighing and weighing. In the late Spring and Autumn Period, Confucius compiled Shang Shu, which was the earliest collection of historical materials and the earliest exposition of national macro-management ideas. In the late spring and Autumn period, Sun Wu’s The Art of War of Sun Tzu was considered to be the earliest and most systematic work of strategic management. At the end of the Spring and Autumn Period and the beginning of the Warring States Period, Mozi wrote Mozi, which established the Mohist school theory with the main thought of “both love and non-attack”. During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, businessmen founded by Zi Gong, Tao Zhugong, Baigui, etc. laid the foundation for Chinese traditional business management ideas. In the early days of the Warring States, the Analects of Confucius, which Confucius compiled in his lifetime, created the unique ideological system of Confucianism. In the middle of the Warring States Period, Mencius and his disciples wrote Mencius, which inherited and developed Confucianism as Confucianism. In the late Warring States Period, later generations relied on Jiang Taigong’s famous work Liutao, which had a far-reaching influence on their management thoughts.

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In the late Warring States period, Xunzi wrote Xunzi, enriching and developing the Confucian thought of governing the country, employing people and managing the economy. In the late Warring States Period, Han Feizi’s Han Feizi, based on criticizing and summarizing the early Legalist thoughts, created a perfect Legalist theory. During the Qin Dynasty, Qin Shi Huang set up an autocratic centralization system, which laid the foundation for national management. In the Western Han Dynasty, Sang Hongyang’s economic management thought provided a precedent for later generations’ economic management thought. During the Western Han Dynasty, the Spring and Autumn Fan Lu compiled by Dong Zhongshu made Confucianism accepted by state administrators and made great contributions to the dissemination of Confucianism. During the Three Kingdoms period, Zhuge Liang’s thoughts on decision-making, governing the country, talents and economic management provided reference for later generations. During the Northern Wei Dynasty, JiaSixie wrote Qi Min Yao shu and expounded the idea of agricultural management and management systematically. In the Northern Song Dynasty, Emperor Taizu’s management thought of strengthening imperial power provided a basis for successive dynasties’ emperors to strengthen imperial power. During the Ming Dynasty, Zhang Juzheng’s thought of managing state affairs and financial affairs pushed the thought of administration and economic management to a higher theoretical level. In the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties, Huang Zongxi, GuYanwu and Wang Fuzhi greatly developed the traditional people-based management thought, and Huang Zongxi first put forward the management thought that industry and commerce are both based on. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, traders in Shanxi managed businesses such as salt industry, ticket number, and so on. They applied the “integrity” and the unity of business and management ideas to the extreme. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Huizhou merchants reached the pinnacle of Chinese merchants with the salt industry’s management as the key. Huizhou merchants respected culture and education, and their management thought of Confucian merchants’ culture of benevolence, righteousness and honesty was brought into full play. During the Qing Dynasty, Zheng Guanying’s democratic and scientific management thought enabled modern China to have a complete ideological system of reform. During the Qing Dynasty, Wei Yuan put forward the ideas of “practicing the world for the purpose of application” and “mastering Yi’s skills to control Yi”. This pioneered the study of Western management thoughts. In the late Qing Dynasty, Kang Youwei’s book New Learning Pseudo-classical Examination combined Confucianism with the development of the times and promoted the ability of Confucianism to keep pace with the times.

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In 1897, China Commerce Bank, China’s first bank, was established in Shanghai by Yan Xinhou appointed by Chaozhang Sheng Xuanhuai. Future generations of businessmen inherited the adventurous and learning ideas of Chao merchants. In 1898, Zhang Jian founded Dasheng Yarn Mill to discuss the management of China’s national economy and the management of enterprises, and gradually formed a set of unique management ideas. In the early twentieth Century, the national industry’s revitalization and Commerce gave Guangdong businessmen a better opportunity for development. The spirit of hardship and endurance in Chinese Confucian culture, combined with the spirit of competition and pioneering in Western culture, has become an important management thought carried forward by Guangdong businessmen. In January 1912, Sun Yat-sen established the Republic of China, which opened a new chapter in China’s political system and economic management and took an important step forward in Chinese society’s development. In March 1960, the proposal of the Constitution of Anshan Iron and Steel Company was an important attempt to explore the road of socialist industrialization, which embodied the reasonable requirements of democratic and scientific management for China’s industrial enterprises at that time. In September 1961, the Bill on the Work of State-owned Industrial Enterprises was promulgated, which attempts to reform the enterprises and enlarge to a certain extent the autonomous authority of the enterprises’ management. In July 1978, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China formulated the Decision on Several Questions Concerning the Acceleration of Industrial Development (Draft) (i.e. Industrial Article 30), which provided the correct policy basis for the scientific management of enterprises. In January 1982, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council issued the Interim Regulations on the Work of Factory Directors in State-owned Factories, which began the state-owned enterprise management mode of collective leadership by the Party committee, democratic management of workers and administrative command of factory directors. From 1984 to 1993, the reform of state-owned enterprises carried out the separation of powers. China began to explore the road of modern enterprise management with Chinese characteristics.

References Jiazhen, Z. (1991). Economic thoughts in the great learning and the doctrine of the mean. A Study of Chinese Economic History, 2. Zhiyou, J. (2011). Confucian business ancestor: Zi Gong’s wealth road. Oriental Corporate Culture, 15.

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The Appropriate Time—Management Based on the Relationship Between Human Beings and Nature

Humans follow the Rules of the earth, and the earth follows the Rules of heaven, heaven follows the rules of Tao. Tao follows the Rule of nature. —Tao Te Ching If you get something, you will not be happy; you will not be sad if you lose it because gain and loss are natural things in people’s life. —Chuang Tzu The difficulty of things is not the size, but the timing. —Lü’s Commentaries of History

Abstract

1. This chapter thinks that the management of the relationship between man and nature mainly includes three parts “Complying with the Tao” (Management Based on Tao), “Following with the Rules” (Management Based on Rules), “Emphasizing the Methods” (Management Based on Methods). In the subordinate branches of Chinese management principles, these three parts are logically closely integrated and inseparable. The relationship between man and nature is the premise of all relations. Only by dealing with the relationship between them can we better handle the relationship between human and society and between human and human. 2. Shun Tao is based on the correct understanding of the world’s Tao to follow Tao’s requirements and achieve certain governance objectives of management behavior. Following the Rules is the management process in which the manager implements the management behavior, conforms to the development rules, and achieves a certain goal according to an effective way. Emphasizing on Methods © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021 H. Hu, Principles of Chinese Management, Management for Professionals, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-6522-3_3

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is to use a variety of effective management methods, combined with the situation at the time to practice and explore, so that management behavior can fully play its role. 3. In the process of dealing with the relationship between human and nature, we should proceed from the integrity of things, use effective and expedient management methods, follow the development trend of the laws of nature, society and humanity, seize the opportunity and favorable situation, and constantly innovate, so as to make the management process more effective and reasonable. 4. In the practical management, people should constantly improve their cognitive ability and level, and improve their personal accomplishment; It is necessary to follow the development direction of the natural law, achieve the harmony between man and nature, and constantly create favorable opportunities and situations so that the internal mechanism of nature can be used in human management activities. Keywords







The appropriate time Management on complying with the Tao Governing by Non-interference Tao following the rule of nature Management methods Seizing the opportunity










Learning Purpose and Requirements Understanding the content of man nature management thought and the relationship between them. Comprehending the meaning of “Complying with the Tao” “Following with the Rules” “Emphasizing the Methods”. Being familiar with the specific management application of “Complying with the Tao” “Following with the Rules” “Emphasizing the Methods”. Mastering the application of the management based on the Tao, Rules and Methods in the practical management. Case Only by using the laws of nature can man achieve his goal “Mulberry-Fish Pond” in ancient China is a good model of ecological agriculture. “We can breed mulberry, fish in the pond, silkworm in mulberry leaves and fish in silkworm excrement”, this kind of production pattern and the ecological system of mutual promotion between land and water has a history of thousands of years in China. The agricultural ecosystem is a complex artificial ecosystem, including natural, economic, and social elements. The “four in one” ecological agriculture mode combines producers, consumers, and decomposers organically strengthen material recycling, and forms pollution-free and waste-free agriculture. The cultivation and planting of biogas as a link, closely linked together, forming a complete production cycle system. As the biogas digester, poultry pen and toilet are

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built in the solar greenhouse; they depend on each other, use each other and depend on each other. Greenhouse provides good conditions of light, temperature and humidity for biogas digesters and poultry pens. Poultry respiration and biogas combustion can increase the temperature of the greenhouse and increase the yield of fruits and vegetables in the greenhouse. On the contrary, oxygen produced by the photosynthesis of fruits and vegetables in the greenhouse can be used for livestock and poultry respiration. The relationship between the “four in one” model is coordinated and constitutes a cycle regeneration path, which makes the biological population of the system increase and the structure of the food chain lengthen. The combination fully embodies the basic principles of ecological agriculture of “integration, coordination, circulation and regeneration” (Fig. 1). Data source: Xing (1992) (1). This chapter mainly studies the basic theory of the relationship management between man and nature, focusing on the research on the relationship between man and nature in Chinese academia and how to deal with the relationship between man and nature. The appropriate time is the law of heaven and the internal mechanism of the development and operation of things in nature. Its existence does not change with the changes of external things. This chapter thinks that the management of the relationship between man and nature mainly includes three parts “Complying with the Tao” (Management Based on Tao), “Following with the Rules” (Management Based on Rules), “Emphasizing the Methods” (Management Based on Methods). In the subordinate branches of Chinese management principles, these three parts are logically closely integrated and inseparable. The relationship between man and nature is the premise of all relations. Only by dealing with the relationship between them can we better handle the relationship between humans and society and between human and human. Based on I Ching Tao Te Ching and the Analects of Confucius, Chinese management thoughts systematically summarize and explain the relationship between man and nature.

Fig. 1 Pattern representation of “Mulberry-Fish Pond” in Ancient times

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Complying with Tao: Management Based on Tao

“Tao” contains multiple meanings, such as rules, reason, and Taoism. Lao Tzu regards Tao as the root and basis for the survival of all things on the earth. In Lao Tzu’s opinion, although everything is different, its form is diverse and its physical fitness is unique, their existence, birth, growth and success are all derived from the “one” that originates from Tao. Tao, as the origin and foundation of the living of all things, produced everything and resides in them in the form of “morality”, fosters everything based on their nature and characteristics.

1.1 Introduction 1.1.1 Introduction: The Connotation of Shun Tao Shun Tao is based on the correct understanding of the world’s Tao to follow Tao’s requirements and achieve certain governance objectives of management behavior. The basic requirements include two aspects: Correct Understanding of Tao and Feeling the Originality of Its Existence Although the existence of Tao is not easy to be recognized and discovered, for example, “Tao that can be told of, is not absolute Tao; the name that can be given is not absolute name.” (Tao Te Ching). But after certain practical and cognitive activities, Tao can still be recognized and grasped by human beings. Complying with the Requirements of Tao “Shun Tao” is an important guiding ideology for China’s management activities. Managing, according to Tao is the key to the success of management behavior. The basic requirement is that human activities’ resistance could be minimized, the impetus could be enhanced, and the efficiency of management activities could be improved due to following the Rules. In order to meet this requirement, we must grasp the three aspects: the integrality of things, the effectiveness of doing things, and the appropriateness of practice. Through long-term practice and exploration, the ancient Chinese have gained a deeper understanding of Shun Tao’s implementation and function. Under the premise of Shun Tao, they believe in Tao’s existence and the fundamental Rules restricting the development of things; In the process of Shun Tao and pursuing results, they firmly believe that only by complying with Tao can we achieve a tremendous success. Although the ancient understanding of Tao is different, they identity the objective existence of Tao. Tao is invisible and intangible, but it is the only being in the universe. Tao is “born before everything” is the “mother of everything”. It is an ultimate existence and the root of everything.

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1.1.2 The Application of Shun Tao In the theory of Shun Tao, it’s crucial and multi-aspect to use it effectively. Management Concept Refinement The specific content of the management concept should fully reflect the requirements of Te, which is the central aspect of refining the management concept of Shun Tao, and the purpose of the concept also reflects the requirements of Tao. In fact, Tao and Te are connected with each other. Some people also call the virtue of Te as the Tao. “Confucius says, ‘Having heard the Tao in the morning, one may die with satisfaction in the evening.’.” (The Analects of Confucius) reflects the noble universal moral standards. General Development Plan The development of things must start from a high level and make plans based on its direction, integrality, and long-term considerations. The general plan needs the help of Tao to take it to a higher level, to see things more clearly and deeply. Leadership Cultivation The management philosophy of Shun Tao requires people to learn, practice and experience in all activities continuously and finally achieve flexible application. Therefore, as a person in nature, it is necessary to improve self-cultivation ability and rationally use the management philosophy of Shun Tao to implement management behavior (Fig. 2).

1.2 Paying Attention to the Overall Management of Things: Integrating Yin and Yang Yin and Yang are of universal significance in the book of changes. There are Yin and Yang in heaven, hardness and softness in the land, benevolence and righteousness in humanity. The interaction between Yin and Yang promotes the change of things. This concept is in line with the law of development of things, is in

Fig. 2 Management method based on Tao

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accordance with the inherent law under the premise of the behavior; we call this kind of application and expansion in the field of management as the rule of Yin and Yang. Tips The book of changes is also called I Ching, It is the root of natural philosophy and ethical practice in Chinese traditional ideology and culture. It is the oldest divination work in China, which has a great impact on Chinese culture. Fuxi first drew eight trigrams, then there was Lian Shan, Gui Cang, and then Emperor Wen of Zhou Dynasty drew The book of changes, which was divided into Ching and Commentary. It is the crystallization of five thousand years of Chinese wisdom and culture, known as “the first of the Ching, the source of the Tao”. In ancient times, it was the learning of emperors and the required skill of statesmen, strategists and merchants. In essence, the book of changes is a book about divination. “Divination” is to predict the development of future events, and the book of changes is a book summarizing the laws and theories of these predictions. Data source: Liu (1988).

1.2.1 Keeping Yin and Yang Integrated Only in the world can we maintain the unity of Yin and Yang and achieve a high degree of consistency, and everything can become indestructible. The ideal country pursued by ancient philosophers and practitioners is the harmonious country of both Yin and Yang. The harmony of power between Yin and Yang is the basis for the stable development of things. Human beings should make full use of the relationship between the two to implement the management concept of Yin and Yang integration. Complementarity The unity of Yin and Yang generally includes the unity of complementarity, such as heaven and earth, men and women, tables and chairs, etc.; the unity of differences, such as the Yangtze River and the Yellow River, there is no convergence between the two, just coexistence; the unity of opposites, there are irreconcilable contradictions between the two sides, such as the antagonism of lions and antelopes. “All things thrive without harming each other, Tao runs in parallel without contradictions, and this why this world is enormous.” (The Book of Rite, The Chapter of the Mean) In addition to being connected to each other, nature’s various creatures are an interdependent relationship. Diversity “The Eight Trigrams can reflect the hexagram” (I Ching, The Great Appendix), which means after the Eight Diagrams were created and ranked, and the symbol of all things is basically in it, so the Eight Diagrams is a model and foundation for the various manifestations of Yin and Yang. In regulating things, we must always balance diversity; otherwise, the inherent balance will be broken, which is not

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conducive to long-term development. According to this, managers should embrace diversity and use this relationship flexibly to maintain things’ vitality. Harmony I Ching emphasizes balance, harmony, and complementarity. Balance is the balance between Yin and Yang. No matter which side of Yin and Yang is overgrown, it will bring turmoil. Keeping the entire system’s harmony and stability is what every manager wants, but not every manager can do it well. In management activities, managers must consider the internal and external environment of the organization, the relationship between various internal factors, and the relationship between tangible and intangible systems, etc. At the same time, they must be harmonious but different.

1.2.2 Promoting Yin and Yang Connected The Chapter of five elements formed based on Yin and Yang theory embodies Yin and Yang’s connection. There is a contradictory relationship between the five basic elements of gold, wood, water, fire, and earth, which shows the dialectical relationship between the creatures in the world, and no substance in the world is independent of other creatures. Smooth Circulation Between Factors According to the theory of Yin and Yang, although there are certain contradictions between the various factors, this contradiction is not a substitute for each other, but a mutual complement, transformation, and integration. This kind of thinking is embodied in the relationship between humans and nature, i.e., human behavior changes nature and conforms to nature. Active Communication, Evading Disadvantage “Heaven and earth interact and all things are born, the saints preach, and the world shall become peaceful” (I Ching) means the interaction of the heavens and the earth brings about the growth of all things, and the saints influence the hearts of the people to bring peace and prosperity to the world. Therefore, as a manager, it is necessary to correctly treat Yin and Yang’s relationship and deal with the balance between elements well. By giving full play to people’s talent, we will take the initiative to grasp the rule of the heavens, and finally “follow the rule from the heavens, and meet the needs of the people.”

1.2.3 Drive Development of Yin and Yang The core theory of “I Ching” is about change. It believes that everything is constantly changing, and the fundamental of change is Yin and Yang’s unity. Only by combining “change”, “flexibility”, “hardness” and “softness” can we promote the development of Yin and Yang. In turn, it conforms to the inherent development mechanism of things. The application of Yin and Yang will ultimately be implemented to promote the development of the system.

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Two Development Models “Change” “Flexibility” Everything in the universe is in constant motion and change, which is “The expression of things is diverse and expands to full of the universe”. For “flexibility” it emphasizes that in the process of change, we must pay attention to the relationship of innovation and inheritance; this is the so-called “Any circumstance hitting a limit will begin to change. Change will in turn lead to an unimpeded country, and then lead to continuity.” (I Ching, The Great Appendix). In reality, managers need to be flexible, adapt to each other, take the initiative to grasp the social environment trend, and improve the enthusiasm, initiative, and creativity in management. Two Driving Forces “Hardness” “Softness” “Hardness and softness set foundation” can be interpreted as adjusting the development process and grasping the development direction in a tough way and a soft way, in a revolutionary way and a propelling way. The manager acts according to the rule of “the world determines things”, controls the entire management process according to the management goals, always insists on acting according to the rule of nature, and promotes the coordinated development with the combination of hardness and softness. Two Strategies “Yin” “Yang” The development of things is always unconventional and in constant change. As a qualified manager, managers should try to perceive and predict the future development trend no matter what changes in the external environment. While respecting the objective reality, they should be flexible, exert their wisdom, persevere, improve themselves, and tenaciously respond to the difficulties and setbacks. Small Case In 2001, the market of tea drinks was dominated by several famous brands. Among them, “Master Kang” and “Tongyi” occupy the top two in the domestic tea beverage market. They occupy 46.9% and 40% of the domestic tea beverage market, respectively. At this time, Wahaha announced to invest 600 million yuan in entering the tea beverage market, which inevitably worried the industry. However, with its unique advertising appeal “Paradise water, Longjing tea, tea is more fragrant and stronger”, and coupled with the advertising effect of famous Hong Kong movie star Zhou Xingchi, Wahaha tea drinks have become popular, with 12 million bottles sold in one month, showing a trend of short supply. From the launch of very iced green tea, very iced black tea to Wahaha low sugar green tea, and then to Wahaha organic green tea, Wahaha tea beverage has leapt to the third place in China’s tea drinks, and the tea beverage market has shown a tripartite trend since then. In the milk beverage market, Wahaha is also a latecomer. Now it has occupied 71.8% of the national milk beverage market share and is recognized as the first brand of milk beverage in China. From Wahaha fruit milk to AD calcium milk, the

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second generation of AD calcium milk, vitamin E calcium milk, iron zinc calcium milk, and then to excellent yogurt, the products have been upgraded continuously, which not only meets the needs of consumers but also catches competitors by surprise, making Wahaha firmly the first place in the market. In today’s society, it is far from enough to wait for opportunities to emerge. We also need to have enough resources and find appropriate ways to deal with them. Wahaha absorbs all relevant market information, uses its own brand effect to innovate and develop, thus becoming the market leader. Data source: Shang and Chen (2005).

1.3 Management Methods to Maintain the Effectiveness of Handling Affairs: Governing by Non-interference The first way of governing by non-interference is the way of nature. Lao Tzu said, “Nature is unkind, it treats the creation like sacrificial straw-dogs.” (Tao Te Ching)) It means that there is no benevolence in the heavens and the earth; there is no such thing as kindness. People treat things like a dog made of grass when they are worshipping. Before the sacrifice, it was honored. After the sacrifice, no one would care and just left them be. Applying to management, managers need to “Act without personal desire. Manage without intentional concern.” and then achieve the effect of “do not struggle against nature and do the best for things you can change”. Chinese managers highly respect this theory.

1.3.1 Acting Intelligently Governing by non-interference is not simply a matter of adapting to nature and doing nothing, but a special act of applying wisdom. The key to good management improvement is to focus on the core and pay no attention to the look. It seems to be non-interference but it does everything according to nature; it is silent and seems to do nothing, but it is natural and does everything. The Subjectivity of Management Object “I do nothing, and the people become educated themselves; I am quiet, and the people become righteous themselves, I take no action, and the people get rich themselves; I have no desire but the people—are cultivated themselves” (Lao Tzu) That is to say, people know what they should do, and they recognize both the subjectivity of the person and the objective and realistic understanding. Managers should establish management based on the subjectivity and autonomy of the management object, and at the same time, the control of the manager should not be excessive. Managers and Subordinates Are Responsible for Their Duties Non-interference means the managers don’t have to do everything by themselves, only to be responsible for their duties by following the natural mechanism’s

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premise and allocating work to subordinates reasonably. In specific management operations, managers and subordinates should conform to the basic rule of development of nature and things while continually improving communication and behavior so that the two can continue to improve in a unified system. Conforming to Nature and Taking the Initiative to Make a Difference Since human society is born from nature and is a part of nature, it will be restricted and influenced by nature’s rule. Therefore, all human social activities, including management, must be in accordance with the rule of nature, achieving a certain order. At the same time, this kind of adaptation is not equal to passive, and there must be predictability in the management process and take the initiative to make a difference.

1.3.2 Governing by Morality Human beings must survive with material wealth such as clothing, food, housing, transportation, and the need to develop and utilize natural resources. However, China’s management attitude is not aimed at the infinite pursuit of possession, but for the purpose of “Zheng Te (Take good advantage of morality), Li min (Benefit the people), and Hou sheng (Make people live well)”, paying attention to the Governing by Morality to nature. Treating People with Kindness “There is great beauty in heaven and earth, but he does not speak; there is the rule at four seasons, but he does not speak; there is reason in all things, but he does not speak” (The book of Zhuang Tzu, The Chapter of Know northward). Since heaven and earth’s nature is “non-interference for a better result”, then management must pursue the spirit of humanity’s freedom, open-minded, and pursuit of ideals. Management emphasizes moral inspiration and nutrition while not being radical and conforming to the regularity of the development of things themselves. Lead by Example Managers must manage themselves and comply with natural requirements and rules in order to handle their relationship with their subordinates better and set an example for their subordinates to perform better. Managers should improve their own deficiencies and influence others by their charisma and morality influence. Therefore, managers can only mobilize their subordinates well if they lead by example while observing Tao. Complying with the Requirements of Subordinates As a qualified manager, we must adapt to the natural attributes and make constant adjustments in accordance with the requirements of subordinates to better implement management and reduce the resistance in the management process. Modern management must meet subordinates’ requirements, respect the wishes of subordinates, respect the creation of subordinates, fully release the wisdom and enthusiasm of people, and constantly improve the morality of subordinates.

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1.3.3 Treating Things with “Softness” Management is a process in which managers and governed are affected and controlled; management is an art. Human beings are not only the subject but also the core to determine the essence of the management process and the management art. The management and coordination of subordinates can be rigid by institutional constraints and discipline supervision or be soft by inspiration, initiation, induction and incentive, and reward. The Meaning of Softness The meaning of softness refers to neither the passive non-interference nor delusional thinking; it is based on the understanding of the rise and fall of objective things and the rule of development at all times. “The life of man is weak, but his death is strong; the sound of grass and dying tree are soft and crisp, and their death is also dry. So, the strong ones live for the sake of death, and the weak ones live for the sake of living.” (Tao Te Ching). That is to say, strong things belong to the category of death, and weak things belong to the category of growth. Therefore, the connotation of softness cannot be ignored. It is necessary to understand how to apply Tao to manage better. Showing Softness, Long-Term Prosperity Ancient Chinese thinkers put forward the idea of “Just to keep soft” and “softness can overcome hardness”, pointing out that governing by non-interference must use “showing weakness, long-term prosperity” to better achieve the goal. In handling affairs and managing activities, we must understand the situation clearly, master our own position, not be arrogant or feel inferior, and make good use of the rule. Therefore, it is necessary to maintain a long-term mentality of “showing softness” and promoting a higher management behavior level. Learning the Soft Essence of Water Lao Tzu admires the “selfless” of water extremely. He said that people with high self-cultivation are like water, and they are good for the world without competing with others. They are always in an unpleasant position to get close to Tao. This kind of thinking is respected because it is not self-sufficient and conforms to everything. Only by imitating water characteristics can we adapt to the trend and use it to the highest level.

1.4 Management Methods to Control the Appropriateness of Practice: Adjusting with Golden Mean Everything has two instruments of Taiji, and its development process has three countries or three elements: “exceeding”, “below” and “mean”. Zhong Yong (The Chapter of Mean) is a kind of Tao to make everything go smoothly. In the management activities, we should be guided by The Chapter of Mean, emphasizing the appropriateness of management to obtain the right results.

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1.4.1 Cultivate the Talent of Zhong Yong (Golden Mean) The Chapter of Ren (Benevolence) of Confucius has opened the way to change the concept from “Zhong Te (Emphasising Morality)” to “Zhong Yong (Golden Mean)”. He advocates benevolence, which is the morality and psychological basis to pursue the normative Zhou Li (Rites of Zhou). The external rite is only the manifestation of internal needs. Confucius emphasizes the subjectivity, which means “the benevolent also loves,” and identity the normalization, which requires “self-restraint and restoration”. Therefore, a good manager must achieve the above ideas to become an excellent “Zhong Yong” talent. Carrying Out the Virtues of Benevolence Everything in the natural universe is running in a very harmonious and orderly manner. Human beings cause inconsistency. It results from violating the rule of nature and carrying out “doing good” and “doing evil” with one’s own desires. Therefore, managers of “Golden Mean” only follow the “Zhong Tao (Moderation)” Management” and govern by non-interference, and then their virtues will be as good as “Yao” and “Shun”, who was praised by Confucius. Pursuit of Moderate Principles “Golden Mean” reflects a high degree of artistry in management, emphasizing the reasonableness of things. Therefore, to deal with practical problems and grasp the management process, we must pay attention to keep the propriety appropriately and make the decision-making result more ideal, rather than blindly pursuing maximum optimality. Therefore, managers of “Golden Mean” should pay attention to all parties’ wishes and demands, and everyone has to compromise and embodiment their opinions to arouse the enthusiasm of all parties and promote the development in an appropriate country. Considering Secondary Methods and Adopting the Rampant Way The goal of “Golden Mean” is difficult to achieve. Due to the objective factors and a series of uncertain factors, managers of “Golden Mean” will deviate from the management process’s connotations. Therefore, according to the situation changes, they should deviate from “Golden Mean” appropriately, retreat to the next level, or advance actively with a certain “paranoia” spirit; or wait and observe the change before taking reckless actions. This appropriate deviation based on the “Golden Mean” is to get closer to it and achieve better goals.

1.4.2 Promote Moderation Management “Zhong Tao” management is the essence of Chinese traditional culture and an important feature of China, Chinese, Chinese culture, and Chinese-style management. Implementing the theory of “Zhong Tao” can better grasp the direction of development and control future expectations in practice.

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Not Go to Extremes The great foundation of the world is the middle. The Tao of the world also leads to neutralization; thus, everything is in place, and all things nurture. (The Chapter of the Mean) “Harmony” requires people from different management levels to respect each other and cooperate closely, and at the same time, they are responsible for their own work and coordinate with each other. Managers must know everything about the various aspects of the management objects. Choosing the optimality of things, we must conduct a comprehensive analysis and integration, maintain the degree of things objectively, and destroy indiscriminately, but not too much. Strict and Gentle Since ancient times, China has two different management concepts: “to serve people with morality” and “to tame people with violence. In the pre-Qin Period, there was “An argument on the king’s way”. Confucianism pursued the goal of “uniting China with morality”, but in reality, it was far from being achieved. Therefore, the idea of “uniting China with morality and military” was put forward to achieve the harmony of strict and gentle. The proper management is reflected in the combination of strict and gentle. When we make the macro-management decision, we should judge the situation and do not go to the extreme so that the subordinates’ enthusiasm can be well mobilized. Strong Pertinency To achieve the intended purpose, managers must master the “Golden Mean”, pay attention to the sense of proportion, and seize the opportunity. To achieve the goal, we need to control different objects, and it should not be too loose, if not it will result in inefficient work and organizational confusion. Therefore, in management, it is necessary to be able to analyze the development direction of each element, adjust it in a targeted manner, and achieve the desired management effect through the application of different forces.

1.4.3 Keeping Pace with the Times For a manager, seizing the beneficial opportunity in the unstoppable change is a basic management principle and the key to determining management behavior’s success or failure. Acting According to the Times For things that change dynamically, it changes with time and space. A management method is reasonable here and at this time, and it may not be appropriate at other time, so certain strains and adjustments need to be made. Confucius said that, “A gentleman can conform to Golden Mean because he can hold the moderation”. It is called “Shi Zhong”, which refers to change timely and flexible in the dynamics. Therefore, management activities are not subject to the existing experience and established regulations, and the flexibility and mobility adjust according to changes in time, space and situation.

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Acting According to the Situation “The water flows on the ground, and the soldiers win by taming the enemy. The soldiers’ way is constantly changing, the water’s form is not lasting, and the winner can move according to the enemy is called god.” (The Book of Sun-Tzu, The Chapter of Weakness and Strength) Adjusting constantly according to the changes in the situation; otherwise, we will be abandoned by the times. As a manager, no matter how much change occurs in the outside world, we must try to perceive and predict the future development trend, demonstrate our personal ability while respecting the objective reality, face the setbacks stubbornly and resolve the contradictions and problems. Advocating Advanced The management theory of Taoism is the crystallization of theory and the wisdom of practice. Tao’s purpose is to apply—act according to Tao to implement in reality. As a manager, we must constantly apply advanced concepts and theories to management, improve the original management model to conform to development, and achieve a strong combination of theory and practice.

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The foundation and foothold of human relationships is the relationship between man and nature. In other words, the relationship between people is restricted by the relationship between man and nature. Man is based on nature but higher than nature. The core and focus of the contradiction between man and nature are focused on the man himself, which is manifested as the contradiction between individual survival needs (naturalness) and individual ability to adapt to survival factors (sociality and initiative). Individual ability is formed in the process of seeking survival and development in the natural environment based on natural needs.

2.1 Introduction 2.1.1 The Meaning of “Following the Rules” Following the Rules is the management process in which the manager implements the management behavior, conforms to the development rules, and achieves a certain goal according to an effective way. Adapting to the Rules Is the Key to Successful Management (Guan Tzu) said that everything in the world is fair to people, will not play favor due to self-interest, and will not ill-treat because of personal resentment. Smart managers can make full use of everything and become rich, while ignorant managers don’t know how to use the Rules therefore, they become poor.

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The Rule of Nature, Social Rules, and Human Rules Have the Objectivity of Their Existence People must exert subjective initiative and cannot follow blindly, but make a difference based on it. In the actual management, it is necessary to implement the corresponding management methods according to the specific scenarios and improve them continuously to make the management behavior more proactive. The world is difficult, but there is a regular rule to do things successfully. (Guan Tzu) suggests that managers should “follow the principles of Yin and Yang and the principles of heaven and earth”. That is to say, it is necessary to be good at cultivating morality and coordinating Yin and Yang, and then follow the rules of heaven and earth. Therefore, a good manager must master the capability to manage based on the Rules.

2.1.2 Application of Following with the Rules “Human follow the Rules of the earth, and the earth follows the Rules of the heaven, the heaven follows the rules of Tao. Tao follows the Rule of nature.” (Tao Te Ching) The ancients have infinite respect for nature. They believe that people must obey nature, not violate their regularity, and regard these Rules as the most fundamental and sacred Rules. Exploring the Trajectory of the Rules “Tao is the core of all things” (Tao Te Ching). “Tao” is an independent movement, and it does not stop all the time. Everything in heaven and earth must make a living through it. It is the root of all things, with potential and infinity. The Tao’s use is broad and wide, and it is embodied in the metaphysical order of Rules, which the objective Rules in which all things in the universe prevail. Managers should follow the Rules’ example, do not be arrogant or proud, and conform to the Rules. Developing Management Strategies “Species develop from generation to generation by process of natural selection.” is the rule that all biological groups must adapt and follow, and this rule also makes the competition between individuals. Therefore, when managers develop management strategies, they must abide by the basic attributes of the Rule of nature to formulate reasonable and effective management strategies. Understanding Management Adaptability There is a concept of discard in philosophy: to abandon the past and invalid things and absorb new and more applicable things. Blindly advocating unified management behavior is unscientific. We must combine improvement, compliance with nature, and conformance with rules to make management applications more adaptable (Fig. 3).

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Fig. 3 Application of following with the rules (Management Method Based on Rule)

2.2 Management Method to Follow the Rule of Nature: Tao Follows the Rule of Nature What is nature? How to imitate it? In the view of Taoist, nature is the essence of the occurrence and development of all things. It is not consciously, artificially produced, nor exists according to human will, but a natural evolution. To imitate nature is to recognize and follow the Rules and make the Rules work for me. Therefore, looking at things should seek their own rules and internal rules of change; it opposes letting things drift and also opposes uncalculated actions.

2.2.1 Clarifying the Rule of Nature Tao follows the Rule of nature; the rules of diversity always exist in nature and always obtain the most intuitive and accurate interpretation. The driving force for the continuous evolution of all living beings stems from the Rule of nature, which is a concrete reflection of things’ development. To make a difference in the face of nature, we must understand the congenital nature of the Rule of nature and the mechanism of internal factors firstly. Congenital Nature of the Existence of the Rule of Nature Nature is always objective, whether long before the origin of all living beings or in the long process of birth, continuous reproduction, and evolution of all things. This is nature. Its existence does not change because of changes in external things, and it has the objectivity of its innate development. Understanding of the Dynamic Mechanism of the Rule of Nature The sages of ancient China believed that the “five elements” were an important force in promoting the development of all things in the universe. Multiple casual relationships complicate changes in the development of things, but cause and effect can be transformed into each other. This dynamic analysis mechanism is conducive to better grasping the development trend of the Rule of nature and better understanding from different aspects.

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Interaction Between Regular Variable Factors Understanding the rules needs to go from simple mechanism to complex mechanism, from single mechanism to large mechanism system. Countless variable factors interact in various mechanisms. The various factors in the rules are constantly transformed and interacted. To make full use of the management rules, we must clarify the relationship between the various elements and control the changes of various factors flexibly.

2.2.2 Following the Rule of Nature In the ideological world of Lao Tzu, Tao itself is natural, the nature of all things is natural, and all things live naturally by following nature. In management, we need to understand the Rule of nature, follow its inherent requirements at the same time. And we will not go against it arbitrarily and fight deliberately. Facing the Rules and Acting According to the Rules Lao Tzu believes that the Rule of nature is universal in the universe. Although it is invisible and intangible, it dominates the operation of all things. Therefore, the biggest “Tao” is to adapt to nature. Adapting to nature and following the rules, this is in line with Tao. Everything in the universe has its own rules of operation. Only when people understand the rules, master the rules, and act on things can they achieve their careers. Non-interference in the Rule of Nature “Non-interference” is the core of Taoism and the expression of Taoist respect for nature. Chuang Tzu warns people the way humans treat nature; nature will repay humans in the same way. Because “heaven is not in harmony with people” (The Grand Master). After all, people can’t beat heaven, and people will not change the Rule of nature. Therefore, even the highest governor of the world, the emperor, the country’s management, and the promulgation of the decree must follow with the Rule of nature. Advocating Harmony Between Human and Nature Chuang Tzu, the inheritor, and developer of Lao Tzu’s theory, believes that man is the product of nature, humans and the world are symbiotic and that humans and nature are integrated into one. Since humans are products of nature and are integrated with nature, this determines from the Rule of nature that people must live in harmony with nature and not oppose each other.

2.2.3 Using the Rule of Nature Based on advocating respect for the Rule of nature, Xunzi proposes to exert the subjective initiative of human beings to control and conquer nature with the theory of “making one’s own fate”. Therefore, in the face of the Rule of nature, human beings are not passively obeying, but based on its development rules, it exerts subjective initiative and uses its regularity to serve itself.

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Tips Xunzi (around 313–238 B.C.) was named Kuang. People respected it and called it “Qing”, so it was also called Xunqing. In the Han Dynasty, he was renamed Sun Qing instead of Emperor Xuan. He was born in the state of Zhao (South of Shanxi Province Today) at the end of the Warring States period. He was a famous thinker in the pre-Qin period. Xunzi studied in the state of Qi in his early years. Because of his extensive knowledge, “the most teacher”, he served as the head of the school of the state of Qi three times. Around 264 B.C., at the invitation of King Zhao of Qin, he traveled to the west to enter the state of Qin. He found that “people are simple” and “officials are solemn,” and it is close to “the highest state of governance”. Later, Xunzi was used by Monarch Chunshen of the state of Chu and was appointed as the leader of Lanling (Lanling Town, Cangshui County, Shandong Province Today). He was engaged in teaching and writing in his later years. Data source: Zhang (2009). Understanding the Rules, Avoiding the Disadvantages We interpret Lao Tzu’s “nature” as “as in its own country.” It is independent and self-reliant, and the country of the existence of the Tao is self-sufficient. Since human beings’ will does not change the Rule of nature, people must obey nature in the face of nature, seek advantages and avoid disadvantages, and try to turn unfavorable factors into favorable factors. Human Nature, Combined with Nature Suppose human beings can correctly understand the Rule of nature and properly grasp the relationship between human beings and nature. In that case, they can continually achieve the fruits of transforming nature, enhance human adaptability to nature, and enhance human ability to understand nature and transform nature. Therefore, in the management relationship between humans and nature, it is necessary to exert human initiative and implement management behavior in combination with natural attributes. Conforming with the Time, Keeping Path with the Times Humans and nature’s relationship is coexistence, mutual benefiting, and common prosperity, not conquest, transformation, or demand. It requires that humans advance on the issue of relationship with nature by “mutual benefit and common development” and establish a scientific development concept in which people and nature are in harmony. Managers are required to adapt to nature and use the Rule of nature to implement management behavior better.

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2.3 Management Methods to Advocate the Rule of Society: Simplicity Lao Tzu said that governing the country should follow the principle of simplicity, meaning the nature of Tao is nature, and everything can not be contrary to nature. To guide social affairs with this natural view of nature, we must abide by nature and society’s dual rules. Therefore, when managers exercise their management power, they must conform to nature, take advantage of the situation, and strictly follow the rules. Otherwise, the management behavior will be in vain.

2.3.1 The “Natural” Attribute of the Rule of Society I Ching is produced by the Chinese sages through observing the interrelationship between all things in the universe. The management of human society is also included. The existence of the Rule of society also has its “natural” attributes. Its development and change have its own mechanism, which is not transferred by individual will but also has an inseparable relationship with nature’s Rule. The Roots of the Rule of Society the Rule of society exist because society pursues efficiency and order, and it is constantly changing with the development and progress of society, but its inherent rules have not changed. As a manager of the society, we must fully tap the foundations that we generate, and continue to adjust based on the origins of the society. Dividing the System of the Rule of Society The system of the Rule of society cannot be divided in general according to the size. The perfection of the system of the Rule of society is self-improvement around the core of “survival and development”. the Rule of society are roughly divided into “complete social mechanisms” and “incomplete social mechanisms”, which are mutually influenced and interrelatedly placed under the system of the Rule of society. The Intersection of the Rule of Society and the Rule of Nature As a tiny species in nature, humans reside in nature. Nature will not perish because there is no human society. Human beings cannot be born without a natural environment. It is impossible to survive without the natural environment. Thus, the Rule of nature and the Rule of society are interrelated and interactive, and the two meet and merge.

2.3.2 Application of the Rule of Society Although all kinds of contradictions in real life are ubiquitous, human wills and intentions play an active role in facilitating the transformation of things or maintaining things’ original order. The specific value discrimination criteria should be based on the nature of the times, the nature of our society, and the specific nature of the contradictions. We must conduct effective analysis according to the specific Rule of society.

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Building an Environmental Ecology that Guides Self In the face of the Rule of society, people have needs and desires, and some things reflecting the ultimate concern for human society. Social regularity requires society to suppress pure materialism worship and greed and promote society’s development through the original driving force of human needs and desires. Creating a Fair and just Competition Environment Social regularity must pursue “environmental fairness” and “opportunity fairness”. If the social mechanism lacks this fairness, the society regularity will run counter to its due function. Creating a favorable environment for the implementation of the Rule of society is beneficial to human beings to make better use of the Rule of society and serve the development and progress of society. Rational Use of the Rule of Society to Meet the Needs of Survival and Development People’s needs are the sum of innate and acquired needs. The innate needs of humans are determined by human biology. The desire, the will, and the strength of humans to survive, the nature of reproduction, and future generations’ protection are inherent in human biology. Due to humans’ social and intellectual nature, it is certain that the needs of humans will not stop at innate demand but will expand and diverge to a wider scope with the core of innate demand. Small Case Ren Zhengfei, President of Shenzhen Huawei Technology Co., Ltd., in the 2000 network industry is booming, in the book Huawei Winter, predicted the far-reaching impact of the Internet bubble on the global IT industry. At that time, in a brilliant spring, Ren Zhengfei said: “A thousand sails pass by the shipwreck, Ten thousand saplings shoot up beyond the withered tree–new things come to the fore while old things die.” The collapse of network stocks will certainly impact the construction expectation in two or three years when the manufacturing industry has entered the contraction inertia. Without foresight, without prevention, it will freeze to death. At that time, whoever had cotton-padded clothes would have survived; this requires entrepreneurs to have a sense of preparedness for danger in times of safety. Of course, this awareness is not only verbal but also practical and feasible operation plans like Huawei to avoid or reduce the adverse effects brought about by the laws of the objective environment. Data source: Cheng and Liu (2003).

2.3.3 Promotion of “Te (Morality)” and “Li (Rite)” of the Rule of Society Lao Tzu believes that the best social country is the natural social order. It is not the rule of the people, but the nature of the people without interference. Therefore, in social management, the human must flexibly apply and promote “Te” and “Li” to make social harmony and progress, and the Rule of society is better followed.

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Progressive Relationship Between “Te” and “Li” Lao Tzu divides “Te” into “Shang Te” and “Xia Te”. “Shang Te” is entirely out of the nature of the heart; “Xia Te” is the moral norms of benevolence, righteousness, and ritual formulated by society. In his view, society has deviated from the Tao and has the need to promote social ethics. Therefore, to understand the Rule of society, we must fully distinguish the progressive relationship between the two to better enable the two to play a role in social management. Application of “Te Zhi” Governing the country with “Te”—“Shang Te is not moral, it is virtue”, “Shang Te is not doing nothing.” When the rite is broken, people will notice the importance of loyalty, filial piety, benevolence, and righteousness. Therefore, it is impossible to use ethics as a tool for governing the country. “Running the country with morality” must conform to Lao Tzu’s theory and can only do things by rules. Therefore, the best way to govern the country is to let the people naturally “get educated, become familiar with them, and raise them.” Promoting Self-management Lao Tzu is most concerned about the maintenance of human nature and the destiny of the people. He regards the true country of human life and the reasonable country of existence as “natural”. It is “anti-nature” to intervene and dominate people’s true country and reasonable existence country without any reason. Therefore, in real life, we must implement the concept of “self-management” and conform to social development needs.

2.4 Management Method to Caters to the Rule of Humanity: Longevity and Long-Sightedness Longevity and long-term vision are to imitate the world in real life, achieve the unity of Tao, and not take the initiative to destroy the normal trajectory of the development of things. In this way, individual management behavior can be better implemented, and the expected behavior can achieve the desired effect. In a certain sense, the essence of management is coordination. It is to adjust the relationship between people and people inside and outside the organization, between people and things, and to concentrate the organization’s effective resources to achieve the common goals. We have to manage according to Tao, and act according to the rules. In management, we must pay attention to the grasp of the Rule of humanity and achieve personal management effectiveness.

2.4.1 Taking Advantage of the Rules to Imitate the World Lao Tzu longs for an ideal society, allowing people to survive naturally and hopes for an ideal life so that everyone can naturally carry out their lives. The realization of a natural life course does not require an individual “Yi Sheng” or “Hou Sheng”.

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It only follows the “non-self-sufficiency” of the heavens and the earth and follow the natural growth of life. Does not Grow from Itself, so Able to Live “Heaven and earth last long because they do not exist for selfish reasons” Tao Te Ching insists on surviving naturally so that all things are self-generated, self-sustain, self-contain, and not “selfish.” Therefore, we must abide by the rules of natural existence and not insist on a series of changes so that the development of things can be promoted according to the original mechanism, thus achieving considerable growth. Humanity Following the Heavens and Uniting with the Universe The heavens and the earth operate naturally according to their own rules, and there are no good and evil emotions in everything, that is, “Nature is unkind, it treats the creation like sacrificial straw-dogs.” Heaven and earth do not compete with anything, so the essence of heaven and earth are different from everything; it’s transcendence and tolerance. Management behavior should be based on humanity, and the reality is to regard heaven, earth, and people as a whole and follow a common principle: humanity follows the heavens and unites with the universe. The Act of Gaining Life Is Called Ominous Lao Tzu does not agree with the theory that “extending life is auspicious”. He believes that human life is a natural process and cannot be forcefully improved or extended. He believes that greed for longevity is not auspicious and that greed will suffer; those who are quiet and bleak will go beyond those who are lust for life. Therefore, as a qualified manager, you must know how to give up some selfish desires and know how to use human behavior management.

2.4.2 Longevity Cannot Be Altered; Keep Natural Innocence Human life is a natural country and process. It cannot be artificially disturbed and destroyed. Even if it is a good wish to increase vitality to “Yi Sheng” and “Hou Sheng”, the result will be counterproductive. Therefore, management behavior should reduce subjective behavior as much as possible and ensure human nature’s natural innocence. The Theme and Object of Human Nature In the face of the Rule of humanity, excellent managers must know how to maintain the human heart’s natural innocence without artificially interfering with and destroying the nature of life. Therefore, Lao Tzu suggested that managers should be well aware of the principles of protecting their lives and following the path of natural virtues. Management Goal: Man in One with Nature In nature, heaven, earth, and people are corresponding. “Heaven and earth are the parents of all things.” (Chuang Tzu) I Chuang emphasizes the three talents, puts the

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heavens, the earth, the people together, and puts people in the center, which shows people the importance of status. The purpose of human management behavior is to “sacrifice the abandonment of wisdom”, to break up these barriers imposed on the human body, to liberate human nature, to return to nature, and to achieve a spiritual realm of “everything is with me”.

2.4.3 Following Tao and Te to Achieve a Win-Win Situation People follow Tao to survive naturally; it is the nature of life and the longevity of life. Human life cannot be extended beyond its nature. Any behavior that forcibly lengthens life and tries to prolong nature’s life will make life unnatural and derogate from life. Adapting to the Nature of Things, Making a Difference As a qualified manager, it is necessary to temper the spirit of self-improvement and self-improvement and cultivate a broad mind. In the face of the Rule of humanity, it is necessary to follow the example of the self-improvement of the heavens and the earth and the character of the virtues, and not to violate the nature of heaven and earth, to obey the nature of all things, and to make achievements. Paying Attention to the Accumulation In Lao Tzu’s view, the natural course of human life should be able to live sheltered and die with spirit kept, and be rooted in the origin of life, always following the Rule of nature. In the search for the Rule of humanity, we must find the foundation of its creation to grasp it fundamentally and accumulate it continuously so that the application of the Rule of humanity can be more effective. Keeping Tao and Living for a Long Time Lao Tzu said that “People who know others are intelligent; People who know himself is wise”. “Honest words are not necessarily pleasant, and sweet words are not necessarily honest. Good people in the world will not be eloquent, and those who can speak eloquently are not necessarily good people”. This requires managers to have a modest mentality, to abide by the “Tao” and “Te” concepts in the management process, to constantly enrich and improve their self-cultivation so as to truly survive for a long time.

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Emphasizing on Methods: Management Based on Methods

In an objective world outside of human beings, everything is in change; eternal things are non-existent. All things in change constitute the invariable and variable factors. Therefore, only by combining the changing situation, seizing the opportunity, taking advantage of the situation, and constantly innovating can make

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management behavior keep up with the pace of change and development and better play management’s role.

3.1 Introduction 3.1.1 Meaning of Emphasizing on Methods Emphasizing on Methods is to use a variety of effective management methods, combined with the situation at the time to practice and explore, so that management behavior can fully play its role. Emphasizing on Methods generally follow three principles. Principle of Utilitarian Any management behavior has its purpose, that is, “When it was to their advantage, they made a forward move; when otherwise, they stopped still” Only by considering the purpose can we have the confidence to win; only by considering the disadvantages can we avoid the negative effects. Principle of Initiative Emphasize that in the management activities, “Control power for profit” should be taken. We should take positive actions to seize the competition’s initiative according to all the favorable conditions and factors for winning the competition. Among them, the “Zhi” emphasizes the initiative, that is to say, to take the initiative to make a difference. Principle of Contingency Since things have their inherent regularity of development and at the same time, they exist in a large environment; they must grasp the timing according to the changing situation and use extraordinary methods to win by odds. Management objects are complex, and grasping these objects’ elements, structures, and development directions is a prerequisite for effective management. Therefore, it is necessary to conduct an all-round investigation of things and behaviors, grasp the details of management, and take the initiative to explore at the same time. It is necessary to combine specific situations and analysis by specific problems. Sun-tzu said that “Therefore, people who are good at use innovative ways is as boundless as heaven and earth, as inexhaustible as rivers” (The Book of Sun Tzu: The art of war, The Chapter of Soldiers potential), It reflects the confidence in solving complex problems and the creative thinking of solving problems. Tips Sun Wu (around 535 BC) was born in Le’an of the state of Qi during the spring and Autumn period. Famous strategist. He led the army of the state of Wu to destroy the army of the state of Chu, occupied the capital of the state of Chu, and almost destroyed the state of Chu. He wrote 13 pieces of Sun Tzu: The Art of War, which was highly praised by later military strategists. He was praised as the “Military

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Canon” and ranked first in the Seven Books of Martial Arts. Sun Tzu: The Art of War summed up the war experience at the end of the spring and Autumn period and before. In China and the world’s military history, it was the first time to systematically deal with the overall war situation. For the first time, it revealed the general law of guiding war that “know the enemy and know yourself, and be invincible in a hundred battles”. It also summed up the operational guiding principles still of scientific value; it occupies a very high position in not only China’s military thought but also a treasure book of tactical and strategic thinking all over the world. Data source: Hou (2001).

3.1.2 Application of Emphasizing on Methods How managers can flexibly apply various management methods to achieve the intended purpose in the face of complex problems is the challenge to managers and the key to the effectiveness of management behaviors. Solving the Problem of Antagonism Antagonism refers to great differences between different stakeholders. It is necessary to take the lead in confrontation if we want to win. Therefore, we must be good at competing in development. In the competition, we must fully understand the information, be prepared, strengthen our own advantages, contribute to invincible momentum and favorable factors, take the right measures in any opportunity, and solve the confrontation unexpectedly but reasonably. Solving the Difficult Problems For difficult problems, we must find the status and trends of their development and be fearless in the face of danger, not be discouraged by setbacks, and face the difficulties. A qualified manager must not retreat in the face of challenges. Instead, the manager should grasp the changes in timing and use unconventional methods to adjust, and then difficult problems can be better solved. Solving the Complex Problems For complex problems, managers should grasp from a high level and implement flexibly. When you should advance, you advance; when you should retreat, you retreat. Managers should comprehensively collect information, carefully analyze the situation, study the conditions in-depth, fully understand all aspects of the problem, make the first move after having a strategy, strive to change with the trend, and lead the development of the matter to the expected development path or favorable management (Fig. 4).

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Fig. 4 Management theory based on method

3.2 Management Method to Grasp the Opportunity of Time: Seizing the Opportunity Seizing the opportunity is to adjust plans as time passes and find a good opportunity to act. “Tian (Heaven) includes Yin and Yang, Cold and Heat, Four Seasons and Time System.” (The book of Sun Tzu: The art of war, The Chapter of Laying Plans). “Heaven” refers to “Time System.” and is extended to “Opportunity”. Therefore, management behavior must follow the time system and change according to actual changes. “Shi (Time)” refers to “Time Point”, which is not changed by the will of the person. Seizing the opportunity includes grasping the timing, adapting to the situation, and waiting for the opportunity. Small Case The pace of Lenovo’s internationalization began in the early 1990 s. In 1991, Lenovo Germany company was founded, which became the first signal that Lenovo began to move towards internationalization. By 2001, Lenovo was founded in the United States. Lenovo has 7 branches, 1 logistics center, and more than 100 overseas marketing channels abroad. However, such performance and internationalization can not satisfy Liu Chuanzhi, Yang Yuanqing and other decision-makers and shareholders. This led to the major event of Lenovo taking the Olympic “top” international express. On March 26, 2004, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced in Beijing that Lenovo had become the global partner of the Sixth International Olympic Committee (IOC), and it is the 11th and last member of the top. As a top sponsor of the Olympic Games, Lenovo is on the same level with Coca Cola, Yuanxun, general electric, Hengkang life insurance, Kodak, McDonald’s, Panasonic, Samsung Electronics, Swatch Group and Witz international. As the top sponsors of the Olympic Games can carry out marketing in more than 200 countries and regions, they can quickly improve brand awareness and reputation. It can be said that becoming top is a fast train for the internationalization of enterprises. Under the guidance of this idea, Lenovo has seized the opportunity of Beijing’s successful bid

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to host the 2008 Olympic Games and IBM’s withdrawal from the top, and successfully ranked among the top sponsors of the Olympic Games. Lenovo’s move has become a booster to promote its internationalization process. Taking the road of international mergers and acquisitions is a shortcut for Lenovo to establish a global marketing network. Therefore, in the face of the “autumn wave” delivered by IBM, Lenovo Group finally reached an agreement to acquire IBM’s global PC business after all-round argumentation and hard negotiation. Since then, Lenovo Group has finally made substantial steps towards internationalization after becoming top. Therefore, Lenovo’s internationalization model can be summarized as “Top + International Mergers and Acquisitions”. Data source: Wang and Zhou (2006) (2).

3.2.1 Grasping the Opportunity, Taking the Lead Before the management process, we need to know “Xian Zhi” and “Xian Suan”. The “Xian Zhi” is to collect relevant information before making a decision; “Xian Suan” is to handle and plan the relevant information collected before making a decision. As a manager, you need to know how to use the changes in timing, think carefully in action, and strike first to gain the initiative, win with speed. Xian Sheng (Win First) “Xian Sheng” refers to the decision-makers make scientific decisions and take the lead before winning the action by using the collected information. The reason why you can win first is that “winning is known for certain.” (The book of Sun Tzu: The art of war, The Chapter of Tactical Dispositions) This knowledge is not based on guessing or divination but based on certain objective conditions. “Those knowing that you can fight with the enemy or can not fight with the enemy will win; those know how many forces with less force and victory will win; those whose officers and soldiers sharing the same spirit will win; those use ready to fight against the unprepared will win; those whose generals are capable and unrestrained by king will win. These five aspects are the conditions for knowing victory” (The book of Sun Tzu: The art of war, The Chapter of Attack by stratagem). Zhi Ren (Mobilizing Opponents) In order to win, you must know how to use the strategy of “Actively mobilize opponents without being mobilized by opponents” and know how to use the changes in timing to mobilize the opponents and get the drop on. The way of mobilizing the opponents is to put forward by (Sun Tzu: The art of war) “We mobilize enemy by putting their most desired bait”, “Depart after the enemy, and arrive earlier than the enemy”. In the management of reality, it is necessary to take the opportunity and lead preemptively. Su Sheng (Quick Victory) The principle of quick victory is an important theory of Sun Tzu to make strategic decisions. It is also the thinking of Sun Tzu based on the whole situation, and it is

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also an important way to achieve the goal. In order to make a difference in real-life management activities and achieve the desired goals, we must choose the right method, adjust the specific measures according to the changing timing, and act decisively and quickly by choosing the timing.

3.2.2 Adapting to Development, Adapting to Opportunities The method of governing the country must be adapted to the time, adapt to the current situation to develop a management system. “Every matter must be handled according to the rules, and those who change the rules must change as time passes by” (Lü’s Commentaries of History). The rules refer to the management principle here. When we formulate the rules, we have to adjust correspondingly according to the current situation changes. Therefore, in order to achieve long-term development, it is necessary to adapt to circumstances. Being Good at Discovering Opportunities People say that “Opportunity knocks but once”. There is a critical and decisive moment or opportunity to do anything. If you get it, you win or you lose. In short, since the timing is changing, management behaviors and methods must also change. Among them, we must be good at discovering the opportunity of the objective situation, the opportunity of turning events, and the subjective morale. Taking Advantage of Opportunities Shou Shi believes that it is not enough to merely process things well and be good at grasping the opportunities. “The sage is paying attention to the timing”. For a qualified manager, “The difficulty of a matter lies not in its size but in opportunities”. For the timing, we must make a quick response with the other party; we must use the opportunity to stimulate the internal factors and mobilize the enthusiasm of each factor. Paying Attention to the Turnaround “It is an opportunity to catch and use it, but it is not an opportunity when it is relaxed”. (Bing Jing Bai Yan). Because the timing changes are swift, therefore, the turnaround is very valuable. We should pay special attention to the turnaround so that we can hold it well. Only by grasping the turnaround can we control the development of things and create new opportunities for them.

3.2.3 Counteraction with Quietness, and Combining Action and Quietness Opportunities are always changing. When there is no opportunity, learn to create opportunities for management behavior. Learn to look for opportunities and seize opportunities in quietness. Countering action with quietness is a positive and active behavior. In the quietness, we can see the development of things and create a good opportunity for grasping opportunities.

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Creating the Opportunities Proactively The favorable conditions to win the opponent on the battlefield are the collection of all the subjective and objective conditions. “Those who are good at military affairs should do what we can to obey the mandate of heaven.” (Tou Bi Fu Qian) In the management process, we must not miss the opportunity and actively create objective opportunities and conditions conducive to the development of things so that management activity can proceed smoothly. Waiting for the Opportunities Patiently Opportunities are not always available. If the objective conditions are not allowed, do not rush to take the initiative. To endure loneliness, we should wait for the emergence of opportunities and find opportunities in development and change. Managers must overcome their own slack psychology, do not doubt when they encounter opportunities, and wait for them to change when they are not good. Seizing the Opportunity Wisely Only by actively grasping the opportunity and using reasonable wisdom for co-ordination can we better take the management initiative and have a greater grasp of winning. The ability and timing are crucial for managers, and each manager should have this ability and level.

3.3 Management Method to Take Advantage of Space: Utilizing the Situation “Shi” and “Xing” in the theory of Sun Tzu: The Art of War are closely related. “Xing” refers to the shape of the country of things, the expression, and the form of objective reality. It is the strategic activity that must be grasped first, and the basis and premise of the strategy. “Shi” is the characteristic of energy caused by “Xing”. In management, we must grasp the constant changes in the situation, constantly change, give play to the advantages, and move with the trend in order to “stand undefeated and wait for victory”.

3.3.1 Avoiding Revealing Facts and Striking the Weak “The way one strike with his troop should be like striking egg with a stone, and the key is to strike enemy’s weakness with one’s strength” (The book of Sun Tzu: The Art of War, The Chapter of Weakness and Strength). The process of change in the movement of the situation is also the process of change between the strength and the weakness. The development of the two sides’ management must be reflected in the various changes in the opposition between the two sides. In management, we must be able to use the two’s mutual transformation, actively mobilize subjective factors, avoid unfavorable factors, and win with flexibility.

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The Unity of Opposites Between the Strength and the Weakness Both the weakness and strength are coexisting in one thing. Weakness is an unfavorable factor. Strength is a favorable factor. Only by obtaining a clearer and rigorous understanding of both sides’ strengths and the weakness can we find the weakness of each other and seize more strengths to win. The grasp of weakness and strength is especially important for managers. Subjective and Objective Aspects Guiding the Change of Reality Only by giving full play to the subjective initiative can we better handle objective things’ false and true changes and become favorable. As a manager, he must actively create conditions, weaken the strength of managing things or objects, and create weaknesses in the other side. Avoiding the Strength and Attacking the Weakness to Win the Game Flexibility Sun Tzu: The Art of War said that “Even if I show people my wining plan, they can not understand it. People all know how I got the victory, but none of them know how I come up with the strategies.” That is to say; people only know that they have adopted certain methods and measures to overcome their opponents, but they do not know why they should adopt these methods and measures. In management, the flexible application of “Xing” can make the enemy weak and make us strong. Thus, the manager can discover opponents’ weaknesses and “avoid the strength and attack the weakness” and “win the enemy”.

3.3.2 Giving Full Play to Advantages and Avoiding Disadvantages Qu Yuan said that “Though a foot is longer than an inch, there are things afoot cannot do but an inch can. Anything will have its disadvantages, and every mind will have oversights” The lengths are relative and interdependent; it will be expressed through contrasting forms. Therefore, we must be good at giving full play to advantage in management, avoiding disadvantages and adapting advantages, and abandoning disadvantages reasonably. Being Good at Giving Full Play to the Advantage The military doctrine attaches importance to the role of objective conditions because the use of military operations is often subject to objective conditions such as time and place. In some cases, some objective conditions are the key conditions for winning. Therefore, managers should be good at using favorable conditions, try to seize favorable conditions, and take the lead in doing things. Taking the Initiative to Avoid Disadvantages One way to use troop is to weigh the interests to seek advantages, avoid disadvantages, and then defeat opponents. Management is also the same. In management, we must always have a sense of avoiding short-sightedness, be able to know our own shortcomings and disadvantages, and at the same time, realize the mutual

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transformation of the two. Only by truly understanding how to avoid the short-term can we make use of our advantages. Adapting Advantages and Abandoning Disadvantages Reasonably Reasonably adapting advantages and abandoning disadvantages is to take people’s strengths and make up for themselves. Therefore, managers must have the ability to introspect instead of being blindly arrogant, see changes in the situation and their own deficiencies, constantly adjust according to changes in the current situation, absorb the essence to its dross, and achieve effective, reasonable, and long-term development.

3.3.3 Building the Momentum Actively, Moving with the Trend “Therefore, those who are good at war seek momentums and do not blame others” (The book of Sun Tzu: The Art of War, The Chapter of Potential). This kind of thinking that seeks favorable conditions without forcing human resources is the theory of creating momentum and taking advantage of the trend. In general, actively use and create a favorable condition and situation to help managers achieve management behaviors based on “favorable” and change “unfavorable” into “favorable”. Obeying the Natural Tendency Obeying the natural tendency is to follow nature and change in the natural situation and then have the possibility of winning. “A favorable situation is to take a series of flexible measures according to whether it is beneficial to me or not” (The book of Sun Tzu: The Art of War, The Chapter of Laying Plans). Therefore, in order to succeed, it is necessary to act according to the situation. In management, only by grasping its inherent Rules can subjective consciousness be used to achieve the balance between the two, and Shun Tao is the key to fully realizing management behavior. Creating a Favorable Situation “People who are good at war restrict opponents, but not restricted by opponents” (The book of Sun Tzu: The Art of War, The Chapter of Weakness and Strength). “The form of strategies is not static, the form of water is inconstant, and the winner can alter his plan according to the enemy”. Creating a favorable situation is conducive to taking the initiative in action “Cut your troop’s way back, and they will fight without hesitation for victory.” (The book of Sun Tzu: The Art of War, The Chapter of Nine Grounds), Change the disadvantages of others to our own advantages. Managers must actively exert subjective awareness, create favorable situations, and make management behavior more effective. Not Sticking to the Tendency of One Pattern The best use of the tendency of the situation is to create a method of using the unknown and unused situation by others. The application of the tendency should be diverse: how many specific potentials there are, and how many countermeasures

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should be made. In reality, management behaviors must also be constantly changed. Only by not adhering to the original methods and combining actual conditions can we adapt to modern management concepts’ requirements.

3.4 Management Method to Improve Innovation Awareness: Taking the Unexpected Attack According to the goal of “Full Victory”, Sun Tzu: The Art of War is about how to be self-protected on the battlefield, “not defeated” and to achieve “winning”. One direction of its guidance is to “make enemy unprepared, take unexpected attack” and “be good at war restrict opponents, but not restricted by opponents”. The “surprising” action hits the enemy’s weakness and vitality. At the same time, it is possible to achieve a true victory in general.

3.4.1 Despising the Enemies and Inspiring the Soldiers, Winning by Psychological Warfare “Psychological warfare” is a method of flexibly using the psychological country of both the enemy and us to win. In this process, internal factors are continually motivated to enable the entire system to operate normally and efficiently. Fully Mobilizing the Opponent The opponents’ mobilization is mainly to use the illusion to make the opponent lose the correct judgment of the reality, lower the guard, and use the opponent’s psychological weakness to break them. Therefore, when management behavior encounters difficulties in the management process, it is not eager to take risks, but to wait for opportunities, coordinate the relationship of various factors, and enable management factors to be effectively controlled within a certain range. Grasping the Winning Conditions and Initiative The environment as an external condition can stimulate and promote, inhibit or stifle human ability. “Terrain is an auxiliary condition for warfare” (The book of Sun Tzu: The Art of War, The Chapter of Terrains). Therefore, smart managers must grasp changes in various environments and seize opportunities through adjustment of management strategies and take an active role in management activities. Improving the Morale and Taking the Lead It is a significant incentive to use the overall momentum and spirit to motivate soldiers. “We use more drums in the night warfare and more flags in the day warfare. to demoralize the morale of the enemy and shake their resolve.” (The book of Sun Tzu: The Art of War, The Chapter of Tactical Dispositions) So “People who is good at war seeks the opportunities and will not blame others” (The book of Sun Tzu: The Art of War, The Chapter of Soldiers potential) In management, we must fully mobilize the enthusiasm of internal factors, improve their work efficiency, seize the opportunity, and achieve breakthroughs.

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3.4.2 Fusion of Truth and Falsity, Trick Wins “The way to use the soldiers is using the trick.” (Sun Tzu: The Art of War). The essence of the trick is innovation. It takes the path that ordinary people have not walked through and wins by confusing the opponent and achieving the effect of “taking unexpected attack”. Confusing Each Other Confusing each other mainly uses the “illusion” to show the “Xing”, thus confusing the opponent. Sun Tzu said that “Hide true capability and what you are utilizing; if you are close, show that you are afar; if you are afar, show that you are close.” Use “illusion” to hide your intentions, tracks, and conditions, let your opponents feel overwhelmed, don’t know when to attack, when to be attacked and how to defend. Enticing the Enemy The basis of tricky win is to make the opponents confused and relax the vigilance while quickly mobilizing, accumulating, and concentrating forces so that they can quickly form a favorable situation. In the management process, the manager must pay attention to the feasibility of applying the management method, adjust timely, improve the unfavorable aspects, and not give the opponent an opportunity. Keeping the Secret The situation of combat should be decided according to the actions of the enemy. The change of tactics arises from the confrontation between the enemies. The use of Qi Zheng comes from infinite wisdom and thinking. Therefore, important secrets cannot be leaked, and the strategy of using soldiers cannot be said. Therefore, only by doing confidentiality can we truly implement the trick and play its role (The book of Sun Tzu: The Art of War, The Chapter of Tactical Dispositions).

3.4.3 Combination of Zheng and Qi, A Novel Attack “Victory after a novel attack” is the theory of Sun Tzu to deploy troops correctly and use warfare flexibly. As a general principle of warfare, we should defend with “Zheng Bing (common troop)” and beat the enemy with the “Qi Bing (novel troop).” “The way of using troop is constant, the form of water is inconstant, and the winner can defeat by the enemy.” (The book of Sun Tzu: The Art of War, The chapter of Weakness and Strength). We should be good at changing to deal with the changing circumstance and defeat the opponents with a novel attack. Basing on Zheng, Winning with Qi “Zheng” is a routine method that conforms to the common sense and habits of ordinary people. “Qi” is unreasonable, unconventional, unpredictable, and invincible. “Qi and Zheng” theory reveals the key points of “the soldiers and the tricks”. “Qi and Zheng” are inseparable and closely connected. Only by integrating the two into the actual situation can the expected effect be achieved.

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Using Zheng in the Peacetime, Using QI in the Wartime In order to use the “Qi” and “Ju Shi” in the attack, it is necessary to use “Zheng” effectively. In peacetime, we usually use the normal method to strengthen the preparations and accumulate the strength. When the condition is ripe, we should use a novel attack to achieve success based on our strength. Therefore, as a manager, it is necessary to accumulate some management experience and lessons in daily life, which will help future management. Reciprocal Transformation of Qi and Zheng Can Always Win “Qi in a normal way, it will become Zheng. in a novel way, it will become Qi. The truth of Qi and Zheng is shown in the truth of empty and real, and the truth of the empty and real is actually about seizing opportunities.” Wo Fa Qi Wei is to say a mutual transformation and an internal relationship. Qi is present in the same entity as Zheng. The theory of “Reciprocal transformation of Qi and Zheng” requires that we should face up to change, analyze change, seek response, and strive to innovate in the process of management. Therefore, only by considering the relationship between the two can we achieve a unique combination in the management process and continue to innovate to win thousands of miles. Review and Discussion What are the connotations and specific measures of “Complying with the Tao”? What are the contents of “Management Based on Rules”? How can we realize“Tao Following the Rule of Nature”? How to make the management thought “Emphasizing on the Methods” better applied to the practical management? 5. In the relationship management between human and nature, should we pay more attention to the role of human or the role of nature? How to balance the relationship between the two? And give examples. 6. How to understand Lao Tzu’s thought of “Governing by Non-interference”? If you are a manager, how to implement “Governing by Non-interference” in specific management?

1. 2. 3. 4.

The Case of This Chapter Case One Butcher Ding’s Dismembering Bulls There was a butcher named Ding who slaughtered the cattle for Emperor Hui of Liang Dynasty. All the places where the hands touched, the places where the shoulders rested, the places where the feet stepped on and the places on which the knees stood, all made the sound of bone and skin separation, and the sound of 87 sounds when cutting. There was nothing out of tune. It is in line with the rhythm of “Mulberry Forest” dance music and “Jingshou” music. Emperor Hui of Liang Dynasty said: “hee! Good! How can you be so skillful?”

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Butcher Ding put down his knife and said, “what I like is the law of nature, which has surpassed the pursuit of cattle slaughtering technology. When I first started slaughtering cattle (I didn’t know the structure of the cattle), there was no one that was not whole cattle (as seen by ordinary people). Three years later, the whole cow was no longer visible. Now when slaughtering cattle, my servants only use their spirit to contact the cattle, instead of looking at them with their eyes. It’s like the vision has stopped and the spirit is moving. According to the texture of the cattle, cleave the large gap between the muscles and bones, and make the knife along the holes between the bones, which are all in accordance with the original structure of the cattle body. The knife for slaughtering cattle has never touched the place where the meridians are connected, where the muscles are tightly attached to the bones and where the muscles converge, let alone the big bones of the thigh. Skilled cooks change their knives every year because they use them to cut meat. The average chef changes a knife every month because they use it to chop bones. Now the sword I have used for 19 years, slaughtering thousands of cattle, but the blade seems to have just been grinded from the grindstone. There are gaps in the knuckles of cattle, but the blade has no thickness. If you use such a thin blade to pierce the bone joints with gaps, then you will be able to move the blade freely. Therefore, it has been used for 19 years. Emperor Hui of Liang Dynasty said: “Well, I learned how to keep fit after listening to Butcher Ding’s words.” Data source: Compiled according to the materials of Chuang TzuXunzi. Case Two Correctly handle the relationship between man and nature The history of human development is a history of utilizing and transforming nature. In the process of development, we put forward the scientific development concept, a sustainable development concept. We should not only meet the needs of human beings, but also maintain the balance of nature; while paying attention to the current interests of mankind, we should also pay more attention to the future interests of mankind. Scientific development requires us to fully consider the carrying capacity of resources and ecological environment while developing economy, actively change the mode of economic growth, constantly strengthen ecological construction and environmental protection, and rationally develop and economize on the use of various natural resources. In the national key protected nature reserves, ecological construction and protection should be given priority to, and human production and life should be subject to the general principles of ecological protection. In a large area of nature reserves, we can also divide areas: core areas, that is, ecological core areas. Within this range, it is strictly forbidden to cultivate land, graze or build factories, so that the natural environment will not be disturbed by human activities. In this area, only a small amount of grazing is allowed, and no cultivated land is allowed. Secondly, in the vast rural areas, we should also deal with the relationship between good people and nature. We should make rational use of natural resources,

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such as water resources, build irrigation and water conservancy, and serve human production. We should cherish land resources and protect cultivated land. Biogas and other renewable energy should be developed to serve human life. Thirdly, in the city, human beings seem to be far away from nature. They are faced with reinforced concrete every day. In fact, the relationship between man and nature is particularly important in cities. Therefore, in the city, we should vigorously promote industrial energy conservation and emission reduction, through technical transformation, production process improvement, so as to achieve the goal of energy conservation and emission reduction. Finally, in terms of life, we should advocate low-carbon life and green life. To save resources and protect the environment in our daily life, we can choose environmentally-friendly and energy-saving electrical appliances to reduce the use time of electrical appliances; we can try our best to travel by bus to reduce the use of cars; we can save every grain of grain; and so on, we can start from small things and start from our side. The harmonious coexistence between man and nature is an important topic of human eternal and destiny. We should constantly deepen the understanding of the relationship between man and nature, and constantly explore ways to get along more harmoniously between man and nature. Everyone should make his own efforts for the more harmonious relationship between man and nature. Data source: Gai, S. & Gai, Z. (2004). A correct understanding of the relationship between man and nature. Democratic. Questions 1. How to embody the truth “Butcher Ding’s Dismembering Bulls” in management? 2. How can human beings exert their initiative in the face of the rule of nature? 3. What are the similarities and differences in the understanding and utilization of the rule of nature in management thoughts at home and abroad?

References Cheng, D., & Liu, L. (2003). The truth of Huawei. Contemporary China Press. Gai, S., & Gai, Z. (2004). A correct understanding of the relationship between man and nature. Democratic. Hou, S. (2001). Sun Wu: Strategic life. China Overseas Chinese Publishing House. Liu, D. (1988). Introduction of the book of changes. Chinese Qilu Publishing House. Shang, Y., & Chen, J. (2005). The code of Wahaha. Peking University Press. Wang, Q., & Zhou, G. (2006). SWOT analysis of Lenovo’s acquisition of IBM Global PC Department. Value Engineering. Xing, X. (1992). The inevitable development trend of ‘Mulberry-Fish Pond’ in Ming and Qing Dynasties from ‘Mulberry contending for Fields’. Chinese Agricultural History. Zhang, F. (2009). Xunzi. China Three Gorges Publishing House.

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The Appropriate Location— Management Based on the Relationship Between Human Beings and Society

The emperor is like a boat, and the people are like water. The water can make the boat go, and it can submerge it.

Abstract

1. The relationship between man and society means that society is a collection of people and a collection of people’s mutual relations. People’s activities create the society, and society influences people constantly. For a person, society is his living environment, which has a great influence on his survival and development. 2. “Governing by Law”, on the one hand, is to measure all people by objective standards, such as rules, trade-offs, measures, sizes and so on, which are objective, artificial and fixed; on the other hand, it is to treat people as things. That is to say, people should be regarded as things that can be measured accurately and unimpeded by fixed and objective rules and sizes, without considering the special initiative of human beings. 3. The core of “Governing by Harmony” mainly includes the unity of human and nature, modernization, and cooperation-competition principles. 4. Harmony is the combination of many different things to balance them. 5. There are three characteristics in the thought of “Governing by Moral”: subjectivity, binding and initiative. 6. The core of the “Governing by Moral” is to respect heaven, filial piety to the ancestors and protect the people. It emphasizes that the monarch obtains the people’s heart mainly through the policy of gentleness, instead of making the people obey by violent means. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021 H. Hu, Principles of Chinese Management, Management for Professionals, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-6522-3_4

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Keywords










Governing by law The law of world Monarch of mediocrity, Governing by harmony Modernization Cooperation- competition Governing by moral Unity of knowing and acting













Learning Purpose and Requirements Understanding the representative views of ancient theories “The Law of the World” “The Morality of Moderation” “Governing by Morality” etc. Understanding what is “Taking the Law as the keylink” “Harmony between human and nature” and “Improving the personal virtues”. Being familiar with how to apply the management thought of rule, balance and morality to the management means of “Governing by Law” “Governing by Harmony” “Governing by Moral”. Mastering how to manage in reality based on the relationship between people and society. Case Tang Taizong Swallows Locusts In the second year of Zhenguan, there was a great drought in the capital, and locusts were everywhere. When the grasshoppers came into the garden and saw the loss of grain, the grasshoppers would eat a few crops. The common people are guilty, and all those crimes are on me (in ancient times, locusts were thought to have supernatural powers, and there was a grandmother’s temple, because the locusts and Emperor’s voice were afraid to hunt and kill with the common people, but in ancient times, once a major disaster happened, they were regarded as punishment from heaven). If you really have a spirit, you can eat my heart and lung and not blame the people anymore. “So he took the locust and was about to swallow it. When the ministers around him did not look good, he quickly remonstrated: “you can’t eat it! If you eat it, you’ll get sick!” Tang Taizong said, “I was hoping that it would bring disaster to the people to me alone! How could I not eat it because of being afraid of getting sick?” then he swallowed a few locusts. Data source: Wu (2007). Society is a collection of people, and also a collection of people’s mutual relations. Human activities create a society, and society constantly affects people. For a person, society is the environment of his existence, which has a significant influence on his survival and development. But once a person has formed a unique personality, he plays a leading role in his life; in other words, the external cause of society should play a role through the internal cause of human beings. Instant power can make heroes. The development of society depends on the efforts of human beings. Because human activities (mainly refer to labor) create a society, which promotes society’s

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development. The management behavior of human beings can be divided into “Governing by Law” “Governing by Harmony” “Governing by Moral”. This chapter mainly from the “Governing by Law” “Governing by Harmony” “Governing by Moral” three angles to elaborate the management of human and social relations.

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Governing by Law: Management Based on Order

In modern times, the social division of labor is becoming more and more detailed, and cooperation is getting stronger and stronger, so the order in cooperation highlights its exceptional significance. Order refers to the system or charter that is prescribed for the common observance. Orders can be in written form; orders can also be unwritten and passed down as convention. More often, order exists because it is recognized and observed by every social citizen.

1.1 Introduction 1.1.1 The Meaning of Governing by Law Connotation The rule of Law has two meanings: on the one hand, all people are measured by objective, man-made, and fixed methods such as rules, trade-offs, buckets, and length unit; on the other hand, treating people as things means that people can be measured accurately with fixed and objective rules, such as length unit, etc., regardless of the special initiative of each individual. Compared with the ancient rule of Governing by Law:, many things have long-lasting vitality and can be used for modern governing by Law. Such as the “do not imitate the history; do not follow current trends” view of history; “the Law decides everything”, the implementation of “Governing by Law”; the publication of the statute law, improve legislation, make the Law “clear and easy to know”; strict Law enforcement, “the Law does not favor the rich”, “The penalty does not vary on social status”. The difference between the Legal System and Governing by Law is that the Legal System focuses on the formal and the implementation of the legal system, Governing by Law not only includes the legal system in the formal sense and its implementation, but also emphasizes the connotation of the supremacy of the Law and the protection of rights in a substantive sense. Governing by Law emphasizes the rule of good laws; the Rules must be fair, stable, universal, open, and equal, while the legal system does not have these connotations, only requires strict enforcement according to the Law. Governing by Law and Governing by Human Beings are completely opposite. The foundation is a democracy, the expression of democracy and constitutionalism, but man’s legal system and rule are not antagonistic. This section will focus on the ancient rule of Governing by Law and its corresponding legal system.

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Characteristics The superiority of Governing by Law is relative to Governing by Human Beings, and this superiority is mainly reflected in three aspects. ① The fairness of the Law. Law is the product of collective wisdom and careful consideration. Sentiments do not shake it, is not biased, and is representative of fairness. ② The authority of the Law. Under the Law, the system cannot be as open-minded as human beings. Compared with the practice of human governance, Governing by Human Beings is likely to ruin a country, especially through the hereditary system. It establishes a norm to make the rules clear. ③ The broadness of Governing by Law. It is more difficult to implement the government by one person. The monarch’s ability and energy is limited, and the rule of one person deprives everyone’s right to take turns to govern.

1.1.2 The Application of Governing by Law Maintaining the Government The traditional legalism theory of Governing by Law of Rules is to preserve the country order. They believe that the country must have the power to maintain sovereignty and punish but must also exercise power by the monarch who is most respected and powerful. The monarch is normal in virtue, wisdom, and courage, but they have supreme power and unique status. The key lies in “Governing by Law”; the monarch lives in the central part of the country, masters the power of killing, and determines his subjects’ fate. Their autocracy is protected by “penalty and punishment”. In fact, the “Law” has always been under the monarch’s authority and is only a tool to guarantee the power of the monarch. It can be seen that “Governing by Law” maintained by legalism is the monarchy’s authoritarian regime. The Base of Governing the People In dealing with subject relations, the legalism advocates “the rule of governing the people is impermanent, and the Law is only suitable option to government.” (The book of Han Fei zi, The chapter of heart degree) That is, there is no eternal routine for the management of the subjects, except the Law. The monarch uses the rule of interest to control the subjects, so that the small profits are attributed to the people, and the big profits are returned to the monarch. “Governing by Law” is the best way to achieve this “Centering on the Monarch”. Compared with the monarch, the subordinates and the people have no power. Therefore, the “Governing by Law” of the legalism is actually based on the rule of the country, only to serve dictatorship and focuses on “ruling the subordinates” and “ruling the people”. “Law is the support of the lives of the people. The root of the government is to defend the people. Governing the world and abandoning the Law is like trying to abandon food when we are hungry, abandon clothes when we are cold, and go to the east when we want to go to the west. It is obvious that what you did is not what you want.” (The Book of Lord Shang). It can be seen that Shang Yang defines the Law from the perspective of the relationship between the Law and National as well as the Law and National Governance. In the relationship between the Law and the National, the Law is the people’s life and the tool to prevent the people from doing

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Fig. 1 Management based on order

evil. In the relationship between Law and Governance, the Law is the foundation of national governance. The relationship between Law and National Governance is like the relationship between food and hungry people, the relationship between clothes and cold people, and its purpose is to meet needs. If the government does not use the Law, it is like want to the east but going to the West. It is contrary to the wishes and cannot achieve the set goals. (Fig. 1).

1.2 Advocating the Principle of “Taking the Law as the Keylink” 1.2.1 The Fairness of the Law—The Law of the World What Is the Law of the World? What kind of law can be called the “Law of the world”? In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the ideologist Huang Zongxi believed that there were laws before the three generations, and the three generations of the holy king granted the people the fields to cultivate, granted the mulberry to the weaving, established the school to teach, set up rite to rectify custom, set up the army to stabilize the country. These measures are all from the people’s perspective, not from the private interests of the monarch, so they can be called “the Law of the world”. From the concept, the most basic difference between “the Law of one family” and “the Law of the world” is that the intention for the law is different. In society at that time, the specific legal content was obviously to protect the monarch’s private interests. All laws aim to preserve the monarch’s self-interest, which will inevitably bring serious consequences and eventually cause more and more unrest. Therefore, what harsh laws bring is not society’s long-term stability but the intensification of social unrest. And all is caused by the greed of the monarch. The Law made by this method for the self-interest of the monarch is the “illegal law”. What is the “Law of no Law” The “Law of no law” means that the country’s interests cannot be taken by the monarch alone, and the interests have hidden the people. The power to punish can

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not be controlled by the monarch, or the monarch will take advantage of it.”One does not become respected because his works for the government and one does not get looked down if he is born as a farmer”, this is actually a suspicious thought on dictatorship. If the monarch can convince the people and relax the autocratic power, the interests and powers will not become rare political resources, so the identity and status of the people will not be different whether they are in the court of the power center.

1.2.2 The Broadness of the Law—The Base of Ruling the People The Rule Based on the Law The legalist Han Feizi proposed to understand “Tao” as the origin of matter and the rules of objective existence in nature. Therefore, in modern management, managers should understand and follow this rule. If you can abide by this “Tao”, you can get the world. He thinks that the manager’s method has a rule. As long as the managers master this rule and formulate these rules into rules, they can conform to the requirements of nature and convince future generations. It can be seen that the ideas of “legal” management and Taoist “Tao” are combined. It can be seen from this that the management principle of “Governing by Law” is correct. Tips Han Fei Tzu(around 280–233 BC), people of the state of Han in the late Warring States period (Xinzheng in Henan Province Today, the former city of Zheng and Han), was one prince of the royal family of the state of Han, and a master of Legalists in the Warring States period. According to the Historical Records, Han Feizi was good at “the study of law”, and Li Si, the Prime Minister of Qin Dynasty, were Xunzi’s students. Han Feizi was not good at speech because of his stuttering, but his articles were outstanding, and even Lisi was inferior to him. There are a lot of his works, mainly included in Han Feizi. After Han Feizi’s death, his thoughts were carried out by Qin Shihuang and Li Si. Han Feizi’s works absorbed some viewpoints of Confucianism, Mohism and Taoism, and centered on the thought of the rule of law. He summed up the experience of early Legalists and formed a political-ideological system with law as the center, which combined law, technique and potential, and was called the master of Legalists. Data source: Song and Sun (2010). The Governance of a Monarch of Mediocrity The management thought of “Zhong Zhu (Monarch of mediocrity)” is mainly manifested in that most of the world’s governors are mediocrity, and not all of them are particularly wise monarchs. For these monarchs of mediocrity, they can only rely on Governing by Laws and following with the Law and the trend. If they don’t govern by Laws, it can only be chaotic. Han Feizi pointed out that the “monarchs of mediocrity” must also govern the subjects, and the only way is Governing by Laws, because using the subordinates to defend others subordinates will be more biased

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because of the subjective thinking of the individual, and will inevitably be unfair, and then it will affect the discipline. Governing by the Laws’ ultimate goal is to realize its ideal of “limit desire of the monarchy”. The role of Governing by Laws is to ban evil thoughts, then to ban evil speech, and finally to ban evil behavior. In order to achieve the goal of “limit desire of the monarchy”, the ancient Legal System also requires managers to publish the Law, promote the Law, popularize the Law, and educate the public with the Law. But Governing by Laws has a strong utilitarianism. Han Feizi’s judgment on each matter’s utilitarian nature is very objective and very pragmatic, and he decides whether to do it or not. He said that there are certain principles for doing things. All the laws have their two sides, and they have both positive and negative aspects. Therefore, the formulation of the law must also weigh the gains and losses.

1.2.3 The Appearance of Law—The Norm of Everything Code of Conduct “Law” is an inherent adjustment system for various social relations. It is an objective standard for measuring the right and wrong, merits and deeds of the world, and a code of conduct that must be observed. As a legalists representative in the pre-Qin Period, Guan Zi is based on the idea of ritual and laws compatibility. He believes that all the code of conduct of human behavior should be clearly defined in the form of legislation and that the Laws must be followed, the rule of rewards and punishments should be kept strictly, and the universal and practical significance from the perspective of national politics of Governing by Laws should be clarified. This claim reveals the status and dignity of the Law and emphasizes the important role of the Law. Guan Zi has many definitions of the “Law” that are often used in daily life to express the Law’s importance. In addition to “the Law is the rule of governing the country and the criterion of society”, and “the governors, the alignment strings, the rules, the weight measure, the angle measure are all the laws”. These are specific terms that describe the “standards” used in daily life. They are used here to indicate that the Law is an objective standard for measuring the right and wrong, merits, and straightforwardness of the world, and the code of conduct that must be observed. Objective Standards “The Law, the rules, and the regulations are all the code of conduct of people.” (Guan Zi) It’s like drawing a circle with a circle compass, drawing a rectangle with a rectangle tool, drawing a straight line with a rope cartridge. This definition of the Law, is formal instead of substantive, but it emphasizes that the “Law” is the code of conduct of people’s behavior, objective and fair. The same words also appeared in the remarks of Confucianism and Mohism. “All workers use the same way to draw and measure the rectangles, circles and straight lines. As a result, every worker is bound by the law” (Mo Tzu): “Without the compass and governors, squares and circles cannot be accurately drawn.” (Mencius) It means that the standards such as size, rope, and rules are used to measure the size, number, length,

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weight, or correction of things and correct the things. Although people are smart, sometimes they are not as good as the rough rules. “Even if one has discerning eyes and quick and quick hands, it is better to correct the square circle with clumsy rules. Therefore, craftsmen can make rules, but they can’t correct the circle without rules. In the same way, sages can make laws, but they can’t abandon them to govern the country. Therefore, even if there is high wisdom and noble virtue, if we govern the country in violation of the law, it will be like abandoning the rules and regulations and unable to correct the square circle.” (Guan Zi). Shen Jiaben, in the late Qing Period, followed the legalism theory in the pre-Qing Period to explain the definition of Law, “There is no country which can maintain long-term stability without the Law in the world. The Law shows the way to work and the instrument of everything. If you make a law but not enforce it, it equals no laws. For the sake of politics, the first is to legislate to the people. The reform is self-reliant. The ruling is righteous and pushed to the heart”. (Guan Zi). He believes that Law is a norm that regulates people’s behavior. It is an objective standard for measuring all things in the world. The role of Law lies in governing the country and people.

1.3 Maintaining the Rule of “The Status of the Monarch and the Subordinates” 1.3.1 Choosing People by the Law Measuring the Contribution In ancient times, the legalism theory believed that when the monarch was governing the country, he should pay attention to the Law’s use of talents, rather than subjective inference. Pay attention to measure the contribution based on effort, not your own personal ruling. Only in this way will talents not be omissive, and scums cannot be hidden. Mere fame can’t get people hired, and talents will not be ignored when they are framed. “Choosing the talent and measuring the contribution according to the Law” is to reward by contribution. The selection of talents is not based on heavy fame but actual contribution. The most important thing is the formulation and implementation of the Law, including employing the right people, using the right way to rewards and punishments, fully mobilizing their enthusiasm, and making full use of their potential to contribute to the great cause. From now on, some successful leaders have attached great importance to make the rule of talent selection, rewards, and punishments more scientific and institutionalized. Choosing the talents according to the Law, instead of private will; only if the Law is objective will it be able to recognize the talents. Choosing the Talents The right way of Choosing the talents includes two aspects: firstly, it is to define the needs of the organization and select the right people. Not the jack of all trades.

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Managers also need to be clear-minded and choose true talents according to real ability instead of fake fame. At the same time, it is necessary to establish a scientific employment system, a strict selection, and an assessment mechanism. Secondly, it is the correct incentive. Choosing the right people is the first step. We must also ensure that one can spare no effort to work for us. Therefore, it is necessary to achieve scientific management of performance and institutionalization of rewards and punishments in actual work. Measuring the contribution and rewarding according to the Law not only institutionalizes the merits but also makes the merits and rewards more scientific and reasonable, thus to avoid the deviation of the rewards caused by the subjective one-sidedness of the leaders. Only by using the correct incentive as the starting point for reward and punishment, using performance as the basis for reward and punishment, establishing a reasonable reward and punishment system, and rewarding and punishing strictly and fairly, and openly, can we employ the people well.

1.3.2 Using the Law to Govern the Subordinates Heavy Punishment In ancient times, while attaching importance to government subordinates’ selection and use, it also a challenge to control them. Shang Yang’s control and assessment of bureaucrats is very meticulous and rigorous. He believes that “heavy punishment” can be used to prevent and control bureaucratic crimes. By punishing the bureaucratic crimes, it is possible to let the bureaucrats be vigilant and dispel the sense of superiority and not trying their luck in the face of the Rules. They cannot get carried away because they are enforcers, and they have the power to impose penalties, nor should they feel there is no one to investigate and deal with the law, so they can know the law and break the law, seriously affecting the authority of the law. Therefore, for bureaucrats, strict laws are also needed to prevent and stop their crimes, and heavy rewards and punishments are used to ensure mutual supervision and mutual enforcement. It is achieved by using the rewards to encourage and using heavy threats and impediments to achieve mutual supervision and mutual reporting between bureaucrats. Supervision The law here refers to establishing a strict, open, and powerful supervision and reporting system, which rewards the whistle-blowers and encourages such peers to expose crimes; this allows each bureaucrat to be cautious and try not to break the law, observe people of the same level, and promptly expose peers’ crimes. This is much more effective than sending people to supervise and teaming up to cover up. Use the laws to manage subordinates is also reflected in the clear division of bureaucracy by clearly defining the terms of reference of bureaucrats, making it difficult for bureaucrats to use their powers to do bad things. At the same time, it also effectively avoids pushing to take off each other during the work, and greatly improves work efficiency.

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1.3.3 The Authority of the Monarch Constraining the Subjects “The Authority is in of the monarch” emphasizes that the monarch must master absolute power. In the Warring States Period, Legalism believed that there are three main points in governing the country: one is Governing by Law; the other is credit; the third is power. The Law is commonly obeyed by the monarch and the subjects; credit is the mutual established by the monarch and the subjects; the monarch solely owns the authority. This emphasizes that the monarch must dictate power. In other words, managers can have prestige only if they are in the hands of power. The premise that managers have arbitrary powers is that there are laws and regulations, that is, using the laws to restrict the subjects, so that the subjects will be consciously under the control of the monarch. Legalist Shang Yang believes that if the manager is in a management position, but the following people do not execute his orders, this is a very dangerous thing, especially when the relationship between the manager and the subordinate is too harmonious. When The difference between manager and subordinate is not obvious enough, the manager lacks the authority to let others obey, and there will be problems of management confusion. Therefore, the ancients divided people into nobles and the poor. The purpose was to establish the hierarchy of social class so that the boundaries between managers and subordinates were obvious so that the administrator’s decrees would be taken seriously. Preventing the Confusion The reason why the monarch established the Legal System was to prevent the traitors from breeding. If the monarch’s decree could not be executed, then the monarch would be in a very dangerous position, and the official position would be dysfunctional due to chaos. Therefore, people must understand the Legal System and let people fear criminal law. In this way, the law enacted by the monarch will make the monarch’s status noble and authoritative and facilitate the management of the monarch. However, it is not enough to have a Legal System. The monarch must act under the rule of law so that the monarch’s status can be respected. Therefore, managers must lead by example so that all their words, actions, and affairs are in accordance with the law, so they can gain followers. Moreover, Shang Yang believes that the right to reward and punishment must be in the manager’s hands, not only punishment but also rewards. Also, according to the law, managers can not reward others without reasons, nor can they turn a blind eye to the meritorious person. Reward and Punishment Managers can establish prestige in their minds as long as they can reward and punish and allow subordinates to feel the rewards and punishments imposed on them. If the power of reward and punishment is given to the subordinates, then when others are rewarded, they will only be most grateful to those who directly give them rewards, not the monarch. On the contrary, if the wicked can manipulate the

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rewards and punishments, they will use the power of their hands to arbitrarily deliberately, such as promoting the people without credit, framing the loyalists, causing the chaos of the dynasty, and finally threatening the management of the monarch. Although this kind of thought can be beneficial to the governor’s management, it is not suitable for middle and grassroots managers. Because of this, the source of reward and punishment must be attributed to the highest level, while the middle and grassroots managers do not have such power. If they use this method to establish authority for management, it violates this idea’s original intention.

1.4 Implementing the Method of “Subduing the Subjects by Force” 1.4.1 Benefitting the People What Is the “Benefitting the People” “Subduing men by force” (Mencius) can be divided into ruling people through benefits or violence. For the former, Legalism attaches importance to the development of the economy and emphasizes the importance of the people. Guang Zi affirmed that self-interest is a kind of nature, and human self-interest is an objective existence. Human nature is “all about self-interest, even if difficult, people chase after it; Even in the abyss, people jump into it. Therefore, the good governor put profits where they want to execute their police; people naturally admire and accept”. People work hard day and night, do not be afraid of hardships, and their internal motivation is a “profit”. The pursuit of material interests and desires are the nature of human. As long as the intelligent governor firmly grasps human nature, it is equal to master the way of managing the people, and the people will obey orders voluntarily. Two Aspects of Benefit This view puts people’s needs into two levels: one is the instinct or the natural need of human beings, and its content is different from that of animals by making people’s lives rich and comfortable and satisfying basic needs and social-emotional needs; the second is the character or habit of the human being. The main content is the spiritual needs of “knowing honor and disgrace, knowing rite” formed by the social environment and acquired education, all based on adequate food and clothing. “Self-interest” is the fundamental driving force that drives people to work and is also a positive factor in achieving the goal of governance. From this point of view, the first way to govern the people is to let them get rich and give them sufficient benefits. When people’s lives are rich, they will become better governed. “Those who walk without shoes are not afraid of the rich” means that People with nothing are not afraid to lose anything, so they will do anything as long as it is profitable, which will undoubtedly become a social instability. When managers make people rich, it is like letting them put on their shoes. From then on,

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they will pay attention to their own property and interests. Because everyone is afraid of losing their possessions, they will respect managers, avoid committing crimes, and be eager to have a peaceful life, so the country is easy to govern. This reflects that policy regulators should attach great importance to the role of people’s psychology and emotions. When the time is appropriate, they should give people some psychological comfort and temptation of interests, and then people will naturally follow the manager’s arrangements.

1.4.2 Education Assisted by Penalty Compulsory In the management of the country, people must abide by the rules of the rite. Once it is violated, it will inevitably destroy the harmony of interpersonal relationships and the orderly social life. Therefore, it must also have mandatory norms of decrees and legal penalties to deter and prevent violation of rules. Legalism emphasizes that the way to govern the country is achieved by law. Law as a tool for country rule and an objective standard of code of conduct. Using punishment to govern the people will be afraid, no evil will happen, and if no evil happens, the people can enjoy their happiness. Educating people with morality and justice will indulge themselves, the people will cause chaos if they indulge themselves, and the people will be hurt by things that people hate. Law enforcement’s main task is to put an end to the evils, and the main way to put an end to them is to use heavy punishment. Therefore, the monarch uses punishment to persuade the people, investigate the people’s fault, ignore the good deeds of the people, and eliminate the punishment with punishment (The Book of Lord Shang). Severity Shang Yang mentioned an important concept that those who punish the evils and those who violated the statutes must not only be punished, but also must be sentenced severely, so that they would not dare to commit another crime, and this is called “execute one as a warning to others”. This argument is based on the idea of “human nature is evil”, and human nature is “spoiled by love, and yield to power” Therefore, the country should use the law, especially strict laws to tighten the spirit of the subjects to the limit. “The reward should be creditable and big, so people chase it; The punishment must be heavy and certain to frighten the people; There is no law so consistent and stable as to let the people know the dignity of law” The people are afraid of severe punishment and can be driven by the country. In this sense, Governing by the law of legalism is characterized as the politics of terror with high pressure and severe punishment.

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Governing by Harmony: Management Based on Balance

In different fields, “balance” has different meanings. In general, balance means that the two sides of the contradiction are in power and maintain a relatively static country. The power of the contradictions is different, and the country of absolute quiescence cannot exist. That is to say, there is no absolute balance in the world, and the balance is always relative. However, the absence of absolute balance does not mean that people are pursuing balance, and trying to maintain balance is wrong. In a certain sense, balance is consistent with equality, harmony, and unity, and the latter is the general value goal pursued by mankind.

2.1 Introduction 2.1.1 The Meaning of Governing by Harmony He Zhi means Governing by Harmony, peace, stability. “Return to the East, govern my country” (King Mu Biography). It means that my mission is to peacefully govern the people on the land and distribute resources equally. “Under the rule of Governing by Harmony, people realize their wish.” (Huai Nan Zi). The theory of “harmony is most precious” is the core of Confucianism; Mencius said that “The appropriate time is inferior to the appropriate location, the appropriate location is inferior to the appropriate people” This shows the importance of peace. In traditional culture, “harmony” is very important. So what is “harmony”? Shi Bo said that, “Different things coordinate with each other to reach the country of harmony, It means that harmony is the principle of creating things, and simple assimilation cannot last forever. Combine many different things together to make them balanced. This is called harmony, so it can make things rich and grow up. In the Spring and Autumn Period, Yan Ying thinks that “harmony” means “If a soup is too weak, add seasoning. If it is too strong, dilute it with water”. That is to say, inadequacies should be increased, and exceeding things should be reduced. In Chinese philosophy, “harmony” marks the coordination between heaven and the earth, Yin and Yang. The theory of “harmony” stems from the growth of crops. The development process of the theory of “harmony” is from the harmony of the concrete concept of diet to the harmony of the concept of human relationship; it has laid a theoretical foundation for the formation of a complete concept of “The Doctrine of The Mean”. 2.1.2 The Application of Governing by Harmony Coordinating Interpersonal Relationships In terms of ancient interpersonal relationships, Confucianism made its own deep thoughts and constructed moral education content with its own characteristics. For example, Confucianism advocates the principle of “Shang Gong (Advocating public politics)”, stressing that “the world is for the public”, requiring people to use justice to overcome their own desires, to take the interests of the country and the

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nation as the most important, personal interests should obey the overall interests, and to highlight the value orientation of public over that of private. This kind of morality will undoubtedly help people to correctly handle the relationship between individuals and society. Therefore, throughout the ages, it has been valued by progressive thinkers, passed down from generation to generation, and constantly carried forward. In many modern management practices, the ideas of “Governing by Harmony” can be effectively used. Specifically, it can be applied to personal management, family management, corporate interpersonal relationship management, and country management. In terms of personal management, it can be applied to the adjustment of personal psychological emotions; in the aspect of family management, it can mainly be used to deal with the coordination of the relationship among the various members of the family, to create a good family atmosphere; in the management of corporate interpersonal relationships aspects, it can be used to deal with the relationship between enterprises employees and employers, superiors and subordinates, and colleagues. Dealing with Contradictions The idea of “harmony” can also be applied to deal with contradictions in things, especially in dealing with the country’s management of society. Xunzi believes that the primary requirement of politics is to be orderly. As the saying goes, “Life cannot go on without groups, but a group without distinction would inevitably lead to conflicts, chaos, and disintegration”. (Xun Zi) It means that there must be social groups in people’s lives, but when they are combined into social groups, and there are no restrictions on the ranks, there will be competition. When competition arises, there will be turmoil, and when a disturbance occurs, it will have divisiveness. Form a relatively stable social class structure and let everyone be in a suitable place. “Harmony” does not negate the difference in class but recognizes this difference. The government must create a smooth passage between the various classes, so that people can have the right to choose their own way of life in a fair and open way, allowing people to pursue their own ideals. (Fig. 2).

Fig. 2 Management based on balance

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2.2 Harmonious Society: “Harmony Between Human and Nature, Complying with Human and Nature” Although there have always been different references to the relationship between human and nature, but the theory of “Harmony between human and nature” occupies the mainstream position in the ancient Chinese, which has become the characteristic of Chinese traditional culture and the core theory to distinguish Chinese culture from Western culture. I Ching proposes the theory of “three talents,” which form the theory of the relationship between humans and nature by combining time, location, and people. It embodies the Rule of nature of the universe and becomes an important part of Chinese philosophy. The theory of “three talents” with the harmony between humans and nature is reflected in management. It requires managers to respect the universe’s rhythm, has a broad mind, a forward-looking attitude, a long-term vision, and a focus on harmony among time, location, and people. The relationship between time, location, and people is necessary to “Complying with Nature” and “Complying with Human”. The Rule of Nature and The Rule of Society are the basic rules of the universe. The Rule of Society is the basic rule of social life. The “Complying with human and nature” is to follow the Rule of nature and humans. The Rule of Nature is the foundation of The Rule of Society. The Rule of Society must follow the Rule of Nature. Not only must we follow the law, respect the objective laws, but also actively exert human subjectivity. By actively exerting human talents, we must actively grasp the pattern of The Rule of Nature, and finally, “Up by the decree of heaven, down by the people To achieve “Harmony between human and nature, Complying with human and nature”. I Ching’s social harmony theory is based on the theory of “harmony between human and nature”. The harmony between Yin and Yang is its essence; the sages are in place to realize its primary condition; the harmony of the hierarchy is its fundamental characteristic; the social wealth is realized its material guarantee; ritual punishment is the institutional guarantee to realize it; moral cultivation is the necessary condition to realize it; from family harmony, national harmony to harmony in the world is to realize its development model.

2.2.1 Political Harmony Preserving the Regime Sages are in place to achieve political harmony. The core of “the Rule of Monarch” lies in the combination of “Governing by Morality” and “Governing by Benevolence”. The core of “benevolence politics” is people-oriented. Because the management of things can be measured simply by standards, but people are different: people have emotions and reason. People’s emotional and intellectual recognition is directly related to their subjective initiative. Dominating the world must have a rich economic base, and economic prosperity must be achieved through “people”. The theory of Mencius “Governing by Benevolence” includes some political requirements, like following with the rules, using a proper mixture of severity and

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gentleness, sharing happiness with the people, and selecting talents. This is the direct result of Governing by Benevolence. Governing by Benevolence also includes some educational requirements, like advocating Governing by Morality and rite. There are many similar historical events, the policies of “smooth and no intervention” and “resting with the people” in the Han Dynasty, as well as low tax and light punishment created conditions for the recovery and development of social production, and formed the “subordinates put the whole heart in the work; people can be active to do their own work. This series of measures helps the monarch achieve the goal of stabilizing the regime”. Tips Rule of Wen and Jing During 40 years of rule by Emperor Wen and Emperor Jing of the Western Han Dynasty, the political stability and the remarkable development of economic production have always been regarded as the “prosperous age” of feudal society, which is known as “Rule of Wen and Jing” in history. Great Prosperity of Emperor Wu After Emperor Wen and Emperor Jing, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty created a “Great Prosperity of Emperor Wu”. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty established the “Recommendatory System”, created the “Silk Road” and pacified the Huns, which was the first prosperous situation in China’s feudal era. Prosperity of Zhenguan The prosperity of Zhenguan refers to the peaceful and prosperous period in the early Tang Dynasty. Because Emperor Taizong of Tang Dynasty was able to appoint people on their merits and know how to make good use of them; he accepted admonition with an open mind and put Wei Zheng in an important position; he also adopted some policies based on agriculture, such as reducing corvee, recuperation, practicing economy and improving the imperial examination system. At that time, it was called “Zhenguan” (627–649 AD), so it was called “Prosperity of Zhenguan”. Flourishment Age of Kaiyuan Flourishment Age of Kaiyuan was a prosperous period in the early period of Tang Xuanzong’s rule. In the early days of the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang Dynasty, Kaiyuan was taken as the year title. At that time, Tang Xuanzong made great efforts to rule the country, appointed talents, developed the economy, advocated culture and education, and made the world ruled. Therefore, later historians called it the “Flourishment Age of Kaiyuan”. Heyday of Kangxi and Qianlong From the middle period of Kangxi, the Qing Dynasty had a relatively prosperous situation and reached its peak in Yongzheng and Qianlong years. With a span of more than 130 years, this period was the peak of the Qing Dynasty’s rule.

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Therefore, some Chinese historians called the Kangxi, Yongxi and Qianlong periods “Heyday of Kangxi and Qianlong”. Data source: Lan (1994). Maintaining the Society The “harmony” theory is conducive to maintaining political stability. The current social competition is extremely fierce. There must be contradictions in competition. Contradictions will inevitably lead to a certain degree of difference. How to treat this social phenomenon, adjust your own mentality in real life, and make the relationship between people friendly and helpful. Wang Fuzhi said that “The way of harmony is to point out other’s mistakes: their negligence in words; their misbehaves in the rite, their unhappiness in hearts. Be careful not to hide that dissatisfaction and let it accumulate. There are so many people in the world, some strong, some weak, some rich, some poor… one should emphasize the poor and be happy for the rich”. It means that the differences in the competition and the problem of inequality between the rich and the poor require different interest groups to deal with the concept of harmony, resolve various contradictions in the process of solving problems, integrate the interests of all parties, and coordinate the interest among individual, collective and social three aspects. The common interests of the parties and the common development are in order to achieve a stable social order, a productive economic development, a common improvement in the people’s living standards, and a good desire to promote the common progress of the whole society.

2.2.2 Economic Harmony The guarantee of social wealth represents the second part of social harmony: economic harmony. Confucianism educate the people to develop education following promoting economy. “People who have a constant production have a constant mind, and he who has no constant production has no perseverance” (Mencius); the people must have a fixed income to make the society stable and harmonious. Confucianism especially opposed, “The rich have a lot of fields, and there are very few land assets in the poor”, and this is serious polarization. They think this is the root of social unrest. Legalism also believes that benefiting the people is to let the people gain some profit so that they will support the work of the managers because their own interests are related to the country. Economic measures include the production of the people, the taxation, the development of agricultural production that fits seasonal timing, and the insistence on the social division of labor that emphasizes commerce. The purpose is to enrich the people and have the material basis for ruling the world. 2.2.3 Cultural Harmony Chinese Culture Promoting moral cultivation, as the third part, represents cultural harmony. Carry forward the unity and multiplicity of Chinese culture. The unification is that Greater

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China needs a dominant ideology that is inclusive and diverse. It is that various ideas can be combined on this basis. Starting from the philosophers of the pre-Qin period, through the Han Dynasties, the Wei and Jin Dynasties, the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the Song and Ming Dynasties to the Qing Dynasty, the exchange of various doctrines and folk beliefs has become a profound Chinese traditional culture.“Governing by Confucianism, supporting the body with the Tao, and raising the heart with the Buddha” is the embodiment of the inner and the different inner spirits. World Culture Chinese traditional culture has always attached importance to the peaceful reunification of the motherland and opposes any act of splitting territory. Today’s world economy is fiercely competitive. In fact, economic competition is a cultural competition. There are all kinds of cultures in the world. It is impossible to ask that culture has only one model. In this respect, the Chinese “harmony” thought shows its great affinity and fusion. Learning from each other’s strengths and integrations is an external manifestation of “harmonious” thinking. As early as the Spring and Autumn Period, there was the idea of “If harmony is achieved, all things can grow and develop. If all things are simply the same, they cannot develop and continue” (Discourses of the country). That is, “harmony” is the foundation of all things, and only a variety of different factors can interact in balance to form a harmonious whole. The simple assimilation can not constitute contradictions, so there will be no movement, and things cannot exist. Therefore, all kinds of cultures can only be integrated. Comprehensive innovation can make the world culture more colorful and more conducive to solving complex problems according to each ethnic group’s actual conditions.

2.3 Modernization Principle: “Stopping When It Should Stop, Acting When It Should Act” “Zhong He (Modernization)” refers to fairness and peace, which is extended to the moral self-cultivation country that conforms to Golden Mean. Confucianism believes that people’s moral cultivation can reach the realm of the middle so that everything in the heavens and the earth can get its own place and reach a harmonious realm. I Ching explains “Change” requires that in the process of “change the old and make innovation”, we should keep the principle, grasp the principle of neutrality, and pay attention to the overall harmony. Harmony is a dynamic process. In the process of dynamic change, it is balanced and coordinated. “Time” is a very important term in it, referring to the timing and opportunity. The good or bad of one thing often depends on the correctness of the time and opportunity of the situation, following good timing is propitious, against timing is bad luck. Therefore, “stay put when trend is still, and move as the trend moves.” (I Ching) emphasizes the opportunity to adapt, that is, change with time.

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2.3.1 Yin and Yang Are in the Middle Implication The Yin and Yang are the middle; that is, the Yin and Yang are the general outline for guiding all things and all phenomena of change between heaven and earth. “Middle” is the embodiment of Yin and Yang harmony. According to I Ching, each of the whole is the unity of opposites of Yin and Yang, with the principle of harmony between Yin and Yang. The harmony of Yin and Yang sympathy is coordinated, and fairness can be used to avoid bad luck. The concept of “Middle” influenced the later Confucianism and Taoism, while the “Middle” in Confucianism was not only the implicit inner emotional requirements, but also the norms and principles of individuals expressing their external words and deeds in real social life.. Personal and physical development should pursue the way of neutrality, and between people and even between man and nature should pursue the way of neutrality to achieve harmony between them. Application Applying this theory to the management field is conducive to coordinating the organization’s internal relationships and straightening out the internal order. The “Tao of the Zhong Zheng” first requires managers to be upright and righteous, to be honest, and appoint people solely based on merits, not to have selfish distractions, not to be biased, and to arrange their positions according to the capability of each person, so that they can do their best to maximize their talents. When dealing with problems, we must estimate the overall balance and coordination. We must not be blind to the outside world, neither to the left nor to the right; neither advance nor backward, we must follow the Rule of Fairness. Only by sticking to the Rule of Fairness can we create a harmonious beauty. Only when we are in the right position can we be able to pass smoothly and pass through. We must be moderate and decent, avoiding extremes and seeking the best balance. Neither should we act blindly, being counterproductive because it exceeds the limits, nor should we limit ourselves to the rules and miss the opportunity. Only when managers are considerate of others, stand in the viewpoint of others, and put themselves in others’ shoes can the whole organization be inductive, united, and prosperous. In short, sympathetic coordination between Yin and Yang is the basic principle for measuring the country of harmonious management. Managers grasp and follow this principle so that management behavior is finally in a country of harmony, and it will achieve the so-called getting close luck and avoiding disaster.

2.3.2 Flat Theory Moderate Management Moderate management is the essence of Eastern civilization. As a manager of Governing by Benevolence, the most important characteristics that should be possessed is Golden Mean. One of its connotations is moderate management. This

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is because in traditional Chinese culture, doing too much and too little are the same, and they are imperfect. Only the “moderate” is the best. Flatness is not a compromise. Eclecticism is to identify one side and to agree with the other party’s principle, non-discriminatory. When the flatness theory requires people to deal with social conflicts and contradictions, do not be biased, take appropriate proportions, emphasize that people do not go to extremes, pay attention to harmony, balance, and unity. The use of the “Middle” approach in management practice is reflected in the “Dimension” grasp. When we make macro-management decisions, we should review the situation and not go to extremes. In the management of people, we should be based on the principle of “Middle”, regardless of distance and closeness, should be treated equally and impartial. But the manager must also make clear that the principle of “Middle” is not to confuse right and wrong, to be a group of harmony, but to be unclear and rational. Flexible Management Flexibility here refers to the flexibility and maneuverability that is reflected in the changes in time and space, regardless of the existing experience and established regulations. Managers are flexible in adapting to the complex problems that arise in the management process based on changes in objective conditions, which is the “Golden Mean”. The same system and the same kind of behavior might be fitting in one situation but may not fit in another situation. In reality management, whether it is the management system’s formulation, the use of management technology, and even all management behaviors, we must make changes in the context of grasping the situation. This kind of management model that adheres to the basic principles and basic systems and starts from the actual time, place, and circumstances is the so-called contingency management. Harmonious Management “Harmony” is to match various heterogeneous factors in an appropriate proportion. This kind of He does not only include human society but also pervades the whole universe. “Harmony” requires people in different social relations and ethical relations to cooperate closely with each other. In management, “Separation” and “Harmony” require people to be at different levels and have specific rights and responsibilities, but they coordinate with each other. Of course, emphasizing harmony is not blindly agreeing with other ideas but pursuing coordination in principle. In the case of the same basic principles, some details can be unified, that is, “seeking harmony from diversity.” Pursuit “Harmony” in different situations that is, seeking cooperation and harmony in differences and contradictions. In fact, this kind of difference, which seems to be unharmonious, is better, more powerful, and more valuable than the seeming calmness on the service. Because the harmony of the surface is only a result of the opposite effect, is a static thing, and the difference (opposition struggle) is dynamic and rich content, and it is a powerful vitality that is interacting. The struggle must destroy the old, temporary, and occasional harmony, leading to a new harmony.

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Only when things are different and can be opposite and united can they achieve harmony and multiply all things. If they are all the same, then they cannot be transformed into all things. Only when they match each other can they be called harmony. Therefore (harmonious things) can make all things abundance. If the same things are matched together, they will be monotonous and rigid. If they are paranoid, things will be exhausted. Therefore, the monarch combined earth with gold, wood, water, and fire to form all things (Discourses of the country). “Flat” is to combine many different things to make them harmonious. This is the basic condition of all things. “Add” means mixing things of the same nature; there is nothing new, and there is no creativity. New varieties will only be produced when the ingredients of different ingredients are combined. It has different meanings. Finding the same thing or reason in different things is the process of finding “Harmony”. “Harmony but different” means recognizing that the formation and the basis of differences can be produced, which is real and lasting peace. If you pursue the same blindly, you can make things develop and cause things to fail. In summary, Harmony can only be the harmony of the struggle, the harmony between the temporary and the dynamic. Constructing harmony must be achieved by transforming contradictions and changing differences. Any attempt to cover up differences, or even eliminate differences, to create harmony in a vacuum, is doomed to failure.

2.3.3 Raw Silk Without Dyeing, Logs Without Processing Implication “Raw silk without dyeing, logs without processing” refers to showing nature, keeping the simplicity and not being affected by external objects. The theory of “Non-interference” of Lao Tzu is an important part of his philosophy. It is not only the highest value of the life of Taoism, but also the basic principle of governing oneself, governing the country, and governing the world. From a metaphysical perspective, “Tao” is the root of everything in the universe. Everything is born from Tao, and everything is endowed with “Tao” and has “Moral”. The Tao is essentially a unity of “Non-interference” and “Doing everything”. Since Tao’s nature is natural, it is “Following with nature” and “Non-interference” by following with the substance of things and exact their essence from nature. If you violate the Rule of nature, you will be punished. Origin “Raw silk without dyeing, logs without processing” is rooted in the philosophical concept of “Tao follows the Rule of nature”. The most representative sentence of his thought is “Governing big countries should be as careful as cooking delicate dishes”, that is to say, the big country has a large population, and everything is interconnected. Those who want peace do not disturb the people, reduce politics and love people, follow the rules, follow the path, take time to make decisions, and they can’t do whatever they want, but they must judge the situation and be cautious, and they must not change their goals. Therefore, the impact of any decision is quite

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large, so managers must implement the goal step by step according to the nature of the situation and the nature of the matter. Lao Tzu believes that excessive “Interference” is the root cause of human alienation, managers seeking quick success, and impetuous society. Therefore, he warned against social reality: the focus of social management is guidance rather than coercion. The premise of management is that its own behavior should be reasonable, and try to guide the people to live in a reasonable way, and let the people live in a democratic and broad atmosphere. In the development, try to mobilize the people’s inner strength, that is, their subjective initiative. It is not for the consideration of political achievements, but also to spend a lot of social resources to make image projects or projects that do more harm than good, waste labor.

2.4 Cooperation-Competition Theory: “Developing the Strengths, Avoiding Shortcomings and Learning from Others” “Jing He (Cooperation-Competition)”, as the name suggests, is that every country, organization or individual must achieve common interests through a process of competition and cooperation so that people can achieve a win-win situation or even a multi-win situation. According to philosophical dialectics, things have contradictory two-sidedness, just like the development of the market economy. Only competition without cooperation limits the profit rate that enterprises can obtain. Therefore, when the disorderly competition between enterprises is heated up, and the market rules are increasingly perfect and transparent, only through cooperation can the enterprise be profitable and sustainable.

2.4.1 Cooperation-Competition of Traditional Culture Cooperation-Competition culture is the result of the specific application of the idea of “harmony but difference” in business management. The philosophy of Confucianism pays the most attention to the word “Harmony” and repeatedly explores its profound connotations and implements it to govern management. The philosophy theory of “harmony is most precious” directly affects the formation of modern enterprises’ business philosophy. Cooperative Competition In the relationship between enterprises, the emphasis is placed on cooperative competition. The traditional competition will gradually worsen enterprises’ external competitive environment, and enterprises will, therefore, lose many opportunities. Many companies have gained market share at the expense of profit, and in the end, they have more to lose. However, the current era is more of an era of cooperative competition. The voice of collaborative competition and cooperation has far surpassed the hostile competition.

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“Harmony” and “Agreement” Corresponding to the competition is the “Harmony” advocated by the Philosophy of Confucianism, which is different from “Agree without giving serious thought”, which means the agreement without principle to harmony on the surface. “Harmony” and “Agreement” are two philosophical concepts with different connotations. “Harmony” refers to harmony based on acknowledging contradictions and affirming differences. “Agreement” refers to denying contradictions and eliminating differences. The former is to pursue the coordination and unity of the opposite side, avoid contradictions, and find ways to resolve contradictions; the latter is to confuse right and wrong, reconcile without principle, and even confusing.

2.4.2 Cooperation-Competition of Modern Enterprises In a sense, modern enterprises’ competition can be said to be an ethical competition, which contains deep ethical relations. Competition and cooperation of enterprises are inseparable in the operation of enterprises in the market economy. In a certain sense, the negative effect of the competition is caused by the lack of necessary coordination and cooperation among the competition participants. Competition of Modern Enterprises The market economy is competitive. In order to seek space for survival and development, each enterprise will inevitably compete. However, modern enterprises’ competition can be said to be an ethical competition in a certain sense, which contains deep ethical relations. In the market economy, the operation, competition and cooperation of enterprises are inseparable. Economic operation and even social life will bring about some negative effects, such as the ineffective loss of certain social resources, the dysfunction of a certain degree of economic order, and the mental crisis and alienation of personality caused by excessive psychological tension. Cooperation of Modern Enterprises If we introduce the Confucianism theory “harmony is the most precious” into the market mechanism, we will use the generative nature of “Harmony” to compensate for the loss of “Competition”, adjust the disorder of “Competition” with the norm of “Harmony”, play down the competition with a harmonious attitude to achieve peace and harmony, and to compete for complementarity. This can make the market economy fight without chaos, compete without real harm, and be full of vitality and healthy and orderly development. With the deepening of the market economy, the market has been transformed from a competitive stage of “perfect competition” to a new stage of the market economy dominated by “Cooperation-Competition”. Small Case Liu Chuanzhi has stressed more than once that a “United and strong leading group” is one of the important reasons for Lenovo to achieve such performance today. The so-called “leading group” is an organization of people, a problem of many people, and a problem of cooperation. If we regard the general manager as the

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enterprise organization leader, then the team is the core fortress of the enterprise. To build this fortress well, leaders must have strong coordination ability. Liu Chuanzhi believes that an excellent talent should not only adhere to principles but also be good at compromise. Only by adhering to principles can we have a healthy spirit, and only by being good at compromise can we ensure unity. Without these two things, we would not be able to do a good job. Lenovo Group is a very cooperative enterprise. In 1980, Liu Chuanzhi once interpreted Lenovo Group as an enterprise “one by one, weaker than others, and stronger together”. In 1994, Lenovo established the president’s office. Liu Chuanzhi concentrated some talents with good plasticity to the president’s office, including the general manager of the front-line business department and the functional management department’s general manager. The president’s office will discuss all the projects that need to be decided by the president’s office in advance, and Liu Chuanzhi is never absent. Sometimes when a question is discussed, Liu Chuanzhi takes the trouble to argue with everyone. He calls this kind of discussion, “grinding the skin of the mouth hot.”. Most of the time of the president’s office members in a year is spent in this “hot talk” process. Liu Chuanzhi explained the purpose of this way of discussion very clearly. He thinks that the president’s office members are likely to manage the whole company in the future. Now, they are kneaded together to discuss matters in advance, and their temperaments and values are gradually integrated. Only in this way can they gradually form a United and strong team. Undoubtedly, this is a preview of Liu Chuanzhi’s training talents. Data source: Su (2009).

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Governing by Moral: Management based on Morality

3.1 Introduction 3.1.1 The Meaning of Governing by Morality Implication The theory of Governing by Morality is the rule of governing the country in ancient China. It is a kind of moral norm and has long been regarded as a legitimate thought by the feudal governors. Among them, Governing by Morality of Confucianism is to advocate the use of morality to influence people. This enlightenment method is a psychological transformation that makes people’s hearts good, learns what is shameful, and avoids a villain’s thoughts. Governing by the Morality of Confucianism played a certain role in maintaining the stability of the feudal society. “Governing by Morality” in ancient China originated from the theory of “Only the virtuous can bear the destiny” and “Respect the moral to protect the people” proposed by Zhou Gong in the Western Zhou Dynasty. However, this theory’s

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starting point is to seek legitimacy for the Western Zhou Dynasty rule, which is undeniable. Moreover, the theory “Protecting the people” has opened the precedent of the people-oriented thought that has been passed down through ancient China for thousands of years, and it is also the earliest theory of “Governing by Morality” in ancient China. “Governing by Morality” is based on respecting the time, ancestors and people. It emphasizes that the monarch mainly obtains the people’s hearts through the policy of Huai rou and does not rule the people through violent methods. Foundation Morality is the reaction of social material living conditions and social ideology determined by certain economic relations. The concept of “Morality” has sprouted since the early Western Zhou Dynasty and has been promoted on the political stage by Zhou Gong. At the end of the Spring and Autumn Period, Confucius complete and develop it to the theory “Governing by Morality”, which had a major impact on the entire feudal society’s legal activities. During the Spring and Autumn Period, someone proposed: “Everything that has a fighting spirit, there is a struggle for self-interest, so the interests are not to be taken, and it is best to see the righteousness. Righteousness is the foundation of true interests. Blind pursuit of self-interest will nourish evilness.” (Zuo’s Commentary). According to this view, all people are eager for profit, but they cannot be forced to use morality to constrain them. Morality is the foundation of interests, and disregarding moral and chase for self-interest will create disasters. A student of Confucius also thinks that:. “They are few who being filial and fraternal are fond of offending their superiors. There have been none who do not offend their superiors have been fond of rebelling. Thus, a gentleman should focus on his duty; by focusing on this duty, there comes Tao. Being filial and fraternal are the foundations of benevolent actions”. (The Analects of Confucius). In the feudal dynasty, the monarchs regarded the country as the private property of their family, they always emphasized the Governing by Morality for “Governing by Morality”, that is, through the inspiration of the incumbent to educate the masses, to correct the hearts of the people, to make the people love each other, and to obey the law.

3.1.2 Application of Governing by Morality Governing the Country and Ensuring the Security The theory of Confucius “Governing by Morality” was developed and perfected by the descendants and accepted by the monarchs. It became the guiding ideology of the feudal society governing the country for more than two thousand years. First of all, The theory of Confucius “Governing by Morality” originated from the turbulent historical era when Zhou’s royal family declined, and the vassal princes fought in the battle. “The Master said, If the people are restricted by laws and punishments, all they know is to avoid punishments, but they have no sense of shame. If they are led by virtue and assimilate, then through the rite, they will not only know shame but will also follow.” It means that using the compulsory means of decree and

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punishment to govern the country can only make the people staying from crime, but will not make the people feel that committing the crime is shameful. Only by governing by virtue can the people have a sense of shame, fundamentally avoid crime. Here, Confucius clearly country that it is necessary to apply morality to the people as an ideal solution for ruling the country. This has actually broken the traditional concept of “rite do not apply to peasants”. Its emergence has largely stabilized the political order of ancient Chinese society. Secondly, its people-oriented thinking reflects the wishes and demands of the people to a certain extent, which is conducive to the feudal social governors attaching importance to people’s livelihood to a certain extent, reducing the exploitation and oppression of the people, and improving the people’s living environment. Finally, Confucius emphasizes that the official’s first quality is the ideological and moral quality, which is similar to today’s ideological and political education. To a certain extent, it is beneficial for the governors to strengthen their moral cultivation and to build a clean government, and to improve their ideological and political quality provide services to all people. Identifying the Loyalty and Interests The problem of righteousness and interest is an important issue of ethics and morality of Confucianism. Righteousness and interest mainly refer to moral behavior and material interests; it also contains the meaning of motivation and effect. Confucian scholars have always paid attention to the distinction between righteousness and interest and advocated public interest and opposed self-interest. As a category of ethical and moral philosophy, righteousness and interest were originally proposed by Confucius. “The gentleman is mainly based on morality. If the gentleman is brave and not moral, he will subvert the country; if the villain is brave and not moral, he will become a robber,” The highest standard of moral behavior is righteousness. “Things that are morally correct should be actively acted upon, and those who are not in the righteous will not be done”. Confucius advocates “see righteousness and execute with bravery”, and being righteous is the distinction between being a gentleman or villain. Therefore, Confucius will use righteousness and interest as a standard for dividing gentlemen and villains. He said, “The mind of the superior man is conversant with righteousness; the mind of the villain is conversant with gain”, promoting “Seeing the money, think of morality” and “Rarely mentioned benefits.” Governing by Morality plays an important role in influencing people’s righteousness and interests. To punish evil and promote good is righteousness, to help the poor is righteousness, to enforce the law is righteousness. In short, everything that reflects the right actions, and social morality is righteousness. “People who do lots of things that are not righteous will see their own end”. (Zuo’s Commentary), It reminds people of the opposite side to be good deeds. “Nothing is more precious than righteousness” (Mo Tzu), On the basis of righteousness, it reflects a person’s lofty realm of morality and spiritual pursuit. Under the premise of righteousness and interest definition and benefit, they are Governing by Morality advocates righteousness as a benefit. On the one hand, in

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Fig. 3 Management based on morality

the face of material interests, they can only be obtained in a proper way, and they must take account of the interests of the whole society. If they are in line with morality, they will be pursued. If they do not conform to morality, they will not be pursued. This is the basic idea of the Confucian concept of justice and benefit and the Chinese nation, traditional morality. On the other hand, focusing on the community’s long-term interests will be supported by people. Only with common interests can we guarantee the realization of our own interests. This is the thought of “righteousness for profit”. The so-called “profit based on righteousness” includes “interest in righteousness” and “righteousness for profit” (Fig. 3).

3.2 Management to Improve the Personal Virtues— Self-cultivation 3.2.1 Subjective: Learning Is as Important as Thinking “Learning without thinking leads to confusion; thinking without learning leads to failure”. (The Analects of Confucius). Learning and thinking must be combined and applied to the relationship between others and society and applied to the practice of improving self-cultivation. This requires that they should actively learn relevant knowledge, social norms, etc., improve their self-cultivation, and deal with interpersonal relationships. It is necessary to play a subjective role, achieve a combination of learning and thinking, learn the content of the skills and the knowledge that is conducive to improving their self-cultivation. At the same time, education should be good at reflecting on their own problems and being able to push themselves. “Learning is as important as thinking” is the educational viewpoint of Confucius. He believes that “learning and thinking are the two basics links in the process of training”. “Learning without thinking leads to confusion; thinking without learning leads to failure.”, The attitude opposes only thinking but not learning, thinking and learning are interdependent relationships, and the two complement each other. “Say

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yes if you know, and admit when you don’t know. That is good behavior”. It means that a person who studies is aware of what he knows, and he knows that he does not know anything. He is a wise person. This kind of attitude is hard to come by. Learning is the premise of thinking. Only by learning certain knowledge can we have our own thoughts and form our own theoretical system. If we think blindly and don’t know to add knowledge, it is equivalent to turning around. No new breakthroughs can be found. In addition, the emphasis on learning and stress also emphasizes the importance of thinking and opposes learning without thinking. “To spread unjustified rumor along the way is against morality”. (The Analects of Confucius). It means that the random transmission without consideration is also contrary to the moral cultivation standards.

3.2.2 Binding: Being Cautious and Self-discipline Even Being Alone “Being cautious even being alone” means having a firm moral belief and a moral will, not doing good because of the supervision of others, and not doing evil because of unsupervised. This moral self-consciousness and self-discipline are the highest country of moral subjectivity and the most profound manifestation of moral will. However, in an increasingly complex social environment, some of the negative effects of excessive care and the various moral landslides in society have brought severe challenges to moral constraints. It is necessary to conduct self-directedness and cultivate the spirit of self-determination. This requires the joint efforts of the society and the educated themselves. First, the external factors influence the educated so that they have basic moral cognition and internalize the social norms into the educators themselves’ behavioral norms, thus making them able to better understand themselves and improve themselves. Secondly, based on fully understanding the self, the self-requirement of the educated will be improved, and they will continue to temper themselves, restrain themselves, and actively seek ways to improve their moral cultivation and ability. It’s not as though we can fully achieve the country of “Being cautious even being alone”, but at least it can abide by the norms and not harm the society. Small Case Deng Jia, a general in the reign of Emperor Guangwu of the Eastern Han Dynasty, sent people to recruit Yang Zhen Xianming and recommended him as a scholar. He has promoted many times to Jingzhou perfect and Donglai prefect. On his way to the county, he passed through Changyi on the way. Wang MI, a scholar of Jingzhou, who had been recommended by him as the magistrate of Changyi, came to see Yang Zhen. At night, Wang Mi brought ten jin silver to Yang Zhen. Yang Zhen said: “I know you, you don’t know me, why?” Wang Mi said: “no one knows at night.” Yang Zhen said, “God knows, God knows, I know, you know. How can you say that no one knows? “Wang Mi took the silver and went out in shame. Data source: Ye (2010).

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3.2.3 Initiative: Unity of Knowing and Acting Self-cultivation internalizes morality into individual moral qualities and requires individuals to externalize the acquired moral knowledge into moral practice. Thus, an internalization, an externalization, and the unification of knowledge and action. Confucius believes that even if a person has a wealth of knowledge if it cannot be put into practice, it is useless. Self-cultivation is a process of exercising oneself and improving oneself. It is slow and gradual. After knowing oneself, those internalized moral qualities will naturally be reflected in the process of dealing with people and treating others. In addition, it must be affirmed that in practice, by doing what you do, and following ethical standards, you can correct your own understanding, supplement the lack of perspectives, and improve existing deficiencies to constantly improve yourself and improve self-cultivation. The management of personal virtues emphasizes the role of morality in the management of the body, requiring individuals to “cultivate the body”, strengthen moral cultivation, improve their own quality, regulate their own words and deeds, and use morality as the foundation to “be based on society with honesty, faith, benevolence”. In family, we must respect our parents, love our children, husband and wife; and outside the family, we must have the spirit of loving society, loving the country, and benefiting others, so as to jointly establish an ideal society for harmony and prosperity.

3.3 Management to Maintain National Stability—Governing the Country 3.3.1 Basing on the Morality of Officials First of all, “Governing by Morality” is the requirement for the governor. Having morality is a key point of “Governing by Morality”. It requires the governor to be ethical and to use his own physical strength to influence the general public. The theory of “Governing by Morality” originated from Zhou Gong. Zhou Gong learned the lesson that King Yinzhou lost the country because of the lack of morality. He believed that the key to stability in the country is whether the governor can respect morality, those who respect ethics will win, or they will be defeated. “God is selfishless and always helps those who are moral” (Book of Historical Documents). It means that God is fair and selfless, always helping people with high moral character. Zhou Gong has repeatedly taught that the monarch must have morality, and that the governance of the country must be “acting with morality” and “accumulating the morality”, and that he should take the lead in setting a good example, be moral and conscientious, and become a model for many promising politicians in later generations. Because he stuck to the principle of “Governing by Morality”, the Zhou Dynasty unified the world. “Governing by Morality” emphasizes the governor’s morality, including the governor’s morality and the morality of officials. Confucius also emphasized that, “Politics means integrity and justice. If the governor takes the lead, who dares not to take the right pat?” It is believed that only those who are in charge of the

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government can correct themselves and the subordinates can be corrected. Only “Governing by Morality” can lead to the situation of “Governing by Morality” may be compared to the north polar star, which keeps its place and all the stars surround it”. On this basis, the book The Great Learning further developed the theory: “The superior man must possess the morality firstly and then ask the others. The superior man doesn’t have a bad habit, and then asks the others to criticize their bad habit.” It is believed that the governor must first have good morality in order to ask others to adhere to the ethical norms before they can blame others. It is impossible to let others know and obey morality if you do not obey the norms. Only when you are fair do you qualify to ask others to do so. For the governor, it is necessary to reflect on the mistakes and strengthen moral cultivation constantly. “The foundation of the world is the country, the foundation of the country, is the home, and the foundation of the home is the individual” (Mencius), It means that the root of the world lies in the country; the root of the country lies in the home; the root of the family is in people itself. At the same time, the moral cultivation of the governor is related to the social atmosphere. This is because “The morality of a gentleman is like the wind; The morality of a rat is like the grass; when the wind blows on the grass, the grass must fall in the direction of the wind”. The influence of the morality of governor and the morality of officials is huge, and it plays a decisive role in the social atmosphere. Therefore, the governor must establish a moral model to fully play the important role of morality in improving the social atmosphere, coordinating interpersonal relationships, and maintaining social order.

3.3.2 Replacing Punishment with Morality Confucius is a representative of Confucianism. The idea of “Replacing punishment with morality” was first proposed by him. Starting from the combination of “rite” and “Benevolence”, Confucius strongly advocated “Governing by Morality” and believed that if the governor can implement “Governing by Morality”, the people will follow the rule with conviction. “Governing by Morality” may be compared to the north polar star, which keeps its place and all the stars surround it”. (The Analects of Confucius). “Governing by Morality” means that the government should rely on the “demonstration of morality” to exercise domination. Its content is two aspects: one is to apply small favors and tenderness to the working people; the other is to educate the ruling class’s morality and make the working people follow. As far as his claim is to impose a small favor on the working people, Zhou Gong advocated it in the early Western Zhou Dynasty. However, Confucius has developed the theory of “Governing by Morality”, that is, while advocating the small favors, as well as the “moralization” and “ethics” for the working people. In legal thought, Confucianism advocates “Persuading by morality” and opposes “Subduing the subjects by force”. While “serving people by force” was the traditional method of slave lord aristocrats ruling the laboring people. According to the principle of “no rite treated to peasants and no punishment applied to nobles” (The Book of Rites), the slave aristocracy always thought that “Trial cases in accordance

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with the criminal law” (Book of Historical Documents). The only effective way to compel the working people to obey the rule is through penal punishment, which is violence. “Governing by Morality” holds the view that only the promotion of “moralization” and “rite” can make the people feel shameful and secure about the crime from the heart. Firstly, comparing the penalty of Governing by Morality and Moralization, the penalty of moralization is fundamental. “If the system of rites and music is disordered, the penalty will not be effective.” (The Analects of Confucius), It means that the penalty must be based on “Rites and music”, otherwise it will not be effective. Secondly, comparing the effects of Governing by Morality and Moralization, “Governing by Morality” holds the view that the penalty can only be punished after the crime, while Moralization and rite can prevent it before it happens. “Although the education of rites is as light as a drizzle, its energy is still great. It can stop those unhealthy tendencies and makes people gradually keep away from evil unconsciously” (The Book of Rites). In the end, the Governing by Morality opposes “killing without education”. “Killing without education in advance is called abuse; asking for immediate success without warning in advance is called violence; starting to slack off and suddenly deadline is called a thief; giving people property but handing stingy is called stinginess (Yao Yue). Therefore, the Governing by Morality inevitably leads to Replacing punishment with morality. Confucius emphasized that “If good men were to govern a country in succession for a hundred years, they would be able to go beyond heavy punishment and death penalty.” (The Analects of Confucius) It means the implementation of moralization is subtle. Although it is difficult to see results in the short term, it will overcome the cruelty and exempt from punishment if the time is long.

3.3.3 Treating People with Tolerance Early in ancient China, there was a people-oriented thought, “To achieve the king’s ruling, the first is to implement the “people-oriented” thinking, and the people are the foundation”. (Guan Zi). That is to say, the people are the foundation of the country, the people are the base of the country, and the people live and work in peace and stability. Confucius develop the theory. First of all, benefitting the people means that the government regards the people’s prosperity as the greatest satisfaction. “If the people have plenty, their king will not be left alone. If the people are in need, their prince cannot enjoy plenty alone”. The Analects of Confucius emphasize that the governors must be generous, diligent, and fair to the people. Secondly, relieving the masses means that the governor gives economic help to the people. Tsze-kung said that “If there is a person, he can give people a lot of benefits, and can help the public, can he be considered a benevolence?” Confucius said that “That is not only just a benevolence but a sage? Even Yao and Shun were still solicitous about this”. (The Analects of Confucius). Confucius believes that it can benefit the people in many ways, and it can often help the people. It is a kind of “Sacred Morality”, and it is difficult to do it for Yao and Shun. Thirdly, stable production is that the government should create a stable production and living environment and conditions for the people and attach importance to the people’s

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survival. People “do not have to worry about not much wealth, just worry about the inequality of wealth; do not have to worry about too few people, just worry about instability.” (The Analects of Confucius) Finally, the governor should refuse heavy punishment and the way of killing the people at will. Instead, the governor should treat people with a moral ethic. “Loving the public”, “Pacifying the people” is to implement the “Benevolence and Morality” to people, thereby “For the old, make him happy; for his friends, trust him; for the young, care for him.” (The Analects of Confucius).

3.4 Management to Coordinate the Social Contradictions— Pacifying the World 3.4.1 Touching People by Morality Pay attention to the guiding role of shame in people’s actions. If the governor uses administrative orders to govern the people and uses punishment to restrain and regulate the people, it can only make the people afraid to be punished and thus avoid committing a crime but they cannot understand that the crime is shameful; Using moral education to guide the people and constraining and regulating the people with rite can not only enable the people to respect the rite and afraid to commit a crime but also enable them to get rid of ignorance and have a sense of shame, thereby conscientiously restraining themselves and doing their best, from the heart. Construct a strong defense line against the temptation so that the country’s natural order is orderly and stable. Morality is an inherently binding force compared to the law. The law is inseparable from the moral education of the society. Only by the power of moral education, the internalization of the legal provisions into the moral concepts of people’s minds can have a real restrictive effect on society members. Modern society is a pluralistic society, and various social ethics are in conflict and agitation. The morality that predominates in a certain society and represents social development’s direction must be widely recognized and popularized in society. It requires the law’s mandatory support, and even the most basic moral norms need to be directly recognized as law. 3.4.2 Educating People by Morality Attaching importance to education, especially moral education, is a fine tradition of Chinese traditional culture. Confucianism advocated that “governing the people” must be preceded by “educating the people”. Mencius more clearly discusses the importance of moral education to management. He said, “Good governance is not as good as good education to gain popular support. Good governance, people are afraid of it; good education, the people love it. Good governance gets the wealth of the people, and good education gets the hearts of the people”. It means that good politics can’t match the excellent education. Subsequently, the development of the Confucianism theory has enriched education’s role, especially moral education, in governing the country from different

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aspects. Xunzi said, “There is no way to cultivate rational citizens without education”. That is, without education, it is impossible to rectify the viciousness of the people. Jia Yi of the Han Dynasty said, “Education is the foundation of politics. The highest standard of political ethics is the foundation of education. Only after the highest standards of political ethics were engaged in education, with education, the country could be governed. The country’s government can be governed. Then people can advise each other to be good. The people exhort each other and be good; then the country can be rich”. Education is the foundation of politics. The highest standard of political ethics is the foundation of education. With the highest standards of political ethics, then education can be carried out; with education, then the country can be governed; the country can be governed, and then the people can advise each other to be good; the people encourage each other to do good, and then the country can be rich. These ideas still have important implications for us. According to the current practice of social, moral construction in our country, it gives new meaning to the traditional morality of Confucianism, such as benevolence, neutrality, honesty, courtesy, diligence, etc., and still has very important meaning to improve the moral level of our country, coordinate interpersonal relationships, and stabilize social order.

3.4.3 Practice The governor must practice “Morality” and practice his exemplary behavior to influence the vast majority of the people. Confucianism pays great attention to the great influence of the governor’s own moral cultivation level on the whole society. He believes that the governor can behave in a correct manner, be consistent in words and deeds, be a good example of the people, and guide the people to be good. It is a matter of national stability. Specifically, Confucius requires the governor to practice “Morality” in four ways. Firstly, in terms of conduct, the governor should take the lead in discipline and strengthen self-cultivation. “The cultivation of himself in reverential carefulness, he cultivates himself so as to give rest to others, he cultivates himself so as to give rest to all the people”. (The Analects of Confucius). Secondly, in terms of improving social customs, governors should take the lead in being kind and good. “As a governor, why should you use criminal punishment? If you want to be kind, the people will naturally be kind.” The Analects of Confucius emphasizes that the governors themselves are good and do good deeds. The ordinary people will naturally follow the example of doing good deeds. They do not need to kill the people to force the people. Thirdly, in terms of life, the governor should take the lead in practicing. Confucius believes that all the things that the people are required to do, the governors should lead by example, and the people will naturally follow them. If the governors are the first to be ruled and work hard, then the people must be laborious and have no complaints. Fourthly, when it is dangerous or difficult, the governor should “when facing an opportunity to do benevolence, one should not pass the opportunity to others”. (The Analects of Confucius) It means that we should take courage and shoulder the responsibility, even sacrifice ourselves.

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Review and Discussion 1. What is “The Authority of the monarch”? What are its characteristics? 2. What are the levels of “Subduing the subject by force” and how to play a role in reality? 3. What are the aspects of “Flat theory”? 4. Which principles should managers follow in “Governing by Moral”? And explain them. 5. Combined with the content of this chapter, what do you think should be done to improve personal morality? The Case of This Chapter The business Credibility”

philosophy

of

Tongrentang—“Morality,

Honesty

and

China has a long history of 5000 years, which has cultivated many time-honored brands. However, there are few that can be remembered by us, and few of them can survive the test of historical change and economic tide and are still flourishing. However, when it comes to Tongrentang, almost all Chinese people know that it is an old brand with a history of more than 300 years. What power keeps Tongrentang young and vigorous? Tongrentang’s sustainable development is based on the Confucian “benevolence” as the root of corporate culture, relying on the ancestor’s “morality, honesty and credibility” concept, combined with the characteristics of the new era, to form the spirit of “seeking the truth of benevolence and credibility with determination”, to “carry forward Chinese medicine and contribute to human health”. The enterprise values of benevolence, credibility, and dedication, which are the tenet to provide a dynamic and profound cultural foundation for enterprises’ sustainable development. The business purpose of health preservation and benefit the world—Moral When Tongrentang started its business, it advocated “medicine is the most important thing for people who can keep healthy and help the world”. Successive generations of successors have always taken “health preservation” and “benefiting the world” as their own responsibilities. Once upon a time, hepatitis A was prevalent in some cities in southern China, resulting in a large increase in the demand for special Banlangen Granules. Some manufacturers take advantage of this opportunity to raise prices, while Tongrentang sells them at the original price. There was a long line of cars to buy Banlangen in Tongrentang, so they had to mobilize the staff to give up the Spring Festival holiday and produce day and night. Tongrentang bestows virtue on the public, and the people return trust and praise, which is the most difficult thing for an enterprise to obtain. Once obtained, it can bring endless benefits to the enterprise. Other enterprises can only hope to sigh because this is a sharp weapon for enterprises to win in the competition. Whoever gains the trust of consumers will occupy the market and become the strong one in the competition for a long time.

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Dedication to excellence—Honesty In 1706, Le Fengming, the first generation descendant of Tongrentang pharmacy, clearly put forward in the preface of a book that “although processing is complicated, it is necessary not to save manpower, and although taste is expensive, one must not dare to reduce material resources”. This motto has always been used as the pharmaceutical principle of Tongrentang people. The production process of traditional Chinese medicine is very complicated. There are hundreds of procedures for the production of Chinese patent medicine in Tongrentang, from the purchase of raw materials to the packaging and delivery. Each process is strictly controlled to ensure the quality of the medicine. There is a slogan “no one to see the repair (preparation) at the production site, with a mind to know” to remind the staff of Tongrentang to work conscientiously and meticulously. Quality is an essential competition for the market. Even in the fierce competition situation, quality is always the most basic competitiveness. Tongrentang people’s dedication to excellence is the pursuit of a higher level of quality, and strive to be better in quality. Even if it is not a competition that can be seen at a glance, Tongrentang treats its business with its usual attitude, its business, and its customers with sincerity. Once the enterprise’s sincerity is known by customers, it will gain customers’ loyalty to the brand, which also virtually strengthens the enterprise’s core competitiveness of Tongrentang. The professional ethics of being innocent of the old and the young—Credibility. Tongrentang stresses the professional ethics of being innocent of both the old and the young. No matter who comes to the drugstore, they will be treated fairly and fairly. Tongrentang’s “Credibility” is mainly reflected in the front line of sales and the field of direct contact with customers. The process of customers buying medicine is to accept the service of the enterprise, which is the extension value of the product. When you buy medicine in Tongrentang, you can find all kinds of drugs at different prices, get genuine drugs, and treat them equally. Thus, you can have sincere trust in the enterprise, which is the product’s added value. Consumers’ trust in enterprises is difficult to form, but once formed, it is also difficult to fade. Compared with the unpredictable market, this is the internal support of enterprises without external influence and the competitiveness of enterprises in the face of market changes. The commercial war is the waves of the sea, and the trust of consumers is the ship of the enterprise. Although the waves are changeable, the ship can ferry at the bottom of the wave or hold the ship on the wave crest. This ship is built by the core competitiveness of the enterprise. Tongrentang’s “credibility” is the core competitiveness of enterprises to adapt to environmental changes. Tongrentang, taking “Morality, Honesty and Credibility” culture as the enterprise’s core competitiveness, has created a strong strength and established an old brand, which is an advantage that all competitors cannot surpass. Tongrentang today, guided by the thought of morality, honesty, and credibility, ushered in the spring of its development, which is the pride of the old brand and the model of building the core competitiveness of the old brand. Data source: Su (2009).

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Questions 1. What ideas of “Moral First” are embodied in Tongrentang’s business philosophy? 2. Combined with cases, this paper discusses how to establish “Business Moral” in enterprises.

References Lan, P. (1994). The rise and fall of China’s feudal prosperity. China Encyclopedia Press. Song, H., & Sun, J. (2010). Interpretation of Han Feizi. Renmin University of China Press. Su, Z. (2009). Course of oriental management. Shanghai University of Finance and Economics Press. Wu, J. (2007). Zhenguan politicians. Blue sky Publishing House. Ye, F. (2010). History of the Latter-Han dynasty. (Southern and Northern Dynasties). Thread bound book store.

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Harmonious Relationship-Management Based on Human Relationships

The time isn’t as important as the terrain; but the terrain isn’t as important as unity with the people. —Mencius
Gongsun Chou (part two) To achieve great things, one must be human-oriented. —Liu Bei Romance of the Three Kingdoms

Abstract

1. In the traditional Chinese management thought, people, are the persistent goal of the wise administrator and many ideological schools, which is related to the harmonious traditional thought of China. 2. The premise of our traditional management thought is the study of human orientation, which is typically represented by Mencius’s theory of good nature, Xun Zi’s theory of evil nature, and other theories that habits influence human nature. 3. People-based management traces its origin to the people-based thought of the feudal monarchy in China. It is in the interest of human beings, always fair and just, and at the same time, it should provide the most significant opportunity for development. Human-oriented thought’s historical role is embodied in the following aspects: conforming to public opinion, restricting imperial power, constructing a stable state, and social form, promoting national integration and cultural prosperity. 4. Humanism is applied to human-centered Yin and Yang’s concepts, fairness and justice, and loving others and benefiting others. 5. In human cooperation management, we should pay attention to the harmonious coexistence between people and expect cooperation to win. Human © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021 H. Hu, Principles of Chinese Management, Management for Professionals, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-6522-3_5

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integration’s historical role is mainly embodied in the implementation of the strategy and tactics of rallying the people’s hearts and minds, building state affairs together, and integrating diplomatic tactics. A harmonious relationship is applied to peaceful competition, harmonious society, and the concept of survival. In ancient times, the cooperation between people was mainly: the cooperation of governing the country—cohesion of people, the cooperation of the military or diplomatic tactics, the cooperation of the family—the general principles. There are ways to integrate human beings: the pursuit of virtue, competition, and tact. Among them, pursue virtue weighing toughness and softness, moral education, and regulation of evil and protection of power; competition and cooperation include harmonious but different, win–win and common benefit; Tact includes act with no direct offense and communication. “Way of human” is understood based on righteousness: righteousness is using the way of morality (benevolence, love, no intervention) to achieve a real way of human—the value of human being is respected. The historical significance of the way of the human is reflected in the development of the country and the people. The way of the human is applied to winning the hearts of the people, creating an atmosphere, and maintaining a clear mind. In ancient times, the idea of respecting human development was embodied in following the doctrine of the golden mean of nature, that is, governing by doing nothing and choosing its good. The ways of humanity include: observing people’s skills and distinguishing people’s traits, employing people with strength and avoiding weaknesses; educating people to become talents, and shaping people with saintliness. Keywords










Harmonious relationship Human oriented Kindheartedness Fraternity Cooperation of human Joint vertical and horizontal Way of human










Learning Purpose and Requirements Understanding the historical origins of related terms, such as “人性 (humanity)”, “人本 (human-oriented)”, “人合 (the cooperation of humans)”, “人道 (way of the human)”, and their application in ancient and modern times. Understanding the primary connotation of “human-oriented”, “the cooperation of human”, and “way of the human” in Chinese traditional management thoughts. Getting familiar with what makes a human and the new definition of human-oriented, the cooperation of humans and the way of the human, which is after the introduction of unity among people. From the perspective of management thoughts of “harmonious relationship”, master rules of “human-oriented”, “the cooperation of human” and “way of the human”.

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Introductory Case In ancient times, master Mo-tse had a Geng Zhu student, but he was often criticized by his teacher. Geng Zhu not only felt lost but also felt grieved because, among the countless students in Mo-tse, Geng Zhu was regarded as the best student. Until one day, when Mo-tse again reproached Geng Zhu, Geng Zhu finally asked, “Dear teacher, am I so bad in so many disciples that I often scolded by you?” Mo-tse said, “if I’m going to Taihang Mountain now, should I use a strong horse or an old cow for the carriage?” The Geng Zhu replied, “even a most unsophisticated person will pull a carriage with a good horse.” Then Mo-tse asked, “Why don’t you say you do not use the old cow?” Geng Zhu answered, “The reason is simple. A good horse is enough to shoulder heavy goods and is ready for the task.” You have the right answer, Mo-tse said. “I often criticize you because you can take heavy responsibility. It is worth it for me to educate and correct you again and again!” From this story, we can see that Mo-tse is good at recognizing and educating others, although he is strict and different. What attracts us most is “the good horse bears the heavy load,” reflecting Mo-tse’s way of adequately using things. How can we apply this strategy to enterprise and China? How to identify excellent people in the management and how to select and appoint them? What is more important is how to make the most use of those people in a harmonious interpersonal relationship? Source: Wang (2007) (9). The Book of Change “Zhouyi1” is an excellent book pursuing the balance of Yin and Yang,2 based on heaven, earth, and human. However, people’s relationship is very complicated. “People in true partnership will overcome extreme difficulties” (Zhouyi, Xici part one). True partnerships can not only bring good results but also lead to pleasure and feelings of interpersonal relationships. However, there is also an interpersonal relationship that brings waste and resentment. So how to deal with interpersonal relations? This topic involves the traditional Chinese culture of “the harmonious relationship” thinking, that is, we should strive to “harmonious relationship” in interpersonal relations. The ancients put forward the concept of “harmonious relationship” because they realize that everyone is different, and everyone has his personality. Although for the same person, under various times and space, his emotional state, thinking, and so on will also change. Therefore, under the guidance of “people-based”, the ancients recognized that we should respect differences and diversity when we interact with people; that is what Confucius said, “Gentlemen seek harmony but not uniformity.” “Gentlemen seek harmony but not uniformity” is not only an ideal state of life but also a leadership level and a sharp weapon for enterprise competition in management. From the management point of view, as Mencius says, “The time isn’t as important as the terrain; but the terrain Also called “Yi Jing” or “I Ching”, is an ancient Chinese divination text and among the oldest of the Chinese classics. 2 In traditional Chinese, Yin and Yang is a concept of dualism, describing how seemingly opposite or contrary forces may actually be complementary, interconnected, and interdependent in the natural world, and how they may give rise to each other as they interrelate to one another. 1

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Fig. 1 Content framework of this chapter

isn’t as important as unity with the people.” This can be extended to the meaning that “whether the enterprise is in the natural monopoly industry, or occupies a particular market segment, it is not as good as a harmonious relationship.” Since a “harmonious relationship” can create a good atmosphere and bring good results, the question is how to achieve it in management? Thus, this chapter will refer to three aspects of “human-oriented”, “the cooperation of human”, and the “way of the human”. This is mainly because any management theory must base on the hypothesis of humanity as the theoretical premise. What is human nature? How to recognize people? This question becomes the primary consideration of various management theories. Moreover, seeking cooperation while respecting the differences to win has also become a great challenge for today’s managers. Last, this chapter will discuss the “harmonious relationship” from the perspective of human development. The content framework of this chapter is shown in Fig. 1.

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Human-Oriented—Management Based on Humanity

In the West, the concept of humanism is related to the idea that man is the measure of everything. In China, the concept of “human-oriented” stems from the idea of “people-based”; this is the two concepts with connections and differences. “People-based” is from the perspective of the state and the ruling party and a political perspective. In a sense, the concept of human-oriented is based on the philosophical meaning of human right. However, there are many similarities between state management and general organization and management, and as a result of its common characteristics, it criticizes and inherits the “people-based” thought in ancient Chinese society and state management. It can make it the source of human capital management in today’s enterprises. If “human-oriented” management emphasizes more on “ought to be”, caring about how to consider people, then “human nature” hypothesis concerns more on the question of “what”. Although all schools of thought had different or even opposite views on human nature, it respects people and values, which is consistent.

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Therefore, this section chooses human-oriented management based on human nature. The book explains the consanguinity of ancient “people-based” thought and its reference to contemporary management’s humanistic management.

1.1 Introduction 1.1.1 The Connotation of “Human-Oriented” Historical Origins (1) In the Spring and Autumn period, the famous minister Guan Zhong of the state of Qi was first put forward in ancient China. This concept of “Guan Zi King of Kings” has the following words: “the king of kings is also people-based. If this is followed, the country will be strengthened; if this is violated, the country will be harmed.” That is to say, based on the people-based ideas, the true king who has a good beginning will succeed because the people are fundamental. If we straighten out this, the country will be consolidated; otherwise, this country will be in danger. After that, more and more thoughts of emphasizing the people have been launched with the times’ development. The use of “people-based” was not directly used, but thoughts such as “people as the foundation”, “the people are valuable”, “the people, a king’s foundation” were put forward, and the core idea is the same. “People are base of the country; the country is safe if the base is secured.” (Shang Shu3) “Vassal states have three treasures: the land, the people, the political affairs.” (Mencius
Jin Xinxia) In ancient times, “human-oriented” was the same as “people-based” and is an expedient measure based on state affairs and government affairs. Just as Jia Yi said, “For all countries, people are the foundations. The country, the ruler, and the ministers all treat the people as foundations.” Li Shi min in the new book Great Politics also put forward the theory that people should be feared: “the people can carry a country and destroy a country.” That is to say, the affairs of the state and the political affairs depend on the people and will only achieve good results if it is for the people. The humanistic thought in ancient times is also reflected in cultural education. During Shang and Zhou dynasty, thinking such as love and respect for human life, value, and meaning were formed. Book of Grand Knowledge writes in the beginning chapters: “the way of great knowledge is to know the reason, love the people, and be kind”. And then put forward the construction of our ancient educational system. The “eight items”—doing (focusing on practice), knowledge (emphasis on nature), integrity (honest), righteous heart (pure heart), self-cultivation (emphasize virtues), love family (focusing on the family), ruling the country (emphasize The book is also called “Book of Documents”.

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morality), and pacifying the world emphasizes the importance of students’ active learning. Do not interrupt someone in hard thinking and gift him answers; do not teach one further if he/she cannot reflect on one example and make implications. At the same time, Confucius created his teaching methods, namely teaching students by their aptitude. We should pay attention to individual differences and avoid applying the same education to all. Han Yu mentioned, “It is ok for a student to be more knowledgeable than the teacher sometimes. Everyone has his/her timing of learning and expertise, nothing more.” (2) In modern times, “the human” and “the people” are combined into one. Mao Zedong firmly believes, “Only the people are the motivation to create the world”. During the war, we should adhere to the people-based view of “letting the people be masters of the country” and the people’s interests of “all for the people” view. According to Deng Xiaoping’s “socialist principles, the first task is to develop production; the second is to get everyone rich”, “if there is no democracy, there is no socialism and socialist modernization”; these two sentences shows his people-based thought of common prosperity, democracy, and the rule of law. Jiang Zemin’s history and reality show that “regardless of the number of parties. Its future and destiny will ultimately depend on the hearts of the people. If it cannot win the support of the overwhelming majority of the masses, it will fall”. This point of view was also applied to the party, the army, and the country. Especially after the concept of “scientific development”, a comprehensive humanistic thought has been shown by political power.

Connotation From this we can see that the people-based thought comes from “politics”: The ancient people’s initial thought of the people and the pursuit of human freedom and democracy in modern times; to extend the meaning, management is also based on the active factor of human being, and the maximum potential is exploited on the premise of human-oriented thoughts like respecting and cherishing individuals. Therefore, enterprise management based on humanism should be everywhere. For people’s sake, always be fair and impartial, always respect the corporate culture of people, and at the same time, provide ample development opportunities for employees.

1.1.2 The Significance of Human-Oriented Thought The word “human-oriented” seems to have appeared in commendatory terms because it protects most people’s interests. And, to a great extent, are synonyms of “respect for human”. However, from an objective point of view, the ancient people’s original thought, especially the people-based ideology, has its limitations inevitably brought about an intense class color. Therefore, we should take dialectical acceptance to “people-based” thought and adopt the “human-oriented” thought in a real sense.

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Historical Meaning (1) “Human-oriented” conforms to the public opinion and restricting the imperial power. No matter what class of thinkers put forward this thought, whether or not they are subject to the ruler’s adoption, they are to safeguard the political purpose of feudal class rule, and it indirectly chooses the policy towards the people while recognizing people’s roles, the effect was that the rulers was restrained to a certain extent. It is important to note that this effect can only be said to a certain extent because of the right to decide whether to adopt or not is in rulers’ hands; even if they choose to adopt them, it will not be their ultimate goal but merely a tool. (2) The establishment of a stable state and social form. The ancient people-based thought is relative to the rule of law and was realized through mild ways like etiquette. The conflict of interests and political contradictions between the three subjects—the king, the officials, and people, were the most prominent conflict in feudal society. (3) Promote the integration of the nation and promote the prosperity of the culture. In the confrontation and struggle between the various strong and weak nations, many monarchs chose human-oriented thoughts like making peace, intermarry, and treating captives with kindness; this is in line with all ethnic groups. The desire to pursue a peaceful and stable environment for survival is also a way to learn from each other and progress together.

Realistic Guidance (1) In the country’s governance, we must uphold everything for the people; we should create a peaceful and stable environment for survival and development, and do everything to win the hearts of the people, we will create opportunities for the people in the interests of the people. Simultaneously, as people, it is necessary to recognize that their overall interests are a priority. (2) In corporate management, the role of people in the organization is emphasized. Building a harmonious organization of interpersonal relationships inspires people to develop their potential. Also, managers should respect people’s initiative to exert their creativity instead of oppressing them to work for the organization.

1.1.3 The Application of People-Based Management Views of Yin and Yang The Yin and Yang in the Book of Changes is an abstraction of the two opposite properties of the universe and is the philosophical unity of opposites and the law of

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thinking; it tells us that all things exist, and they complement and promote each other. The role of human-centered management is not to separate people from an isolated perspective. Instead, we should put more people into the social environment to analyze so we can not violate nature’s laws and let people develop. In the 1970s, Japan was developed in Chinese traditional culture and experienced significant economic development based on human-oriented thought. The rapid rise of economic values has attracted the attention of Western economic powers. The West’s management has established the pursuit of an efficient “economic man” hypothesis based on Taylor’s scientific management and neglects human value and conflict with the people-based management ideas in China, not to say respecting the balance between Yin and Yang. Now, the Westerners then shifted their research emphasis to the study of humanistic management in the Eastern countries represented by China. It enables management to understand people from one side to the other: on the one hand, a man is not limited to economic value, but the overall value of social value; on the other hand, the use of human must involve their motivation and obey the comprehensive law of nature.

Tips Yin

Yang

Reward mechanism

Ideological workers (organizational culture construction) Adversarial decision Decentralization Stability (like stability)

Chinese mind (mild) Domination Pioneering people (like job hopping) More pay for more work Gentleman Establish regulations Production system Reward Immutable plan Emphasis on Coordination Pre control The superior’ ability Pressure on employees The owner of the company Source: Ju (2006)

Salary (Welfare) Villain Elimination of regulations Quality control system Penalty Flexible plan Voluntary coordination Post control The junior’ ability Relax on staff Labor Union

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Views of Fair and just The humanistic management in the ancient Chinese culture of harmony embodies fairness and justice to human beings, crucial for current employment. Because if people are treated unfairly and unfairly, it is challenging to keep people’s hearts, let alone expecting others to serve. The concept of human-oriented begins with respect for people and valuing people. For example, Jiang Tai Gong said, “Those with the help of the wise will build a strong country, and otherwise the country will collapse.” (Liu tao, Wen Tao, Shang Xian4); this is the same as governing people when they are employed. The Book of Change also puts humans in a crucial position in its view of three talents, with the other two being heaven and earth. It can be seen in ancient times that the people were the root of the country, and the talented people are the key to govern the country. In modern times, it is proved that all wars are won based on the people. In the present time, the people are again the country; it is only when the ruler treating people fairly and impartially can the people not lose heart. The View of Loving People Confucianism’s “benevolence” theory and Mohist’s “universal love” theory are typical examples of loving people and benefiting people thinking. Confucius proposed three virtues of benevolence, righteousness, and etiquette; Mencius added “wisdom” to form four virtues, and Dong Zhong Shu added “credibility”, eventually forming the Wuchang thought of “benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and credibility as its core.” In the Confucian School’s Wuchang, “benevolence” is to love people; “righteousness” is to help others; “etiquette” is to respect people; “wisdom” is to be wise, “credibility”, that is to be good faith for people. Mohist, whose core idea is “universal love and non-aggression”, asks people to love each other; it should be peaceful and avoid wars. It also puts forward the idea of “mutual benefit”: “Those who love others will love them, and those who benefit others will benefit from them.” (Mo-tse and love). Confucian “Wuchang” and Mohist’s “universal love and non-aggression” and “mutual benefit” teach people to interact with each other. It is also necessary to love others so that we can genuinely benefit ourselves; this is of considerable reference to management science. Talent is an increasingly competitive factor, and we want to retain talents and maximize the effectiveness of talents. We must respect talents, cherish talents, and give them the necessary benefits; otherwise, nothing is empty talk.

1.2 Humanity: The Cornerstone of Human and Human Relationship Management Life is closely related to human nature. Life is the beginning and continuity of human life. Therefore, human-oriented thought is an eternal topic in human management research, and it is also a study of relationship management between men The book is also called “Six Secret Teachings”.

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and men. In ancient China, the earliest educationalists studying human-oriented thought exploring the most suitable teaching method for students are then widely applied to human-oriented management in politics and military affairs. People who study human nature question historical acceptance and proper handling of human relationships, especially the precondition of harmonious interpersonal relationships. The following is a brief introduction to the rich understanding of human-oriented thought in traditional Chinese thinking. The special meaning of human-oriented thought in the background of “harmonious relationship”.

1.2.1 The Theory of Human Nature China has a rich understanding of human nature. Before introducing the main factions of human-oriented thought in ancient China, we must first define the main reasons for summarizing and dividing the old school of thought. First, ancient thinkers were divided on the nature of human. The difference is mainly in “good nature” and “bad nature”. Apart from the division, Su Dongshui thinks human nature is neither evil nor good (1) Cao Zhiwei raised the point of “three products”. Secondly, there are dynamic and complex characteristics besides being good and evil. At present, the consensus is to admit that there are complex and dynamic changes outside good and evil. Lastly, the dynamic and changeable human nature is characterized by a wide range of habits. Whether there is good or evil in human nature, or no evil or no good at all, it is their complexity that makes it difficult to categorize them simply as “good” or “evil”. However, fortunately, they are all influenced by the education and environment that we receive, which can be collectively called “learning to manifest it, then change it.” The Theory of Human Nature Being Good The Mencius, who was taught by Confucius’s grandson, advocated that human nature is good: compassion, right or wrong, shame, shame, justice—everyone has it; respectful heart—everyone has it. Mencius also put forward that “human kindness is natural like water’s tendency to flow downwards”. Mencius’s idea about human nature is derived from Confucius’s “benevolence”, but he pays more attention to exploring the cause of “benevolence”. Human is born kind to have righteousness and thus be harmonious. The Theory of Human Nature Being Evil The theory of human nature being evil advocates human nature to be selfish and that pursuing desires is natural. It was put forward first by Jiangshang from Qi state, “Human hate death and desire living, like morality and chase after profit.” “The Grand Scribe’s Record,” says that “All people are driven by profit.” Xun Zi, who lives in the Warring States period, has inherited and developed this thought into a system, and Han Fei Zi, as well as Li Si, put it into practice. Xun Zi said Human are born after self-interest, and there will be competition; with the competition, there will be jealousy and hatred, and crime will emerge; human are born with sexual desire and lust is unavoidable, and thus etiquette, social hierarchy, and moral standards will be violated.

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Dialogue Between China and the West

The XY theory is essentially the XY hypothesis, which is based on Douglas Mcrigo’s “human side of the enterprise”. For the first time in a book, it is called XY theory. It is generally believed that the X hypothesis corresponds to “human are born kind” Y is supposed to correspond to the “human are born evil” in China. X hypothesis: most people are naturally lazy. They try to avoid work as much as possible. Most people are not ambitious, unwilling to bear any responsibility, and willing to be led by others; most people’s personal goals and the objective of the organization is contradictory. We must use coercive and punishing methods to force them to achieve organizational goals. Most people do their jobs to meet basic physiological needs and safety needs. Money and status can encourage them to work hard; people can be divided into two categories, and most of them are in line with the above. However, for the people who can encourage themselves and restrain their impulses should take responsibility for management. Y hypothesis: most people are diligent. If the environment is favorable, working is like a game or a rest. Naturally, control and punishment are not the only way to achieve organizational goals, and people are able to perform their own tasks. They can be guided and have self-control; under normal circumstances, ordinary people not only accept responsibility, but also seek responsibility voluntarily. They have a high level of imagination, resourcefulness and creativity in solving problems in the organization. Under modern industrial conditions, the potential of ordinary people is only partially utilized. Source: Wu (2011).

The Theory of Nurture Trumps Nature As the name suggests, the theory of nurture trumps nature suggests that human nature is determined by habit and acquired culture. Confucius advocates that “human nature is similar, but nurture makes them different.” In a debate with Mencius on human nature, the Gao Zi said: “human nature is like water flowing. Human nature is not divided into being good at being bad, but they are guided like water. (Mencius, Gao Zi) In Mo-tse’s “plain silk” theory, Mo-tse said and sighed: “Silk becomes blue when dyed with blue pigment, and yellow when dyed with yellow pigment. The color of the silk changes with different dyes. After five times of dyeing, it becomes five different colors. Therefore, you must be careful when you are affected.” (Mo-tse
Su Ran) Mo-tse’s compares human nature to blank paper and nurture as a pigment. What color they make depends on the education they have.

1.2.2 Good Nature: View of Harmonious Human Nature Human nature is a neutral word. It has no commendatory or sentimental color, but it is too broad without context. The study of human nature is broad and casual. To this

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end, the study of human nature is defined as harmony between men; this is the background of friendship and expected progress. The following three levels are introduced: With Regards to Good or Evil, We Prefer Human Are Born Good Mencius, a representative of the epitome of man and thought, is an example of Confucian “good nature theory”, and Xun Zi represents “evil nature theory”. First of all, Mencius, who inherited Confucius’s “benevolence”, is the leading promoter of “benevolence”. In Mencius, Gongsunchou Shang, he said: “A human cannot be without a sense of compassion, shame, humility, and judgment. Humans have good virtual like they have limbs” This is the presentation of human nature, which is different from that of animals. Secondly, Xun Zi, the primary representative of the theory of “evil nature,” said: “Humans cannot deny evilness that comes with them, but they can correct it with educations” What is shown here is that Xun Zi thinks benevolence is the key to overcome evilness. After the concept of “intervene”, The “evil” of “human nature” has been weakened so that “human nature” and “intervene” tend to be one. That is, “false harmonious human nature”. Even if We Admit the Existence of “Evil” in Human Nature, We also Think that “Nurture” Can Change In the three characters Scripture, he said, “when one is born, nature is good and similar, but nurture is far apart. If not educated, nature will drift, and it is critical to teach how to focus on doing things.” Telling us that human nature is good and that further education will be different from the day after tomorrow change the nature of a man. It can be seen that people’s good deeds can be changed by practice, not to mention the evil nature of human beings, just like Xun Zi. He elaborated: “Humans have desires, and desire gets desperate if not granted; under desperate desire, there is competition, and after the competition, there come rebellions. Thus, rulers establish etiquette to meet desires and keep people satisfied; this is the benefit of etiquette.” More Purposeful Whether it is good in nature or evil in nature, the ultimate goal is to improve. Interpersonal harmony is the premise of friendly cooperation, joint development, and making progress. Therefore, it is decided that the study of human nature should be more objective and oriented and aims to polish up humanity. Xun Zi used etiquette to curb the material desire in human nature, and Confucius and Mencius used benevolence to enlighten him; the Buddha uses kind behavior to pacify the world. In this way, regardless of the source of human nature, the foundation of interpersonal relationships is to use “benevolence” and “kindness” to polish humanity rather than letting it go with the flow.

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1.3 The Way of Human-Oriented Whether humans are born kind or evil, the purpose is to improve themselves. Under the premise of pursuing a “harmonious relationship”, the primary means are non-compulsory moral educations. Thus, it determines the study on human nature should be more purposeful and aims to perfect humanity. Xun Zi uses etiquette to restrict human desire for material things; Mencius uses benevolence to polish humanity; Buddhism uses goodwill to empathize with the masses. Thus, we will analyze the ideal approach to human-oriented through perspectives such as Confucian’s “benevolence”, Mohist’s “universal love,” and Buddhism’s “kindness”.

1.3.1 Benevolent Love The earliest record of “benevolence” should be traced back to Shang Shu and Classic of Poetry. It was put into emphasizing in Zuo Zhuan and Guo Yu as well; this is consistent with the class struggle of the Spring and Autumn and the Warring States period. Confucius, founder of Confucian culture, advocated “benevolent government”. He advocated that when monarch manages his subjects, he must use “benevolent polices” and “love people”. Mencius inherits Confucius’s thought and defines men are born with four virtues: “benevolence, righteousness, etiquette, and wisdom”. The determination of managing people with benevolence as the guiding ideology determines the necessity of implementing the rule of virtue. Just as Confucius said in Analects of Confucius: Politics: “to govern the people with benevolence, the ruler will be surrounded by his followers like North Star.” That is to say, leaders governing people with virtue will be like the North Star, and they will be supported and loved by everyone. Confucianism, the rule of virtue, is divided into three levels: (1) as shown in Fig. 2. From Fig. 2, we can see that the rule of virtue is a process of “benevolence” from top to bottom, requiring not only the kindness of the higher level to lower level—diligence, integrity, respect for the lower level, but also requests moral education by the lower level—loyalty, filial piety, and self-cultivation.

Diligent, integrity The virtues

The virtues of civilian

Family ethics

Fig. 2 The structure of the rule of virtue in Confucianism

Loyalty, righteousness

Filial, fraternity

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1.3.2 Mutual Love and Mutual Assistance “Mutual love and mutual assistance” are the most common idea of Mohist to handle interpersonal relationships. At that time, the social situation was just as described in Mo-tse Jian Ai: “Nowadays, states attach each other; families plunder each other; people steal from each other. The ruler and ministers are not kind and loyal to each other; father and sons do not love each other; bothers are not in harmony with each other.” Mo-tse believed that this disharmonious situation was due to the lack of love between people, and “universal love” was an excellent way to solve this problem. “Mutual loves” is the love of all men and women regardless of age, gender, and social class. However, the “Mutual love” here does not work in isolation because pure “love” is a lack of initiative, even if self-cultivation is deep enough, but in the case of conflict of righteousness and interests, “love” implementation will not be perfect. Therefore, Mo Tzu put forward a “mutual benefit relationship” as a supplement, which balances motivation and effect. Tips

Confucian disciple WuMa-Tse asked Mo Tzu, “There is no good for you love the world with no discrimination; I don’t love the world, and there is no harm. Why do you think you’re right and I’m not?” Mo-Tse answered. “Now there’s a man who’s setting fire, one who’s holding water is going to put it out, the other who’s holding a fire to make it bigger. Neither of them has achieved the purpose. Which one do you value more?” The WuMa-Tse answered immediately, “I think the man with the water is right, and the man with the fire is wrong.” Mo Tzu then said, “I also think that my intention to love the world at the with no discrimination is correct, and your intention not to love the world is wrong.” Source: Mei and LinJin (1991).

1.3.3 Being Kind and Love People Like schools of thought in China, Buddhism also attaches great importance to people’s self-cultivation. Simultaneously, in a society with a clear division of social classes, Buddhism is vital to the people whose spiritual life is seriously lacking, and Buddhism gives them spiritual comfort. The “conduct rite to six directions” and “the ten good” advocated by Buddhism are a kind of cultural satisfaction to spiritual deficiency. “Buddha” is a rational, emotional, and competent personality that reaches the fullest level at the same time. Buddha is a man of great wisdom, great sorrow (or all intelligence), and great power. Advocating to make perfect life in last and this life and self-cultivation can achieve perfect life though taking widespread kind actions and treating people equally. Being beneficial to the world and making all life happy is kindness. The emphasis is cultivation in the heart of human beings to achieve purity. Only by educating the public to respect and tolerate others can everyone be a kind person, and everyone can feel that being treated kindly, and this is the highest ideal state of

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Buddhism. “The sea of bitterness is boundless. Lay down the butcher’s cleaver and make yourself into Buddha.” (The Five-Lantern Festival) This well-known phrase gives us the revelation that if a person makes a mistake, he can still be a good man if he realizes it and resolves to repent; if he devotes himself to Buddhism, Buddhism can help him repent and make a new start; everyone makes mistakes, we need to tolerate the person who repents sincerely, in order to expect others to tolerate our repentance. “If I do not go to hell, who will go to hell?” shows the heroic spirit of sacrifice; this is also the Buddhist principle to save the world, love all living things, step up to help others, and extend help universally to all lives.

Tips

The Bodhisattva was a filial daughter before the inexorable doom. Her name was “Guang Mu”. Her mother believed in evil things and often despised the three treasures. Her mother went straight to hell after her death not long after. Guang Mu knew it since her mom did nothing kind when she was alive. Then she sold her home and supported Buddhist temples. Afterwards, she was instructed by the Tathagata to use Buddha’s power and travelled to hell. When she met the ghost king, she learned that her mother and other sinners in hell had been influenced by her way with Buddha, so they turned to a correct path and was transferred to heaven. “I wish that I would suffer on behalf of all lives so their souls can be released to heaven in the future.” Source: (Tang) It is difficult to translate the Sanzang Shamen fork in the State of Qugong. The Buddhist Scripture of Bodhisattva was originally intended. The Xuyun Printing Scripture of the Buddhist Association of Hebei Province was printed and carried out.

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Cooperation of Human—Management Based on Cooperation

If managers can respect each individual and let different individual views collide with each other, resulting in a new perspective that is accepted by all will bring a more harmonious organizational atmosphere and better management effect. Managers should strive to achieve “cohesion” based on “harmonious relationship”. Because if only emphasizing individual differences and uniqueness, organizations will lack common goals, and organizations’ members will quickly do things in their way; organizations will be at risk of becoming social clubs. Therefore, the first section summarizes how to treat human nature in traditional Chinese thought and be human-oriented. This section will focus on the issue of “Cohesion”, that is, how to achieve cooperation and victory while respecting each other’s individuality. It mainly introduces the course of “Cooperation” and its development and application today.

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2.1 Introduction 2.1.1 The Connotation of “Cohesion” Nur Ha Che’s has 4 success factors, the harmony of heaven, earth, people, and oneself. —Yan Chongnian’s “Qing twelve emperor’s doubtful case”

Historical Origins (1) Ancient times. The Chinese harmony culture has a long history, and two words of harmony and cooperation are found in oracle bone inscriptions and bronze inscriptions. The original meaning of harmony is the harmony of sounds. The base meaning of harmony is the closure of the upper and lower lips. During times of Yin and Zhou dynasties, these two words are the same concept, and the word by combing two wards was not created. The book of Changes mentions character He (“和”) with the meaning of kind but did not mention He (“合”).5 Shang Shu refers to 和 as the handling of many conflicts between society and interpersonal relations. 合 means “to be in line with”. And 和合 means things contradict each other unite and cooperate.“Mo-tse Shang Tong” mentions “the father, son and brothers are divided, and cannot become harmonious.” Shiji, biographies of officials mention “teaching and guiding people, and all people become harmonious.” Tang Yuan Yuan, in Bian Ri Pang Rui Qi Zhuang mentions “ministers serve with loyalty, the country is happy and harmonious.” These examples tell us that “和合” means the ruler, minister, and the people are harmonious. Military strategies first used this thought in the Spring and Autumn period. According to Zhan Guo Ce, the other states wanted to form a coalition and attack the strongest state Qin, which Su Qin achieved, who lobbied all state kings to unite for survival. Qin is located in the West. All other states in the north and south uniting are called “He Zong”. The Art of War also had relevant mentioning such as “connected lands should be allies”. It tells us to make allies instead of enemies with counties nearby in this competitive world. (2) The development in modern times. China’s modern and contemporary cooperation also embodies the idea of cohesion. The most widely used scenarios are also in military and diplomacy, mainly reflected in the alliance with international friendly countries and the domestic people’s cohesion. Although the Opium War period ended in China’s defeat, during this period, many mass organizations resisted the internal feudal forces and the external invading forces resolutely, and the sympathy and assistance from international friends were the embodiment of cohesion. During the Anti-Japanese War, it was even more evident that the CCP’s alliance with Chiang Kai-shek in the anti-Japanese war was a manifestation of the rise of cohesion between people to the national realm unity. “和” and “合” have the same pronunciation “He” in Chinese, but with different meanings.

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Substantive Connotation The original meaning of “He” means gathering. As “Shuo Wen” explains, “He, close one’s mouth.” “Chuang-tzu autumn water” also mentions: “Gongsun Long was shocked and cannot close his mouth.” The character later had the meaning of union, which was often used in ancient military operations and diplomatic strategies. The primary purpose of Sun Tzu’s “Zong Heng6” is to attach importance to military diplomacy, make diplomatic contacts with neighboring countries, and to threaten enemy”. “Harmony” or “Unite” often occur together for a reason, as Cheng Siyuan pointed out: “The combination of the two concepts of “harmony” and “unite” is the creation of the Chinese nation… Generally speaking, what we call harmony refers to heterogeneous factors’ coexistence, while what we call “unite” refers to integrating heterogeneous factors. The combination of “harmony” and “union” highlights and emphasizes the similarities and differences of different factors and their cohesion, which embodies the Chinese nation’s dialectical thinking and systematic concept. Therefore, in the management of human cooperation, we should attach importance to people’s harmonious coexistence, cooperation, and mutual assistance between people, and the ultimate goal is to cooperate to win.

2.1.2 The Significance of Cohesion Dong Zhongshu believed that harmony is the most common and basic principle and principle in nature, society, and human relations. Just as “everything must be in harmony.” If there is harmony, but there must be up and down; left and right; front and back; external and internal; beauty and evil; follow and against; happiness and sadness; winter and summer; night and day.” (Jiyi Chunqiu Fanlu). Accordingly, as the name implies, human’ harmony is a series of principles and rules of friendly cooperation sharing risks and reward to achieve cooperation. Historical Meaning (1) Unite people’s hearts and build state affairs together. As mentioned earlier, the essence of human cooperation is the means and methods to regulate the development and progress of human beings, from coexistence to harmony, and then from harmony to win, advocating that the monarch and his ministers work together to serve their country, the monarch and ministers show sympathy for the people, the minister make suggestions. The monarch accepts, and the people follow the monarch. Even more evident in military operations, every bit of generals and soldiers’ joint efforts are a significant step towards victory.

6

Refers to the diplomatic strategy to form a coalition against the strongest state Qin, and Qin’s counter strategy to break up the coalition.

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(2) Implementation of “Hezong” and “Lianheng”7tactics (war strategy through diplomacy). Among the ancient Warring states, how to use strategic tactics to unite the weak and small countries to protect themselves, and how to use the same great power to break through the coalition through Hezong and Lianheng-all these are the typical military application of the idea of “cohesion”.

Realistic Guidance Under the influence of the management culture background, which pays more and more attention to team spirit, the idea of “cohesion” in Chinese traditional culture has been paid more and more attention. In particular, the division of labor forces the trend of refinement and specialization to become more evident. Team cooperation can give full play to their respective advantages and achieve the optimal state. The principle of peaceful cooperation in international diplomacy has been carried out by China all the time. In economic development, China has also actively joined the world trend to cooperate for common. The critical position of “cohesion” in management of China was firstly manifested in the thought of “equal treatment” and “getting along with each other”, which is in line with Western culture. Secondly, it is manifested in a deeper and broader connotation than team awareness based on Western scientific management. These two points are also the motive of studying the traditional Chinese people of their way in cohesion.

2.1.3 The Application of Cohesion in Management Peaceful Competition The concept of peaceful competition has only been put forward in recent years. In the past, especially in ancient military wars, it was regarded as an everlasting truth that “Nothing is too deceitful in war.” That was the primary mode of struggle in the primitive battles between tacticians, and the surprise victory advocated by SunTzu will not work every time, because there was no guarantee that the enemy has no means of surprise attack or counter-attack. Therefore, the enlightenment we get from cohesion in history is that peace-oriented cooperation and competition are the most sustainable in internal and external management. Harmonious Society The doctrine of the mean says: “harmony is the way of the world.” The Chinese people have long been paying attention to the idea of “harmony”, and the idea of a harmonious society is also a Utopia in the hearts of ancient people. A harmonious society is a harmonious state of the relationship between man and man, man and nature, and the core of building a harmonious society between people. Harmony is not merely assimilation but seeking stability, balance, order, and peaceful development under diversity. Harmonious cooperation between people is a kind of harmonious state in keeping people together and an inevitable choice of common progress. Same as “Zong Heng”.

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Survive Through a Strategic Alliance Even though the policy of lobbying the six-state kings to unite vertically against the powerful Qin state was interrupted by Fan Ju’s strategy to ally with states afar and attack neighboring states, the influence of the thought of uniting vertically on us was not discontinued. Combining the weak with fighting the strong is the law of survival because the weak in isolation is in no doubt doomed, so why not choose to unite the weak and fight he strong? Modern management also has such realistic examples; if the weak business or infant industry does not choose to cooperate, they will be swallowed by giants. Therefore, cooperation is the way of survival for the weak and small organizations, and it is also a wise choice for more substantial organizations.

2.2 The Cooperation of Human: The Essence of Human Relationship Management Human is an individual living in a social group. He cannot live alone like Robinson. Man communicates with others all the time. To develop each other, one should choose more ways of cooperation. Therefore, the cooperative relationship between people is the essence of human relationship management. As the Book of Change records, “if two people are truly united, they will make a great difference.” It shows the power of cooperation between people, so we cannot help but ask ourselves: why do we not actively and intentionally cooperate to achieve the goal of victory? What is the cooperation in ancient China? What is the cooperation between people, and the meaning of cooperation should be?

2.2.1 Importance of Cooperation—Cohesion of People Although China’s ancient thought was formed and developed in the feudal hierarchical society, the possibility of cooperation seems extremely low. After all, it is a social environment, and communication and cooperation between people still exist, with strong social class characteristics. The Key to Cooperate Ever since ancient times, those who win the hearts of the people win the world. The strategy of running a country should be concerted efforts. However, how to win the hearts of the people? The key is the self-cultivation of the monarch, to create the charisma of character so that people are convinced: diligent government, love the people, and accept numerous advice. Since the concept and practice of being diligent in governing and loving the people have been explained in the book, we will not repeat it and will only provide details on accepting advice. Cooperation is precious in its “two-way” role; governing the people is only one-way, and the feedback and advice from ministers and people are necessary. Zou Ji Feng Qi Wang Na Jian tells us that the king of Qi ordered people to be rewarded with advice, and the fact people who offered useful advice changed from many to few was a win for the government (Zhan Guo Ce
Qi Ce). Emperor Taizong was

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good at drawing lessons from the history of the ancients. He thought rulers should accept the loyal and righteous words and abandon the words from the evil and flatterers (Zheng Guan Zheng Yao
Zheng Ti). Cooperation in Military Affairs—Diplomatic Strategy The capability of generals is shown while they lead troops in the war. The effectiveness of commanding soldiers is reflected in internal cooperation, and the tactics of war are manifested in external cooperation, but they are all corporations applied in the military. The internal cooperation of the generals requires the generals to work together with the soldiers. In the early Warring States Period, Wu Qi served as a general and shared clothes and food with the army’s lowest ranks and showed sympathy for the soldiers’ hard work and won their loyalty. In addition to tactics, it is necessary to distinguish clearly “Qudi”, meaning one should be good at analyzing the surrounding situation; the vulnerable countries should form a coalition to survive, while the powerful countries should try to break such a coalition. The strategy of public relations and practice in shopping malls should be used for reference.

Tips

Chinese businessmen have summed up a lot of ways to win customers in their business practice, which can be used for reference in public relations activities of all industries: 1. Reassuring, focusing on reliable quality. 2. Relief, focusing on after-sales service. 3. It makes people feel good, focusing on function and ease of use. 4. Save customer’s time and focus on simplicity and clarity. 5. Satisfaction, emphasis on good functionality. 6. Peace of mind, focus on safety. 7. Happiness, focusing on satisfying the senses. 8. Vanity, focusing on luxurious style. 9. Worrying, focusing on arousing and guiding the interests of consumers. 10. Conforting, focusing on making up for consumers’ emotional or functional defects. 11. Tolerance, focusing on patience. Source: Xingjian (2006).

Family Cooperation—Emphasis on Filial Piety Confucius attaches great importance to filial piety and benevolence. He said, “filial piety is also the foundation of benevolence.” (The Analects of Confucius, Learning from the Analects). Mencius expounded the five virtues: “Father and son have kinship, monarch, and the minister have righteousness, couples have a division of labor, elder and younger are in order, friends have creditworthiness.” (Mencius
Teng Wen Gong Shang) mentions “father restricts son” and “husband restricts wife” is the basic structure of the family hierarchy. For the five regular virtue, “benevolence, righteousness, etiquette, wisdom, and credibility,” benevolence and righteousness are the basis of filial piety, and filial piety and obedience are the ethical standards dealing with the relationship between father and son, brothers and

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other families. It can be seen that Confucianism, which pays attention to family ethics, regards filial piety and disobedience as the value evaluation criteria of the family relationship model. Interpersonal Cooperation—Advocating Benevolence and Righteousness Confucius said, “Those who want to be independent will help others to be independent; those who want to be successful will help others to be successful. If one pursues things and help other people pursue, it is benevolence.” (The Analects of Confucius Yongye) Mencius also said: “You should treat your elder with kindness and extend it to other elders; you should treat your child with care and extend your care to other children (Mencius Liang Hui Wang Shang).” Confucius and Mencius advocated cooperation between people with “benevolence” and “righteousness” as the core, advocating the relationship model with the principle of setting the individual as the starting point, and other people as the purpose. Popular understanding is to sacrifice oneself for his fearless spirit. This kind of cooperation between people, with absolute sublimity, has a high demand for human moral cultivation. In a word, under the background of the strict feudal hierarchy, Confucianism strongly advocated the rule of the country by “San Gang Wu Chang” (three principles and five regulars), which played a significant role in regulating social order and educating the people. However, we must examine this interpersonal rule with a critical eye and discard it and extract its essence. The positive part is still of great significance to our modern management. Confucianism’s tireless pursuit of “benevolence” is essential for modern organizations’ standardized and orderly operation.

2.2.2 Jointly Making Progress: A Review of Harmonious Relationship The meaning of human harmony is evident to the cooperation between people, but what kind of special meaning does the pursuit of human harmony give people? More Emphasis on Two-Way Interaction and Cooperation The cooperation advocated by the managers under the feudal hierarchy is one-way cooperation, starting from safeguarding the class interests of the rulers and characterized by the apparent power hierarchy. The Cooperation Initiative of the managed at the lower level is not apparent, and what they do is responding to the managers’ unilateral management wishes, which dramatically reduces the effect of cooperation. The cooperation we advocate today is two-way cooperation with purposes: the manager’s purpose and the purpose of the managed. The interaction and integration of the two-way purpose is cooperation in the modern sense. Simultaneously, the two-way nature of this cooperation is also reflected in the mutual respect and free from the restriction of power, so that there can be a virtuous circle of cooperation. As Ge Chen-hong pointed out, in social life, if we only recognize moral obligations without moral rights, over time, there will be a vicious circle in social and moral life: virtue has become the burden of virtuous people, and

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the passport of wicked people. Of course, this is in line with the conditions allowed by our current era, so we cannot judge the ancients’ shortcomings harshly. Fair Cooperation that Discards Class Differences As mentioned earlier, the limitations of the times branded the ancient cooperation process with hierarchy and power. The inequity of cooperation was obvious, mainly manifested in people’s response to the monarch-minister cooperation that does not meet their own needs. This unequal relationship restricts the effective implementation of organizational functions; as Gao Qinghai said, “the individual as the subject of cooperation is restricted, and is deprived of free development, which should be seen as a reason for long-term stagnation and slow development in our society.” Therefore, inspired by the concept of a harmonious society in which we are increasingly pursuing fairness, we advocate that cooperation is an ideal state in which both parties are respected, and future interests are equal.

Tips

Hou Ying, a famous hermit in the Warring States Period, was originally an unattractive gatekeeper in the capital of the Wei State. In his 70s, he was discovered by Xinling Jun, the Lord of the Wei State as a man of great insight and wisdom. Xinling Jun intended to make friends with him and wanted to employee him. However, the whole process did not look smooth. Xin Ling Jun himself paid a formal visit but encountered cold rejection of Hou Ying. Later, he arranged a banquet at home to entertain Hou Ying, and let many guests could wait. Xinling Jun personally drove to greet, Hou Fan unkindly sitting in the car’s honorable position, and specifically let the car pass through busiest streets of Daliang. After passing a market, Hou Ying deliberately went to his friend Zhu Hai and talked with him for a long time, and kept. Xinling Jun waiting. In fact, Hou Fan did this test Xinling Jun and see if he is a wise lord and also spread his fame of sincerity in the process. It can be seen that using money can attract talents, but the most persuasive way is to lay down their status, recruit with respect through real actions, and such cooperation is the most heart-to-heart, the most lasting.

2.3 The Way of Cooperation of Human The so-called “if we work together, people can move a mountain”, it is possible to work together to create a great cause. As mentioned earlier, cooperation between people is essential, so what should we do to promote cooperation? This is also a question worthy of discussion. Therefore, the following three aspects to show the way of cooperation between people and ways and means of choice.

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2.3.1 Advocating Rule by Virtue Rigidity and Softness In the process of finding the right way to govern the people, there has been much controversy since ancient times. Is rule by man or no intervention better? The reasons for the controversy are many and very complicated and is worthy of our attention. An essential reason is a discrepancy in the human nature hypothesis. Rigidity means replacing dictatorship with the rule of law. The Legalists Guan Zhong, Shang Yang, Han Fei-zi, and Li Si all believed in the evil theory of human nature, so they naturally chose the rule of law beyond human nature to restrain human nature. Guan Zhong, who assisted Duke Huan of Qi for decades; his descendants created the book Guanzi, which created the earliest word “law”, and was the premise of his proposition of “become king of domination force”. According to legend, in the first year of the year, he asked: “Can the country be settled?” Guan Zhong said: “If you determine to be the greatest king, then the country will be fixed; otherwise, it will not be fixed.” Guan Zhong recognizes that the country needs stability and needs the determination of the king, and that needs not only righteousness but also political tactics. In Shang Yang’s book Shang Junshu Cuo
Fa, he explained why the governing state chose “the rule of law”: “Ancient wise monarchs pursued the rule of law, and the people did not commit evil acts of crime; waging war, and talented people emerge; by implementing rewards and punishments, the army would be strong. These three aspects are fundamental to the rule of the state by the sovereign.” Although Han Fei Zi followed Xunqing, he did not accept his Confucianism but formed a Legalist masterpiece—Han Fei Zi. He advocated that the state should centralize the monarch’s power and rely on the law and ministers. He explained the law: “enact statutory laws and publish them to the people so that everyone knows and follows the law.” (Han Fei Zi) explains Shu: “Shu is political tactics, it should be hidden in the ruler’s heart and manage ministers without them realizing. (Han Fei Zi) Although Legalist thought played a great role in regulating social order, its shortcomings are still obvious, such as advocating absolute centralization led to the sovereign’s dictatorship, the formation of a “strong country and weak people” state, severe punishment and restraint of courtesy to promote excessive punishment, and even the extreme tragedy of burning books and pitting Confucianists. Weighing the ways of softness—take “benevolence” and remove social classes. Confucius and Mencius, the representatives of Confucianism, both raised the point of “human nature is good” and advocated benevolent government and love for people; rulers should enrich, benefit, provide for and care for the people, that is, to implement the rule of virtue that respects and preserves human nature. The five regular principles of Confucianism are benevolence, righteousness, etiquette, wisdom, and credibility. As its civilian virtue requires: “filial piety, is the base on human” (The Analects of Confucius). Here, Confucian thinking is that filial piety’s expectation as the core of the civilian virtue has the dual effect of maintaining the family’s moral order and achieving the rationalization of political control. We need to pay attention to here that the Confucian thought of benevolence inevitably has

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the limitation of the times—the apparent hierarchy. The “Three Principles” proposed by Confucianism are used to regulate the relationship between the monarch and his subjects, father and son, and husband and wife. It is emphasized that people of all levels should be classified according to their ranks and do things accordingly. To sum up we can easily find that each school is reasonable in its particular era. However, under the ideological background of “harmony with coexistence, achieve victory with harmony” as the main thrust of people and management, and expected to achieve is a cooperation between people to win. Therefore, we advocate that we balance the principles of justice and benevolence and not be biased. The compromise between rigidity and softness can achieve immediate results under the rule of law, win the people’s hearts under the rule of virtue, and avoid the radical consequences of using political tactics alone. Moralization and Education Although, as mentioned above, the way of harmony is the combination of the rule of law and rule by virtue. However, it is still necessary to emphasize the importance of moral cultivation and moral education in promoting friendly cooperation among people. It should be noted that the “virtue” here is not a virtue under common sense but a broader sense of “virtue cultivation”. Virtue is the imitation of Zheng. As the Analects of Confucius Zilu says, “When one’s conduct is correct, even if he does not issue an order, the common people will carry it out. If one’s conduct is incorrect, even if he issues an order, the common people will not obey it.” It is precisely the influence of the manager’s behavior on the subordinates that serves as a model. Furthermore, as Xun Zi Jundao says: “The monarch is like the sundial to determine the time, and the people are like the shadow of the sundial, if the sundial is upright, then the shadow is upright; The monarch is like a plate, the people are like the water in the plate, if the plate is round, and the water in the plate is also round.” This is also advocated that managers’ moral cultivation is the qualifications of governance and the key to guiding subordinates’ behavior. Education advocates the internalization effect of etiquette and righteousness. As the Book of Rites—Great Learning says: “in ancient times, for the ones who want to spread virtue to the world, he will manage his country well; if he wants to manage his country, he will first sort out his family; if he wants to sort out his family, he will first cultivate himself; if he wants to cultivate himself, he will first correct his mind; if he wants to correct his mind, he will first make his heart sincere; if he wants to make his heart sincere, he will first learn knowledge, and the key to learning knowledge is to practice in real life.” It tells us that to realize our inner cultivation and sincere intention, we must rely on education to clarify. The same is true of moral cultivation, teaching, and other means to publicize etiquette, righteousness, loyalty, and family filial piety. The purpose is to transform all virtues into the nature of the people.

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Curb Evil Desire and Protect Rights and Interests Human are not entirely born kind, the evil desire in human nature should be curbed, and the necessary rights of the people need to be preserved. This situation is just a fair and just environment of coexistence. Otherwise, it is not the real sense of human harmony; instead, it is an unequal, disharmonious state of formality-seeking, slogan-based cooperation. Rule evil—use etiquette to curb villains. Confucius said, “gentlemen cherish benevolence, while villains cherish nostalgia. A gentleman cares about punishment and law, while the villain cares about private interests. (The Analects of Confucius Liren) expounds that there is a vast difference between a gentleman and a villain, and it is not possible to achieve the desired effect if one hopes to govern a villain through simple benevolence and righteousness. Similarly, we can combine the Confucian “etiquette” and Legalist “law” to curb villains’ immoral conduct. Protecting rights—to use etiquette to protect civil rights. Shang Yang has been slandered for two thousand years, but now the situation is much worse. It is said that Shang Yang’s advocated legalism as a way to suppress the rights of the people from the Han Dynasty, and the ruler can be so boundless is all due to Shang Yang’s idea of law. (Yanshu Shang Yang) It tells us that Shang Yang’s legalism takes civil rights from the people, makes the government dominate people so that the people dare not be angry and dare not speak, which is not a wise choice. The people’s fundamental personal rights are the premise of people’s free survival and development, and the state should protect them. Otherwise, many rebellions that overthrew dynasties are alarming to such a situation.

2.3.2 Cooperation in Competition Confucius said: “Gentlemen seeks harmony in diversity, while villains are similar but cannot be in harmony with each other” (The Analects of Confucius. Zilu). Simple pursuit of “assimilation” is a villain; the real pursuit of “harmony” is a gentleman’s choice. “Harmony” is a dialectical category, not cooperating for the sake of cooperation, nor simple assimilation, but a win–win cooperative relationship of competition and cooperation. Harmony but Not Sameness Gentleman’s “harmony in diversity” is that a gentleman does not blindly agree with others in the process of getting along and cooperating with others, but dares to put forward his point of view so that others can criticize, dares to listen to others’ point of view, exchanges ideas, learn from each other’s strengths and complement each other’s weaknesses in order to make joint progress. On the contrary, villains do not exchange genuine opinions; instead, they prefer hiding their real thoughts in heart and make opinions only to appeal to others. On the surface, the opinions are absolutely the same, and the cooperation of the actual falsehood and appendage is ineffective. Excellent managers cannot tolerate partners who only agree, they prefer to maintain a harmonious, cooperative relationship, exchange views freely, to gather

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reasonable opinions from all sides, even if the advice is harsh, and this is the real cooperation. Mutual Benefit Lao Zi said, “if we want to win others, we must give others some first.” What we have been told is that people expect to benefit from others. That is to say, it is not doable to be entirely self-interested, and self-interest must be moderate because both sides have their interests. It is possible to pursue a win–win situation. The Analects of Confucius Yan Yuan says: “if you do not want, do not impose on others.” Here is the idea of empathy for ourselves and others. Since you do not want to, how can you force others to accept it? Sustained and effective management is not to pursue temporary self-interest at the expense of others in the competition, but to cooperate with competitors to ignore or take the differences between the two sides lightly and work together to seek a long-term win–win situation.

2.3.3 Seeking Flexible The relationship and cooperation between people are a two-way process. The effect of cooperation depends not only on oneself but on the attitude of others. If you speak only rigid truth, the other party may not accept, and the expected effect cannot be achieved. Therefore, we advocate that we can achieve “tact” in cooperation with people, and being tact does not mean swaying with the wind. Being Tact What is the meaning of tact? It means no offense, just like a circle has no corner. It is normal to have different opinions in cooperation, and opinions can be put forward. Here we need to be “round enough” to smooth out the obstacles to cooperation. If you insist on acting rashly, speaking straight, and unambiguously to convey disagreement, you may hurt the other party even though your advice is sincere. You will be lucky if disagreement ends in simple grunge, but what if the other party does things malicious? The real “tact” should be to think twice, to use more brains and dare to speak indirectly. Choose a euphemistic way to express advice to the other side because not hurting others’ feelings is more likely to be readily accepted. As Tou Long said, Empress Dowager Zhao is a typical tact in the usual means to achieve the goal: Tou Long is to use their own spoiled children’s personal experience to narrow the distance between Empress Zhao, and then referred from history to show the Empress Zhao reason, and finally let the Empress Zhao promise to let her son Chang’ an Jun to be the hostage. Linking up Through Communication The word “communication” first appeared in Zuo Zhuan Ai Gong Nine Years: “Autumn, Wu Chengyu, connecting Jiang and Huai.” Du pre-note: “Yujiang River built through the ditch, reaches She Yanghu in the northeast, connects to Huai from

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the northwest, making food supply transportation convenient.” It can be seen that the original meaning is to use the ditch to divert water and extends to exchange. In the process of cooperation between people, communication between the two sides is inevitable. How to achieve effective two-way communication is an essential prerequisite for smooth cooperation. First of all, the need for cooperation between the two sides has the desire to communicate, that is, willing to communicate with each other. If the two sides or only one side are unwilling to communicate, communication in cooperation will be blocked. As to why it is blocked, it involves the second level: is there any deficiency in constructing communication channels? It is the responsibility of both sides to ensure smooth communication, and the responsibility of the party in a status of comparative advantage is higher. We should advocate tolerance, sincerity, and equality.

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Way of the Human—Management Based on Development

People are dynamic, which determines that the “harmonious relationship” must also be dynamic. This section will explore how to achieve a “harmonious relationship” in the development and change from “humanity”. In ancient China, “Dao” had the meaning of roads and laws. For example, “Lao Zi” said: “if a Dao8 that can be told of is hardly an eternal, absolute, unvarying one” Lao Zi’s Tao is not an ordinary law, as Su Dongshui said: “The Dao that Lao Zi said is not a regular Dao or Dao that can be told of; it is intangible, eternal, and cannot be told of.” Therefore, the concept of “the way of the human” is different from the humanity in today’s Western context. It contains the meaning of treating people with morality, the development of people, and the way of knowing people. Therefore, this section will focus on these aspects.

3.1 Introduction 3.1.1 The Connotation of the Way of the Human “Zhou Yi
Xi ci” says: “The Book of Change covers a broad range of knowledge, including the way of the heaven, the way of humans, and the way of the earth. The book covers talents from 3 fields and doubles it, making it six. The six talents are from nothing else but the 3 fields.” The book encourages us to use the “Three Talents” to control the complex relationship between the large system and the various systems and subsystems of heaven, earth, and man to achieve the best state of management, in which the human system emphasizes the optimal allocation of human resources. Humans’ ancient way is the “righteousness” way, as Mencius says: “benevolence, the heart of man; righteousness, the way of man.” The tradition Here “Dao” refers to a specific natural law.

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of humanity is righteousness, but each school of thought has its interpretations. Confucius advocated “benevolence” for himself and others; Mo-tse advocated “mutual love and mutual benefit”; Lao and Zhuangzi advocated “tranquility and elegance” and “no intervention”; Xun Zi advocated “controlling the destiny of heaven and using it” for “Dao is not the way of heaven and earth”. The book of Rites puts forward “to be close to relatives, to respect the respectable, to follow the elders, to define distinguished role and responsibility between men and women, and these are the essence of Dao.” After the continuous exertion of Confucianism, the word “the way of the human” has been given a higher humanistic meaning. Mencius
Li Lou Xia said: “A gentleman does not always keep his word, and does not necessarily reach a result, as long as if meets righteousness.” This doctrine transcends all rank, status, country, nationality, and region and puts human dignity and value first, so human beings are what they are. The way of human has become a pursuit of the fundamental value of being a person. It has become a bottom line for everyone. As Nie Wentao, a contemporary scholar, once said in his blog article that he did not help children with diabetes for the sake of benevolence but for the way of the human, the fundamental value of being a man. In other words, he used the standard of being human to measure the value of human life, so he decided to save these children. Our understanding of the ancient “the way of the human” is based on righteousness and Daoism: righteousness is the meaning of Dao (benevolence, love, inaction) to achieve real humanity—the value of human beings is respected. Therefore, in this chapter, the definition of “humanity” is how to realize human values and other favorable factors, rather than the distorted concept of “humanitarianism” emphasized by some Western countries in today’s society.

3.1.2 The Significance of Way of the Human Nowadays, the Way of Human has been deeply rooted in people’s minds. Whether it is the Chinese inner defense of the “way of the human” or the Western interference of humanitarianism, the “way of the human” has become an increasingly popular topic. However, we all firmly believe that the “way of the human” is based on the principle of freedom and equality and resolutely safeguards human dignity and value. Historical Meaning (1) Follow the law of development and conform to the wishes of the people. The doctrine of humanity originates from the Taoist “Three Talents”, and the highest realm pursued by the Taoists is to follow the natural law of “keeping harmony”, that is, to respect the laws and laws of nature and human development. The way of the human is to respect the value of personal development. It is not only to appeal to the monarch to obey God’s will to love and value people but also to advocate that the sage should be in line with people’s hearts to know and employ people.

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(2) Promote the development of the country and the people. The monarch governs the country and achieves the merit of following the nature and nourishing all lives, but it is also necessary to achieve people’s wealth and security with the spirit of lofty virtue. It is called “heaven and earth meet” and symbols “peace”. Thus the ruler acts prudently and facilitates the way of heaven and earth, support nourishment of all lives and bless the people’, “Ancestor emperor warned that the emperor can get close to the people but cannot look down on people, the people are the foundation of the country, and if the foundation is solid, the country will be peaceful” (Shang Shu, the song of five sons). It can be seen that the relationship between the state and the people is closely related. The pursuit of humanity is the shared prosperity and joint development of the state and the masses.

Realistic Guidance We know that management is essentially the management of people, which determines humans’ concept in management. Therefore, whether it is to govern the country or manage enterprises, we need to pursue humanity, fully respect the talent, win the hearts of the people, and maximize the tapping of human potential.

3.1.3 The Application of Management Based the Way of the Human Win the Will of People “Xun Zi
Wang Zhi” records: “The people are in peace with the government so the ruler can be safe with his position, it is said that: ‘ruler is the ship, and the people are the water; water can carry a ship or overthrow a ship.’” As the quote says, the ruler is like the ship, and the people are like the water; the ruler can only be steady if the people are at ease. Ancient rulers advocate the “way of the human”, do things following the people’s situation and wishes, make policies that benefit the people, make them rich, make a country strong should first make the people healthy and use the “way of the human” to pacify the world. The application of modern management is similar to humanized management, which requires being humane a little: show more concern and respect for subordinates, offer both material and spiritual compensation, provide opportunities for employees to develop in order to win the support of subordinates fully.

Tips

One of the great creations of Shanxi businessmen is human capital share system, which is a form of labor organization created by Shanxi businessmen in their business activities, that is, to give a certain number of shares by manpower and to participate in dividends according to the amounts of shares. The system is consisted of the contribution of shareholders, managers and employees, and it is specifically divided into human capital stocks and silver

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stocks. The “capital” of shareholders’ contribution is the monetary capital, called silver stocks, which are invested by shareholders to increase their value when they start an enterprise; the output of managers and employees means that they are responsible for the monetary capital (silver stocks). The owner of the silver stocks enjoys a permanent interest in the profits and losses of a business and can be inherited, but he also has unlimited liability for the profits and losses of a business. The benefits shareholders have after they are deceased are call “deceased shares”, and the benefit is determined by the role and responsibility of the deceased. This great business strategy of Shanxi merchants, with the contribution of capital and dividends, makes people feel very fair and just, as well as leaving economic benefit after one’s death, providing future generations with a very effective means to win the hearts of the people. Source: Dong and Wang (2008) (4).

Creating Atmosphere The book of changes says, “Yin and Yang is the way.” Tao is a rule and a necessary means to resolve contradictions. The way of the human respects human nature and keeps people at rest. When Liu Bang ascended the throne, he decreed: “the people who sell themselves by hunger and become slaves should be restored to civilians.” This is an important measure to release slaves and encourage farming. One stone and two carvings—to resolve contradictions, mobilize enthusiasm, and develop the economy. Resolving contradictions and creating a pleasant and comfortable interpersonal environment is more and more important to contemporary managers. Man is a person in society, and there are many inner intersections with others, and there will be conflicts; how to resolve the contradictions in both sides’ hearts? The “way of the human” management is created for this! Way of human attaches importance to the realization of human values, not only their values but also respect the realization of other people’s values. Such a harmonious atmosphere is the most attractive in respect of everyone’s value and balance in mind. In modern enterprise management, giving subordinates a comfortable working environment will have a surprising effect. Raising the State of Mind Confucius said, “If people are not benevolent, what is the ritual? If people are not benevolent, what is the joy?” (The Analects of Confucius) tells us that if people do not have the noble inner cultivation of “benevolence”, how to treat others with etiquette? How to enjoy happiness? Zhuge Liang said: “tranquility makes one travel far, indifferent to fame and wealth makes one know their will.” We need to pay attention to self-management of pure mind and temperament.

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Implementing the “way of the human” is a realm that can be attained by self-cultivation. On the one hand, it emphasizes the respect for individual values, the realization of human self-worth; Therefore, this is a kind of accomplishment and pays attention to the accomplishment of self and others’ ideal realization. The same is true in modern enterprise management. The most successful organization is the realization of the ideal goal of the whole organization.

3.2 Development: The Direction of Relationship Management Between Humans The most critical task of the “way of the human” management is based on the interpersonal relationship regarding facilitating each value’s realization. The pursuit of self and the realization of others’ value is the process of human development and improvement. Therefore, it has become a guide to recognizing core and interpersonal relationships as the foundation. The following is an introduction to the meaning of development in ancient Chinese thought and the need for development in the background of harmonious relationship.

3.2.1 The Meaning of Development What is the embodiment of human development in ancient Chinese thought? “Mencius Li Louxia” says: “For a great man, he does not need to keep his words or get results for his actions all the time, as soon as it is righteous.” The ancient song Xiang Gong did not attack the enemy halfway across the river because it has “no righteousness”. The officials of Chu state intended to kill the king because the king of Chu wanted to invade Zhou and put Chu state into danger, which is not righteous. Following the Rule of Nature—Govern by No Intervention As Su Dongshui said, “the way of management is the way of the human.” The highest level of management is to govern by doing nothing. Governing no intervention is not being idle but selectively taking actions. Man is a part of nature and is born with human nature. Taoists believe that habits acquired in society will influence and destroy man’s simplicity. Taoism’s no intervention advocates the water-based management of “the best thing is like water”, get close to base level employees, respect the “indisputable virtue” of human nature, and “the power of employing people”. Dao De Jing also respects the thought of “no intervention” in the orientation of life value; Tao Te Ching Chap. 8 said: “to live in a good place, have good heart, treat people with kindness, say good words, speak with good credibility, take good governance, have good deeds, do a good performance, take good action. In any case, we need to be calm.” Life value planning is to achieve “success, fame, and success”.

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Choose the Good—Doctrine of the Mean The essence of the doctrine of the mean is “impartiality, compromise, and moderation”. The Analects of Confucius Yong Ye mentioned: “the golden mean is also a virtue, and people lack it for a long time.” The doctrine of the mean reflects the moderation in employing people and rewards and punishments. Appropriate and appropriate employment is to choose the right person for the best place. As for the realization of self-value, it advocates the self-educating the principle of “fate gives human nature, following human nature is Dao, and cultivate that is education” (Doctrine of the mean).

3.2.2 Ways: People and Views of Development Human development embodies the continuity of human existence and is the only way to achieve long-term survival. Respecting human development and paying attention to the realization of human value is the core of the “way of the human” management. What meaning do people and thoughts give to human development and value realization? More Emphasis on Self-development Initiatives From the introduction of the ancient employment thought, we can see that both Taoist “no intervention” and the Confucian “doctrine of the mean” place people as the development subject in a passive position—no intervention is laissez-faire employment, the golden mean is the criterion to select the most suitable person. Paying More Attention to the Bidirectional Nature of Development In the pursuit of the harmonious coexistence of people and management, we should choose a two-way development. First, managers should open up ways for employees to develop; second, both managers and employees must realize the urgency of their own development.

3.3 Following the Laws of the Way of the Human The book of changes says: “the way of heaven requires Yin and Yang, it is rigid and soft; the way of the earth requires toughness and softness; the way of the human requires benevolence and righteousness.” It is suggested to use “benevolence” and “righteousness” to smooth people’s way to realize their values. Here, we cannot help but wonder why knowledgeable scholars in ancient times chose to live in seclusion in an independent way, which of course, has a lot to do with their pure and lofty character and resolute personality. However, because of their integrity and unwillingness to be tainted by secularity, there is no real way to realize their value in the real world. Therefore, it is necessary to introduce a way to promote adult self-development.

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3.3.1 Shi Ren (Being Able to Appraise a Person’s Ability and Character Correctly) Since ancient times, many wise rulers have attached great importance to talent selection. Talents can be appointed, first depends on the manager’s ability to identify; whether talent can be used, the key lies in how deep the ruling party can understand the people. However, it is not easy to have a deep understanding of people, as the first monograph on talent studies in China, Character Chronicles, in the chapter of Xiao Nan, states: “It is difficult to get talent. First, it is different to identify a talent; second, if the talent is identified, it is hard to acquire the talent”. Since it is difficult to identify talents, what method should we choose (Fig. 3)? Observing the Unique Talents of Others Talents are called talents because they have at least one extraordinary skill, and that extraordinary skill is the reason why the monarch takes virtue. However, no man is perfect; what is needed for the country’s rule is its specialty. As Liu Shao said in his Character Chronicles Ba Guan, “Seventhly, observe a man’s shortcomings to know his strength” Despite the short history of those who are biased, it is these shortcomings that reveal their characteristics. It is right for him to be outspoken if he is honest and straightforward. This idea is beneficial for modern management. When choosing and employing people, we should have the measure and courage of a gentleman, be tolerant, and not too demanding of perfection. We should use the wisdom eye to identify where everyone’s extraordinary talent is and then choose the appropriate method to weigh its strengths and weaknesses to achieve the perfect fit. Identifying People’s Unique Advantages Quality identification is the most common way in ancient China. Confucianism identifies talents of different classes with “loyalty and righteousness” and “filial piety” and advocates respecting and employing talents and rank talents according to morality; Taoist Chuang Tzu puts people in a special situation to understand people’s “Nine Zhengs” method; Legalists choose people with “law”; Cao Cao

Fig. 3 The logic of the laws of Way of Human

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emphasizes “generals should have five virtues”; Liu Shao also states in the “Character Chronicles Ba Guan”: “to observe one’s ambition to know his nature”. It advocates distinguishing talents from the qualities of wisdom, benevolence, courage, and credibility. The reality of talent selection also regards many qualities of talent as a supplementary standard of selection, such as honesty, loyalty, integrity, initiative, etc. People care about the characteristics of talent because people’s characteristics often determine the attitude and behavior in the process of work. Besides, a talent with high moral standards often has charisma, which can drive enterprises’ future development, making it smoother.

Tips

Dr. George Howards, a professor of psychology at Harvard University in the United States, has proved for many years that the success or failure of a person’s career is closely related to his character. He puts forward nine elements of success and nine elements of failure. “The most important thing for successful people is noble character and healthy body and mind. Most of the people who fail in their careers are due to poor character and inability to adjust themselves,” Howards said. There are three popular words in the world management circles: intelligence is more important than knowledge; quality is more important than intelligence; consciousness is more important than quality. Knowledge and intelligence are important to successful managers, but moral quliaty, character and consciousness are more important. Credibility, loyalty, will, perseverance, confidence, and courage, which are non-intellectual factors, often play a greater role in career success or failure. Source: Liu (2001) (5).

3.3.2 Yong Ren (Making Use of Personnel) As Emperor Taizong of Tang and Li Shimin put it, “those who can secure the world must be good at using talents.” If getting talent is lucky, it is fortunate that he is used in the right place. Make Best Use of the Advantages and Bypass the Disadvantages “Zhi Zhi Tong Jian” records Emperor Taizong of Tang’s theory of “Xian Feng”: “Emperor Taizong of Tang orders Deyi to raise talents, and Deyi could not find for a long time.” Taizong blames him, and Deyi says, ‘I have tried, but there is no talent.’ Taizong says, “wise man uses talent like tools and take their strengths, for those successful rulers, did they get a better pool of talents than we do? You do not realize the truth and blame on others!” Taizong blames him for saying that there is no outstanding talent nowadays. Taizong believes that people should choose their strengths as utensils and not seek perfection. Mohist “base on merits” is opposed to nepotism. “Personal Chronicles. Material Ability” also wrote: “People are different,

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some are good at taking initiatives; some are good at making laws and use people; some are good at debating; some are good at teaching; some are good at dealing with people; some are good at investigating; some are good at strategy; some are good at fighting.” Yan Ying also stressed: “we should use people’s strength instead of weakness.” (Yan Zi’s spring and Autumn period) advocated that people should be able to do their best if they are using their strength instead of weakness. As we are familiar with the “Ma Shuo”: “one does not know how to ride, feed or call a horse, and he says there is no good horse.” However, the world cannot be without good horses! Everyone has its shining place, use its strengths, avoid its weaknesses, complement each talent’s skill set, mobilize everyone’s enthusiasm, and continuously create more challenging opportunities for everyone to promote their development, enterprises can also develop. Seek Reality Following the Name This phrase originated from Han Fei Zi’s Dingfa: “political tactics are giving title based on skill, seek reality through name, hold the power of killing and find the capable within ministers; this is a skilled ruler must acquire.” Han Fei Zi advocated the idea of managing people with “skill” and paid attention to the effect of talents in practice. Although it was first seen in legalists, Confucianism has a similar idea, which advocates using “etiquette and righteousness” to judge and regulate officials’ effect after taking office. Guan Zhong pointed out: “if we examine his likes and dislikes, his strengths and weaknesses will be known; if we look at his friends, its virtues will be known.” (Guan Zi Quan Xiu) Yan Zi also advocated “judging a person through his words and actions.” It can be seen that the concept of employing people in ancient China is also a dynamic process.

3.3.3 Su Ren (Educating People) “Whoever enters the country must choose something and devote to it. If the country is confused, then advocate being virtuous and respectful; if the country is poor, then advocate austerity; if the country has no etiquette, then advocate respecting heaven and perform rites to the deceased; if the country loves invading other counties, then advocate love all and non-aggression.” (Mo-tse Wen); that is to say, education can serve the country, and the country can shape the talents according to its needs. At the same time, the meaning of shaping people is to shape themselves and perfect their accomplishments to realize their life value. Shapingoneself Self-building emphasizes the efforts and pursuits of self-value realization. If one is poor, he should focus on improving himself. In pursuit of self-perfection, it also gains the ability to identify others. (1) Being strict with yourself. Chen Liang’s “Xie Zeng Cha Yuan Jun” said: “Be strict with oneself, do things and will get results; love people, and actions will all be related to the law of nature.” Chinese people always pay attention to Tao, so “strict with oneself and lenient to others” has always been a philosophy of

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human life. The reason why one should be strict is not to allow himself to make mistakes. At the same time, there is another kind of effect: people will follow an excellent example without being forced to do so. Therefore, adhere to strict self-discipline and decent style, one can use personality charm to lead and influence others; this effect is twice the result with half the effort. In business management, whether managers or the managed— employees, using high standards to restrain themselves is a way of self-cultivation and self-improvement of the inherent restraint mechanism. (2) Character cultivation. Luo Dajing’s “He Lin Yu Lu”: “Luoyang people call peony as flowers; people call Ouyang Gong, Sima Gong and so on, no longer referring to their name and instead referring them to their title, their character must be superb, and it should be done from the beginning.” The quality of noble character has always been the focus of people’s lifelong pursuit. The “benevolence” of Confucianism is a collection of “respectful, generous, trustworthy, sensitive and beneficent.” It deals with interpersonal relations with benevolence and shares beauty with human-made kindness and adult beauty; the “wisdom” of Confucianism is the embodiment of knowledge and wisdom, and the “courage” of Confucianism is the courage of rational thinking combined with “strategy”. Paying attention to the cultivation of personality and morality is a higher-level requirement for self-enhancement. Great benevolence is the kind and righteous heart that embraces all things and treats others well; great wisdom is the wisdom to see things and find the right goal; great courage is the courage not to be afraid of sacrifice but to go forward bravely. These are the personality strengths of members who continuously struggle in the competitive business world as if it is the battlefield.

Tips

“Self-management” is always an important mandatory course for a businessman, because it contains the secret of a businessman’s success. The eight elements of Li Ka-shing ‘s daily management of his plan are: 1. diligence is the foundation of all businesses. We must work hard, be responsible for the enterprise and be responsible to the shareholders. 2. Be prudent to yourself and be generous to others. Dealing with everything is based on the interests of others. 3. always maintain the sense of innovation, watch the world with your own eyes instead of going with the tide. 4. stick to our promises and build up a good reputation. A person’s good reputation is an indispensable prerequisite for success. 5. When making any decision, we should broaden our mind and make overall plans. Once the decision is made, it is imperative to proceed without hesitation. 6. To set an example of efficiency for subordinates. Before focusing on specific matters, the relevant personnel should be notified a few days in advance to prepare materials so that the answers can be streamlined

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and accurate, thus improving work efficiency. 7. The implementation of policies should be steady and prudent. We should lay a good foundation in the enterprise and pay attention to training the contingency of the managers. 8. To understand the expectations of subordinates, in addition to life, employees should be given a better future. Everything is for the benefit of employees, especially in old age, the company should give them absolute protection, so that employees have a sense of belonging, without worries. Source: Wenjun (2004).

Shaping Others Shaping others emphasizes creating ways to improve moral cultivation and realize the value of life for others. It is the so-called “helping the whole world if one is successful and rich” (Mencius Jin Xin Shang). To provide convenience for the development of others, to a large extent, requires specific prerequisites, such as economic strength, power functions, etc., so managers need to pay more attention to one aspect. This is also a very effective way to enhance the employment effect. (1) Become talent through education. The earliest education in China was mainly used to teach labor skills and avoid natural disasters. According to the historian’s records, “Yu commands the people to gather earth and accumulate wooden branch and put onto hilly land.” The earliest education should originate from private school education; we are familiar with the number of great private schoolmasters—Confucius. His three thousand disciples completed his studies and gave rise to more than 70 sages proficient in “six arts”. Private school education is primarily related to state affairs; that is to say, education has mostly become a pioneer in political services. Whether it is right or not, at least we can admit that education can cultivate talents. Confucius advocated that “education without class” popularized education, advocated that “gentlemen cannot be limited to one aspect” fostered generalists who ruled the country and stabilized the world, and pursued “benevolence and propriety” as the moral qualities respected by the sages; Mo-tse used “both love and mutual benefit” to teach his students and “teach students according to their ability”; Mencius inherited Confucius. Thought, put forward the idea of “teaching students according to their aptitude”, pay attention to students’ cultivation of “Qi”, advocate students “sacrifice life for righteousness”; Xun Zi uses “etiquette” to train students to be “gentlemen” and “sages”. Education in ancient China focused on the cultivation of students’ inner morality and generalists. Among Confucius’ many disciples, Yan Hui was the most favored. Although he was born poor, he was famous for his virtue because of Confucius’ teachings of “benevolence and propriety”; scholars and scholars of all dynasties praised him; he was also conferred posthumous titles by rulers of all dynasties and honored as Yan

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Zi by later generations. Later generations also praised Zilu’s bravery, Ran Youzhi’s proficiency in six arts, Zi Gong’s superb talent. Modern management also attaches great importance to education. The necessary theoretical knowledge in management practice needs formal education, and the actual process of management practice is also a process of continuous learning. The company should organize professional training and experience exchange to develop staff skills and promote employee growth.

Tips

There is a cemetery near Mencius’s home, where funeral procession and funeral procession often pass through their doors. Little Mencius and his playmates’ family games are all funerals and other activities. So, she moved her family to the city. After arriving in the city, Mencius asked her son to read The Analects of Confucius, but Mencius could not focus. It turned out that his family was in a busy market, * the sound of iron, pig butchering, shouting and selling all day long. Mencius’ mother moved again to a place opposite to the school palace in the east of the city. The environment there was quite different. She often had a lot of books and an atmosphere of reading. Mencius settled down to study, and he would visit the school to learn how to study and how to follow the teacher to practice Zhou Li. Later, Mencius became the only Confucian cholar after Confucius. Taking saints as an example. The people with noble moral character and virtue can play benchmarking and example for the world. In the Classic of Poetry, Xiaoya, says, “People stop to look at the high mountain and beautiful scenery.” It means that a man of virtue is like a mountain that must be respected; a man of upright conduct must be imitated. It should be noted here that the meaning of “saint” as defined by us is different from that of “saint” as mentioned by Han Fei-zi, that is, “sage” and “new saint”, because his “saint” is defined as a monarch, and what we emphasize is the cultivation of “saint” character. All good moral character and noble sentiment are “sage”.

(2) Managers can set an example for others by letting saints of noble moral practices guide others to devote themselves to “saintliness”, which is an effective way to improve people’s moral cultivation, especially since modern people pay more and more attention to work ethics. Review and Discussion 1. What is the connotation of human-oriented thought and its historical role? Which are they? 2. What is the connotation of a harmonious relationship? Which are they? 3. What is the connotation of the way of the human and its historical role? Which are they?

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4. What are the main aspects of the management of human-oriented, the cooperation of humans, and the way of the human? 5. How to understand human-oriented, the cooperation of humans and the way of the human in the perspective of “Harmonious Relationship”? In modern enterprise management, do you think it is necessary to introduce it and explain the reason? 6. Some people think that “enterprise institutionalization is an important guarantee for the standardization of modern enterprise operation.” What do you think? This chapter makes a brief analysis of the people and ideas. Cases Material 1 As far as communication in enterprises is concerned, no matter how rhetoric is expressed, its essence is nothing more than “frankness”—letting employees tell the truth and letting enterprises know the accurate information. Employees are reluctant to speak openly in the company; they keep their ideas and comments. More often than not, the people who can communicate honestly in the company are good colleagues and friends. And why? The answer is simple—not getting hurt. Whether overt or latent, no one who speaks frankly wants any form of harm, or else he would rather be a silent or fake person. People avoid talking to arouse the resentment of their superiors and other colleagues; they even whitewash the peace to safeguard their interests or small groups. In 2006, China Guangdong nuclear power group (hereinafter referred to as “China Guangdong Nuclear Power”) made the staff tell the truth. In 2006, the story of “the most expensive janitor in the world” took place in China Guangdong nuclear industry. When a janitor was doing routine cleaning, he saw some dust on some part of a machine, gave it a “diligent” wipe, accidentally touched a switch, triggered a nuclear reactor shutdown order, resulting in a two-day blackout. If, in other business, the janitor will be severely published. But CGNPC just let the janitor tell the truth and then let him continue to work, even without any impact on wages and bonuses. The move of the China Guangdong nuclear power company makes it difficult for others to understand. The leadership of China-Guangzhou Nuclear Power explained this extraordinary practice: safety is crucial for nuclear power companies. To eliminate all potential safety hazards, enterprises need to do everything possible to obtain information about security risks, so as to take various measures to eliminate security risks fundamentally. Let the staff speak the truth, let the enterprise understand the accurate information has become the basic principle of the high-level CNC dealing with the accident. The company is thoroughly investigating the cause of nuclear power blackouts; we only want the involved party to tell the truth but exempted the janitor from individual responsibility. Source: http://www.cnpension.net/index_lm/2008-08-22/501512.html.

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Material 2 The Taobao mall incident on October 10th, 2011, was triggered by a new regulation issued by Taobao mall that day, the annual fee charged to businesses in 2012 will be adjusted from 6,000 yuan to 30,000 yuan or 60,000 yuan per year, and the consumer margin for most businesses as a service credit deposit will be adjusted from 10,000 yuan to 10,000–150,000 yuan. Taobao Mall said it would implement a conditional year-end refund system for technical service fees, which would be partly or even fully refunded according to the business scale, service quality, and other indicators. Taobao Mall management system upgrade established a “merchant breach of contract liability deposit” system, meaning merchants will enter the mall according to the operation or agent of the brand to pay breach of contract deposit; once the merchant breaches a certain number of contract, the merchant will deduct at least 10,000 yuan from the deposit, which directly goes into the consumer protection fund. For mall sellers who temporarily fail to reach the level of service and scale of operation, Taobao said it would be ready to assist the merchants to transfer at the technical level from Taobao Mall to Taobao Fair. However, the move was immediately opposed by some small and medium-sized sellers. On the evening of October 11th, Taobao Mall was attacked by thousands of netizens called “small and medium vendors”. Through voice chat tools, YY (game team voice combat tools), some small and medium-sized businesses, forums, and other means of contact, organized to Taobao mall sellers malicious attacks. Out of dissatisfaction with Taobao Mall’s dramatic increase in service fees and margins, Handu Clothes House, Uniqlo, Seven Gege, and other mall sellers became the target of the attack. Some small and medium-sized sellers in the evening of the 11th maliciously attacked big merchants through massive purchasing and refunding, or giving bad reviews and make unreasonable demands. Less than half an hour after the start of the operation, some of the sellers were forced to get off the shelves due to abnormal bidding. On the evening of 11th, there were nearly 7000 participants in the YY voice channel. As Taobao mall increased its access threshold and caused small sellers to siege big sellers, things escalated. More and more small vendors join the “Anti-Taobao Alliance”. On October 12th, more than 30,000 people gathered in the “Anti-Taobao Alliance YY Online”. By October 14th, the number of “Anti-Taobao Alliance YY Online” had exceeded 50,000. As of the evening of October 12th, dozens of large Taobao stores have been “paralyzed” by netizens, and some or all of the goods have been forced off shelves. In the early morning of October 12th, Taobao issued an emergency announcement on its official website expressing its willingness to accept any opinions and suggestions on the rules of Taobao Mall. However, it will not tolerate atrocities against other innocent merchants because of different opinions. It will not abandon its principles because of threats and intimidation and said it had reported the case to the police. On October 15th, the person in charge of the Department of Electronic Commerce and Information Technology of the Ministry of Commerce said that the Ministry of Commerce attached great importance to the new regulation incident of Taobao Mall and

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demanded that the relevant parties should handle it correctly from the perspective of stabilizing prices and supporting small and micro-enterprises. Also on the same day, Taobao Mall official micro-blog published “Taobao Mall Resolution 2012 New Regulations”, setting out 16 aspects of Taobao’s original intention and of the new regulations, firmly denying that Taobao attempts to rely on raising the annual fee for technical services and margin charges to achieve the purpose of fund-raising. On the afternoon of October 17th, to settle the dispute with small and medium-sized businesses, Alibaba Group announced that it would invest an additional $1.8 billion in Taobao Mall and announced five support measures for businesses. After the new regulation’s announcement, the anti-Taobao Alliance said in a statement on the 18th that although the alliance is not satisfied with the five new measures of Taobao Mall, but will not reorganize the attack on Taobao Mall. Source: http://www.gsjb.com/get/shxf/shxf08/201110241307460.html. Thinking 1. Combining with material 1, how do you understand the use and effect of harmonious relationship ideas in modern enterprises? 2. Combining material 2, some people think that the Taobao Mall incident is a contest between “David” and “Goliath”. How do you understand that? Combining people and ideas, talk about how people should cooperate and how to develop together. 3. Comparing material 1 and material 2, why do the two organizations’ leaders have such a big contrast? Talk about how you understand the use of people and ideas in business management and how you can make the leaders and employees work together.

References Bing, H. (2007). Research on the theory and practice of people oriented. CPC Central Committee Party School Press. Dong, G., & Wang, X. (2008). The inspiration of Shanxi Businessman’s top stock system to human capital accounting. Friends of Accounting. Ju, Q. (2006). Harmonious management: Essence, principle and method. Fudan University Press. Liu, J. (2001). The characteristics and modern spirit of Mencius’ management thought. Journal of Yunnan University for Nationalities. Mei, J., & LinJin, B. (1991). Translation. Mo-tse. Yue Lu Press. Wang, F. (2007). “Good horse burden” and “Education imbalance”. Jiang Nan Forum. Wenjun, G. (2004). Li Jiacheng business training. China Textile Press. Wu, Z. (2011). Management. Science Press. Xingjian, W. (2006). China commercial road—From Hu Xueyan to Li Jiacheng. New World Press.

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Those who want to cultivate their moral character must first purify their thoughts, and if they want to purify their thoughts, they must first make their own ideas sincere. —The Book of Rites
The Great Learning Confucius said, “young people should be filial to their parents at home and respectful to their brothers when they are with them; They should be serious and trustworthy, love the populace extensively and be close to those who are humane; When all this is done, and there is time for other things, they should use it for the study of the classics.” —The Analects of Confucius
Learning

Abstract

1. Zhi Shen, that is, Xiu Shen, self-management, refers to self-cultivation, character-building, and strive to improve our own ideological ethics and knowledge. There are three ways to Zhi Shen: zheng xin cheng yi (rectify heart and be sincere in thoughts), Wei Xue(to learn) and Xiu Xing. Xiu xing can also be summed up as three layers. The first layer is focusing on oneself-self-cultivation and the self-improvement of leaders. The second layer is emphasising on regulating the family and ruling the state, focusing on others-self-cultivation, leaders manage lower-level managers; the third layer is to focus on the whole world- to cultivate ourselves and leaders to manage the whole enterprise. 2. Xiu De includes the virtue of getting along with others and the way of life. The virtue of getting along with others includes honesty, trustworthiness, learning © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021 H. Hu, Principles of Chinese Management, Management for Professionals, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-6522-3_6

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from other’s strength, courage, and determination. The way of life includes the unity of words and deeds, courtesy, benevolence, and loving others. Xiu Xue includes three levels of learning: the cultivation of learning ability, the cultivation of professional skills, and the study of systematic thinking. There are five ways to cultivate learning ability: learning a wide range of knowledge, questioning things you learn, thinking carefully, telling right from wrong, and applying knowledge into real life. The cultivation of professional skills includes mastery and intensive learning. The learning of systematic thinking includes: Li Zhi, that is to cultivate the purpose of learning; Bo Xue, that is to cultivate the integrity of learning; Jian Chi, that is to cultivate the organic relevance of learning; Guan Lian, that is to cultivate the dynamics of learning. Xiu Xing includes self-awareness, which is the awakening of self-consciousness; self-discipline, self-restraint; Shu Qing, that is to empathize, and you will feel the same. Zi Xing includes three levels of content: self-knowledge, learning from other people and history. Self-discipline means being strict with oneself and treating people with tolerance. Shu Qing means distinguishing between right and wrong and being friendly to others. Keywords






















Zhi Shen Xiu De Xiu Xue Xiu Yi Zong Heng Xiu Xing Zi Xing Zi Lv

Learning Purpose and Requirements Understanding the way and connotation of “Zhi Shen(self-cultivation)”; understanding honesty and trustworthiness, emulating those better than ourselves, being brave and decisive, understanding the concrete contents of being consistent with words and deeds, modest and philanthropic. Understanding what the five contents of “Wei Xue(to learn)” are, understanding how to cultivate systematic thinking. Getting familiar with two aspects of “Xiu De(virtue cultivating)”, the specific contents of self-examination, self-discipline, and Shu Qing(forgiveness). Grasping the meaning of Xiu De, the three levels of “Wei Xue”; the specific content of “Xiu Xing(cultivating temperament)”. Introductory Case National business magnate: Ye Chengzhong Ye Chengzhong was born in the Zhuang City of Ningbo in the late Qing Dynasty and was the pioneer and leader of the famous Ningbo business group. His life was full of legend. Ye Chengzhong was born in a poor family who lived on ferry boats on the Huangpu River in Shanghai. Once, after he transported a foreigner across the river by boat, he found a lot of money, but he was determined to return all the

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Fig. 1 Content framework of chapter six

money to the foreigner. The foreigner recommended him to the business community in Shanghai to show his appreciation and admiration. He started from scratch; he was hardworking and thrifty, and finally accumulated enough money to start his own business. After initial success, he contributed generously to local public welfare and charities and invested in the establishment of a “Chengzhong School” during the Guangxu reign, which was well-equipped and large in scale. It created a precedent for the establishment of a private school solely funded by China. He was honest and trustworthy, treated others with kindness, and was called “the top-notch good man”. In Ye Chengzhong’s legendary entrepreneurial journey, honesty and generosity helped him get a rare opportunity on the road of poverty and kept his head high in the depression. There has been such a saying in the Ningbo business community: “to be a man likes Ye Chengzhong.” Ye Chengzhong ascended the throne of “King of Hardware” by virtue of his ability to treat people leniently and to change tactfully. His business became bigger and bigger, and he became a giant of national commerce. Data source: Chengzhong (2006) (10). Since ancient times, the Chinese have taken the improvement of themselves as a basis. The essence of Zhi Shen is self-management. Zhi Shen includes yang de (cultivating morals), Xiu Zhi(improving intelligence), and Xiu Xing. Having all the ability, integrity and good disposition is the ideal result of Zhi Shen. Cultivating morals is the primary task of self-cultivation. Therefore, this chapter will talk about how to Zhi Shen from three aspects: Yang De, Xiu Zhi, and Xiu Xing (Fig. 1).

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1.1 The Connotation of Zhi Shen Zhi Shen, i.e., Xiu Shen, or self-management, refers to self-cultivation, character-building, and strive to improve our own ideological ethics and knowledge. Ancient Chinese Confucian, Taoist, Mohist, Military Strategist, and Legalists paid great attention to self-cultivation. Confucian even regard Xiu Shen as one of

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the eight elements of education. Xiu Shen is essential; family management, state-governing and pacifying the world comes later. “If one is self-cultivated, his family will be regulated; if one’s family is regulated, his state will be rightly governed; if his state is rightly governed, the world will be pacified and happy.” (The Book of Rites
The Great Learning) And the Taoist’s Xiu Shen is to adapt to nature, the Mohist is required to promote what is beneficial and abolish what is harmful and do the best for the peace and happy of the world. “Benevolence, righteousness, etiquette, wisdom and credibility” are called the “Wu Chang (five constant virtues)” of Chinese ethics. The “righteousness, etiquette, wisdom and credibility” advocated by Confucian are all aimed at self-cultivation. Going into The Analects of Confucius, you will find that the way to Xiu De is everywhere. Such as “if one’s will is set on virtue, there will be no practice of wickedness”, “The mind of the man of honour is after righteousness; the mind of the villain is after gain”, “look not at what is contrary to etiquette; listen not to what is contrary to etiquette; speak not what is contrary to etiquette; make no movement which is contrary to set on virtue, there will be no practice of wickedness”, “whether or not I am trustworthy in my dealings with friends”. These are already well-known words. The Analects of Confucius also admonish us that respectful, lenient, credibility, earnestness, and kindness are “Wu De (Five kinds of morality)” of people. As for the Xiu Zhi, The Analects of Confucius not only points out the correct attitude of learning knowledge is “being smart, fond of learning and not ashamed to ask and learn from his inferiors” and the learning method of “make an example”, then “adopt and extend one example to three places”; but also clarifies the relationship between knowledge and practice. Confucius said that even if “recite the three hundred poems” still can not be used for practice, “one is taught how to govern but cannot execute policies; one is sent to all states but cannot convey the right message”, which is useless, “though he learns a lot, how useful it is?” Therefore, he advocates that the scholars should be “the superior man who carries out in his conduct what he professes”. He also teaches them that the knowledge they learn should not be too narrow, that they should be broad-minded and “let relaxation and enjoyment be found in the polite arts”, that is, to learn “Liu Yi (The Six Arts)”: ritual, music, archery, driving (carriage), calligraphy, and mathematics. Specifically, the connotation of Zhi Shen can be roughly divided into three levels:

1.1.1 Zheng Xin Cheng Yi (Rectifying Heart and Being Sincere in Thoughts) “Wishing to cultivate their bodies, they first rectified their hearts. Wishing to rectify their hearts, they first sought to be sincere in their thoughts.” (The Book of Rites
The Great Learning) Moral integrity is the premise of Xiu Shen, and Zheng Xin Cheng Yi is a process of inner moral cultivation advocated by ancient China. It is said that the heart is to be correct, and there is no evil thought. It means sincerity and no self-deception. Confucian consider that “Wishing to rectify their hearts, they first sought to be sincere in their thoughts”. Rectifying hearts is another name of “Zhi Xin”, which

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means first, reaching physical and mental harmony, and second, achieve tranquility and character-building; Mencius believes, “The feeling of sympathy implies the principle of benevolence; the feeling of shame and dislike implies the principle of righteousness; the feeling of reverence and respect implies the principle of propriety, and the sense of being right and wrong implies the principle of knowledge”. If a man’s heart is affected by feelings, such as anger, fear, happiness, and sorrow, the man will not be getting the rule of rectification, and only with a sincere heart will he not be chaotic. Therefore, the key to sincerity lies in “studying things to acquire knowledge”. Only when the understanding of moral concepts is raised can we actively restrain wanting. In this way, because of the sincerity, the decorous heart, the perfect personal morality, the formation of the harmonies relationship between the father and the child in the family, the political ideal of governing the country and pacifying the world will be realized. Zheng Xin Cheng Yi is the way which must be passed to achieve the high moral integrity of possessing a righteous heart and sincere thoughts. Cheng Yi, an attorney in the Song Dynasty, said that the technique of training is “nothing should be before rectifying heart and be sincere in thoughts”.

1.1.2 Wei Xue “There is nothing difficult for us to learn. If we learn it, the difficult thing will be easy; if we don’t, the easy thing will be difficult.” (Wei Xue) Wei Xue is a way to improve your accomplishment and gain knowledge through learning. There are many ideas about Wei Xue in China, such as “To learn a wide range of knowledge; to question things you learn; to think carefully; to tell right from wrong; to apply knowledge into real-life” (The Book of Rites, Zhong Yong), that is, learning extensively, inquiring thoroughly, pondering prudently, discriminating clearly and practicing devotedly. “Extensive learning with unyielding dedication and earnest inquiry with close examination”, “selecting other’s good qualities and follow them”, we are supposed to know to learn extensively is the foundation (Xun Zi, Quan Xue). 1.1.3 Xiu Xing Xiu Xing refers to the formation of temperament, which is the ultimate goal and the result. “Those who understand others are wise; those who understand themselves are enlightened”, the most crucial thing of Xiu Xing is self-reflection, which is the foundation. “The man who would be benevolent is like the archer: If he misses, he does not complain against those who surpass himself, he simply turns around and seeks the cause of his failure in himself” (Mencius
Gongsun Chou), which is said that we should look into ourselves in turn and find reasons from our own side. “A man who requires much from himself and little from others will keep himself away from resentment” (The Analects of Confucius, Wei Linggong). Then, through self-discipline, that is, to be strict with oneself and lenient with others, to achieve Shu Qing (forgiveness).

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1.2 The Doctrine of Zhi Shen The ancient people have a set of their theories and doctrines of Zhi Shen, which means self-cultivation, it mainly boils down to:

1.2.1 Ren Li (Benevolence and Propriety) The ancients care much about benevolence and propriety on Zhi Shen. Mencius Li Lou remarked, “the benevolent love others; the man of propriety shows respect to others. Those who love others are constantly loved; he who respects others is constantly respected.” It means that people should attach great importance to the cultivation of benevolence and propriety, be careful to observe Ren Li on every word and action and be kind to each other. Only in this way can we live a healthy and long life. That’s why Confucius hammered “the benevolent people live a long life”. Yang Xin Lu Ji Yao also remarked, “If we have a positive attitude on our body and mind, we can say we respect ourselves, if we behave appropriately, we can say we conform to the morality and justice.” “If we can be honest, the heart will be firm; if we can maintain integrity, the heart will be calm; if we can cultivate our body and mind, the heart will be peaceful.” 1.2.2 Xing Shan (Kind) The ancient scholars who cultivate themselves focus much on “Xing Shan”; they believe that “Xing Shan” can prevent them from suffering disaster and eliminate disease and prolong life. As Qian Jin Yao Fang said, “People who want to cultivate themselves intend to do it by learning; if you are naturally kind, there is no disadvantage without learning; since you are naturally kind, the illness will be away for you and bad things will not take place, this is the main rule of cultivating moral character.” Shou Shi Bao Yuan Yan Nian Liang Zhen also remarked, “Accumulating kind behaviors can be meritorious, staying meritorious can live longer.” 1.2.3 Zhi Zhu (Contentment) “Zhi Zhu” is the important principle of Zhi Shen. Tao Te Ching remarked, “There is no greater curse than the lack of contentment; no greater sin than the desire for possession. Therefore, he who is happy with what he has is regular content.” Chuang Tzu remarked, “One who learns what he can learn, follows what he cannot learn, does not give up in mid-age can be regarded as knowledgeable.” Zun Sheng Ba Jian Yan Nian Que Bing Jian remarked, “If you know how to be satisfied, you will not be humiliated. If you know how to stop, you will not be in danger.” All the discussions tell us that only when we are contented can we always be happy to eventual death; otherwise, diseases and disasters are easy to come, and life will be shortened. The ancient people thought that “Life can remove the trouble all of a sudden as long as we are contented”, “Grass is better than an empty stomach, sleeping in the hut is better than in the open”, people who always feel contented will be happy, despite eating grass and living in the hut, they can meet the basic requirements of human living at least.

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1.2.4 Ren Rang (Forbearance) The ancients think that self-cultivation should pay attention to “Ren Rang”. Ancient Chinese culture attached great importance to forbearance and regarded forbearance as a virtue. Peng Zu She Sheng Yang Xing Lun remarked, “People who are Shen Qiangwill have a long life, people who are Qi Qiang will be apt to die those who are vigorous seem weak and are afraid of the strong; this is called Shen Qiang, who is aggressive muster up anger to fight; this is called Qi Qiang.” Yang Lao Feng Qin Shu also remarked “It is better to be tolerant than to win a hundred battles, and to be silent is better than to speak properly for a hundred times.” Shou Shi Bao Yuan Yan Nian Liang Zhen remarked, “Modesty and polite, as well as respecting others and ourselves can prolong our lives.” As the saying goes, “forbear temporarily, avoiding a hundred days’ troubles.” The discussions mentioned above illuminate that we should pay attention to forbearance, respect others and ourselves, so we can prevent suffering from miseries and mental fatigue, therefore living a long life. 1.2.5 Kuan Rong (Tolerance) The ancient saying goes, “Kuan Rong makes people live long”. Self-cultivation is to be magnanimous and kind to others, to be reasonable and ignore resentment. Tolerance means forgiveness and endurance. Xun Zi Fei Twelve Tzu says, “when we meet people who are of low status and young, we should cultivate ourselves and educate them with the meaning of tolerance.” Tolerance is the supreme virtue in human life, and it melts the frost of the heart. Tolerance needs a broad nature. Be tolerant to diversity, tolerance is a virtue. However, if lacking tolerance, people will fall into endless pain and entanglement. Life is long, and only when we learn to be tolerant, there is true love in the world. Tolerance makes our relationship more durable, allows us to live longer and healthier physically and mentally. Although some aspects of “self-cultivation” mentioned above have their historical limitations and one-sided understanding, the positive side can be used to reference people who cultivate themselves and preserve their health.

1.3 The Application of Zhi Shen The idea of “inner saint and outer king” is Confucianism’s fundamental goal and highest state. “Inner saint” means self-cultivating, and “outer king” means keeping family in order, governing the state and pacifying the world. “Xiu Shen, family-regulating, state-regulating, then pacifying the world”, an essential aspect of Chinese culture and spirit, put forward by Confucius and developed by Mencius and Tsunzi respectively. Mencius exemplified the way of the “inner sage,” which became the conscious pursuit of a great personality with a sense of historical responsibility and mission; and it’s the moral self-discipline, the ideal of individual personality and the self-selection of the subject, which is based on the “intolerance of the heart of man”. Tsunzi played a part in “outer king”, making it focus on transforming the external world, on breaking the false and superstitious empirical knowledge, the positive and enterprising spirit of practical reason, and realistic

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practical character. These two parts are the foundation of self-cultivating, which supplement and restrict each other. As a result, they come into being the pursuit of life and the ideal state of Confucian. “Knowledge can only be acquired through the understanding and study of all things; only when knowledge is acquired can the mind be sincere; only when the mind is sincere can the mind be right; only when the mind is right can the body and mind be cultivated; only after physical and mental cultivation can one manage one’s family and home well; only after managing one’s family and home well can one manage the country well; only after managing the country well can the world be at peace. “(the Great Learning)” investigating things, completing knowledge, making thoughts sincere, rectifying hearts, cultivating personality, regulating families, governing states properly and pacifying the world “are” Eight Entries “of Confucianism. Eight Entries’ key part is” Cultivating personality”, it’s extrinsic pathways are investigating things and completing knowledge, which means studying constantly; its intrinsic premise is making thoughts sincere and rectifying hearts, which means inner virtues. We will cultivate a good disposition and make “regulating families, governing states properly and pacifying the world” come true, finally using inner virtues and extrinsic pathways (Fig. 2). “Cultivating personality, regulating families, governing states properly and pacifying the world.” Pacifying the world is based on cultivating personality. So, if this theory is applied to entrepreneurs or leaders, cultivating personality can also be summarized into three realms: The first one is “self-cultivating”, basing on oneself, which means improving the leaders’ self-cultivation. The second one is “family-regulating and state-governing”, basing on others, which means leaders manage subordinate managers. The last one is “pacifying the world”, based on the world, which means leaders manage the whole company.

Fig. 2 The mechanism of Zhi Shen

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Yang De (Cultivating Morals)

“I am skillful in nourishing my righteousness spirit”, Yang De is the foundation of Zhi Shen, and for managers, personal integrity and the way of doing things is the two main parts of cultivating morals. Xiu Shen, the first key is Yang De; the second key is Xiu Zhi; the third key is Xiu Xing. Have both ability and morality is the ideal result of Xiu Shen, and Yang De is the first task of Xiu Shen. Confucius said, “young people should be filial to their parents at home and respectful to their brothers when they are with them. They should be serious and trustworthy, love the populace extensively, and be close to those who are humane. When all this is done, and there is time for other things, they should use it for the study of the classics.” (Confucian Analects Learning). It means that people should firstly understand “filial piety and fraternal duty” “respect and honesty” “kindheartedness”, after the performance of these things, then he can go study, which tells us clearly that we should cultivate morals first in the way of behavior and work. There are many opinions of cultivating morals in China, such as the “benevolence, righteousness, etiquette and credibility” advocated by the Confucianists. Cultivating morals can be mainly concluded in two parts: the moral towards life and the way of doing things (Fig. 3).

2.1 Moral Character Entrepreneurs’ moral character refers to the morals they should have when they associate with others. The moral character can be applied to the entrepreneur himself and necessary for an enterprise to have long-term development. The moral

Fig. 3 The structure of Yang De

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towards life has some extensive contents, mainly honesty, and trustworthiness, emulating those better than oneself, and being brave and decisive.

2.1.1 Honesty and Trustworthiness “A man cannot succeed in the world without integrity. Failing to keep his word makes people doubt his ability.” (Confucian Analects) “Truthfulness” means honesty, and “faith” means to keep one’s word and worth being trust. Xun Zi remarked, “There is nothing more important than Integrity to cultivate our minds and enhance our moral cultivation.” Truthfulness is the basis for the orderly and good operation of human society and all other virtues. “The so-called integrity means do not deceive yourself.” (The Great Learning) The most important thing for conducting yourself in society is integrity. Honesty and trustworthiness are not only the basis of personality but also of an enterprise. Without integrity, a man can do nothing to get on, and an enterprise without integrity cannot achieve long-term development. A manager cannot fail to keep the faith as well. A Man Cannot Succeed Without Integrity Confucius taught his disciples to be credible as early as 2000 years ago; integrity presents the trust between each other and presents one’s morals and cultivation. At the end of the Qin Dynasty, there was a man who called Ji Bu in the state of Chu (history), once he made a promise with others, no matter how hard the thing it was, he would manage to do it, for which that he had a good reputation at that time. It’s known that “It’s better to get the Ji Bu’s promise than a hundred ounces of gold.” That is the origin of “a promise is worth one thousand ounces of gold.” Integrity is a kind of intangible capital. A single failure of faith will destroy the long-term accumulated image. Integrity is the base of a citizen. It is the basic principle of human behaviors and the basic moral requirements when dealing with various relationships. Citizen Ethics Implementation Outlines launched in 2002, was the first moral program in the history of China, and for the first time clearly stated the basic moral principles of citizens, namely, “patriotism and law-abiding, courtesy and honesty, solidarity and friendship, diligence, thrift and self-reliance, dedication and devotion to work.” Integrity is one of the most important standards. Integrity construction has become one of the vital parts of the spiritual civilization construction of China. Tips Shi Yuzhu, an entrepreneurial genius, was once admired by a great number of disciples, ranking No. 8 in the Fortune List in 5 years, was once a typical example of failure. He accumulated 250 million yuan in debt overnight, but now, he regained his fortune and became a healthcare giant and online game newcomer. At the first time, he was an example of a successful businessman; the second time, he was a negative example; the third time, he got up from where he had fallen and completed the definition of entrepreneurship-persistence, integrity, and the courage to take responsibility.

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When the Giant Company (founded by Shi Yuzhu) collapsed and all the debt collectors swarmed to the scene, he made a promise solemnly, “The money I owed you must be repaid”. For this “debt payment” motivation, Shi Yuzhu finally staged a comeback, and the first thing he did after he made money is to pay his debt. An Enterprise Without Integrity Cannot Achieve Long-Term Development Without integrity, a man can do nothing successful, and an enterprise without integrity cannot achieve long-term development. In the face of the current market economy, integrity has become the base and source of an enterprise’s development. Integrity is the traditional virtue of the Chinese nation, and it is more important for enterprises to maintain this virtue, behaving faithfully, and run their business truthfully. Integrity is fundamental not only for people but also for the enterprise as well. If the enterprise would like to achieve long-term development, it must insist the principle that “To be honest, then you can making a living in the world, to be faithful, then you can be strong in the world.” what’s more, it should have a sound credit system as a back-up. Case Taiwan Uni-President Enterprise Group’s CEO Gao Qingyuan recognizes “integrity” as the “Uni-President Enterprise” business philosophy. The insisting business philosophy of “three good and one fair”, “honesty and hardworking”, “innovation and making progress”, serving the public, and making the enterprise grow sturdily. So-called “three good and one fair” includes good quality, good credit, good service and reasonable price; so-called “honesty and hardworking” means treat their customers, persons of the same trade or business, leaders and subordinates sincerely, and keep the spirit of hard work; so-called “innovation and making progress” means that we will continue to develop and research in line with the changing needs of the times, upgrade ourselves, and participate in international competition through innovative and advanced thinking and practices. The big merchants of the late Qing Dynasty Hu Xueyan is a famous “red merchant”. People often say “officials must read Zeng Guofan and businessmen must read Hu Xueyan. Hu Xueyan set up a hundred-year-old shop, Hu Qing Yu Tang”. Hu Qing Yu Tang’s pharmacy complies with the old doctrine, “The purchase of raw materials must be authentic, processing and manufacturing must be of high quality”. The medicine they produced have superior quality, so they promote genuine goods at a fair price, they called it “uniform price”. The “uniform price” plaquet is still hanging on the National Medicine Shop today. Hu Qing Yu Tang advocated that differentiated treatment in business, the famous “no cheating” plaque was the business principle written by Hu Xueyan in April of the fourth year of Guangxu reign of Qing dynasty. He warned his employee, “In all transactions we can’t deceive people, drug manufacturing is related to people’s lives, we can’t cheat people especially”. The “no cheating” ideal concluded every aspects, reflecting on the business, the first is the “uniform price”, which meant that running business with honesty, and there should be no deception for young and old, no deception for the rich and the poor and no adulteration. “no cheating” is the base of 120 years old

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career of Hu Qing Yu Tang which has been praised for “the Jiangnan Medicine King”. Because Hu Qingyu Tang had valued honesty since it started the business, it had been widely trusted by customers and become a famous century-old shop. Source: Dongshui (2005a, b).

2.1.2 Emulating Those Better Than Ourselves “Emulating those better than ourselves”, comes from Analects Liren, “When we see men of worth, we should think of equaling them; when we see men of a contrary character, we should turn inwards and reflect on ourselves.” In business administration, it refers that when entrepreneurs or enterprises see other enterprises’ worth, they should think of learning from them and turn it into their advantages; when they see other enterprises’ disadvantages, they should turn inwards and reflect on themselves whether they have the same problems. “Emulating those better than ourselves”, which was said by Confucius, is also the motto for later generations to cultivate their moral character, means that good examples can motivate ourselves; “Seeing one’s disadvantages and introspect ourselves” means that one should learn from lessons and have control over the fate. Mencius’s mother moved three times in succession for fear of Mencius being affected by bad neighbors. Du Fu wrote poetry about himself that “Li Yong wanted to make an acquaintance with me and Wang Han would like to be my neighbor”, this all show the effects of good examples. Seeing Men of Worth, Think of Equaling Them “Seeing merit, one should pursue it as if they could not reach it; seeing evil, one should avoid it like putting the hand into boiling water.” (The Analects of Confucius Ji Shi) When we see good behaviors, we should learn to do it at once, while when we see bad behaviors, we should avoid them. “When I walk along with two others, there must be something I can learn from them. Their good qualities should be chosen to learn from, and their bad qualities should be corrected.” (The Analects of Confucius Shu Er) These illustrate the role of seeing the good in personal accomplishment. Tips Di Zi Gui, which is initially named Xun Meng Wen, wrote by a scholar named Yuxiu Li in the year of Kangxi reign of Qing Dynasty. Standard For Students continued the idea of the sixth analect of Confucian Analects Shu Er “young people should be filial to their parents at home and respectful to their brothers when they are with them; They should be serious and trustworthy, love the populace extensively and be close to those who are humane; When all this is done, and there is time for other things, they should use it for the study of the classics.”, and was adapted according to the rules of three characters and one sentence, two sentences, and one rhyme. The book is divided into five parts; it specifies the rules that should observe by students when they at home, in travel, in dealings with others, and in studies. In the Qing Dynasty, Jia Cunren revised the Xun Meng Wen and changed its name to Di Zi Gui.

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Di Zi Gui in the Qing Dynasty discussed emulating those better than ourselves in several aspects, “When we notice a person’s good behaviors, we should think of equaling them, even though you are still far behind, you are getting closer; when we notice a person’s bad behaviors, look for the fault in yourself, correct it at once if you find it, and work harder if you didn’t.” It is hard for people to see their faults, but it is easy to see others’ faults. So, we can treat people, good or evil, like a mirror so that we can see ourselves. At this point, we can start with ourselves, do a good job of our own, and influence our family and society. Everyone can do this, and the social atmosphere will gradually improve because of our efforts. Therefore, when we see the good, we must carry forward and extend from the heart; when we see the bad, we must reflect from the heart. In this way, there will be more and more kindness in this society. The level of good deeds will expand, and the evil ones will gradually shrink and decrease. Emulating Those Better Than Ourselves in the Enterprise Chinese enterprises should have the moral character of emulating those better than ourselves, not only because it promotes the emergence of more market-based standards, but also because it should itself serve as an ethical standard for the business community. With the influx of more and more foreign brands, the impact on Chinese enterprises is far-reaching. At the same time, local enterprises are mushrooming, so the foreign companies are beginning to feel the pressure, and the market competition is becoming more and more intense. In order to occupy a place in the market, enterprises must take fewer mistakes, look for shortcuts, give full play to their flexible, fast-acting characteristics to gradually catch up with foreign enterprises, or even get beyond them. However, learning the advantages of other enterprises is not blindly plagiarism. We need to have clear strategic planning and market layout. At the same time, we should also have our own characteristics to be recognized by consumers. For example, Blue Moon lets Chinese consumers understand that laundry detergent can also be popularized; if Herborist did not make an advertising campaign on Chinese herbal medicine but directly imitate Loreal, Shiseido, and OLAY, it won’t be as good as it is today.

2.1.3 Being Courageous and Decisive Being Bold in Making Innovations and Dare to Take the Responsibility Sun Wu said, “a general is wise, credible, benevolent, courageous and strict.” Cao Cao once annotated, “a general should possess all the five virtues. If he overly relies on his intelligence, he will become tricky; if he blindly pursues credibility, he is not smart”; if he is too benevolent, he will become cowardly; if he is too aggressive, he will be unnecessarily violent; if he commands too strictly, he will be cruel. “If he can achieve these five virtues, he can be a good leader”. The application of being courageous and decisive in management refers to the fact that entrepreneurs or enterprises in the market competition need to have the courage to be innovative, enterprising, and adventurous. The brave ones who take the lead, dare to take the responsibility, and not shrink from it can lead the army to overcome all difficulties.

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Facing the problem bravely is one of the basic requirements of managers. At the same time, managers need to encourage the morale of other staff and solve problems together. Because success can only be truly achieved when all team members can perform. If you don’t bear the burden, you will eventually be replaced by others. Being Moderate and Balanced Courage cannot be overdone. If one gets too brave, he will become violent, and he should be moderate and balanced. Confucius said, “the benevolence must have courage, but the courage does not need benevolence”. “A man, though very brave, will commit a crime if the rites do not bound him.” “To stand idly by when you see something that you should stand up for is cowardice.” Being too fond of courage is brute courage, not really being brave. “If the general is not brave, the soldiers will have no morale.” As a manager, you can’t lead a team to do anything. As a manager, if you don’t dare to move forward and take risks, you won’t lead your team to make a difference. Bravery in management is not independent but complementary to Tao and wisdom. What is true wisdom and courage? It is a dangerous and challenging journey in management. When confronted with difficulties and criticisms, we need to be brave. Currently, courage is not afraid of difficulties and obstacles and always persists in moving in the right direction. It is also necessary to be brave when one achieves success in his work; when one is successful, he needs to be brave not to take all credit, pride, fame, and fortune; and courage is even more necessary when you encounter failure at work. At this time, courage is not to shirk responsibility, reflect on what you have undertaken, and correct mistakes.

2.2 The Philosophy of Life Under the principle of benevolence and righteousness, the Chinese philosophy of life also has many manifestations. When applied to management, entrepreneurs’ philosophy of life refers to the spirit that entrepreneurs need to possess when dealing with people, other enterprises, and even the whole society. There are three aspects: being consistent with words and deeds, being modest, and benevolent love others.

2.2.1 Being Consistent with Words and Deeds Confucius said, “as a gentleman, we should be slow in speech and diligent in work.” What we said should be consistent with what we do. People’s ability to do things and language skills are often disproportionate. People’s ability to do things is often not commensurate with language ability. Those who can speak may not necessarily do, and those who do may not necessarily speak. It is rare for people who do well and speak wonderfully. Confucius said, “A gentleman does not need to be full to eat, nor does he need to be settled in his dwelling; he is industrious and agile in his work, but prudent in his speech. It is important to think carefully before making a decision.” As long as promises are made, we must finish them in time.

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Yan Bi Xing, Xing Bi Guo (Promise Must Be Kept and Action Must Be Firm and Decisive) Confucius said, “The ancient people do not make promises easily, because they are afraid of breaking it.” (Promise must be kept, and action must be firm and decisive. Lenovo Inc has always been strict in the discipline: If a man is late for a meeting, he must be punished with no exceptions. Chuanzhi Liu had been punished three times. Lenovo stipulates that you must be punished if you arrive late without applying for a vacation. Once, Chuanzhi Liu was locked in the elevator; there was no mobile phone at that time, so he could not get help and had to accept punishment. Being Consistent with Words and Deeds in Enterprises If an enterprise wants to succeed, its team must be consistent with words and deeds. If a person wants to succeed, he must act on what he said. “Being consistent with words and deeds” and “immediate actions” apply to every aspect of life at every stage, which helps remind you to do what you should do or not to delay unpleasant tasks, and to seize the precious moment that is fleeting to realize your dreams. Never put off what you can do today until tomorrow.

2.2.2 Being Modest “Gently and courteously treating people with respect is the basis of moral cultivation.” (Shi Jing, Da Ya). A gentleman acts with kindness, is the basis of virtue. “The modest receive benefit, while the conceited reap failure.” Courtesy is a respect for others and a foundation to win others’ respect. Only with modest and courtesy can we find out our shortcomings, and then improve them and make progress. “The modest receive benefit, while the conceited reap failure,” in Mao Zedong’s words, “modesty helps one to progress and pride make one fall behind.” Self-confidence does not mean conceit, and conceit is bound to suffer a great deal. 2.2.3 The Benevolent Loves Others “Benevolence” is a very influential moral category in ancient China. The interpretation of benevolence in ancient China was different due to different status and knowledge. The Confucianists regard “benevolence” as the highest moral standard. Mutual love and mutual assistance among people correspond to the respect, care, and consideration for subordinates in management and treating customers and society with kindness. A benevolent man is “respected, lenient, credible, diligent, and merciful”. “To be respected is not to be insulted, to be generous is to win the hearts of the people, to be faithful is to win the trust of others, to be diligent is to be successful, and to be merciful is to enable others to serve you better.” The Analects of Confucius, Yang Huo. Confucius’s interpretation of benevolence can also be applied to modern enterprise managements. The benevolent person loves others, and “loving others” is “benevolence”. Loving people is the most extensive connotation. People should love the nation, the society, the company, the employees, the others, and the career.

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Respecting Others “Everyone will love you if you love them, everyone will respect you if you respect them.” (Mencius Li Lou) The premise of love is to understand and respect others. Respecting others is a virtue and norm for people to get along with others. Respecting others requires understanding and respecting other people’s needs, hobbies, habits, etc. For example, in terms of righteousness and gains, we should advocate righteousness and respect the gains. Gains are the basic need for human survival. In the formulation and implementation of the management system, we should respect others’ rights and obligations and protect others’ privacy. Confucius said: “Love everyone broadly and get close to those who are benevolent. Benevolence means to love others.” (The Analects of Confucius Learning) It is said that we should advocate fraternity and to be more intimate with people with morality. Confucius put forward the principle of “restricting oneself and returning to rites”; that is, we should respect others and restrain ourselves from meeting the etiquette requirements and paying more attention to self-cultivation and respect for others. Xunzi put forward the idea of “loving others” and “loving citizens”. Loving others is a general love on a moral level; loving citizens is in political and legal levels, and in fact, it is the people-oriented thinking which has a great role in highlighting the value of people, the independence and dignity of human beings. It is the basic principle that must be followed in the management. The Heart of Benevolence Confucianism has always emphasized treating others with benevolence, and putting forward the well-known saying: “Expend the respect of the aged in one’s family to that of other families; expend the love of the young ones in one’s family to that of other families.” Don’t force others to do things you don’t want to do. What others impose on you, don’t impose on others. Confucius said, “A gentleman can maintain a harmonious atmosphere with his surroundings, but he holds his own independent opinion on everything, instead of blindly agreeing with others, whereas a villain has no independent opinion of his own, and although he often agrees with others, he does not actually seek true harmony and coherence.” Gentlemen should listen to the opinions of most people and unite with most people. The function of ritual is to make the relationship between people more harmonious. Benevolence is the most important quality in the relationship with others. In dealing with the interpersonal relationship, we should pay attention to kindness and virtue and use morality and kindness to influence others to find out the harmonious way. Sino-Western Dialogue The connotation of Confucian “benevolence”, can be reduced to three levels: ① the starting point of “benevolence”: family love, which advocates loving the relatives around ourselves first. For example, “young people should be filial to their parents at home and respectful to their brothers when they are with them, and they should be serious and trustworthy, love the populace extensively and be close to those who are humane.” The most fundamental idea of benevolence is the love of kinship.

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With the expansion of the blood relationship, the degree of affection is gradually weakening—② The development of “benevolence”: empathy. The love of one’s own family is only the starting point of “benevolence”, which is not terminated here. It should be extended from the love of relatives to the love of the ordinary people. ③ The ultimate goal of “benevolence” is that everyone is a family. The ultimate goal of “benevolence” is to make the world one family, which is consistent with the traditional Chinese idea of family and state. The connotation of western “universal love” can also be reduced to three parts: ① God’s love for people, which manifests in God creating all things and human beings, and giving life to human beings. ② People’s love for God. The response of man to God’s love is the love and piety for God. ③ Love for the fellow, that is, the mutual love between people. Source of information: Wenliang (2011) (5) below: 247.

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Zhi creates a strategy. Zhi, of course, refers to wisdom, but it does not have to be erudite or to be able to predict the future. There are two kinds of wisdom; one is our own wisdom, that is, knowledge and self-cultivation, but the world is very mysterious, and it is always impossible to master and know everything. Therefore, the second kind of wisdom is needed; that is, the wisdom of learning from others. If you don’t understand something, you should accept the experts’ opinions with humility, and you can also enrich your knowledge. So, listening carefully to others is a necessary act as a leader. The meaning of Xiu Zhi here refers to leaders and all employees in the enterprise to learn knowledge, information, principle, talents, etc. Leaders must be smart in judgment, adapt to changes, and be good at analysis and decision-making. If you are knowledgeable and have extensive life experience, you can play better. China attaches great importance to the role and function of learning to achieve a perfect personality. Mencius proposed that “pay careful attention to education, basing it on the filial piety and respect for elders,” which advocates the improvement of moral cultivation through school education. The form of learning is diverse, and the ways to improve self-cultivation are plenty. There are many opinions about Xiu Zhi in China. In summary, it is divided into three levels: the cultivation of learning ability, the cultivation of professional skills, and systematic thinking (Fig. 4).

3.1 Wei Xue: The Cultivation of Learning Ability The Book of Rites, Zhong Yong has a sentence: “Bo Xue Zhi (to learn a wide range of knowledge); Shen Wen Zhi (to question things you learn); Shen Si Zhi (to think carefully); Ming Bian Zhi (to tell right from wrong); Du Xing Zhi (to apply

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Fig. 4 Structure of the Xiu Zhi

knowledge into real life)”. This is a complete and systematic learning model, which is a few levels of Wei Xue or a few progressive stages. “Xue (Learn), Wen (Question), Si (Think), Bian (Distinguish), Xing (practice)” is a sequence process. Corresponding to the following kinds of learning: learning extensively, inquiring thoroughly, pondering prudently, discriminating clearly and practicing devotedly, is the process of internal unity and interaction of “Bo Xue” to “Du Xing”. Taking “Xue, Wen, Si, Bian, Xing” as the way to learn, the learning can be well-funded, fruitful, and meaningful.

3.1.1 Bo Xue Bo Xue refers to the extensive learning of knowledge among entrepreneurs and the entire enterprise. “It doesn’t matter if you do not learn anything. But if you learn it, you must master it, and if you can’t, then don’t stop learning.” (The Book of Rites, Zhong Yong) So To improve your ability to learn, you must first search widely and cultivate a strong and passionate curiosity. Interest is the best teacher. Inclusiveness “Bo” also means broad and tolerant. Only with broadness and tolerance can we be inclusive of having a global vision and broad-mindedness for Wei Xue, and “be tolerant with others’ differences”. Then “love the populace extensively and be close to those who are humane”. Therefore, Bo Xue can become the first stage of Wei Xue. Skipping this stage, Bo Xue is water without a source and a tree without roots. Bo Xue contains many things, including a wide range of learning content and various learning methods. The wide range of content refers to covering various topics, expanding the knowledge of individuals. The diversity of learning methods means that various methods can be adopted to achieve the desired results. One is never too old to learn, and Bo Xue is the basis of specialization. If you want to be proficient in a certain subject, you can first cultivate interest and lay a solid foundation through BO XUE. After entering the Nanjing Lu Kuang School at the age of 18, Xun Lu studied natural science knowledge and read many books on foreign literature and social science. After entering to the university, “the father of genetics,” Mendel also studied classical philosophy, mathematics, physics, etc. It was because of his

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extensive study at the university that enabled him to find his real interest. Eventually, he transferred to the study of genetic testing after graduating from the University of Vienna. Integration and Innovation Nowadays, the social division of labor is getting more and more detailed, and the integration of information becomes more and more important. Only through Bo Xue can we cultivate comprehensive talents who adapt to social development. Innovation is the soul of a nation. Only with extensive knowledge can we cultivate innovation in the intersection of different ideas, fields, and disciplines. The importance of Bo Xue is further illustrated by the saying, “Break rolls of reading, writing if there is God.”

3.1.2 Shen Wen Shen Wen refers to the principle of exploring things in detail. “It doesn’t matter if you do not learn anything. But if you learn it, you must master it, and if you can’t, then don’t stop learning.” (The Book of Rites, The Zhong Yong) Shen Wen is the second stage of systematic learning. If you are unclear about something, you must pursue the matter further, and you should be skeptical of what you have learned. It is the same as the theory of “investigating things, completing knowledge” from Confucianism. Shen Wen is an incredibly important ability in systematic learning. “To know what it is that you know, and to know what it is that you do not know, which is understanding.” When you investigate things and gain knowledge, you must explore the principles of things. Don’t pretend to know what you don’t know. It is a process of thinking and learning to ask a few more questions in all matters. Case Hongjing Tao was a great scientist in the Northern and Southern Dynasties of China. He had many remarkable creations and unique inventions in his life. Among them, the revelation of the secret of the potter wasps unraveled the mystery of long-term misunderstanding. In nature, there is a kind of thin waist bee named potter wasp. It is said that the potter wasps are all male, and its descendants are said to be a kind of larva called bollworm stolen from the vegetable field, and potter wasps carefully raise them. From the beginning of the Book of Poems, people have always used bollworms to describe the adopted child. In order to find out the truth, Hongjing Tao looked into books but he couldn’t find answers. He went to check the truth by himself. He found a nest of potter wasp, carefully picked up its nest with a bamboo stick, and saw there were not only the bollworms but also a few small worms and found that potter wasps were also moving in pairs. On the second day, Hongjing Tao observed and found that a small worm had eaten half of a bollworm. When he went back two days later, the stem borer in the nest had been eaten, and the meat worms had turned into pupas. Soon, pupas became potter wasps and flew away. Hongjing Tao suddenly realized that the potter wasp had his own descendants, and bollworm was only given the larva as food. He

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said emotionally: “People should value self-reliance. In any case, you cannot just believe what others say. It’s best to observe it by yourself and carefully get to the bottom of the matter’. You must not repeat word for word what others say. You should insist on getting to the bottom of the matter.” Source: Tao Hongjing. Ask a few more questions in all matters. The People’s Liberation Army Daily, 2010-04-24.

Investigate and Query Shen Wen, examining first and then ask, and you need to ask yourself first; if you have reviewed the research and still have doubts, then ask the reference book; Learning without asking is doing only half of the work, “Be certain of what you know and don’t pretend to know things you don’t know, this is true wisdom”, Newton found gravity because he asked why apple must fall on the ground; Watt invented the steam engine because he asked why the lid was pushed by the power of steam when a pot of water boiled. We must ask the dictionary, ask the source of the word, ask the encyclopedia, ask other reference books, ask mentors, ask the enthusiastic experts. Ask questions, then study, then think back, extend what we learn to other things, and be happy! If you ask, you will get further doubts; and if you have further doubts, then you may understand by examining and studying in detail. If you still can’t understand it, you should ask again. This is an inevitable way to study. Never pretend that you know what you don’t know. Repeated Scrutiny In the learning process and daily life, one needs to ask a few more questions and investigate them. If a new rule and regulation are formulated, it will only be suitable for execution after many times of questioning and repeated scrutiny. Some people dare not ask “why”, thinking that it will make themselves look very childish and be belittled by leaders and colleagues. Over time, there will be more and more jobs they cannot do, fewer and fewer opportunities to learn, and more and more knowledge loopholes. Inadvertently, they push themselves to the edge of being eliminated. Asking a few more “why” is a process of prevention. Before a new regulation is implemented, the preliminary work must be done well if you want to be implemented smoothly. Asking a few more “why” to think of all the thoughts and making all the problems solved before implementation will ensure smooth progress in the implementation process and reduce many unnecessary troubles. Asking a few more “why” is a process of discovering problems. If the leader asks more “why”, it is not the trouble for the employees; if the employee asks more “why”, it should not be regarded as an incompetent performance. Everyone understands the principle of asking if you don’t understand. Since we all want to do the job well, we cannot have too many concerns and think about simple things in a complicated way. We should link the clear purpose, the establishment of criteria, the implementation process, and the feedback results to form a closed-loop

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management. In each link, whether it is a manager or an operator, he should ask a few more “why”, which will help determine the problems in work and solve them in time.

3.1.3 Shen Si Shen Si means thinking carefully. Thinking must be experienced, and don’t stop thinking if you haven’t experienced it yourself. After asking the question, you should also carefully examine and analyze it through your own thinking activities; otherwise, what you have learned can not be for yourself. It is “Shen Si”, that is, learning for prudent thinking. “Learning without thinking leads to confusion; thinking without learning leads to the fruitless effort.” (The Analects of Confucius, Wei Zheng) In daily work and study, Shen Si is necessary. You must query what you have learned and then explain it by investigation and consideration. Otherwise, what you learned cannot be used for yourself. We need to be able to find the problem. Shen Si is the in-depth and unique thinking and discovery of surrounding things and phenomena and is the “basic skill” for correctly understanding things and phenomena. Shen Si requires us to understand the complexity of things firstly. Objective things and social phenomena are complex and chaotic, intertwined, with different members, diverse representations, and varying truths and falsehoods. To understand the substantive laws, you must contemplate carefully, seek the roots, and never skimming over the surface. “We should comprehensively use knowledge reserves, effectively screen various information, timely discover and predict possible issues, recognize the whole picture through observation of the part, and achieve insight into the opportunities”. We should abandon the habit of “considering things partially, apply a general rule to everything without paying attention to details, not reflecting after doing things, daring not to bear the responsibility” We should take responsibility bravely, examine rationally, and deal with problems scientifically. Secondly, we must be good at investigation. We should turn confusion into queries and solve problems as a habit with stereoscopic observation and multi-dimensional thinking. “Small doubts bring little progress, and big doubts bring large progress.” Look at the issues from different directions, solve them in different ways, and finally achieve the unity of knowledge and action. Shen Si requires the use of thoughts from near to far; from easy to difficult; from shallow to deep; from small to large; from known to unknown. There is the will before the action, and there are thoughts before the will. Thoughts determine this will, and the thoughts are not illusory or messy. There must be a starting point, a method, a system, and an end. The so-called thought process sometimes uses the comparative method, such as if you see a circle of halo around the moon at night, there will be strong winds tomorrow; if there is moisture on the base of the door pillar, it will rain tomorrow, which is inferred from years of experience. Sometimes we use the inductive method, in which things may vary widely but the source is the same; sometimes we use the deductive method, in which the source is the same, but the derivation of things vary widely; to study things with a clear and complete extension, we use both induction and deduction methods. When we learn any

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science or skill, we are constantly in the process of “trial and error, error and trial”. People with weak wills will concede defeat after finding mistakes; strong-willed people constantly try to find mistakes, correct mistakes, and try again. Errors are the reference materials for those who are strong-willed. Failure is the cornerstone of success for the strong-willed person. Combined with the inductive method and deductive method are indeed more reliable ways of thinking. If the two induction and deduction methods are shared, then there will be infinite evolution and goodness. Thinking about what is going on at the moment must be deliberate.

3.1.4 Ming Bian Ming Bian means trying to distinguish between right and wrong, the truth, and the fake things. “The superior man will not stop if he cannot distinguish, or can distinguish but with doubts.” (The Book of Rites, The Zhong Yong) Not everything needs to be distinguished, but the distinction must be clear when you start the process. If you still cannot tell the difference, do not give up. “Ming Bian” is the fourth stage. Learning will be more and more clarified, and if not, the so-called “Bo Xue” will be mixed up, and it will be difficult to distinguish between the true and the false, and the good and the bad. Identify the Authenticity Ming Bian distinguishes true and false, right and wrong, size, severity, length, succession, urgency, public interest, interest, loyalty, etc. To be objective, the best theory is based on factual theory from the subjective study. We must be cultivated and very modest, open-minded, tolerant, pure, having no foregone conclusions, no arbitrary predeterminations, no obstinacy, and no egoism; We should not stop doing things because what other people say, to be not deceived by feelings, to be not deceived by loneliness, to be not confused by the phenomenon and don’t ignore the truth.

3.1.5 Analyzing Problems Analyzing things objectively, grasping the essential laws of things swiftly, and making correct judgments are the key to correctly handling issues. To Ming Bian: at first, we must uphold the truth, and the truth is objective. However, due to the limitations of people’s understanding of the differences in interests and positions, life’s perception is inevitably subjective. If your own knowledge is indeed in line with the objective situation, you must be brave enough to adhere to the correct view and do not give up the truth easily under the pressure of authority and others. To uphold the truth requires not only courage but also dedication. Secondly, there must be a way to correctly analyze the problem. There are many plausible things in life, requiring us to seriously discriminate, adhering to practice tests, and doing an excellent job of eliminating the fake and retaining the truth. Especially in the era of massive information, whether circulated in society or on the Internet, one cannot blindly believe or follow blindly to avoid being deceived.

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3.1.6 Du Xing Du Xing means firmly practicing the truth, which we have learned. “The superior man, if there be anything which he has not practiced or his practice fails in earnestness, will not stop trying.” (The Book of Rites, Zhong Yong) Not everything needs to be done, but you must accomplish the thing when you start doing it. If you still have not accomplished it yet, don’t stop doing it. “Du Xing” is the final stage of Wei Xue. Since you have learned something, you must work hard to practice what you have learned so that you can finally implement what you have learned and realized the “unity of knowledge and action”. “Du” means loyalty, the down-to-earth, single-mindedness, and unremitting intention. Only those who have a clear goal and a firm will can truly “Du Xing”. There are many famous sayings in our country. “If someone can’t clean a house by himself, then he can’t conquer the world.” “Don’t take evil for small things, don’t take good things for nothing.” In fact, the common point is the spirit of the Du Xing. The evaluation of Confucius from Yan Hui also proves that Confucius has been praying for his life and explaining his etiquette with his own actions. Xunzisaid: “What is not heard is not as good as what is heard, what is heard is not as good as what is seen, what is seen is not as good as what is understood, what is understood is not as good as what is put into practice, and what is learned reaches the extreme when it is put into practice.” “Practice goes deeper than theoretic knowledge.” The practice is the sole criterion for testing truth. Generally speaking, there are two ways to gain knowledge: from the book or practice. The former is a method of obtaining truth indirectly, and the latter is a method of obtaining truth directly and both of which are rooted in the knowledge of correctness obtained by humans based on practice. However, due to changes in conditions, the knowledge in books has limitations. It must be tested according to the development of the times and its own practice. One must not “take books or the ancients’ experience as the only standard” without reference to the actual situation. Real knowledge is important in Du Xing; only if you do it, you can get it. Tseng Kuofan said, “Usually, you hear it from your ears, and you just say it directly from your mouth. However, the distance between the mouth and the ears is only four inches away. How can you seem to have temperament and connotation if you study without understanding?” Xizhai Yan said: “There are things you have thought about, said, and written, but it’s useless if you haven’t done it or experienced it by yourself.” In the practice of life, most young people have a strong desire for knowledge. However, due to their inexperience in the world, as well as the limitations of time, education, and practical experience, the knowledge gained is fuzzy. If you believe in what you know and put it into practice without discrimination, you may do something wrong or stupid. Mr. Lu Xun said that the elderly often suspects many real things, and young people often believe in many fake things. This requires us to seriously think about things, ask a few more questions, put an end to the blind obedience, insist on the truth, and promote the spirit of science in our efforts to seek the truth.

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Sino-Western dialogue Learning organization is an organic, highly flexible, flat, humane, and sustainable organization established by cultivating the learning atmosphere throughout the organization and giving full play to employees’ creative thinking ability. But building a learning organization is not an easy task and requires five practices: The first practice: self-transcendence. It refers to the proficient self-realization or skill of breaking through the limits, and it is the spiritual foundation of the learning organization. The second practice: change the mental model. The organization’s obstacles are mostly from the old thinking of the individual, such as stubbornness and self-reliance. Only through team learning and benchmarking can we change the mental model and innovate. The third practice: building a shared vision. The vision can unite the willpower of the company. Through the organization’s consensus, everyone works in the same direction, helping the organization to foster the active and sincere dedication and commitment of its members. The fourth practice: team learning. Team intelligence should be greater than the average of personal wisdom to make the right organizational decisions, identify individual weaknesses, and strengthen teamwork through collective thinking and analysis. The fifth practice: systematic thinking. Information gathering should be used to grasp the whole picture of the issue to avoid one-sided observation. Developing the ability to think holistically and see the essence of a problem will clearly understand the relationship between cause and effect. An enterprise’s development cannot rely solely on great leaders like Ford, Sloan, and Watson to take charge and run the company. The truly outstanding enterprises in the future will be learning companies, organizations that manage to keep people at all levels freshly engaged in and capable of continuous learning. Source: Zhaoyun (2011).

3.2 Xiu Yi: Cultivation of Professional Skills Xiu Yi refers to the cultivation of professional skills, which is the cultivation of relevant working knowledge and skills to perform work in a particular professional field (Fig. 5).

3.2.1 Zhuan Jing (Specialization) Zhuang Zi said: “life is limited while learning is unlimited.” Emphasizing that learning extensively is not about learning everything or doing everything. “One might have learned the doctrine earlier than the other, or might be a master in his

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Fig. 5 Capability structure of different levels of managers

special field.” In today’s world where science is advancing by leaps and bounds, the goal of learning must shift from becoming a generalist to becoming a specialist. Without extensive knowledge, you can’t get the essentials. Many sciences disciplines are linked, but our time and energy are limited, so we must not attempt to master all kinds of knowledge. “Shou Yue” means being proficient in one or several kinds of knowledge. It is easy for us to fall into the trap of knowing everything as if we knew it, but not understanding it deeply enough, or doing everything as if we could do it, but not doing it well, or even not being able to do it at all. For managers of different levels, the focus of their required skills is different. The importance of technical skills and personnel skills is gradually reduced from low to high according to the organizational hierarchy, while thinking skills and design skills are the opposite. For base-level managers, having technical skills is the most important, and having personnel skills is also very helpful infrequent interactions with the subordinates. When managers move from the base level to the middle and high levels in the organization’s organizational hierarchy, the importance of personnel skills is gradually reduced as the frequency of direct contact with the lower levels decreases. For middle managers, the demand for technical skills is declining, and the demand for ideological skills is rising, and it is still important to have personnel skills. But for senior managers, critical thinking skills and design skills are particularly important, while technical skills and personnel skills are relatively low. Of course, this kind of management skills and organizational level is not absolute, and some factors such as the size of the organization will have a certain impact on this.

3.2.2 Zuan Yan (Studying Intensively) “If a man keeps revisiting his old knowledge and continually acquire new knowledge at the same time, he may be a teacher of others!”, studying intensively, of course, requires hard work. Tips Zhang Heng (78–139), named Ziping, was a famous scientist and writer in the Eastern Han Dynasty. He was born in Shiqiao Town, Nanyang County, Henan

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Province. His grandfather, Zhang Kan, had been an official called Taishou and was very honest and upright. His father died young, so Zhang Heng’s family was very poor. Zhang Heng was diligent and eager to learn since he was a child, and he was incredibly famous for his talents. According to historical records, when he was 10 years old, he was able to “know the five classical scriptures and was proficient in six arts” and recite after taking a cursory glance. He has a wide range of interests, often dabbled in the natural sciences, and was an excellent rhetoric writer. One day, Zhang Heng read four lines from a collection of poems, describing the changes of the Big Dipper in the evening of each season: “if the handle points east, it is spring; if the handle points south, it is summer; if the handle points west, it is autumn; if the handle is pointing north, it is winter.” He thinks this is really interesting. The stars in the sky are twinkling, some are like cymbals, some are like funnels, some are like dogs, and some are like bears. What are the rules of their movement? This is simply wonderful. Therefore, according to the poem’s content, Zhang Heng drew a picture of the sky with reference to other books. As long as there was no cloud every night, he silently observed the night sky against the sky map. There were many mysteries in the vast starry sky. He observed, recorded, and thought. His head was full of various problems and colorful fantasies. Later, he finally confirmed that the four poems were not accurate enough. In fact, in early spring, the handle points northeast, while in late spring, the handle points southeast.

3.3 Zong Heng: Cultivation of Systematic Thinking Zong Heng refers to the merging and intertwining of thoughts, which is the cultivation of entrepreneurial systems thinking, making the right decision by studying the whole picture and grasping future dynamics. China’s scientific system is based on “relationships”, focusing on integrity study, and emphasizing harmony and coordination. Learning is the same, and we must pay attention to systematic thinking and have a vision of the overall situation.

3.3.1 Du Zhi—The Purpose of Learning The starting point of Zhi Xue is Du Zhi. “Aspirations are the learning guide; talent is the attendant of learning. For a scholar, the worst thing is not without talent, but without aspiration. Countless people want to be scholars, but few make it, which is due to a lack of aspiration.” (Zhong Lun, Zhi Xue) What those words mean is that people must be conscious and purposeful to learn. They must concentrate on their ambitions, concentrate their consciousness, and put their hearts in one thing. Only with conscious and purposeful learning can we internalize and use external knowledge. Zi Xia said: “If one learns extensive knowledge, have aspiration, constantly questions and think carefully, he will find benevolence.” The motto of Fudan University, “Learning extensively and having a sincere aspiration; inquiring with earnestness and reflecting with self-application,” is derived from here. Using

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simple sentences to explain, Bo Xue learns from all aspects to broaden the scope of knowledge. Du Zhi is to set aspirations far and wide, and once the ambition is established, we must be firm. Entrepreneurs have an important responsibility for the future of the whole enterprise. Therefore, it is necessary to make an aspiration, and it must be determined. It is for the individual’s need for ambition and a comprehensive plan for the company’s future development with a clear goal. “Follow the past and herald the future. Form a bridge between earlier and later stages to carry on from strength to strength. To carry on the immortal doctrines of the past’s sages and create a great foundation of eternal peace for thousands of generations.” Think about what to do and what kind of person you will be. You have to think before you set your mind on something. Once you’ve made up your mind, you have to work hard and never settle for anything different.

3.3.2 Bo Xue—Holistic Learning What is different from Western countries is that learning in China is about scientific knowledge and cognition of general knowledge needed in daily life, including knowledge of etiquette, history, music, and so on. The study of ordinary people is mostly biased; they only focus on one kind of saying; they do not see the four sides to form a debate, while the saints are impartial and unbiased. People are conscious, they will understand things when they are conscious, and there will be differences in their understanding. If they are different, they will be biased. Xunzi believes: “Everything are different to each other, and no interaction between them will cause blindness. This is a common issue in the way of thinking.” There are many reasons for the bias: “Hobbies can cause blindness, and hatred can also cause blindness; only seeing the beginning will cause blindness, and only seeing the end will also cause blindness; only seeing the distance will cause blindness, and only seeing the vicinity will also cause blindness; broad knowledge deceived, shallow knowledge can also cause blindness; only knowing that ancient times will cause blindness, only know that it will also cause blindness.” (Sun Tzu, Uncovering) The method of uncovering is to combine everything, broaden the horizon through reading. However, Bo Xue is not equal to read everything, and Bo Xue should focus on knowledge integrity. In the enterprise, members must master the job skills in this position and learn to understand the ability of other positions. Only in this way can we work in a holistic, collaborative, and efficient manner and achieve organizational streamlining. 3.3.3 Relatedness—The Organic Relevance of Learning “Bo Xue: it is said that the truth of all things in the world and how to cultivate the country should be learned. But there are orders in learning them. It is necessary to take major urgent matters first, and not to mess things up without learning systematically.” (Zhu Zi Yu Lei) This is to say that although we emphasize erudition when we study, but learning should be systematic. “Know some knowledge that you didn’t know in the past every day, and don’t forget what you have already mastered every month”. No matter which discipline is

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studied, it needs to have relevant knowledge. “Things have their root and their branches. Affairs have their end and their beginning. To know what is first and what is last will get one closer to Tao.” People who study natural science often assume the social science is empty and abstract; people who study social science often think that natural science is boring and difficult. Many people often take the easy way out, believing that studying the social sciences makes it unnecessary to understand the natural sciences, while those who study the natural sciences often ignore political, social, and economic common sense. In fact, knowledge is related to each other, and each has its own importance. Studying social sciences without studying natural sciences has no roots; studying natural sciences without studying social sciences has no results. Nowadays, even advanced social science research sometimes requires a foundation in the natural sciences. Whether it is difficult or not, any science itself does not matter whether it is interesting or not, whether it is difficult and easy. Hard or easy, interesting or uninteresting, it’s all subjective to us. Avoid difficult problems and take the easy way out, then the easy things are not always easy, and there will be more difficulties. Just solve the difficulties, then the difficult things will not be difficult, and the easy things will be easier. If we are willing to concentrate, study carefully, practice repeatedly, understand proficiently, find problems and solve problems, we can gradually eliminate difficult things and maintain our interest. Emphasis on erudition but the content of learning should be related to each other and contribute to the cultivation of systematic thinking.

3.3.4 Persistence—The Dynamics of Learning Learning should be accumulated step by step. “Pile up earth to make a mountain and wind and rain will rise up from it; pile up water to make a deep pool and dragons will appear; pile up good deeds to create virtue and godlike understanding will come of itself; the mind of the sage will find completion. But unless you pile up little steps, you can never journey a thousand miles; unless you pile up tiny streams, you can never make a river or a sea. The finest horse cannot travel ten paces in one leap, but the worst packhorse can go a ten-day journey due to its persistence. If you start carving and then give up, you cannot even cut through a piece of rotten wood; but if you persist without stopping, you can carve and inlay metal or stone.” (Encourage Learning) Gentlemen must learn endlessly, and learn all his life. There is no such thing as profitable knowledge. The competition in the future society will gradually shift from knowledge competition to learning ability competition. Step by Step “The only path to knowledge and learning is diligence.” In the highly developed knowledge-based economy of information technology, human beings can only extend school education to lifelong learning to meet social development requirements. Lifelong learning means people should learn all their lives. From childhood, early youth, youth, middle age to old age, learning will accompany people’s entire life course and affect people’s life development. In a word, it is living and learning. This is a phrase often spoken by Zedong Mao, and it is also a true portrayal of his

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study in his life. He often said: “You can eat less, you can sleep less, but you must read; for study, you should cherish time at first. Secondly, you must work hard. Besides, there are no tricks or shortcuts.” Therefore, whether it was during the war years of the army or the revolution and construction after the founding of New China, in order to seek knowledge and solve the practical problems of the Chinese revolution and construction, Zedong Mao tirelessly drew nourishment from a large number of books. He always squeezed time to study; sometimes, he was too busy during the day, so he reduces his sleep time at night to study. According to the staff around him, Zedong Mao had very little sleep every day. Sometimes he studied as if he were working and often stayed up all night. Whenever Mao went out, he always took some books with him or borrowed some books from the local community to read. Keeping Learning In the modern enterprise learning organization, “being good at continuous learning” means a lot. At first, emphasize “lifelong learning.” That is, members of the organization should develop the habit of lifelong learning to form a well-organized learning atmosphere and encourage their members to continue learning at work. The second one is to emphasize “all staff learning”. That is to say, the decision-making level, management level, and operation level of the enterprise organization should be fully engaged in learning, especially in the decision-making level. They are an important class that determines the enterprise’s direction and destiny; therefore, they should learn more than others. The third thing is to emphasize “learning throughout the whole process.” That is, learning must be carried out throughout the entire process of organizing the system. John Redding proposed a learning organization theory called “the fourth model.” He believes that any enterprise’s operation includes three stages of preparing, planning, and execution. Learning-oriented enterprises should not prepare, plan, and implement after learning and should not separate learning from work. It should emphasize the parallel of multiple tasks. The fourth factor is the emphasis on team learning. In other words, individual learning and the development of individual intelligence are emphasized, but also cooperative learning of organizational members and the development of group intelligence (organizational intelligence). In a learning-type organization, the team is the basic unit of learning, and the team itself should be understood as a group of people who need each other to cooperate. All goals of the organization are achieved directly or indirectly through the efforts of the team. By maintaining the study ability, the learning-type organization eliminates obstacles on the development path and constantly breaks through organizational growth limits. Thus maintaining a sustainable development attitude.

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Xiu Xing

Xiu Xing, referring to the cultivation of an entrepreneur’s good temperament, which can be developed through the formation of the internal virtues and the learning from external constantly (Fig. 6).

4.1 Zi Xing: Self-awareness The essence of self-awareness to manifest one’s inner spiritual world through individual perception to achieve the purpose of cultivating one’s own temperament mainly by reflecting on one’s own internal demand. But it is difficult to know yourself correctly. “Taking the copper as the mirror, you may sort the clothes; taking the history as the mirror, you may know what contributes to rising and fall of dynasties; taking the other people as the mirror, you may understand what contributes to success and failure.” (A book about the old Tang dynasty, biography of Wei Hui). If we want to be self-aware, we must know ourselves in three ways: know yourself, understand others, and draw lessons from history, cultivating the temperament. Tips Thinking about the following questions: Self-awareness means you must know yourself, so do you know yourself correctly? Do you know what you can do and what you cannot do? Do you know your strengths and weaknesses? And can you live in peace with your strengths and weaknesses? Can you face your strengths calmly, despite others’ absurdity and misreading? Can you unflaggingly face your own weaknesses, despite others’ flattery and concealment? Do you know what position you are in the whole society? Source of information: Peirong (2006).

Fig. 6 Structure of Xiu Xing

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4.1.1 Self-knowledge “Those who know others are wise; those who know themselves are clever” (Lao zi). “Clever” refers to reflecting on one’s own fault, knowing one’s own weaknesses, understanding the nature of one’s mind. The main way to know oneself is through internal demand. A person can make continuous progress because he can constantly reflect on himself, find his shortcomings or what he didn’t do well, then continue to correct, to pursue perfection to do things, to achieve success one after another. Zeng Zi said: “I reflect on myself many times a day, so as to be wise and make fewer mistakes; Do I serve my lord with loyalty? Am I honest to my friends? Did I review the homework teacher gave me?” The ancient sages did the same. However, the fact is that people are unwilling to admit their own shortcomings or faults. Only by self-reflection can we constantly understand ourselves, which is actually a learning ability. On September 3, 1992, the first anniversary of the founding of Vantone, Feng Lun set this day as “Reflection Day” for Wantone. Until now, every year on the anniversary of the company, they have to reflect on themselves. Reflection is actually a kind of learning ability. Since entrepreneurship is a process of continuous exploration, it is inevitable that entrepreneurs will make mistakes in the process. Reflection is the precondition of recognizing and correcting mistakes. For entrepreneurs, the process of reflection is the process of learning. The ability to self-reflect and the spirit of self-reflection determine whether or not the entrepreneur can recognize the mistakes he or she has made, whether or not he or she can correct the mistakes, and whether or not he or she can keep learning new things. Among the entrepreneurs we are in contact with, except for a limited number of genius, most of them are “average aptitude,” as Zeng Guofan said, and none of them is intellectually outstanding. On the contrary, these successful people have one thing in common: they are very good at learning and are very brave in self-reflection. Case When Dekang Gao ran Bosideng, he was often unable to sleep at night and thought about many things. Latterly, his business became bigger. Although Bosideng has become the first brand among Chinese down garments and has become a millionaire or even billionaire, he was still unable to sleep at night. Dekang Gao was always reflecting on himself and thinking about some problems he did not understand, so he went to school at Peking University and Tsinghua for one year to seek the answer. He said: “I always listen to others, catch the keywords after listening to it, practice it again, and finally see the result if it is true or not. “Dekang Gao graduated from a little primary school, but his biggest hobby now is reading books.” Although I do not have much time, but learning cannot be forgotten. Sometimes I read books on the plane. With such little time to study, I often spare

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3 days per month to clear the mind. A good leader is not necessarily busy all day; you must straighten out your thoughts and consider the development of the enterprise in a state of thinking. “Gao Dekang, a peasant in the valley and a hick in Shanghai, was able to get the people of Shanghai to rush out and buy his down jacket. Why? Now, do you understand?” Source of information: According to the study of “the success of Bosideng.”

4.1.2 Taking Other People as the Mirror The ancients said: “When you see an example, you should try to learn from him; when you see a man of poor conduct, you should reflect on yourself whether you have bad manners.” Taking people as a mirror requires listening to the opinions of all parties. Listening to Both Sides, One Will Be Enlightened In the second year of the Tang Dynasty, Shimin Li asked Hui Wei: “what makes emperor wise or shallow?” As an emperor of a country, how can I distinguish between right and wrong and not be deceived? Wei Hui answered: listening to both sides; one will be enlightened. But if he heeds only one side, one will be c Then he said again: “As a ruler, you may be confused by only listening to one side of the story, and you may often make a wrong judgment. If you listen widely and adopt the right ideas, you will not be deceived and know exactly what is going on down there…” “listening to both sides, one will be enlightened, but if heeding only one side, one will be benighted.” developed from the words that Hui Wei persuaded Taizong (Shiming Li). A great scholar in the Qing dynasty named Zheng Dai said: “people from ancient and modern times have two great crises-being selfish and narrow-minded. Selfishness originates from desire, and being narrow-minded derives from lack of knowledge.” He said again: “do not learn from others’ shortcomings, nor retain your own drawbacks.” As a monarch and leader, policy making is one of his main tasks. Making correct decisions requires the emperor or leader to listen to both sides without bias. However, if you only listen to those who are obedient to you, there is no difference between this kind of listening and partial belief. This is like Zhao Gao referring to the deer as a horse. Qin II didn’t believe it at all. However, most of the ministers who were forced by Zhao Gao’s lustful power also agreed to say that it was a horse. In the end, Qin II only believed that the deer was a horse. Heeding Only One Side, One Will Be Narrow-Minded As the saying goes, “Rather than listening to 1000 people’s words, it is better to listen to the startled admonition of a righteous person…” In other words, as a monarch or leader, he should not only listen to others but also listen to the opinions of a small number of people as often as possible. Only in this way can we achieve

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the effect of “to listen to both sides, one will be enlightened,” and we cannot “retain our own drawbacks from others.” However, as a monarch and leader, how should we not “retain our own drawbacks from others”? Comparatively speaking, “blinding ourselves” has a deeper latent and concealment than that of “blinding ourselves by others.” The desire for power and growth of the monarch and business leaders can keep them awake and alert. “blinding ourselves by others” will inevitably lead to decentralization and abuse of power, and its harm is obvious. “blinding ourselves” is a gradual and involuntary process, the result is an arrogant complacency that makes it impossible to listen to the different opinions and voices of others. In the past, there were stories about Zhou Liwang’s stopping people from advising him, Qin Shihuang’s Burial of Confucianists and so on, the final result of which is that they dug their own grave to speed up the destruction of this dynasty. In addition to restricting the system, it also depends on individual consciousness and self-discipline to overcome this phenomenon. In this respect, Tang Taizong-Shimin Li can be regarded as a good example. In the second year of the Tang Dynasty, Tang Taizong-Shimin Li said to his ministers: “people say that the son of heaven is supreme and fearless, but I do not think so. I fear God’s supervision and fear that the ministers do not admire me, so I have been conscientious and afraid of not complying with God’s will and let the people down.” Just imagine, as a king, he should have no fear. But Shimin Li had a kind of fear. It was because of this kind of fear that he was “conscientious, as if on the brink of a deep gulf, or tread as if on thin ice,” so that he could be self-reflect, self-awake and achieve self-discipline. As a monarch or a leader, only by constantly maintaining this cautious and prudent attitude can we truly “listen to both sides” and eliminate “partial faith”.

4.1.3 Learning from History History is regular, so learning history is an important part of increasing intelligence and improving self-awareness. Reading history makes people wise; reading history is reading the hearts of the people. From ancient times to the present, it is extremely easy to relate others’ experiences to oneself. “Drawing lessons from history” is usually an admonished lesson from a positive area to learn from history to know oneself better. From governing the country to self-cultivation, one should follow the right path instead of the evil path. We are learning from historical events to make relatively accurate decisions or evaluations of current affairs, events or individuals. In ancient times, many emperors had leadership skills, and they still have valuable reference value for improving the management level of modern people. Studying history and using it for management has become the conscious behavior of contemporary enterprise managers. In reading history, if we can understand the experience of management, we will benefit from improving our leadership and management level. At the same time, taking history as a reference is also using past experience to manage enterprises.

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4.2 Zi Lv: Self-restraint Zi Lv refers to the words and deeds of self-restriction by asking for oneself, turning passivity into an initiative. “Nowadays, scholars who read ancient books often focus on the ancients’ mistakes; they also like to talk about people’s mistakes when they get along with others. It is impossible for people not to make mistakes. However, put yourself in the other person’s shoes and think about it calmly, is it true that you are not at fault? I can point out other people’s small mistakes, but I cannot see my own big mistakes. I have no leisure to check my mistakes; how can I have times to talk about others?” (Yiyu) To be tolerant of people and to be strict with yourself.

4.2.1 Being Strict with Oneself Mencius Gongsun Chou says: “don’t blame others for doing better than yourself but turn your back on yourself to find out the reason.” In other words, we should take a look at ourselves and find reasons for ourselves. Leaders should set an example and play an exemplary role in their work. This is the basis for being strict with oneself. Confucius said: “if people’s self-conduct is correct, even if the order is not issued, people will carry it out; if people’s self-conduct is not correct, even if the order is issued, people will not carry it out” He also said: “He who does not talk to others about what he can talk to them about, loses a friend; he who does not talk to others about what he cannot talk to them about, is saying the wrong thing. A wise man does not lose his friend, nor does he speak wrongly..” Confucius not only emphasized making oneself an example in theory but also made a good example in practice. An especially important part of being strict with oneself is self-discipline and self-restraint in China. Because in the human society, no matter what level it belongs to, whether you are a government official or a citizen, a general or a soldier, a student or a businessman, we all have to abide by the corresponding norms of human society and of a certain field, If not so, you will be restricted by others and law for yourself, and you cannot maintain the balance of the system. Keeping yourself straight is the first step of self-control. “If you want to pacify the world, you must first correct yourself.” “If you correct yourself, others will act without order; if you do not correct yourself, others will not act if you give orders.” Secondly, regardless of whether you start a business or become successful, we must overcome our shortcomings and not be impulsive or impetuous to not suffer the consequences of failure. Sun Tzu once said: “a monarch cannot easily start a war for a moment of anger, nor can a general March army for a battle just for a moment of frustration.” Finally, the way of life is to make compromises as a good method without being too extreme. Once being extreme, it will turn into a disaster. We should know how to behave when we are dealing with human beings. We need to love, hate people properly, and be polite. If we are friendly to others, our interests will follow closely, and we can also receive respect. If we are strict with ourselves and tolerant of others, we can also be respected. We can forget success, but we must not forget failure; we can forget complaining, but never forget kindness. Success and failure cannot be confused nor can kindness and resentment. We should respect

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the elders and be modest and tolerant to the younger. If we can master the corresponding norms and laws of our environment and consciously control ourselves, we can stand firmly and fight steadily. Eventually, we will develop and grow.

4.2.2 Treating People with Tolerance “Reproaching yourself more than blame others.” Leaders blame themselves more than blaming others, so that no one will hate you. The Heart of Tolerance In China’s traditional culture, “treating people with tolerance,” has always been regarded as a kind of good moral character and is worth promoting. As we all know, treating people with tolerance means treating others with a generous attitude and mentality. Don’t ask for full blame, don’t find faults, seek common ground sincerely, be considerate, and tolerate differences. In practical work, it is necessary to respect others’ personalities, understand the difficulties of others, and appreciate the shortcomings of others. Leaders must have a broad mind, infecting others with noble personality charm, and moving others from their feelings, and leading others with real action. Being Tolerant of Other’s Differences Not only to tolerate different opinions and behaviors but also to tolerate different ideas from your own. Most talents are angular and independent. We must not be afraid of these “edges” and make them useless or even ruin them. When these people are subjected to unfair evaluation or treatment, we must have the spirit to care for their talents and the courage to protect them. For the “dissident” people, we should not hold personal preference to isolate others. To being broad-minded toward others, we should tolerant other’s differences and listen to other’s words. In reality, many leaders face difficult decision-making issues and consult their subordinates, many of whom are well aware of the situation but keep quiet and refuse to express their true opinions. An especially important reason for the phenomenon is that they are afraid of saying something the leader doesn’t like and becoming an opponent of the leader. Therefore, the leaders should be tolerant to different opinions from subordinates and even allow subordinates to speak the “wrong words” which would encourage them to speak up more, promoting solidarity. The purpose is to gather the information and obtain the real decision information at a critical time. The criteria of judging “wrong words” and “dissenting words” is not the leader’s subjective assumption, but the scientific practice, this is the direction that the leader must head to. The leaders should be good at tolerating to others’ differences and listening to people’s dissenting words. Leaders need to pay attention to two points: firstly, leaders should be tolerant of people who have different opinions before making decisions, and we should not suppress or apply stereotype but seek enlightenment from these different opinions; secondly, after the decision, the different opinions that have been proved to be wrong in practice should also be tolerated. In short, leaders cannot simply deny the person who gives the opinion, nor can they simply deny the opinions that this person will advise later.

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Being Tolerant to Others’ Shortcomings To being broad-minded toward others, we should be tolerant of others’ shortcomings and be good at using other’s weaknesses. “Gold can’t be pure, and man can’t be perfect.” Leaders should have a dialectical view of their subordinates’ strengths, weaknesses, and characteristics. In particular, they should analyze and be tolerant of their subordinates’ weaknesses. If a subordinate has issues with morality or personal quality, he cannot be trusted with an important position. But the shortcomings of character, temperament, ability, or working methods should be treated with tolerance and not be wholly condemned. In the Qing Dynasty, a general named Shizhai Yang was good at employing people’s strengths and turning their shortcomings into strengths. In the general opinion, the deaf, mute, and crippled are seem useless in the army, but Shizhai Yang sees the strengths of the “flaws” of these people. He arranges for the deaf to serve as an attendant, which can effectively avoid leaking out military secrets; he sends information with the mute, and they will say nothing even if they are captured, and he places cripples to guard the batteries, which helps them to defend their positions to the death. In his opinion, there seems to be no “useless person” in the army. From “being tolerant of others’ shortcomings” to “use others’ weaknesses” is the leader’s analysis based on materialist dialectics and the sublimation of tolerance of subordinates’ shortcomings. As long as the subordinates are used properly, their shortcomings can usually be turned into advantages. From the perspective of modern management, “being broad-minded toward others” is an attitude and a leading art. If we can master this art, we will fully develop the talents and wisdom of cadres, improve the subordinates’ quality, and promote the harmony and development of society. However, we cannot take “being broad-minded toward others” as “open one eye and close one eye” and “only say good words without criticizing,” which will bring negative influence to society. The Dialogues Between History and the Present Trait theory, also known as the Great Man theory, is studying leaders’ psychological traits, influence, and leadership effectiveness. This theory focuses on the difference between leaders’ and non-leader’s personal qualities. Trait theory focuses on the qualities that a leader should possess. Differences between leaders and non-leaders in characteristics are not fixed in different fields. Leadership is related to individual traits and social environment, professional attributes, and interpersonal relationships. Leaders of different times and industries have different characteristics. Personal factors and traits are very important, but the success of a leader depends mainly on the degree of personal style, courage, will, wisdom, character, knowledge, and match with the situation. Palmer’s theory of leadership traits: (1) The spirit of cooperation, that is, the willingness to work with others, the ability to win people’s cooperation, and the ability to move and persuade people rather than subdue them.

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(2) The ability to make decisions, that is, making decisions based on fact rather than imagination, and the ability of foresight. (3) Organizing capability, to the ability to discover the talents of the subordinates and to organize human, material and financial resources. (4) Understanding how to empower, being able to concentrate power on major issues, and decentralize power on minor issues. (5) Being good at dealing with an emergency, being flexible, and good at making progress, and not be conservative and stick to the rules. (6) The courage to seek new things, the ability to have a keen sense of new things, new environment, and new ideas. (7) The courage to be responsible, that is, the strong sense of responsibility for the superior and subordinate products, users and the whole society. (8) The courage to take risks, that is, the courage to take risks of enterprises’ development and the ambition and confidence to create new situations. (9) Respecting others, that is, valuing and adopting others’ opinions and not being overbearing. (10) The noble character, that is, being respected by social people and enterprise employees because of the noble character. Confucius’s concept of idiosyncratic: Respecting, tolerant, credible, diligence, benevolence. Dignity will not be insulted. Tolerance will be respected-A generous person can be loved and followed by the people. Credibility will be rewarded with appointments—A honest person can be trusted by others. Diligence means accomplishing—Diligence can build achievements. Kindness will enable one to command others—The benevolent man can command others. Source of information: Xuefeng (2005).

4.3 Shu Qing: Standing in Other’s Shoes “Loving others, others will love you forever; respecting others, others will respect you forever.” Shu Qing emphasizes mutual compassion and understanding between people while preserving the principles of right and wrong, pushing one’s own feelings towards the feelings of others, and putting oneself in the other’s shoes.

4.3.1 Distinguishing Between Right and Wrong When we are talking about Shu Qing, it refers that considering others in your own place, and you will feel the same. Empathy is not blind; it is in the premise of preserving the principle of right and wrong. We should develop our ability to do good to others on the premise of adhering to the principles of right and wrong,

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instead of doing charity blindly. To distinguish right from wrong, we must first perfect our self-cultivation and strive to study and improve our cognitive level. Once cognition reaches a certain level, you will have the ability to distinguish right from wrong. With the ability to distinguish right from wrong, good and evil, you can correct your mind and do not violate it. The Proper View of Right and Wrong Distinguishing right from wrong is a kind of ability which is not easy to get. Firstly, the standard of right and wrong is different. There are four kinds of standards. The first one is based on social, moral standards; breaking moral standards is wrong, and complying with moral standards is correct. This standard is often changing because there is a gap between the moral values of each group. For example, the moral standards of Western countries are quite different from those of different nationalities in China; if the standard is different, it is difficult to distinguish right from wrong. The second category is based on personal interests, and harming other’s personal interests is wrong. This is also the criterion between enterprises and different governments. In fact, it is not strictly a matter of being right or wrong. The third one is based on the rule of law. Following the law is right, and breaking the law is wrong. But the law is rigid; sometimes what is reasonable is not lawful, and what is legal is not reasonable. Moreover, some laws are inherently draconian, and some laws are controversial. So, this standard does not put people at ease all the time. For example, some people say the College Entrance Examination System is correct, but others say it is wrong. This is called everyone has their own sayings. The fourth one is based on truth; what is proved to be true is right, and what is proved to be fake is wrong. As an ideal person, We should take truth as the standard to distinguish right from wrong. The following points should be made to distinguish right and wrong: (1) What category do the standards of right and wrong fall into? If it belongs to the first one, you should treat respect for morals and decency as the right thing to do; if it belongs to the second one, you should listen to most people and treat obtaining the available benefits as the correct behavior; if it belongs to the third one, you should regard following the law as the correct behavior; if it belongs to the fourth one, you should regard truth as the right thing. (2) You can sum up experience always and judge right and wrong by experience. (3) You can study logic seriously and consider logical behavior as the right behavior. (4) You can listen to the majority’s opinions and treat the majority’s opinions as the right behavior. (5) You should investigate and research seriously and treat the best solution to problems as the right behavior. (6) You can test yourselves’ conclusions and others’ experiences and treat the method leading to correct results as the right behavior. (7) You can constantly explore the truth and continue to ask questions, and treat the better answer as the right behavior. It Is Easy to Make a Clear Distinction Between Right and Wrong, But Difficult to Make a Choice In complex social life, right and wrong, good and evil, beauty and ugliness are often intertwined, and we are often at crossroads where we need to make choices. At this

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point, how can you judge and make the right choice? When managers govern the whole enterprise, they often involve in conflicts between individual interests and collective interests, national interests and enterprise interests, and so on; at this time, they need to overcome themselves and resist temptation.

4.3.2 Being Friendly to Others Mencius Gongsun Chou says: “to learn from the good qualities of others to improve one’s own good character is to help others do good deeds. The best feature of a virtuous person is to help people in the world to do good deeds.” It is the traditional virtue of the Chinese nation to be friendly to others. “Do not fail to do good even if it’s small; do not engage in evil even if it’s small.” (The Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Shu Shu, biography of the first lord). Accumulating Kindness to Become a Good Virtue The establishment of virtue is accumulated from bits and pieces of everyday life. Xunzi once said: “the accumulation of soil and stone makes a high mountain, and the wind and rain rise from here; the accumulation of water makes a deep lake, the dragon is produced here; and the accumulation of good deeds is a high moral character, then it will reach a high level of wisdom and the spiritual realm of the saints.” If I love others, they will love me correspondingly; if I am useful for others, they will be useful for me correspondingly. Considering Others in One’s Own Place While we emphasize the need to be friendly to others, we also emphasize the need for transpositional consideration and considering others in our own place. We should not just do a job following our own feelings, and we must take into account the feelings and dignity of others. Otherwise, it will be exactly the opposite. Case A private business owner told such a story. The boss said, “there is an old door guard in my company, a lonely old man, who has been treating the company as his own home many times. He stays at the company no matter it is a working day or every New Year’s holiday. He is diligent and conscientious at work, which makes me very relieved. In order to show my concern for him, when dined with the customers, I will deliberately order some more dishes and asked the waiter to pack. Then I will give the dishes to him when I come back. Because of this, the others said to the old man, ‘Look how nice the boss is to you, sir!’ But he said, ‘Why do you think that is good? It’s all leftovers.’ Later, when I heard what he said, I was very angry at the beginning, thinking that good intentions don’t pay off! Then I thought about it more carefully: I was right to be kind, but was it the right way to do it? Although I did not give him the leftovers, that’s how he feels. Then I changed my previous practice and no longer took it to him. Instead, I invited him to the restaurant once or twice a month. From then on, he always said: ‘The boss is such a good person! We must do our job well, and we can’t be sorry for the boss.’ At this point, the boss paused in a short while, and then said: “through this, I understand

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the truth, that is, when we do good things, we cannot do it blindly with our own feelings, we must take into account the feelings and dignity of others. Otherwise, it will be exactly opposite.” Harmonious Interpersonal Relationship Mencius once said: “there is nothing better than helping people in good faith and correcting mistakes quickly. Being good to others is the traditional virtue of the Chinese nation, the lubricant of social harmony, and the essential quality of dealing with interpersonal relationships. Only by doing so can we cultivate a harmonious interpersonal relationship with others. The tolerance of Lin Xiangru and his kindness and modesty in dealing with the provocation of Lian Po, who was beneath him, have written the legend of “the reconciliation of generals” and created a harmonious relationship between the prime minister and general”. Review and Discussion 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

What aspects does Zhi Shen include? What is the application? What does Xiu De mean and what does it consist of? How to develop systematic thought? How to develop a learning ability? What is Shu Qing? What does it include? How can you improve your learning ability?

The Case of This Chapter Entrepreneurial Baseline of Morality Wang Shi, “the LOGO of Vanke Group” has always been regarded as the “idol.” But this “most respected entrepreneur” has become a liability for him: the public has questioned his image of health, charity, and responsibility for the first time. The speech of “it is appropriate for the enterprise to donate 2 million yuan to the earthquake” and “charity can’t be an enterprise’s burden” triggered the secondary disaster with the greatest personal reputation. Within weeks, he entered his painful “Wenchuan times.” The netizens’ criticism of “no matter how many peaks you have conquered, your heart is lower than a grave” making this unyielding man with a beard admit that he was still very “naive.” Niu Gensheng, a doer who came from a low-income family and wore an ¥ 18 Mengniu tie. His company philosophy is “running a company is to run the people’s hearts.” He donated all his wealth, saying, “shroud has no pockets,” which touched the whole China. But melamine made Niu Gensheng, who wanted to “sell the milk to space,” falling into the controversy vortex. The image of “a small winning depends on the wisdom, and a big winning depends on virtue,” he said on TV was subverted. Overnight, the leader of the industry was quested by the public with his morality. “Mengniu was in the most dangerous moment.” Obviously, Niu Gensheng, who fall into the “trap” of quality issue, forgot Jack Welch’s advice: you should be crazy about the quality or quality that will drive you crazy.

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I have to mention Huang Guangyu, the Chinese richest man, who has a bald head and was known as the most intelligent head in the business field. After the incident, it turns out that his head “was not the bald head of the monk, but the bald head of the mafia boss”. Arrested for stock price manipulation, his empire plunged like a roller coaster into the cruelest days of his life. His crimes were thrown in front of the “unforgiving” public. When the entrepreneur starts in public eyes suddenly “collapse”, we must examine why they did so. Just as a heroic gesture to become the cover of a commercial magazine, it may disappear in a few months or even become a prisoner. Some entrepreneurs in China, like crabs, once become famous, they are over. Why is the image of an entrepreneur so fragile? Is there any entrepreneur with real entrepreneurship in China? Why are there so many disputes about entrepreneurs? Why is the boundary between businessmen and officials so chaotic-businessmen, politicians, and academics are very similar to each other. Ma Yun said: “there are three levels of entrepreneurship: businessmen, the merchant, and entrepreneurs. Businessmen are fully motivated by profits and can do anything for money; the merchant values profit, but they know something can do, and something cannot do; entrepreneurs have a sense of mission to fulfill specific social values. If a person only has money in his mind, he will never succeed, and he will never become an entrepreneur. Only when a person helps others, creates wealth for society, and contributes to the country’s development can he really succeed.” Those famous words of Ma Yun are in line with the idea of a managing master Drucker. Some people asked Drucker: “How can I succeed?” Drucker replied: “if you do not change the way you ask questions, you will never succeed.” Someone asked him again: “how should I ask the questions?” Drucker said: “only if you ask me how to contribute first you can succeed.” Obviously, Judging by the standards of Ma Yun and Drucker, most of us aren’t real entrepreneurs. Perhaps, enterprises’ survival is difficult, and it is really a luxury to talk about the spirit of entrepreneurship. After all survival is the top priority. Ma Yun’s words: Even “Zhu Jianqiang (a strong pig survived after the Sichuan earthquake on May 12, 2008)” can live, why can’t you? Questions: How do you understand the ethical boundaries of entrepreneurship? How do you choose between profit and ethics? What do these cases tell you about yourself?

References Chengzhong, Y. (2006). Revival. The kindest man in business. 21-century business finance (10) Dongshui, S. (2005). Oriental management. Fudan University Press. Dongshui, S. (2005). The management of Eastern. Fu Dan Press Peirong, F. (2006). The awakening of oneself. International Culture Publishing Company.

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Wenliang, C. (2011). Comparison between Confucian “benevolence” thought and Western “universal love” thought. Legal system and society, (5) below: 247 Xuefeng, L. (2005). Chinese Management Science: Blending the management wisdom of ancient and modern. Renmin University of China press Zhaoyun, W. (2011). Management science. Science Press.

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Where there is chaos, there is the law. —Han Feizi, The Sly Messenger Confucius said: “Guided by policies and restrained by penalties, people can barely have shame. If guided by morals and restrained by etiquette, people will not only understand shame but also discipline themselves.” —The Analects of Confucius The rise of government is in obeying the people’s wishes, and the end of government is against the people’s wishes. —Guanzi, The Herdsmen

Abstract

1. Zhi Zhong (governing the public), that is, the management of others, refers to the ruler’s promotion of the coordinated operation of the whole society. The process of organizing, coordinating, supervising and controlling the various strata of the population consists mainly of maintaining social order, regulating social behavior, resolving conflicts, promoting social justice, and maintaining social stability. 2. Principles of Zhi Zhong can be summarized as Shun Tao (following the law), Ming De (showing clear moral integrity), Ren He (creating harmonious environment), Xing Fa (acting the law) and Zhong Shu (paying attention to practice). 3. Ren Min is the foundation of Zhi Zhong. The rulers are supposed to keep an idea of getting close to the people, serve the people personally and be good at listening to advice.

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021 H. Hu, Principles of Chinese Management, Management for Professionals, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-6522-3_7

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4. Hui Min, benefit to people’s livelihood is the foundation of the Zhi Zhong, and it is necessary to pay attention to people’s livelihood, protect and improve it. 5. The strategy of Zhi Zhong includes the rule of law, the rule of virtue and the rule of harmony. To rule by law includes managing officials by law, enforcing orders and prohibitions, and improving the legal system. To rule by virtue includes setting an example for others, respecting the virtuous and teaching with respect. Harmonious management includes taking harmony as the key, maintaining harmony and maintaining neutrality, helping the strong and the soft, and governing without interfering. Keywords







Zhi Zhong Ren Min Zhi Min Harmonious management


Hui Min
Rule by law
Rule by morality


Learning Objectives and Requirements • • • •

Understand the meaning and principles of Zhi Zhong Understand the basis and application of Zhi Zhong Be familiar with the fundamentals and applications of Zhi Zhong Master the strategy and application of Zhi Zhong.

Thousands of years of Chinese history have proved that the people are the foundation and root of the State and the country and that the people’s will determines the rise and fall of the State and society’s governance. For this reason, ancient Chinese thinkers put forward many political propositions on how to govern the people, such as “The rise and fall of government is in the hearts of the people, while the fall of government is against the hearts of the people” (Guan Zi, Herdsmen). The ruler is a boat, and the ordinary people are water, and water carries the boat, and water overturns it. (Xun Zi—King System) “To govern with virtue, such as the North Star, and the stars in its place.” These management ideas also have important guiding significance for modern enterprise management. Introductory Case Conduct the righteous path, obey public opinion, and strengthen the nation When King Li of Zhou, Ji Hu, ruled, the country was already in decline. However, to maintain his promiscuous life, he decided to increase taxes, but there was no way to justify it. At this time, the minister Rong Yigong proposed to levy a “patent tax”, which meant that every person, whether it is a king, a minister or a commoner, had to pay taxes if they gathered medicine, chopped wood, caught fish or shrimp, shot birds or animals. They even had to pay for drinking water and walking. This measure caused great discontent among the people, and even some liberal officials opposed it. However, the King of Li was favored Rong Yigong and ignored

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these words. After the introduction of the patent tax, the people’s lives were made worse. The people’s strong dissatisfaction with King Li was evident. The minister Zhao Gonghu advised King Li: “The people can’t stand it any longer. If the patent tax is not abolished, there will be unrest inevitably. King Li not only did not listen to the advice; instead, they sent a sorcerer to spy on the people, and when they found someone talking about “patents” and cursing the king, they will be apprehended and executed. Since then, although people were full of complaints, they did not dare to speak out. When you meet someone you know on the street, you don’t dare to greet them. King Li, however, thought his brutal rule was affecting and became complacent. Soon there was a “national riot,” and the people gathered and stormed the palace, even soldiers joining them. King Li saw that the situation was over. He had no choice but to take his followers with him and flee the palace. In the end, King Li of Zhou went against the way of heaven, made himself the enemy of the people, suppressed their opinions, and defied public opinion. He fled and died in a foreign land. His shameful end is a warning to his descendants that those who do not follow the righteous path and do not conform to public opinion will only bring about the death of their country. Source: (The Spring and Autumn Period) Qiuming (2010).

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Introduction

Governing the public, i.e. the management of personnel, is the most important task in the ancient country of China. On the basis of introducing the connotation, principle and application of governance, this chapter will then introduce the thought and application of governance in ancient China from three levels: foundation, strategy and essence. And combine modern enterprise management to carry on the analysis (Fig. 1).

Zhi Zhong

Zhi Min

Zhi Min

Hui Min

Foundation

Strategy

Essence

Fig. 1 Framework of Chap. 7

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1.1 The Connotation of Zhi Zhong (Governing the Public) Public, opposite to individual, means the masses. In modern enterprises, it can be understood as employees. Zhi Zhong refers to the management of people. In ancient times, Zhi Zhong was the ruler’s act to promote the harmonious operation of the whole society. It is primarily a process of organization, coordination, supervision, and control, which purpose is to maintain social order, standardize social behavior, resolve conflicts, promote social justice, and maintain social stability. In ancient China, Zhi Zhong was the most crucial thing in ruling and settling the country, for which Confucianism, Mohism, Taoism, and Legalism have put forward many political proposals for the Zhi Min (governing the people). And through the continuous practice and perfection of the rulers, the unique Chinese-style management has been formed, which has critical guidance and reference significance for modern enterprise management. To Zhi Zhong, the rulers must be diligent in government affairs and care for the people by cultivating a clear political system, sympathizing with the people’s feelings, taking pleasure in their happiness, and worrying about their worries, and only in this way can we bring the people together and maintain social stability. Therefore, it is the foundation and the top priority for Zhi Zhong. Secondly, the rulers should master the strategy of Zhi Zhong and use the correct strategy to manage the people effectively. Finally, the rulers should regard the people’s livelihood as the root of Zhi Zhong, attach importance to the people’s livelihood, protect them and improve them, and promote social stability and orderly development. For the country, Zhi Zhong means correctly handling the relationship between the rulers, the people, and the country. The rulers should treat people with mercy, work hard to develop the economy, and maintain long-term social stability. For enterprises, Zhi Zhong is to correctly handle the management between managers, employees, and enterprises, improve corporate rules and regulations, implement people-oriented management, and enhance enterprise cohesion.

1.2 The Principle of Zhi Zhong In ancient China, the guiding ideology and main principles of Zhi Zhong can be summarized as Shun Tao (following the law), Ming De (highlighting morality), Ren He (making harmonious relationship), Xing Fa (enforcing the rule of law), and Zhong Shu (valuing the skills of the law implementation); this is also China’s ancient systematic management theory system. Shun Tao is the supreme guiding principle of governing the people by following the law of developing things and taking advantage of the momentum. Therefore, it can be said that “Shun Tao” is the most critical and basic theory in Chinese traditional management theory. Ming De mainly refers to moral education, which recognizes, practices, highlights etiquette, demands to win people by virtue, and cultivates noble moral sentiments through etiquette and moral education.

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Ren He, which means uniting all classes, is the supreme good goal that management should achieve. Mencius said: “The time isn’t as important as the terrain, but the terrain isn’t as important as unity with the people.” Therefore, the people should be governed on the principle of human harmony and ultimately achieve social harmony and comprehensive development. Xing Fa is to enforce the rule of law to regulate people’s behavior through the legal system to achieve society’s long-term stability. There’s a common understanding among all philosophers in ancient China: without the rule of law, the country will not be a country. Zhong Shu emphasizes law implementation skills, highlighting the steps and methods to implement specific management and solve practical problems. As Xunzi’s saying goes: “Exploring one’s mind is better than observing one’s appearance, discerning one’s way of life is better than exploring one’s mind” (Xun Zi, Fei Xiang) emphasizes the importance of skills in talent selection.

1.3 The Application of Zhi Zhong 1.3.1 Application in Ancient Times The People Follow the Ruler Those who are respected by the people can win the world, and those who lose the respect of the people will lose the world. Throughout the history of the development of Chinese management theory, most of it put the importance of the people in the first place, emphasizing that governing the country should be based on the people. From the lesson of the Sui Dynasty’s demise, Emperor Tang Taizong Li Shimin concluded that the principle of “To be a good ruler, let the people survive and live happy first” (Zhen Guan Zheng Yao, Jun Tao). Therefore, the Zhi Zhong and Zhi Min, in ancient times, are first manifested in being followed by the people, and only one with that can rule the country well. National Stability In Chinese feudal society, whenever a dynasty political corruption, economic crisis, or social contradiction is underway, a peasant uprising or a peasant war will most likely occur. With the fall of the Xia, Shang, and Western Zhou Dynasties, especially a large number of marquis countries and the rise of some marquis countries during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, and the overthrow of the Qin Dynasty by the peasant uprising at the end of the Qin Dynasty, it is learned from political practice that the ruler and the governed are interdependent; that is to say, people are the cornerstone of the national community. With the people, the country will be established. If only there is a country, there will be a king. If people live and work in peace, political power can be consolidated, and the country can be settled. The application of Zhi Zhong in promoting national stability is incredibly common.

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Social Development Zhi Zhong, management to others, another essential aspect of its application in ancient times was to promote social development. Political clarity, national unity, and social stability can provide a favorable social environment for economic growth and promote social progress and development. In the ancient history of China, there have been many flourishing periods of great governance, as well as the decline of dynasties incessantly at war. To summarize its relevant historical patterns, an important reason lies in whether the rulers can take effective measures to Zhi Min, maintain social stability and unity, and promote social development.

1.3.2 Application in Modern Times Today, the market economy is in full swing, and the level of social development is constantly improving. Management to others is widely used in modern enterprises and even in the whole country. Enterprise: Strengthen the Cohesion Internally and Build the Image Externally At home, managers can encourage employees to work hard and improve their enthusiasm and creativity through advanced management ideas and effective management methods. At the same time, this can effectively coordinate the relationship between superiors and subordinates, deal with various contradictions in enterprise development, enhance the cohesion of enterprises, promote the sustainable and healthy development of enterprises, and achieve the desired goals. It can also strengthen the relationship between enterprises, deal with, and coordinate the relationship between enterprises, suppliers and customers, shape the image of enterprises, and enhance competitiveness. Nation: National Unity and Social Development Effective management of the people has important practical significance for improving people’s living standards and maintaining social stability and unity. For one thing, this is conducive to the realization of equality, solidarity, and mutual assistance among all ethnic groups. For another, it is conducive to promoting the stable and orderly development of society, promoting a harmonious socialist society, and enhancing the country’s overall national strength and international influence.

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Ren Min (Treating People with Benevolence)

To Zhi Zhong, the first thing to do is treat people with benevolence, that is, to push the benevolent of people with “being kind to relatives” as the core and starting point, and to apply love and benevolence to others. Ren Min is the foundation of Zhi Zhong. From the perspective of benevolence, Confucianism theory advocates, “Love all creatures dearly”, enjoy what the people enjoy, and against abusing

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Ren Min

Always keep an idea of getting close to the people

Serve the people personally

Be good at listening to advice

Fig. 2 Structure of Ren Min

people with tyranny. In the Qing dynasty, Zeng Guofan’s Reply to the Letter of Liu Mengyong stated, “There is a difference between kin and people, between benevolent people and things, and between neighbors and fellow villagers” (Fig. 2).

2.1 Always Keep an Idea of Getting Close to the People Guan Tzu said: “If the ruler manages the people with honesty and kindness and treats the people with benefits, then even if the leader does not say that he is close to the people, the people will come close to him.” It means that for the politicians to honestly treat ordinary people and do more practical things, even if they do not verbally say that they love the people, the people will be close to them. To be close to the people, we should first think about the people, be close to the people and their lives, so that we can truly understand the people’s feelings, be sympathetic to the hardships of the people, and better implement management.

2.1.1 Always Care about People “Always care about people” is not only the primary standard for being an official but also a general principle for someone with a strong sense of responsibility. When getting close to the people, one should be sincere, and regard the people as their loved ones instead of stunt. Only those who truly keep the people in mind can sacrifice themselves for the people and benefit them. All in all, “Care for the world and help people all around the world”. Hai Rui and Bao Zheng in ancient times, and Kong Fansen and Niu Yuru today are all excellent representatives. They were the first to feel concerned about country affairs, and they took the people’s career as their own. With such a state of mind, the people appreciated and loved them from the bottom of their hearts, and they truly achieved a good reputation. Therefore, to be close to the people, the rulers should care for the people and cherish them, not to their tyrannical abuse. In this way, the people will love and support the rulers, and only then will they govern the country with ease. 2.1.2 Always Have People in Mind Zhang Juzheng, in Reply to Fujian Governor Geng Chudong, said: “The most important way to manage country is to placate the people, and the way to placate

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the people is to find out their difficulties.” The rulers should get close to the people, listen to people’s voice truly, and master the basic situation of folk in an all-around way. To understand public conditions, we must do the following: First, understand the living conditions of the local people and their thoughts, concerns, and expectations. Second, understand the implementation of the policy. Third, understand the local people’s evaluation of the officials’ achievements. Only by a deep understanding of public conditions can we effectively solve the people’s worries. In more developed networks, online reflection of general conditions is also more and more popular in the information age of more developed networks. Through the Internet, officials can learn more about people’s feelings and serve people better. Ming Cha: Establish an Efficient Bureaucratic System In the ancient history of China, in order to strengthen centralization and the control of the bureaucratic and local institutions, the rulers set up a more developed supervision system to ensure that the government functions well and the people live in harmony as well as the feedback of the common people can be reported to the higher authorities. The Chinese traditional supervision system has two-sided characteristics. Positive aspects: First, the power of supervision is independent, directly responsible to the central government, and has high efficiency in reviewing, assessing, and reporting. The second is to make a strong association with the assessment. It is relatively humane for officials to be promoted based on examination and ability. The third is utilizing heavy reward and heavy punishment, which is relatively strict and fair. Fourth, by empowering low-ranking officials to monitor and apply high rewards and heavy penalties, the supervisory departments have been kept away from the ruling class’s corruption, making it independent, reasonable, and stable. Negative aspect: as the supervisory system is established to maintain the ruling order and ensure the country machine‘s normal operation, its “supervisory” performance is too affected by the ruler’s ability. If there is a wise emperor in power, this system will pass up the people’s feedback very well and play its advantages. But if someone ignorant and incompetent comes to power, it will play a disorganized role in guiding policies and strategies, making people’s lives and the social atmosphere very dark. The development and evolution of the supervision system in history also has some reference function for modern enterprises’ system construction. Managers should constantly improve the enterprise system, do a good job of democracy, decentralization, and supervision, strengthen ideological education, and strict reward and punishment, ensuring the business activities’ effective operation. Site Visit One of the big problems in governing the people is “how to get real information”. “Ming Cha” should be the main form of knowing public awareness, a formal way of social control. Its purpose is to monitor and protect social order. But when formal systems of social control fail, the transmission of information is blocked, or

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decision-makers have doubts about subordinates’ reporting and lose confidence in them, site visits as a remedy is usually applied to get real information. Although the visiting forms are varied, they can be divided into two main categories: observation visits and intrusive visits. Observation visits refer to visitors as spectators, quietly examining the public conditions or observing events’ development. While intrusive visits refer to visitors intentionally concealed or changed their identities and, as a party, directly intervene in the incident itself to find out the truth. The exact approach to be used depends on the circumstances of the event. Modern enterprise managers can also travel to various departments through “active management” to obtain more abundant and direct employee work situations and understand their employees’ working difficulties in time to make up for the lack of formal communication channels.

2.1.3 Enjoy What People Enjoy How can the rulers share the joy with the people? First, they should think about the people and understand their difficulties. Second, they should love the people and not to use tyranny abusing the people. Finally, they should stabilize the economy, expand production, and alleviate the burden of the people. Mencius said: “The people who are happy with the happiness of others, sad with sadness of others will never fail.” (Mencius, Liang Hui Wang) Therefore, an essential manifestation of sharing happiness with the people is compassionate people’s suffering. The Qing Dynasty official Shi Jiashao once said: “Good managers like parents while bad managers like a robber. To common people, I cannot be parents and afraid of being a robber, so to be a servant is my choice.” When Bai Juyi, the great poet of the Tang Dynasty, saw the people struggling with hunger and cold, he felt guilty empathized with them. He uttered an exclamation: “As a person in charge, compared with farmers, why do I deserve the good life I am having now?” Officials should always stand on the people’s viewpoint, put themselves in the people’s shoes, sympathize with the sufferings of them, worry about them, and truly do meaningful actions for them and win the favor of them.

2.2 Take Real Actions for the People Wei Min should not be just empty talk or blindly flaunt, but the rulers must take the courage to do practical things and have the aspiration to sacrifice their own for the people.

2.2.1 Highlight the Morality of Serving the People There is a saying in Cai Gen Tan: “Life is like building a house; morality is as important to life as a foundation to the house.” Good political ethics is the first requirement for Wei Min. The moral level of officials can reflect the overall moral level of the society at that time, so the key to establishing a good morality of Wei Min is: First, there should be noble moral qualities that do not care about gains and losses, hard work, reverence, honesty, and dedication. Second, the officials should

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insist on telling the truth, doing practical things, and dare to make suggestions for the people’s welfare to leaders. Third, the officials can’t always rush after achievements without polish the process or ignoring real effects. As a manager, they should also have a correct view of morality; they should not be selfish, corrupt, but should be clean and honest; they should not only do “image project” or “political performance project”, but should seek truth from facts and be down-to-earth. It is necessary to focus on the long-term effect; it is the “significant performance” and the “potential performance”.

2.2.2 Fulfill the Duty to Serve the People “The people don’t exist for the emperor; in contrast, the emperor exists for the people. Therefore, in ancient China, the establishment of states not only aims to improve vassals’ status, and setting up various titles and salaries not only to enrich officials.” (Xun Zi, Great Strategies) The rulers exist for the people. The starting point for all its actions is to seek benefits for the people. Firstly, they should focus on the people’s fundamental interests, be determined to serve the people, and be responsible for their duties. Secondly, they should be devoted to their duties, do their duty to the people, understand their duties, keep improving, know their responsibilities, and reflect on what they have done. Finally, they should abolish cruelty and pacify the good people, not afraid of the powerful, dare to make recommendations to the leadership, and fulfill their duties. As a manager, they are in the critical positions, assuming important responsibilities, and should also do their duties for the people, adhere to the interests of employees in the first place, and arrange and implement all matters well, balancing everything without bias or personal preference. 2.2.3 Do Things for People Actively Wei Min is not an empty talk but must be implemented in action. It is really doing things for the people. From a micro perspective, the rulers must effectively do things for the people and help them solve problems, especially the specific difficulties and problems in clothing, food, housing, and transportation. From a macro perspective, they should have a high level of aspirations, a broad vision, and vigorously develop the economy to make people’s lives more affluent. As managers, they should care about the staff, serve the staff, and manage the attitude of providing support. To do so, they should: First, to create a happy, simple, relaxed, and harmonious working environment for employees. Second, to give support and help to employees in any situation, coordinate and handle matters related to the interests of employees. Third, listen to the staff’s voice, set up a “speak-up box”, and properly handle the staff’s views and suggestions.

2.3 Good at Listening to Advice Being good at listening to advice is one of the key factors for the success of ancient emperors. It is mainly reflected in four aspects: the first is to show everyone the

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sincerity of listening to suggestions, encourage everyone to advise the rulers; the second is to hear from all parties; the third is to pay attention to the effect of suggestions, choose the right advice to follow; the fourth is to improve the system to keep admonition channels open.

2.3.1 Show the Sincerity of Listening to Suggestions, Encourage Everyone to Give Advice Based on historical experience, China has gradually formed a system of advising the monarch. As recorded in Tang Liu Dian, there are five ways to advise the monarch: First, make suggestions in a sarcastic tone; second, encourage the monarch’s will and suggest him to take actions; third, propose improper behaviors of the monarch according to the rules; forth, put forward proposal tactfully using analogy; fifth, say the fault of the monarch directly. First of all, the rulers should dispel the minister’s concerns who intend to advise, show their sincerity to listen to the suggestions, encourage and advocate the minister to speak out the shortcomings of them directly. Those who dare to speak out directly about the lack of monarch should be strongly rewarded and encouraged to continue making suggestions. It was only under the sincerity of Emperor Tang Taizong that Wei Zheng, who dared to violate the dragon’s face, touched taboos and was known for his direct admonishment, emerged in the Zhen Guan Dynasty with an unprecedented style of direct admonishment. 2.3.2 Hear from All Parties “A manager will be enlightened by listening to both sides but will be blind to what’s happening by heeding only one side.” (Qian Fu Lun, Ming An) Only by listening to the views of all sides at the same time can people understand things correctly. People will make one-sided mistakes if they believe only one side. Therefore, the rulers should be aware of the importance of listening to multiple opinions and the dangers of listening to only one side of the argument so that they can adopt appropriate admonition methods and encourage ministers to offer advice and ideas to eliminate the serious consequences of “one-man dictatorship” in politics. Mini-Case Since the early years of his reign, Emperor Taizong had ordered that the fifth rank officials and above must take turns staying at the forbidden Zhongshu Province to be available for summons. Each time he was summoned, Emperor Tang Taizong would sit down and talk to the people, asking them about the outside world in detail, trying to understand his policies’ pros and cons, the successes and failures of his decrees, and the successes and failures of his education. To avoid personal limitations, Emperor Taizong needed to be flexible and adaptable and make sure that his policies were implemented stably and conveniently. Source: Hongqi (2004) (10).

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2.3.3 Pay Attention to the Effect of Suggestions, Choose the Right Advice to Follow To “follow what is good” means to adopt the right advice or to choose a good method or a good system and to implement it. The ruler should have the mind and spirit to reflect on his mistakes and actively adopt and implement his subordinates’ correct proposals. In the sixth year of the Zhen Guan Period, when Emperor Tang Taizong wanted to sacrifice to heaven at Mount Tai, Wei Zheng repeatedly advised Taizong that the people’s life was not yet very prosperous, the granaries were still weak, and the country was still weak, so it was time to offer a sacrifice to heaven and earth, It is not right to think that the emperor has finished his work. Emperor Tang Taizong then gave up the idea of sacrificing to heaven. As an emperor, Emperor Tang Taizong listened to advice and followed good advice; why should modern managers not follow this example? 2.3.4 Improve the System to Keep Admonition Channels Open Firstly, the rulers should strengthen the system function. In ancient times, some officials, often out of favor or laziness, did not comment whether the decision was correct but simply executed the order as-is. So, the rulers ask ministers to speak the truth bravely to reject inappropriate orders; by doing this, they also can keep admonition channels open and guarantee appropriate decrees based on the system. Secondly, the rulers should pay attention to the role of remonstration officials. When discussing country affairs, arrange remonstration officials to listen to government affairs together so that they can understand these affairs. For their views, the rulers must be open-minded to listen to the government’s adoption of the decision-making and provide a reference. In addition, outstanding remonstration officials who give valuable opinions can be promoted to important positions. For example, Wei Zheng and Wang Gui of the Zhen Guan period were all later appointed to important posts because they dared to admonish directly. In enterprise management, if managers cannot accept the suggestion, they will make the villain be in charge and take the wrong information as a right. Which is unfavorable to the enterprise, employees, and themselves. Therefore, managers should listen to different opinions with an open mind, have a comprehensive understanding of the situation, and then independently make their own judgment that distinguishes between right and wrong. Otherwise, if the managers are self-righteous, opinionated, do not listen to different opinions, only like to listen to supportive views, will inevitably make one-sided mistakes.

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Guanzi put forward the theory of “Heaven and Earth as the heart”: the rulers should take Heaven and Earth as his model and “take heaven and earth as the heart”, without selfishness or desire. The nature rule gives rise to power, which gives rise to law, which governs the country by the rule of law; the virtue of the earth gives rise

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Use the law to Zhi Min The basis of the rule of law The strategy of the rule of law

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Revelation of the rule of law

Use the morality to Zhi Min Foundation of the rule of morality The strategy of the rule of morality Revelation of the rule of morality

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Harmonious management The basis of harmonious management The strategy of harmonious management Revelation of harmonious management

Fig. 3 The structure of Zhi Min

to righteousness, which gives rise to propriety, which governs people by virtue. In turn, it derives from the principle of harmonious management, which is to help those who are hard and soft. Guanzi blends the theories of Legalism and Confucianism, and the wisdom of Mohism and The Military School, making the I Ching of Taoism practical, both the rigidity of power and law, ritual and righteousness of tenderness, in line with the harmony of heaven, earth, and man only three views of nature, is a comprehensive rule of governance. Therefore, this section is based on Guanzi’s theory of “Heaven and Earth as the Heart” and focuses on three aspects of managing people: ruling by law, ruling by virtue, and harmonious management (Fig. 3).

3.1 Use the Law to Zhi Min “The law is the guarantee for national stability. Reasonable laws make the country prosperous and strong, while unreasonable laws cause chaos and even perish the country.” (Za Shuo).

3.1.1 The Basis of the Rule of Law The Connotation of the Rule of Law Legalism first proposed the theory of the rule of law in ancient China in the Warring States Period. Legalism’s rule of law theory requires that law enforcement applies equally to all social classes with no exception. At the same time, Legalist emphasizes that the country’s violence as the law’s backing and the enforced low is the most effective or the only way to rule the country. Legalism also emphasizes that the key to running a country is the law, not men, having essential differences with the modern rule of law. The essence of the modern rule of law lies in the supreme authority of law, and the rulers should be bound by law, which has become common sense nowadays. It has also become the ideological cornerstone of the rule of law society.

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Defining the connotation of the rule of law is the first important task of implementing it. The rule of law is the unity of the rule of law in the formal sense and the rule of law in the substantive sense. The rule of law in the formal sense emphasizes the mode of governance, the system and its operating mechanism of “running a country according to the rule of law” and “acting in accordance with the law”, and the rule of law in the substantive sense emphasizes the value, principle, and spirit of “supremacy of law”, “rule by law”, “control of power” and “protection of rights”. The rule of law in the formal sense embodies the values, principles, and spirit of the rule of law, and the rule of law in the substantive sense must be realized through the formalized institutions and operational mechanisms of the law, and neither is possible without the other. And the ruling by law is the basic strategy of Zhi Min and the basic requirements of achieving the country's long-term stability. Modern enterprises must take the legal system as the basis of management, improve enterprises’ internal regulations, attach importance to the legal system in the survival and development of enterprises, standardize the building of enterprises’ legal system so as to manage by law. The Characteristics of the Rule of Law As early as the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, Legalism's pioneer Guan Zhong mentioned: “rule the country by law”. Later, Han Feizi, the representative of Legalist, emphasized the idea of combining law, politics and power. The “rule of law” of Legalism opposes the patriarchal clan system and the hereditary system, requires equality and law-abiding, and advocates the formulation and publication of statute law. When dealing with things, the relationship and the level of social status are not used as a basis for judgment, and decisions are made only following the law. The “rule of law” of Legalism has the following characteristics: (a) Advocating interference and opposing laissez-faire. (b) Rejecting “rule of man” and only supporting “the rule of law”. (c) Rejecting “rule of etiquette” and denying the existence of natural law. (d) Advocating the country’s supremacy, the interests of social groups and even relatives must obey the monarch’s national interests. (e) Opposing to the “rule of power only”. The Basic Requirements of the Rule of Law Strict law is the basic requirement for realizing the rule of law. The so-called “Strict law” means the law’s content must be clear, strictly defined, and made public so that people can follow. The law is the cornerstone of all systems. If the society wants to maintain long-term stability, its important vitality is the legal system. Therefore, for the country or the enterprise, the various laws and regulations need to be clearly defined, a legal framework and procedures for seeking justice must be provided and constantly improved. Everyone should be equal. In the formulation of the law, we must also adhere to the principle of “the law does not favor nobles”. In enterprise management, managers must enforce the law impartially and not unbiased. Even the top managers cannot enjoy exceptions; when applying the incentives and punishments, the objectives must be consistent, and the measures

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should be proper. Material incentives should be combined with appropriate spiritual incentives.

3.1.2 The Strategy of the Rule of Law Use the Legal System to Govern Officials It refers to the use of the legal system to govern and restrain officials and focus on the government’s administration by law to ensure the effective implementation of legal governance. (1) Purge mandarins. The rule of law must begin with the central government and the adjustment of the state apparatus. Han Feizi said, “Laws and rewards do not discriminate against anyone” (Han Fei Tzu, You Du), stressing that the legal system should not have privilege for officials, even for noble and powerful people. To achieve the goal of using the legal system to govern constrained officials, the rulers must first vigorously rectify the court, establish a clean and honest rule, and stabilize the country. Regardless of the bureaucracy’s size, officials should be strictly controlled, strictly investigate the bureaucrats’ unlawful behavior, eliminate corruption, and vigorously carry out the construction of a clean government. The rulers should admonish those who will take a chance not to obey the law to be diligent in their duties and care for the people. (2) Strengthen supervision. To achieve the goal of using the legal system to govern constrained officials, there must be strong means of supervision. A strict supervision mechanism has been set up in the Chinese traditional administrative system. First, the principle of “decentralization” is followed in establishing country institutions, and mutual restraint is achieved through it. Second, in the selection and appointment of bureaucrats, strict standards, strict authority, and strict procedures must be established. Third, strengthening the assessment of the bureaucratic status is a direct way of supervision of power. Finally, strengthening the administrative bureaucracy’s judicial supervision, i.e., conducting criminal trials of officials who have broken the law or failed to perform their duties.

Every Order is Executed Without Failure It refers to the strict implementation of a system of laws and regulations, which must be enforced and prohibited. For things that are prohibited by law, we must strictly investigate and enforce the law to maintain social stability and protect people’s lives. If people have established laws but have not acted in accordance with the law, it is better not to set up the law. Ancient legislation was not only to punish those who had committed crimes but also to warn those who might break the law. If there is a law, but it is not enforced, then the people know that there is no consequence to break it. In this way, even if it is issued as an order, it will be no

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more than an empty statement. If the law becomes a piece of paper, it is better to have no law. Ancient laws began with necessity and ended up being useless. Today’s laws are established ahead of practice but end up being massively applied. Therefore, it is necessary to emphasize the authority of the law, to ensure that there are laws that must be enforced, that law enforcement must be strict, and that violations of the law must be prosecuted. Mini-Case Sun Wu went to see Emperor Wu and talked with him about the training of the soldiers. Emperor Wu thought: “Simple talk is meaningless, let me test him.” Then he let Sun Wu to train palace ladies for him. Sun Wu selected a hundred palace ladies and let Wu's two concubines serve as captains. Sun Wu made a point of the training of the team very clear, but during the formal training, these women laughed a bunch and made a mess, and no one listened to him. Sun Wu once again explained the essentials and asked the two captains to lead by example. But as soon as he gave orders, the ladies were still indifferent, and the two captains even smiled and bent. Sun Wu said sternly: “This is a military field, not a palace. You are now a soldier, not a palace girl. My order is a military order, not a joke. If you don’t train according to the order, two captains take the lead to ignore the commands; this is a flagrant violation of the military law and it is reasonable to sentence the death penalty!” After that, he asked the executors to kill the two concubines. The scene was quiet, and the ladies were too scared to say anything. When Sun Wu gave orders again, they were well-organized and well-trained. Emperor Wu was invited to review, but he was sorry for the loss of his two concubines. He was not in the mood to watch the palace girls’ training and just sent people to say: “I’ve learned your way about leading an army. The army under your command must be disciplined and able to win.” Sun Wu did not say anything extra but establish his authority in exchange for the effect of strict military discipline. Source: Liu Li, Ji Lingyun, translated. Zuo’s Commentary. Zhonghua Shubai, 2011. It is hard to be a man, and it is even harder to be a good manager. In particular, middle-level cadres in management positions often encounter problems such as Sun Wu, and some policies are made that are implemented but cannot be applied because they touch on the old interests of some people. These people are either higher than their own positions or have a lot of connections that they can’t afford to confront, and the obstacles are a dilemma. At this point, managers should adhere to the correct principles and ensure the policy's effective implementation. Improve the Legal System The legal system refers to the organically linked unified whole formed by applying all existing legal norms in a country into different legal departments. The formation of the legal system is an important symbol of the maturity of the rule of law and political civilization’s progress in a country. The establishment of an effective legal system is the fundamental guarantee for implementing the rule of law.

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Since the beginning of the Xia Dynasty, every dynasty has established its own legal system, and it has constantly reviewed its experience and improved its legal system. During the Spring and Autumn Period, the various vassal countries promulgated laws to stabilize their rule, rectify order and make the country prosperous and strong, such as Zi Chan from Zheng created torture books, Deng Qi made bamboo torture, Jin invented torture tripod. It became the general trend of society and politics to respect the sovereign power, emphasize the rule of law, and ban private schools. On this basis, Legalism combines law, power, and skill into one and draw on Taoist theories to theorize and systematize. Legalism emphasized the law as the foundation of governing the country. Since then, the legal system in the content and style of such areas is constantly developing. From the six chapters of the Book of Laws in the Warring States period, through the evolution of the Nine Chapters and so on in the Han Dynasty, to the Sui Dynasty, the court has formed twelve chapters. The later Wu De Lv and Tang Lv Shu Yi inherit the thought of the predecessors. And the legal system of contemporary China is based on the socialist law of the mainland. All the existing legal norms, including the legal system in Hong Kong and Macao, form a unified whole with different legal departments.

3.1.3 Revelation of the Rule of Law Good legal order is the most obvious sign of ancient prosperity, while a good law is political prosperity. The theory and practice of the rule of law in ancient China are of great significance to modern enterprise management. Managers should take the essence to meet the needs of modern enterprise management better. Improve the Legal System, Standardize Management According to the law, based on the law and judge is the = foundation of modern enterprise system management theory. The establishment of a mature and operational management mechanism, using the “rule of law” to replace the “rule of man”, is conducive to reducing enterprises’ operating costs, ensuring the orderly operation of enterprises, and the realization of scientific management. Successful modern enterprises have detailed rules and regulations covering all aspects of the enterprise, including regulations and process management. The principles to be adhered to in modern enterprise management system: First, the system should be sound; second, consider the dialectical relationship between the leaders and the employees when making the system; third, drive for the result when making the system; fourth, the system must conform to the laws of the country, taking into account human nature and customs; fifth, form a complete system and avoid duplication and contradictions. After establishing the system, the rulers should pay special attention to its implementation and establish the system’s absolute authority. First of all, comply with the system in accordance with the law. Secondly, enforce the law strictly. The enterprise management system’s implementation must be based on the above two points to ensure the smooth development of the enterprise.

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Establish Authority, Take Effect Legalism theory emphasizes “momentum”. In modern enterprise management, managers should also focus on the establishment of “momentum” and leadership management authority. Only by possessing the momentum advantage can they win the first thing. Therefore, the managers of the enterprise managers need to be able to take advantage of the situation. Those who do not have the power to “build momentum” need to “borrow momentum”. (1) Handling momentum. “Managers have the right to allow and prohibit.” (Han Fei Tzu, Ba Jing) The implementation of the system must have power to protect, and this power is “momentum”. In modern enterprise management, managers must be good at “handling momentum”, establish prestige through the necessary status and power, win the obedience of subordinates, fully exercise management effectiveness, and ensure the smooth progress of management activities. (2) Building momentum. Managers should be good at taking advantage of opportunities, organizing individual man-made forces, injecting spirit and soul into the company, forming a core value concept that all employees can follow, and promoting the company’s better and faster development. However, “building momentum” does not have a fixed pattern; the environment is different, and the way of creating momentum is also different. This requires the full use of the creativity of managers. (3) Borrowing momentum. We should not stick to one way when we “borrow momentum” but to borrow every momentum as we can. We must promptly capture the social news, events, and the star effect of people who are widely concerned or achieve mutual development through different forms of cooperation between enterprises. In short, managers must be good at using the external environment, seize opportunities, use various relationships to do things for themselves, and win the broad recognition of employees.

Temper Toughness with Tenderness, the Art of Leadership The so-called “political skills” of Legalism refers to the strategy of the monarch using the law and power to govern ministers and rule the people. In modern enterprises, overly modest leaders leave a sly impression, and overly majestic leaders are difficult to get close to. Therefore, the art of leadership that temper force with mercy is particularly important. The art of leadership is a comprehensive reflection of the individual qualities of leaders. On the one hand, leaders should have a strong psychological quality, make good use of rigid working methods, deal with the problem resolutely to ensure the effective implementation of orders. On the other hand, leaders also need to have a soft psychological quality, use flexible working methods, mix themselves into the staff, and treat the staff with a warm and caring attitude. Using free and light language may help us to achieve effective communication with employees.

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If the managers can combine law, skill, and momentum, it is not easy for them to be deceived and do leadership easily, and the subordinates will not do wrong things because there is no system of restraint.

3.2 Use Morality to Govern People Confucianism theory advocates the rule of the people by virtue and opposes a harsh government and arbitrary execution. “Guided by policies and restrained by penalties, the people are not committing crimes because they are afraid of the policy and the punishment, but they can barely have shame. If guided by morals and restrained by etiquette, people will not only understand shame but also discipline themselves.” (The Analects of Confucius) The rulers should cherish the people’s hard work, win the trust of the people, be self-disciplined and build a civilized society based on everyone’s moral self-consciousness, which has positive significance for promoting social harmony.

3.2.1 Foundation of the Rule of Virtue The Connotation of the Rule of Virtue The rule of virtue is the theory of ruling the country in ancient China, and it is a moral standard advocated by the Confucianism theory, which has been regarded as orthodox by the feudal rulers for a long time. Confucianism believes that, regardless of human nature's good and evil, we can use morality to educate people. This way of enlightenment is a psychological transformation, making people kind, know shame, and stay away from evil. The rule of virtue from Confucianism plays a certain role in maintaining the stability of feudal society. The rule of virtue in ancient China mainly consisted of two meanings: First, the rulers were required to lead by example, pay attention to self-cultivation and diligence, and give full play to the moral influence. Second, the rulers should attach importance to the people’s moral education, govern with the power of virtue, and educate the people, supplemented by punishment. The Form of the Rule of Virtue There were three forms of the rule of virtue in ancient China: the first is that the rulers adopt some loose and beneficial policies, called “rule by virtue”, so that the people could rest after the turbulent time. The second is that it set the ruler as an example, called “education by virtue”, which plays an important role in the public’s behavior and society's stability. The third is to control the people by moralizing etiquette and music and setting up social ethics and code of conduct, called “education by etiquette”. The Relationship Between the Rule of Etiquette and the Rule of Law For the governance of a country, the rule of law and the rule of virtue have always been mutually reinforcing.

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(1) The rule of law has an important guarantee and promotion effect on the rule of virtue. The rule of law uses politics and punishment to exert a kind of deterrent force to the people from the outside and regulate people’s behavior with its authority and coercive means. And the rule of virtue fundamentally exhorts the people to be good, consciously abide by the law, and maintain social stability. The guarantee of the rule of law can promote the healthy development of moral construction and guarantee the realization of the moral standard through the legalization of morality. (2) The rule of virtue provides a solid ideological and political guarantee for the rule of law. Morality is the value standard and driving force of the rule of law. While implementing the rule of law, the rule of law can enter into a virtuous circle by taking moral education, moral self-discipline and moral construction as the backing of the rule of law and improving the moral quality of the people, making social development take up a level. In short, the rule of law belongs to political civilization, and the rule of virtue belongs to spiritual civilization. Moral education is the basis and destination; punishment is the means and process; the two complement each other and jointly promote society’s development and progress.

3.2.2 The Strategy of Rule of Virtue Mencius said: “Use strength to make others fear, their obedience is only on the surface; use morality to win trust, their following behavior comes from the heart, just like seventy two students respect their teacher—Confucius.” Regulate Yourself and Influence Others To convince people with virtue, the rulers must regulate themselves first, civilize the people, and become an example to others to follow. (1) Cultivate virtue within oneself. Confucius said: “Politicians should be honest. The army general handles affairs fairly, how can soldiers be unfair?” Only by correcting leaders’ own conduct and cultivating their own moral sentiment can they manage others. “Integrity makes the order effective while improbity makes the order useless.” (Confucius, Zi Lu). As long as the rulers can maintain integrity, people will follow without being forced. Specifically, people should be prepared for five moralities, including benevolence, righteousness, etiquette, wisdom, and integrity. The first is benevolence, people should have a kind heart to all things in the world. The second is justice, people do things should be just, when necessary to give up life to fulfill justice. The third is the etiquette, people should stress courtesy, justice and shame, respect teachers and respect ways or disciplines. The fourth is wisdom, people should cultivate personal wisdom, understanding the true meaning of dealing with others. The fifth is the integrity, people should honor their credibility.

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In modern enterprises, the thought of self-improvement is particularly important. First of all, to have a strong sense of responsibility, the managers should go all out to do everything well, do not complain, establish a personal personality charm, and serve people. Secondly, they must lead by example; we should not be selfish, greedy, and prioritize the group’s interest. In this way, subordinates will follow managers’ ideas and actions, naturally enhancing the cohesion of the whole enterprise. (2) Setting an external example. No amount of words can be as effective as teaching by example. In terms of effect, probation has been more than a hundred times greater than harsh laws since ancient times. A good example has a good influence; the power of example is infinite. By setting a good example, many people can learn from him, thus establishing a good social atmosphere. Therefore, in addition to managing people based on inner moral qualities, we must also pay attention to the power of role models and role models. The leader of an enterprise or organization is no doubt a role model for everyone, and their words and deeds are in the eyes of the public; only if they know how to set an example to influence their subordinates, they will be able to achieve the effect of the top and bottom and manage them well. Simultaneously, through the assessment of advanced, tree example, as a fresh example of enterprise management ideas, to guide employees to learn from them, to align with them.

Attach Importance to Education and Respect Talents Attach importance to education and respect talents, that is, the importance of education and respect for talented people. Zhu Zhiyu in Ming Dynasty said: “Students respect teachers and study hard is the guarantee for the prosperity of the country so that cultivating talents with high ability and high morals are the top priority of politics.” (Zhu Shun Shui Ji, Quan Xing). (1) Respect teaching and encourage education. From ancient times to the present, the rulers always attach great importance to education and the cultivation of talents. (1) Ideologically: The Book of Rites emphasizes that “teaching is the first priority in building a nation and its people”. In the object of education, Confucius advocated, “there should be no distinction of classes in teaching”, breaking the situation of slave owners and nobility monopolizing education. Regarding the education goal, one should not only be educated to be an adult but also a gentleman. “If someone studies well, he should apply himself to be an officer.” In teaching methods, we should advocate teaching students according to their aptitude and pay attention to teaching by example. As the old saying goes, “The only thing that is superior in every way is to study”, which emphasizes the sacred status of studying and leads the whole society to respect it. These ideas undoubtedly influenced

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the social atmosphere and contributed to the fine tradition of attaching importance to education. (2) Institutionally: Han Wudi carried out Confucianism education, founded Tai Xue in Chang’an, and set up schools in the local area. During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the perfection of the imperial examination system promoted the development of education. In the Song Dynasty, the academy combined education, teaching, and academic research to train talents. In the Ming Dynasty, the central government had Guo Zi Jian and Zong Xue (aristocratic schools); local government has local schools, state schools, county schools, and the border and special territories military schools. Taking the imperial examination as a tool and taking the senior officials’ compensation as a prize attacked some scholars to participate in politics and also stimulated the cultural mentality of emphasizing learning to a large extent. (2) Exalt the virtuous and enable. Mo Tzu asked the monarch to honor talented people and to give positions to capable people. He opposed the idea that the monarch should appoint an official based on the relationship. In his opinion, the monarch should not pay too much attention to their background and put forward that the official may not always be superior, and peasants are not always shallow. Emperor Taizong once said: “The key to administration is appointing the right person. A position-ability mismatch causes inefficient.” (1) Thirst after talents: The success stories of the six famous men in Mencius show that leaders are eager to be virtuous and that the selection of talents should not care about the background, and not underestimate them because of their previous records, but regard them from a developmental perspective and let them have right positions. (2) Objective selection of virtuous people: Nominating the wise cannot be judged according to the relationship and the social status but should be appointed based on merits. As long as they are outstanding and capable, they should be promoted and appointed. A typical example is Qi Huangong, who gave up on previous grunge and promoted Guan Zhong, and finally achieved success in the Spring and Autumn Period. (3) Right man for the right job. Leaders should make different talents do their best, give an official according to their ability. Everyone has their own advantages and shortcomings, and each official should be appointed to the position where he can exert his advantages. Therefore, the way of administration in ancient China emphasizes that talents cannot be perfect. What is important is not to abandon them but to avoid their shortcomings by using their strengths. Managers do not have to do everything on their own, but they must first understand their subordinates’ expertise and characteristics, know them, and put the right people in the right position to let them maximize their talents.

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(3) Talent selection. The theory of administering state affairs in the pre-Qin schools and the tendency of the integration of Confucianism and Legalism since the Qin and Han Dynasties contributed to the formation of a series of political systems, such as the Cha Ju system, the imperial examination, the separation of three positions, and the civil official system. For one thing, the stability and maturity of these systems reflected the integration of morality and government system, improving government operation efficiency. And for another, it created good conditions for talents to stand out. The development and change of talent management system in ancient China mainly lied in officials’ selection and appointment, but there were different contents in different periods; this also has an important reference significance to modern enterprises’ human resource management.

Educate the People with Etiquette Confucianism means “what status has what etiquette”, if everyone does well, the country will achieve long-term peace. Otherwise, unlimited unruly behavior is not restricted, the country will not be ruled well. Xunzi said: “Social norms are the criteria for judging whether management is effective, whether the country is strong, the government is credible, and the people with high quality or not.” He also said, “Those who submit will succeed while resist shall fail.” (1) Civilization. The rulers promote etiquette to the subjects, and the chief officers at all levels regularly preached the etiquette. Starting from controlling people’s ideology, the ruler will build a dam as a line of defense in people’s minds and achieve the goal of social stability. Confucius said: “if you do not learn the rules of etiquette, your character cannot be established.” “Immoral people are unable to do anything.” (The Analects of Confucius) The most prominent feature of the former emperor’s doctrine is its ritual and political culture. Mencius agreed with this, with “concreteness” (filial piety) to highlight “former emperors’ doctrine”. “There is a person who is filial to his parents at home, has a harmonious relationship with his brothers and sisters outside, and persists in learning excellent experience from the ancients.” (Mencius, Teng Wengong) In short, traditional society is a patriarchally integrated social structure, etiquette is not only the principle of people’s social and personal behavior but also the principle of self-discipline and self-discipline. It is also a manifestation of the political system, legal code, social norms, and customs. (2) Custom. We must promote filial piety to create a simple and honest society where everyone respects seniority, respect the old, cherish the young and take care of each other. The court etiquette focus on the rating and the folk etiquette is closer to the customs. Since ancient times, China has traditionally attached importance to

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customs. “Managing a country must first study customs” and “Learning customs, knowing gains and losses” are the monarchs’ ancestral training of all ages. Customs are formed by history, so it has a very strong behavioral constraint on members of society. Customs are the basis and complement of social ethics and law. Advocating the importance of customs, the people naturally will be responsible for their duties, unity and embarrassment. Chinese-Western Contrast Corporate culture, or organizational culture, is a unique cultural image of an organization consisting of its values, beliefs, rituals, symbols, and ways of doing things. The corporate culture structure can be divided into four layers: The first layer is the material culture of the surface layer, which is the cultural composition of products and various physical facilities. The second layer is the mantle layer’s (or shallow layer) behavioral culture, which refers to employees’ activity culture in production, management, learning, and entertainment activities. The third level is the middle-level institutional culture, where enterprises impose certain restrictions on the behavior of employees to achieve their own goals. It has the requirements of commonality and strong behavioral norms. The fourth layer is the spiritual culture of the core layer. It refers to a spiritual achievement and cultural concept that has been formed for a long time due to certain social and cultural backgrounds and ideologies in the process of production and management. The characteristics of China's oriental corporate culture are: (a) seeking commonality psychology, emphasizing centralized management. (b) Corporate socialization, emphasizing corporate social responsibility. (c) People-oriented management emphasizing the role of the human spirit. (d) The sentimental ethics is prominent, and it advocates the formation of a warm and harmonious family atmosphere within the organization. (e) Political management, political system, and economic system are integrated, emphasizing the organization's overall control ability. The characteristics of Western corporate culture represented by the United Countries are: (a) Emphasis on science and clarity, and for the tendency of “authorization” and “decentralization”. (b) Pay attention to efficiency and material elements such as quality and technology. (c) Heroism and individualism are emphasized, highlighting innovation and entrepreneurship. (d) Pay attention to the “law” in management, and the leaders of different departments compete with each other in a fair environment to form a competitive atmosphere of “promoting the capable and demoting the weak”. Source: Guangming (2006).

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core layer

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material culture

surface layer

behavioral culture

spirit culture system culture

middle layer

The structure of corporate culture

3.2.3 The Revelation of the Rule of Virtue All the thinkers and rulers throughout the ages have taken virtue as the basis of political rule, advocated ruling country by virtue, and gave full play to the role of moral influence. The institutionalization of virtue is also of great significance to modern enterprises. People-Oriented Management Philosophy Talent is a valuable resource for enterprise development. Managers should adhere to the concept of people-oriented, employees as the most important resources of enterprises, and strive to create a good learning atmosphere, enhance the sense of ownership of all employees. At the same time, managers should effectively combine the enterprise goals with their employees’ individual goals, give full play to their abilities, interests, special skills, initiative, enthusiasm, and creativity, and enhance the cohesion of the enterprises. Then finally, they can make enterprise development for a long time. Make Money and Make a Difference Managers should pursue the unity of short-term and long-term interests. The short-term interests of the enterprise should serve and in line with the long-term interests of the enterprise. And pursuing long-term interest should be the starting point and keep an aspect where enterprises work hard towards. If the manager is narrow-minded and only after short-term interests, the enterprise will lose future competition ability and the development potential. To realize the unification between short-term and long-term interests, the important part is to formulate a scientific and practical development strategy.

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Establish a Good Corporate Culture Managers should establish a good corporate culture, unify the staff’s will, standardize employee behavior, condense staff strength, give full play to the normative, guiding, and cohesive role of corporate culture, and pursue the unity of system restraint and internal harmony. In the establishment of enterprise culture, there are several principles to adhere to: First, the culture should be people-centered, people should care, respect, understand and trust each other; second, be consistent between appearance and reality and avoid formalism; third, pay attention to unique characteristic of the enterprise and build a culture with its own characteristics; fourth, pay attention to the effect of building culture; fifth, inherit the essence of traditional culture. Self-Discipline and Pacifying Others Self-discipline and pacifying others are important topics in Confucius’ management thought. Self-repairing is the premise and foundation of management, while pacifying people is the purpose of management. For one thing, managers should take actions based on individual moral cultivation, be strict with self-discipline, use morality to win people’s hearts, and influence the managed. And for another, managers should instruct and manage others in the same way they instruct themselves in their own cultivation, allow employees to be well-informed and self-cultivate themselves, and finally achieve self-management and unanimity. Honesty and Trustworthiness Honesty and trustworthiness mean the character and behavior of being true and not obeying promises and contracts. In modern enterprises, managers should strengthen the concept of honesty and trustworthiness, pursue the unity of internal integrity and external integrity, and form enterprises’ intangible asset. In the enterprise, efforts must be made to form three kinds of consensus, that is, customer first, quality first, and strict commitment. Outside the enterprise, emphasizing corporate image design, advertising planning and publicity, and in-depth reporting by the news media to the company should be addressed to form its characteristics and expand its visibility.

3.3 Harmonious Management 3.3.1 The Basis of Harmonious Management The Meaning of Harmonious Management Harmony refers to the country in which things exist and develop in harmony. It is the values and methodologies that people seek for beautiful things and ways of doing things and the basic conditions for social and political stability and development. It plays an important role in adjusting, resolving, and regulating conflicts and contradictions in the interests of various aspects of society.

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Harmonious management emphasizes unity, advocates coordination, and seeks harmony, so that the two sides with contradictions and differences are in an integrated unity, forming a harmonious and vibrant society. The Idea of Harmonious Management In the relationship between man and society, China’s ancient thinkers emphasize the harmony and unity between man and society. They think that the individual always lives in society, and the individual's fate is closely related to society. Only by integrating the individual into society and realizing the harmony and unity of man and society can we achieve the goal of governance the country well. (a) Confucius advocated the idea that “the use of rites is the essence of harmony”. Confucius believed that the value of harmony should be the criterion for building an ideal and harmonious society in the governance of the country and the ceremonial system. (b) Mencius put forward the idea of sharing happiness with the people, emphasizing the harmony between man and society; he also described the harmonious society as “Respect your own elders and extend such respect to those of others; cherish your own kids and extend such cherishment to those of others.” (c) Xunzi emphasizes “harmony” and “unification” in the relationship between man and society. (d) Confucianism’s harmonious theory runs through the principle of harmony. It emphasizes not going extreme and acting properly; it takes middle as the principle to realize the world’s harmony. (e) People-oriented. Confucianism harmonious theory affirms the foundation role of the common folks and advocates the establishment of a harmonious society based on the people. (f) Tai He theory in The Book of Changes (I Ching). The harmonious thought in I Ching Biography means judge the appropriate time, use the proper way to maintain perfect harmony, then everything will develop smoothly.

3.3.2 The Strategy of Harmonious Management Harmony is Precious “Harmony is precious” is an important concept in Confucianism management theory. Mencius said: “Opportunities vouchsafed by heaven are less important than terrestrial advantages, which in turn are less important than the unity among people. To manage others and Zhi Min, the rulers should focus on the overall situation, be peaceful and tolerant, maintain social and enterprise stability and unity, be good at coordinating relationships, and build a harmonious atmosphere. (a) One should prioritize winning people’s hearts. The golden mean directly hits the inner spiritual world of man and seeks the joint point in the external environment with humanity and human nature as the starting point and the

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fundamental value basis and obtains the most appropriate expression and realization. For those who deceive others should be influenced by sincerity; those who are violent should be edified with temper; change those who are insatiable with shame and encourage those who betray for profit with benevolence. In this way, a good social order can be created, and harmonious management can be achieved. Only by grasping the people’s psychological state and personality characteristics can managers do things with a purpose, adopt appropriate governance methods and methods, focus on the psychological barriers in management, and finally achieve harmonious management. Retreat to advance. Tolerate temporarily calms the broader picture. Being able to retreat and find the right time to attack will get unexpected results. The retreat here is not a passively giving up, but to first see where the contradiction is and then calmly attack. Then the problem can naturally be better solved. On the other hand, to ease the crisis, retreating can benefit the group to achieve long-term development and promote society’s overall harmony and stability. When the rulers meet the difficulties, they could try to step back, think, accumulate and then make the move. Seeking the Golden Mean Seeking the golden mean, that is, taking care of the overall situation and maintaining unity. These are the embodiment of emphasis on coordinated management. Confucianism culture emphasizes the harmonious coexistence between the individual and the society by obeying the commonality of individuality. The spirit of “pursuing the golden mean” is used to restrain people’s extreme thoughts and maintain the social order. The means of pursuing the golden mean include morality, etiquette, law, policies, and force. The first four are in the scope of “soft power”. And force mainly refers to “hard power”, including economic, military, and technological aspects. Combine Toughness and Tenderness The means of governing people should combine toughness and tenderness. (a) Overcome toughness with tenderness. “There is nothing weaker than water in the world, but on the other hand, it’s also invincible because nothing can beat and replace it. Many people understand that it is possible to break rigid with softness, defeat strong with weakness, but few people actually do it.” (Tao Te Ching) The example of water given by Lao Tzu is common in people’s daily life. Water is the most tender thing, but tender water can penetrate the hard rock. The water is weak on the surface, but it has an irresistible force. Tempering force with mercy is also very useful in enterprise management. People’s personality varies, and there are all kinds of them. If you are a manager, and your team happens to have some bad people who is immune to all tactics, what should you do? In fact, overcoming hardness with softness is a good way.

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(b) Use both carrot and stick. Zhi Min should be clearly rewarded and punished, and the ruler should use both carrot and stick. The so-called carrot refers to the use of people-oriented way to civilize governance. The so-called stick refers to the use of authority, orders, laws, and other means to control the people through supervision and punishment. Confucianism theory advocates the rule of the world with benevolence and righteousness, but the actual governance through criminal law is also indispensable. Only by combining the law and morality and giving both carrot and stick can the people be better governed. In enterprise management, it is also necessary to combine toughness and tenderness and use both carrot and stick to have twice the result with half the effort. (c) Be flexible. Confucius said: “Zhou Wenwang and Zhou Wuwang can’t keep pulling the bowstring tight without loosening the spores, and they are unwilling to relax all the time without nervousness. Therefore, make a tension—relax balance is the way to rule the country.” To govern the country well, we must allow the people to work with ease and work with rest, so that work and life are carried out rhythmically. However, in actual management, we still must hold a degree of relaxation. As the old saying goes, “going beyond the limit is as bad as falling short”. If the degree of relaxation is not properly grasped, then the people’s governance has little effect or even be counterproductive.

No Intervention Govern by minimum intervention. The Taoism, represented by Lao Tzu and Chuang Tzu, advocates inaction in order to achieve harmony. Lao Tzu’s inaction is not that people do not act, but not act rashly, treat everything with the attitude of inaction, comply with the social law, and realize the harmonious development of people and society. In the early Han Dynasty, to promote economic and social development, the rulers adopted the management of the idea of no intervention so that the people recovered, and the country gradually gained prosperity and strength. For managers, inaction requires managers to find priorities and principal contradictions and assign specific work to specific organizations and personnel, rather than doing everything by themselves. Through the division of labor and cooperation, they have clearly defined authority and responsibilities, each showing its own strength, each doing its own best. So, managers can put the whole as well as the work of the various parts can be done in an orderly manner and then achieved “Act through inaction”.

3.3.3 The Revelation of Harmonious Management Harmonious management is the essence of Chinese traditional management theory. For enterprises, harmonious management is rigid and flexible. Harmonious Managerial Quality The quality of managers is the basis of the effectiveness of enterprise management. In modern enterprises, a harmonious manager should possess the following qualities:

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(a) Good moral cultivation. A manager who takes pride in etiquette and talent can build a team of unity, cohesion, and efficiency and produce higher enterprise benefit. (b) Good working skills. Harmonious managers should have a clear understanding of the organization’s long-term goals and wholeheartedly support enterprises’ strategic planning. Scientific arrangements for the various affairs of the department and reasonable guidance for the specific work of the subordinate. At the same time, the manager should formulate and apply enterprise systems scientifically and reasonably to promote enterprise development. (c) Keen insight. Harmonious manager quality should have keen insight, be good at discovering various problems and opportunities inside and outside the enterprise, look at each kind of management phenomenon with a unique vision.

Harmonious Employment Relationship The basic principle of employing people in an enterprise is to take advantage of its strengths and avoid weaknesses. It is also necessary to strengthen the analysis and research of talents, strengthen the research on the enterprises’ organizational structure, and carefully analyze the characteristics of the duties of the posts. Integrate the above three aspects and seek an effective and scientific way to select talents is important. It is possible to promote the competition, trial, rotation, and other staff to give full play to their special abilities and advantages of the appointment method, while the shortcomings of individuals, enterprises focus on “avoiding rather than ignoring, restricting rather than removing” when employing. Harmonious Internal Communication Without communication, enterprise management has no vitality. For one thing, the enterprise leader must pay attention to the words of the staff, treat the words and performance of the general staff with a fair and impartial attitude. For another, he should be good at using smart language and context to realize harmonious communication, improve working efficiency, and ensure enterprise cohesion. Harmonious Concept of Development The so-called harmonious concept of development refers to pay attention to the realistic environment in the operation of enterprises, formulate scientific strategies, adhere to the benefit orientation, seek scientific methods, and achieve lasting development. In a realistic environment, the performance of an enterprise depends on the competitor’s strategy, the material of the supplier, the creditworthiness of the customer, and the assets of the enterprise. Therefore, it is necessary to analyze thoroughly and formulate scientific development strategies to avoid losses when the managers of enterprises make investment and marketing decisions. Harmonious Marketing Competition Enterprises under the socialist market economy are competing in an increasingly competitive environment. But such competition should be a competition with a

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sense of responsibility to consumers and a sense of competition to competitors. For one thing, establish a customer-centered concept to replace competitors-oriented concept. Pay attention to consumers’ energy, fully grasp the information status of consumers, set meeting the needs of consumers as the starting point for product design and manufacturing, and win their niche market and a larger group of consumers. For another, insist on solidifying consumer loyalty through honesty and continuously increasing customer loyalty.

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“Beneficial administration aims to nourish the people.” (the Book of Documents, Da Yu Mo) The so-called “Hui Min” refers to the people’s benefit, which is the root of the Zhi Zhong. In the early Spring and Autumn Period, Guan Zhong defined: “To govern a country, enrich its national is the primary task, whether the people are wealthy is related to the difficulty of national governance. An outstanding national leader will firstly be good at increasing national income.” (Guan Zi, Zhi Guo) In the view of the Guan Zhong, the most reliable and basic way of governing the country and educating the people is to make them rich first (Fig. 4).

4.1 Value the People’s Livelihood “People who are respected and supported will succeed.” The people are the foundation of the country, and the issue of people’s livelihood is related to the prosperity of the country and the stability and unity of society.

4.1.1 People-Oriented The people-oriented thought sprouted in the Shang and Zhou Dynasties and was greatly developed during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. At the same time, many outstanding thinkers emerged.

Hui Min

Value the people’s livelihood

Fig. 4 The structure of Hui Min

Safeguard people’s livelihood

Improve people’s livelihood

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Confucius The theory of “Benevolence”, ƛ “the virtue humanity”, “Never impose upon others what you dislike on yourself”, advocates “rule by moral force”, against tyranny and arbitrary punishment, and believes that the monarch should win the trust of the people and be self-disciplined. Mencius “There is no time to delay serving the people.” “The voice of the people is the voice of God.” The thought of attaching importance of the people. “The matter of the people cannot be delayed.” Fate is the embodiment of the will of the people. “The people are more important than the monarch”. “What God sees comes from what we common people see; what God hears comes from what we common people hear”. Xunzi God educates the people not for the monarch, in contrast, god establishes the monarch for the people. The relationship between the sovereign and his people is just like “Vessel Water”: water can overturn the boat and float it. Emperor Tang Taizong’s Idea That “The People are the Foundation`` He repeatedly stressed that “keep the people in mind,” demonstrating the idea that the people play the decisive role of the rise and fall of the Dynasty; this lead to the rulers should value the people's livelihood. In the late Ming and Early Qing Dynasties, The Thought of “the people are the foundation” had a new development Huang Zongxi inherited and developed the thought of “the people are the foundation” in the pre-Qin period and put forward that “the people are the main and the monarch is the secondary”. He opposed the idea of focusing on agriculture while suppressing commerce and proposed “agriculture and commerce are both the fundamental of the country”.

4.1.2 Practice of Ruling the Country Attach Importance to people's Livelihood (a) During the Spring and Autumn period, Qi Huangong appointed Guan Zhong to reform, his idea of “opening up handicraft industry and commerce, developing fishery and salt industry to their advantage” finally made Qi an eastern powerful country, laying the foundation for Qi Huangong to dominate. (b) During the Warring States period, Qin Xiaogong appointed Shang Yang to change the law to “attach importance to agriculture, curb commercial development, reward farmland and textile industry”, advocate “unified weights and

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measures”, establish private land, leading to the economic development of Qin, which laid the foundation for the unification of the six countries later. (c) Tang Taizong emphasized the idea of “keep the people in mind” and adopted a series of measures: “be good at finding talents and arranging suitable posts for them”; “Reduce levied work from people, reduce taxes, encourage people to engage in agriculture, avoid extravagance and waste” and “promote imperial examinations”, thus creating “Zhen Guan Period”. Tang Xuanzong appointed talents, vigorously developed production, restricted Buddhism, implemented the military recruitment system, “encouraged cultural development”, and then created “The Flourishing Kaiyuan Reign Period”. (d) The Wang Anshi reform law of the Northern Song Dynasty promoted the improvement of the people's living standards through a series of financial measures. (e) During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the policy of “combining tax” and “assigning labor to farmland” relatively eased the burden on the peasants and further relaxed the personal control of the peasants in the feudal state, which is of great significance to China's population growth and social and economic development.

Neglect the People’s Livelihood (a) Xia Jie was a ruthless tyrant; Tang rebelled and took over his ruling. (b) Emperor Zhou of Shang Dynasty built the palace garden, and his life was corrupt and indulging. He also invented the “Paoluo punishment” to crucify the people as well as implement brutal slavery of “human sacrifice”. All of these eventually led to the demise of the Shang Dynasty. (c) Emperor Li of Zhou Dynasty was greedy for money and crucified the people, causing “national riots.” (d) During the reign of Emperor Qin Shihuang, the servitude was heavy, the punishment was harsh, the tax rate was high, and the land lost to farmers was serious, which triggered the peasant uprising. (e) The tyranny of Emperor Sui Yangdi directly led to the demise of the Sui Dynasty. (f) Levy the land tax in the late Ming Dynasty triggered the uprising of farmers in northern Shanxi. The issue of people’s livelihood is the foundation of the country. Paying attention to people’s livelihood and attaching importance to people’s livelihood are of great significance to the consolidation of political power and the country’s prosperity. Only by solving people’s livelihood can the people feel the actual effect of governing the country and thus support the state power.

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4.2 Safeguard People’s Livelihood 4.2.1 Protect the People: Bring Peace and Stability to the Country To protect the people’s livelihood, we must first set the country’s security, focus on deterrence and defense, protect people’s lives, promote production, and create a stable and harmonious social environment. Prepare the Army As rulers, they must have sufficient armaments to improve the military’s combat and defense capabilities to safeguard the country and the people. When the country is in distress and is invaded by foreigners, or when the society is in turmoil, the rulers should be able to mobilize a formidable force and ensure the prosperity of the country and defend it. Avoid Invading Other Countries “A just reason brings plentiful support while an unjust cause finds meager support.” A ruler must be especially prudent to treat the war. On the nature of war, most of the ancient Chinese thinkers opposed the war of injustice, which was to use war as a political means to invade the weak country to expand land and population. The ruler should not invade other ethnic groups, but concentrate on developing production and maintaining social stability.

4.2.2 Love the People: Policy of Benevolence “A monarch who stabilizes the people, nobody can replace him.” (Mencius, Liang Huiwang) Mencius believes that only by caring for the people and implementing benevolent actions can we govern the country and rule the world, and no one can stop it. Keep Benevolence in Mind The rulers should keep benevolence, and cannot ignore the suffering of the people, and should mix himself in the people, “to be happy for the happiness of the people, and to worry about the sad things of the people.” When you are in power, you must be able to embody the “heart of benevolence” and push the love to the people of the world. “Benevolence” of Confucianism is divided into several levels, but at the same time it is universal. In modern enterprises, managers should also care about employees and communicate with employees with love and care and improve corporate cohesion. Implement Policy of Benevolence The so-called “benevolent government” is a government of benevolence. From ancient times to the present, although the benevolent government may not solve the problem of governing legitimacy and institutional rationality, it can become a guiding ideology that takes into consideration to cultivate the moral self, regulate the family, maintain the state rightly and make all peaceful, which can lead to ruling

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effectiveness in a wider space–time scenario. The “benevolent governance” that Mencius advocates is based on the principle of “righteousness” to change the social system at that time in order to make society fair and orderly. The implementation of a policy of benevolence is not an empty slogan but a practical political action. The people are the fundamental and key to all political power. If the monarch wants to make the country strong, he must be able to protect the people, let the people have a rich material life, and prioritize people's livelihood in the administration to achieve the goal of being a good king.

4.2.3 Nurturing the People: Make the Country Wealthy and Take Care of the People Taking care of the people means the management should focus on social development. Specifically, it meets the people’s living needs and provides the people with a material basis for living and working in peace and mutual respect. Guan Zhong put forward, “Being able to survive is a prerequisite for caring about honor and disgrace to people.” (Guan Zi, Mu Min) Only the full granary, adequate food, and clothing is the true basis of “courtesy” and “honor and disgrace.” Treat People with Tolerance Confucius put forward the idea of “Be economical in expenditure and love the people, using them according to the seasons.” Mencius considered that farmers should be given certain land and labor time; the people's burden should be alleviated, the penalty should be lifted, and the tax should be reduced. Therefore, the rulers should adhere to the principle of the humanity of “Treat people with tolerance”, conform to nature, and not abuse the people by tyranny or invade the people. The People are Rich, the Country is Strong The people are rich, and the country is strong. The people are the foundation of the country. From the Ten Projects Description written by Zhongyan in Song Dynasty: “Saint differs from common people in an administration, and a beneficial administration aims to nourish the people, the priority task is to develop agriculture. Agriculture solves the survival needs. Then people are concerned about health and fear of punishment so that thieves disappear. In a word, beneficial administration and agriculture are indispensable to achieve nations’ long-term stability.” Therefore, the monarch should pay attention to making the country rich and ensuring people live and work in peace. The food is abundant, the young people are raised, and the elderly are supported. Only if the people are rich in daily life, and they can continue to produce food, eat enough, understand filial piety, and etiquette can the society develop harmoniously.

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4.3 Improve People’s Livelihood 4.3.1 Reduce People’s Burden of Life Confucius put forward that “Tyranny is fiercer than a tiger” and advocated to reduce tax. “Your majesty should give a humane government to the people, be careful in punishing crime; make the taxes light; plow the fields deeply and hoe them well.” (Mencius, Lianng Huiwang) Reducing the tax conducive to the development of agricultural production, reducing the burden on farmers, thereby improving people's livelihood and promoting the stable development of society. Major Measures to Reduce the Burden on Farmers in Ancient China (a) The servitude system was reformed with the idea of light taxation and leasing, and the Tax-Labor-Substitution System was implemented in the Tang Dynasty. (b) In the late Tang Dynasty, the two-tax system was introduced, which loosened the government’s control over the peasants while reducing the burden on them. (c) When Wang Anshi attempted to reform, he adopted the law of military levy, which reduced the burden of the peasants’ duty and guaranteed the production time. (d) In the late Ming Dynasty, “combination of tax” was introduced, changing the tax base from the number of households to acres of land, relatively relived famer’s burden. (e) In the early Qing Dynasty, the policy of “assigning famers to lands” was carried out, and the tax collected based on the number of households was integrated to rent of farmland, further relaxing the feudal state's personal control over the peasants. Mini-Case Rehabilitation means that after the war or social turmoil, the ruler alleviates the burden of people for settling their lives and restoring vitality of the country. The most typical rehabilitation policy was implemented in the early Han Dynasty. Background: The brutal rule of Qin Shihuang, combined with years of war, has destroyed social production. In 206 BC, Liu Bang broke through Xianyang to overthrow Qin’s rule. In the early Western Han Dynasty, there was a dire trend of social and economic decline, population decline, and lack of food. After learning from the lessons of the Qin Dynasty, the Western Han Dynasty implemented a policy of rehabilitation. Specific measures: (1) Repurposing soldiers as farms: announcing the military levy to retire as farmers, distributing the farmhouse according to the size of the military work, or exempting the servant. (2) Persuading the people to return to the homeland: The people who fled to the mountainous area due to the war were returned to their hometowns; the people who lost farmland received the original farm. (3) The release of slaves for the people: The people became slaves due to

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famine were restored as civilians (4) Reduce the rent to 1/15: Reduced land rent at a fixed rate of 1/15. During the period of Emperor Wen and Emperor Jing, the policy of rehabilitation was continued, and the policy of adhering to the people-centered approach was followed. The specific measures were as follows: (1) Light labor and low taxes: First, the tax rate was reduced from 1/15 to 1/30, and secondly, the service was changed once a year to three years. (2) Reduce the penalty. Emperor Wen abolished the punishment for being related to or friendly with someone who has committed an offense and corporal punishment. And Emperor Jing reduced gauntlet punishment. After nearly 40 years of rectification by Emperor Wen and Emperor Jing, a harmonious social environment was formed, called “Rule of Wen and Jing”. Impact: (1) Creating a stable situation that has effectively promoted the development and restoration of agriculture in the Western Han Dynasty. (2) Consolidating the rule of the early Western Han Dynasty. (3) Enhancing the national power and laying the material foundation for the prosperity of the Western Han Dynasty. Source: Yuan (2008) (12). Development of China’s Ancient Tax System There are several kinds of taxes: the poll tax based on the number of people is the Ding tax, the property tax based on the household is the Tiao, the land tax based on the scale of field is the Tian Zu Tong, and compulsory labor, military service and other taxes and levies based on adult males (Table 1).

Table. 1 Development of Chinese traditional tax system Name

Time

Content

Lit like the ground, but failing each other

Qi during the Spring and Autumn Period (770–476 BC)

Taxation based on quantity and quality of land

Initial tax acres Lu during the Spring and Autumn Period (770–476 BC) Household the Han registration Dynasty (206 system BC-220 AD) Rent-seeking Early Sui and and adjustment Tang Dynasties system (581–617)

Taxation per acre

The Settlers paid rent, population tax, shifts, and performed corvée and military service to the state In addition to paying rents and transfers, peasants on the land could be used as laborers, and bureaucratic landlords had to pay taxes as well

Recognition of private ownership of land facilitates the transformation of private ownership of land and contributes to socio-economic development China’s feudal society’s complete system of servitude was formally formed Securing farmers’ working hours

Changed the taxation standard from the Warring States Period, which was based on the number of people, to a regular tax collection time (continued)

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Table. 1 (continued) Name

Time

Content

Double taxation law

the Mid-Tang Dynasty (618– 907)

Conscription Act and Fontaine Tax Equalization Act

the Northern Song Dynasty (960–1279)

One whip

the Ming Dynasty

Each household pays household tax according to assets and land tax according to acres of land, which is paid twice a year in summer and autumn Those who didn't serve, including the landlords and bureaucrats, had to pay an exemption fee, remeasure their land, and pay taxes per acre Bondage and servitude are combined into one levy

Amateur dramatist

the Ch’ing or Qing Dynasty (1644–1911)

Spread the tax evenly over the farmland and levy a uniform amount of land tax

Limiting the privileges of bureaucratic landlords, guaranteeing peasants’ working hours, and marking the shift from physical to monetary servitude Simplify and transform taxes in kind into monetary taxes for the benefit of the commodity economy

Abolition of the poll tax, which has contributed to population growth and socio-economic development Recognition of private ownership of land, which facilitates the transformation of private ownership of land and contributes to socio-economic development

4.3.2 Developing Production Stressing Agriculture and Restraining Commerce Agricultural products are the most basic means of subsistence in feudal society, while industry and commerce cannot provide the most basic means of subsistence. The feudal country can guarantee the financial revenue by collecting stable land tax, while the operation of shops, workshops and so on is not as secure as the management of land. It is good for social stability to tie the peasants to the land. Therefore, in ancient China, we carried out the policy of stressing agriculture and restraining commerce. During the Warring States period, Shang Yang changed the law to emphasize agriculture and suppress commerce, and rewarded farming and weaving; in the Sui and Tang dynasties, the system of equalization of fields was adopted, with a light ban on labor and thin subsistence, and the system of renting and adjusting was implemented; the financial management measures in Wang Anshi’s change of law were conducive to the development of agriculture and restricted commercial

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Hui Min (Benefiting the People)

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activities; in the early Qing dynasty, measures to restore the economy, such as renaming the fields, were implemented to suppress the budding of capitalism. Broaden Sources of Income and Reduce Expenditure Confucius advocated economic development. For the monarch, the consolidation and strength of the country depend on whether the people are rich. “If the people are rich, their ruler will not be left poor. If the people are in urgent needs, their ruler cannot enjoy wealth alone.” (Confucius, Yan Yuan). “When ruler makes it more beneficial to the people, he will benefit from things in which the people benefit from.” So the rulers should “be prudent in expenditure, and love the people; employ people according to agricultural calendar”. (Confucius, Xue Er) These sentences show that rulers should save money, not waste it, and use the officials correctly. Rulers are also supposed to make the common people work in their leisure time. For one thing, the country saves as much as possible on its fiscal expenditure, which is to be prudent. And for another, let the common people engage in agricultural production on time, not levy compulsory labor in the busy season of the harvest, so as not to affect agricultural production, which is to broaden sources. Review and Discussion 1. What are the principles of Zhi Zhong? 2. What is Ren Min? What does it include? 3. What are the strategies for the rule of law? What are the implications for modern enterprises? 4. What are the strategies for the rule of virtue? What are the implications for modern enterprises? 5. What are the strategies for harmonious management? What are the implications for modern enterprises? 6. What does Hui Min include? 7. In modern enterprise management, some people think that the rule of law is more important. Some people think that the rule of virtue is more important. What do you think? 8. Combine with the problems existing in enterprises, talk about your understanding of corporate management concepts and strategies. Cases of this Chapter To develop, enterprises must rely on management to win. On the management of people immediately think of “humanized management” and “institutionalized management”. Humanized management is a kind of management mode, which is mainly about “personal emotion” and “relationship”, while institutionalized management is about the integrity of the legal system in all sectors, and there are rules and regulations governing everything in management. Case 1 A Chinese restaurant in Guizhou opened in 2009, and it serves authentic local dishes in Guizhou. The restaurant covers an area of 500 m2. Opening nearly two

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years, the restaurant prioritizes the taste. With the outstanding quality of food, the restaurant has been recognized by customers. The general manager of the company, Li, was originally a chef. He is very experienced in dish innovation, but not in restaurant management. To standardize business management, he has also gone out to study many times and seek the best way to manage his business. He found that a restaurant peer used institutionalized management to manage the company in good order during his study. So, after he returned to the restaurant, he introduced various management systems and implemented them. But the problem emerged: through the efforts of the past two months and learning from other examples, most of the systems were established, but they could not be carried out. Those friends, relatives, and some leaders who were originally eager to work felt a trust crisis, and team efficiency rapidly declined. There was a phenomenon occurred where only refer to rules when doing things, and push responsibility to each other without rules. When this phenomenon happened, Li was in a state of conflict: institutionalized management or humanized management? Which is the best way to suit himself? Li decided to adopt a humanized management approach after he had deliberately thought about it. The main reasons are: 1. The people in each core position in the store are trustworthy. 2. He currently has no energy to perfect a system that suits him. Therefore, Mr. Li adjusted the management method. In addition to the employee’s necessary attendance, health system, and service standards, he adopted a humane management approach: 1. He often talks with the leaders and employees of various departments and holds regular general manager reception day to understand leaders and employees’ ideas, give timely incentives, and deal with problems. 2. He leads the heads of department and the backbone staff to inspect, have meals, have entertainment and so on, to establish the connection with employees in a relaxed atmosphere. 3. He sends gifts and messages of greetings carefully written on the birthdays of the heads of departments and key employees. 4. He makes care meals for sick employees and sends daily necessities for employees who have difficulty in living. 5. He eats with the team and goes off work together. When the business goes well, everyone will celebrate together. As a result, the team is active again; everyone thinks that the boss is really good, and it is very pleasant to work with such a good boss. What makes Li boss happiest is that despite high turnover rates in other restaurants, its own stores’ turnover rate is very low. What’s more, employees will introduce friends to enter their team. Just as General Li said: “Doing business in China needs humanized management.”

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Case 2 In 2005, a restaurant in Shenzhen opened. The store area is 1200 square meters. The founder, chairman Wang is keen on market insight and has his own technical team. Depending on his accurate market positioning and leading product technology, Wang opened 6 stores within 5 years. When the store opened to the third one, Wang had felt tremendous management pressure. There are many problems in store management: the leadership of the store is not well-configured; there is no standard for work of employees and leadership; if a department’s leader leaves, the work of the department will be in disarray; each store and each leader had their own management methods, for which headquarters was impossible to implement effective inspections at all. Although the company had recruited some professional managers from the headhunting company and the expensive professional managers had rich industry experience, they were unable to localize according to the company’s actual situation. Instead, they had blindly copied the enterprise’s management model, and the new store had collapsed due to mismanagement… The problem faced by Wang was that the hiring external professional managers didn’t work, while the internal leadership ability can’t keep up, the managers of each store can’t be replaced, and the management of each franchise is out of control. If depending on personal ability only, managers can’t take care of it. Therefore, after several setbacks, Wang consulted the relevant consulting company and adopted institutionalized management. 1. He rearranged the organizational structure of his headquarters and branches. 2. He implemented a single-store owner responsibility system to give the corresponding powers and responsibilities of the leadership, clearly divided their responsibility for the affairs, responsibilities, processes. 3. He has established management systems including employee welfare, attendance, assessment, health, supply and demand, acceptance, production, and receipt of bank notes, so that all departments can be properly managed. 4. He established a standardized management model for a single store and standardized daily processes, transaction processing standards, and key links. At the same time, he used the form of quantitative management to standardize the management of store leaders. 5. He has established an enterprise training system that regulates the reception of new employees, training standards and manuals for current and new employees, career planning and management for key employees of enterprises. He gradually established a training mechanism for enterprise talent echelon. 6. He established the operation inspection, the supervision process, and the standard for headquarters. 7. Taking cost accounting as the core, he regulated enterprises’ cost-related processes, such as procurement, treasury, storage, processing, shipping, ordering, claiming, inventory, impairment loss, food standard cost card, and price management cost transaction treatment and so on.

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Through the introduction of system norms and his one-year hard work, store management has finally been standardized and has clear standards. If external leaders need to join in the team, they just need to follow the management norms. Leadership training, the shop's management has also been unified, and truly realized the practical management. And these are the changes that institutionalized management brings to the enterprise. Questions 1. According to Case 1 and Case 2, compare and explain the difference between the two kinds of management. 2. According to the two cases, give the reasons for the change in the management style of the two enterprises. 3. What can we learn from the cases?

References Guangming, L. (2006). Corporate culture. Economic Management Press. Hongqi, C. (2004). The self-awareness, self-comparison and self-criticism of Emperor Tang Taizong. Literature and History, 10. Qiuming, Z. (2010). Discourses of the states. Zhongzhou Ancient Books Publishing House. Yuan, S. (2008). The “Rest and Recuperation” policy of the Han Dynasty. Policy Outlook, 12.

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Dealing with the Things— Management to Transaction

The duty of a monarch is to select virtuous persons, while the duty of a minister is to deal with the things in his share. —Xun Zi If you plan before you act, you will prosper; if you act before the plan, you will perish. —Shuo Yuan On the road the enemy must pass through in advance, we should select a position favorable to the attack of its own troops. —Sun Tzu

Abstract

1. Dealing with the Things, which is the management of an enterprise, refers to the way in which an enterprise deals with affairs during its operation. It is a systematic process through which things are Observing Things, Planning Things, and Knowing Things and Achieving Things. The ideal state of management is the long-term stability and sustainable development of enterprises. We should adhere to the principle of moderation to do things neither not in place nor in excess, the principle of rational choice to hold the two and adopt the moderation, and the principle of adoption to adhere to the law and be flexible, so as to manage the enterprises. 2. Observing Things, which is the most basic link in the management of business affairs, emphasizes a process of understanding the nature, environment, and conditions of things. Through the system dialectical, the concept of complying with nature and the method of taking reason as the basis and taking history as the mirror., we can listen to all parties and examine the situation. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021 H. Hu, Principles of Chinese Management, Management for Professionals, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-6522-3_8

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3. Planning Things, which is planning, emphases the process of efforts, refers to the enterprise according to the specific situation already known, to the affairs of the planning, and the development of action strategies. Planning is the core and most important step in the management of affairs. The core problem is how to make decisions. The object of Planning Things includes Planning for oneself, Planning for others and Planning for the time. Leaders must achieve this process of “Planning Things” by three principles “Winning by judging the enemy’s situation accurately”, “Changing the strategy with changes of the enemy”, “Knowing your enemy and yourself well,”. with the concept of “benevolence”, “rite”, “profit”, “righteousness”, “honesty”, “credibility”. 4. Doing Things, its core problem is how to achieve the set goals. When the affairs’ specific situation is clarified, and the corresponding decision-making strategies are formulated, it must be implemented based on this. Adhering to the precautionary attitude of “Repairing the house before it rains rain”, “Remaining indifferent whether favored or humiliated”, and “making a prompt decision”, with the theory of constantly changing by law and the application of “Being and not-Being grow out of one another”, “Using both kindness and authority” and “Being prepared for danger in times of peace”, the company can finally get successful. Keywords










“Dealing With the Things” “Observing Thing” “Planing Thing” “Doing Thing” Winning by judging the enemy’s situation accurately Changing the strategy with changes of the enemy Knowing your enemy and yourself well The theory of constantly changing by law Using both kindness and authority
















Learning Objectives and Requirements Understanding the specific content, principle and application of “Dealing with the Things”. Comprehending the meaning of “Observing Thing” “Planing Thing” “Doing Thing”. Understand the purpose of “Observing Thing”, the object of “Planing Thing” and the attitude of “Doing Thing”. Being familiar with the thinking of “Observing Thing”, the idea of “Planing Thing” and the method of “Doing Thing”. Mastering the method of “Observing Thing”, the strategy of “Planing Thing” and the way of “Doing Thing”.

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Introductory Case Battle of Changping Zhao She was a strong general of the state of Zhao. He fought countless battles and won countless battles in his life. His son, Zhao Kuo, was familiar with military books. He talked about the art of war with his father. Whether he asked whether he was attacking the emperor or defending, he was able to answer back to each other according to the military script. In 260 B.C., there was a decisive battle between the state of Qin and Zhao—Changping’s battle. Zhao Kuo was made a general and boasted to Emperor Zhao that his defeat of the Qin army was like autumn wind sweeping leaves. The Emperor of Zhao was very happy to hear that, so he rewarded him with a lot of money. So Zhao Kuo came to the front line with a box of military books. He took over the old general Lianpo and completely changed his strategy. He asked the army to take the initiative to kill the state of Qin army. Bai Qi, commander-in-chief of the Qin army, knew Zhao Kuo’s ability and character. He was beaten by Zhao Kuo on purpose, then pretended to retreat and set up an ambush. Zhao Kuo was self-righteous when he won the small battle. He regarded Baiqi as a defeated general who was vulnerable to attack. The next day, he led a large army to pursue the Qin army. After 46 days of war, more than 400,000 troops of Zhao state were killed and killed by the Qin army. The remaining 200,000 soldiers were buried alive overnight. Dealing with things is a comprehensive and systematic process. Relying on his own knowledge alone, he can not control things in all directions. However, Zhao Kuo can not succeed because of his lack of careful consideration of the war.

1

Introduction

Zhi refers to management. We explore Dealing with the Things by grasping the essence of the theory and practice of Dealing with the Things in Chinese history, following the moral view of “Virtue first, talent least”, focusing in the ethics of “Honesty, Credibility, Righteousness, and Benevolence”, according to the objective law of development to find the way of Dealing with the Things in management in China.

1.1 The Connotation of Dealing with the Things Dealing with the Things is the management of enterprises, refers to the principles and methods of enterprises used in operation. It aims to achieve to success through “Observing Things”, “Planning Things”, and “Doing Things” so that enterprises

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Fig. 1 The Structure of dealing with the things

can achieve long-term stability and sustainable development, which is the ideal state of Dealing with the Things (Fig. 1). The ancient Chinese people value their careers’ success or failure and strive to make their careers successful. Their successful experience is a valuable spiritual wealth. Based on the theory of “humanity”, Confucianism maintains that ethical and moral principles should be used to control and dominate economic interests. They insist when righteousness is in line with profit, it can be obtained; when it is not, give it up. When there is a contradiction between righteousness and profit, one should give up profit for righteousness. Taoism, however, has a different idea from Confucianism, which suggests that “harmony between human and nature” should be realized in production management and that natural resources should be developed appropriately and utilized rationally in the course of the production. It opposes unsustainable development, stands for using the natural way to treat nature, and pursues harmony between humans and nature. The management theory of Taoism stands based on “the Rule of Nature”, emphasizing respect for nature and observing the Rule of Nature. Zeng Guofan divided Dealing with the Things into four categories: “Military affairs, Wages, Officials’ Affairs, and Social Affairs”, which are included in the four key links of modern enterprise management: Production, Logistics, Personnel, and Communication. It can be seen that management is gradually accumulated through the practice of managers based on production development and economic operation.

1.2 The Principle of Dealing with the Things Chinese traditional theory contains extraordinarily rich modern management value and plays an essential theoretical guiding role in organizational management.

1.2.1 The Principle of Moderation to Do Things Neither Not in Place Nor in Excess “Middle” in ancient Chinese doctrine of “Golden Mean” means being moderate, impartial and appropriate, mainly refers to people’s subjective understanding and behavior in line with the objective reality of practice, thus achieving a certain goal. “Yong” is ordinary and easy to work with, not changing the general principle but

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must be flexible, which contains the meaning of universal application. The principle of moderation is embodied in the doctrine of “Golden Mean” and is opposite to “excessive” and “inadequate”. “Golden Mean” is against being extreme and advocates the principle of moderation. The ancient people took the throne and dominated the world, and they used the principle of moderation. The way that Chinese monarchs used politics and tactics to manage ministers properly is the most typical example of the moderate principle. Monarch Qin Shi Huang’s reward and penalty can provide peace to the people, and he can expand this empire and prosper. Liu Bang’s combination of kindness and authority is a kind of strategy and the way of a monarch. Li Shimin handled the relationship between himself and the officials and united the leaders together through excellent art of control. Wu Zetian’s way to her ministers was both tough and merciful, and her mercy was not unlimited, which allows her to achieve the desired effect. Kangxi was so dignified that his officials lived in an environment with “justice tempered with mercy”. All of the above examples reflect people’s success often cannot be separated from the grasp of “Moderation”. This theory is applied to enterprise management, and requires leaders to establish a sense of propriety, to keep the quality of things within a reasonable range, and to work as far as possible in the direction of optimum management; when managing people or things, do not do too much nor too little, and everything should be just right. In the popular Game Theory in modern economics, equilibrium is a very important concept, which refers to a stable state of a system involving different participants’ interaction. No participant can gain by a unilateral change of strategy if the strategies of the others remain unchanged; this shows that equilibrium is a kind of representation of “Moderation”, and to maintain this equilibrium, we must follow a specific rule, that is, the so-called “Yong” of Confucius. Being just perfect, being satisfied with what is proper is the best standard for doing things, neither not in place nor in excess.

1.2.2 The Principle of Rational Choice to Hold the Two and Adopt the Moderation “Holding the two and adopting the moderation” is quoted from “One should take hold the opinions of two sides, adopt the moderation, and apply it to govern the people”, which means to study the truth of both ends of things in detail, and to explain it clearly, and then take the middle of it and use it. The selection principle of “holding the two and adopting the moderation” contains the meaning of grasping the essence of things from on the high level, recognizing the two critical points of things, determining the quantity of things to achieve subjective and objective consistency, and to ensure the reasonableness of things. The traditional Chinese culture emphasizes to take the profit with the rules and righteousness. People should not forget righteousness when facing the temptation of profit. Everyone wants to get a reward, like profit or righteousness. However, a wise monarch can balance both. This strategy, “Holding the two and adopting the moderation,” often allows the people more identify with him and be more grateful to him.

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Today, the principle of rational choice has been widely accepted in China after the people’s democratic revolution and has been expressed as “seeking truth from facts”. This is the essence of Mao Zedong thought and Deng Xiaoping theory and the principle of effective choice confirmed by numerous facts. Similarly, the principle of reasonable choice has been recognized in modern enterprises, from the practical point of view, from which the inherent rather than imaginary law, and to find solutions.

1.2.3 The Principle of Adoption to Adhere to the Law and Be Flexible An adaptive plan means a detailed analysis of specific conditions. “Sun Yi” refers to deletions and additions. “Adhering to the law and be flexible” means to act according to the objective law, to achieve the harmony of everything within heaven and earth. As the situation change, moderation should then change accordingly. The adaptive principle avoids the static mode and combines principle with the flexibility to make the administrative process more reasonable. “Those we may study with may not be able to follow the same path with him; those who can follow the same path with him may to be able to do everything with him according to the rite, those who we can do everything with him according to rite may not be able to do things flexibly with him.” (The Analects of Confucius). This sentence emphasizes that in dealing with practical problems, we should be flexible and creative, and at the same time, we should grasp an appropriate degree, even if the appropriate degree is not fixed but to be measured by different things, different occasions, different people, which is, “adapt to changing circumstance”. In a modern society with rapid economic development, the environment in which enterprises are located is changing at any time. Science is changing with each passing day, productivity is developing rapidly, the knowledge of employees is greatly improved, and social values are also changing. The change and fluctuation of the social environment that enterprises face has become an important factor affecting enterprises’ operation and management. Therefore, in modern management, all management behavior must base on their specific situation to carry on the change, as well as follow the contingency principle of “Adhering to the law and be flexible”.

1.3 The Application of Dealing with the Things In the Chinese nation’s history and culture, many successes and failures can be used for reference, especially in today’s enterprise management and system construction services. Confucianism headed by Confucius; Legalisml headed by Han feizi; Military strategist headed by sun Tzu; Taoism headed by Lao Tzu, each of them has its philosophy and methodology of management, which can be used as a reference for modern enterprise management.

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1.3.1 Taking Confucianism as the Fundamental: Putting People First and Establishing Norms Based on inheriting the national cultural tradition, Confucianism cultural construction has emphasized adapting to the changes of the times and deeply rooted in the national land. It has strong applicability to modern enterprise management. Governing by Benevolence “Benevolence” means people-oriented. In management, enterprises need to treat humanity objectively. To see the goodwill in humanity, we can trust, authorize, reward, and arouse people’s initiative, enthusiasm, and creativity. At the same time, seeing the evil in humanity can let us restrain, supervise, and punish, let people self-restraint, to force people to overcome laziness and avoid depravity. “Benevolence is full of love, and puts himself in other people’s shoes”. It requires the enterprise to have social responsibility; the enterprise should not only care about itself but also about the customer, the staff. The enterprise should also emphasize the management to have empathy, think about the problem from the point of view of customers and employees, and make the right decision. Governing by Rite Governing by rite establishes a state and a family code of moral conduct, taking it as the guiding principle, to restrict and regulate people’s behavior. The application of “Governing by Rite” in modern enterprise management can include a clear organizational structure, clear division of functions, simple and efficient workflow, clear right of employee position, code of conduct, and rite of the employee. In other words, the five levels of enterprise standardization, including organization standardization, process standardization, system standardization, culture standardization, and information standardization. Governing by Morality Confucianism advocates “Governing by Morality”, “Subduing the subjects by Morality”, advocates enlightenment, and opposes “punish without educating”. In management, attention to Governing by Morality means paying attention to education, emphasizing the training and guidance of enterprise system and behavior norms, seeking the consciousness and self-restraint of employees, so as to form a unified enterprise culture and in turn effectively promote enterprise management and promote enterprise development. This is a more effective way than a strong push or a simple reward and penalty. Governing by Human Beings Confucianism believes that the quality of management depends on the quality of managers so that it put forward the views of “only good people should be in a high position”, “There are always talented changing the world, but there is no static law that governs everything”. In management, as Confucianism says, Governing by Human Beings is inevitable because everything must be done by human beings. For this reason, the importance of human beings is self-evident. “Ren Zhi”, emphasizes

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to take the person as the center, fully understands, and exerts the person’s function. Pay attention to the overall construction of human resources management, pay attention to the perfect planning of the system of positions, and pay attention to the comprehensive application of incentives to match the positions so that people can give full scope to the talents.

1.3.2 Taking Legalism as the Application: Taking the Law as the Key Point and Carrying Out Comprehensive and Standardized Management The core theory of Legalism can be summarized into five aspects: take the law as the guiding principle, judge in the context of law, use the unified law made by the manager, educated people on the law, recognize law is constantly evolving. Taking the Law as the Guiding Principle The point means “law-oriented”. Enterprises should establish the basic principles and rules of management, stipulate duty, responsibility, power, profit, and coordination. In management, the first thing should be to establish the law of enterprise. “taking the law as the basis requires making it strict”. In order to make “law” truly “stop disputes and stop the violence”, enterprises are required to establish the basic principles and rules of management, clearly the division of functions in enterprises. To be strict in law, managers must be careful in detail, covering everything without negligence, and integrate responsibility, authority, and benefit with no bias. Judging in the Context of the Law The enterprise should take “law” as the criterion; every detailed matter should be dealt with according to “law”, but cannot follow one’s bent. There is subjective discretion and prejudice in management, and inevitably distortion; the standard is not fixed. Therefore, enterprises should take “law” as the criterion, establish an objective and quantitative standardization process, standardization system and comprehensive evaluation mechanism. Using the Unified Law Made by the Manager Legalists argue that the law must be made by the government. When it is structured, standardized processes, rules and regulations, and code of conduct should have unified planning and strict staff membership for an enterprise. In management, enterprises should also be unified standardized management, must have specialized, standardized management departments. In this way, we can ensure the comprehensiveness, rigor, unity, and real-time of standardization and maximize standardized management effectiveness. Educating People on the Law Legalists regard Educating by law as an important means to promote the rule of law. Educating by law includes two aspects. The first is to be open and transparent so that everyone can comply with the law. The second is to unify the mind and eliminate distractions so that people can concentrate on what they are doing. In

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management, enterprises should step up its efforts to educating and training the content of standardized management. More importantly, the standardization of other elements of conflict should be abandoned and eliminated so as not to affect the effectiveness of standardized management. Regarding the Law as Ever-Changing The law cannot remain unchanged, it must change from time to time. Since the times are changing, the situation changes; the people are changing, and everything is changing. “Law” also needs to change from time to time. In management, all measures should be changed. There is no fixed management in the enterprise. Organizational structure changes as circumstances require; the division of functions should be adjusted if needed; workflow must be optimized as time pass by; rules and regulations must be updated; all of the above is necessary.

1.3.3 Taking Military as the Vanguard: Taking the Military Strategy as a Guide, Pay Attention to Tactics Theory of Being Vigilant in Peacetime As Sun Tzu: The Art of War said: “The art of war is of vital importance to the state. It is a matter of life and death, a road either to safety or to ruin. Hence it is a subject of inquiry which can on no account be neglected.” “The monarch can’t start a war because of his anger. A general should not lead to war because of his resentment.” With the rapid development of science and technology, business competition is becoming more and more fierce in modern society; enterprises should have a strong sense of unexpected development and be prepared for danger. Only in this way can we be invincible in the competition, so should we do in management. Theory of Strategic Attack The Military strategist in ancient China held that the war should be strategic: it should proceed from the overall situation; it should be considered from all sides; it should be carefully planned. To attack is to employ wisdom, to avoid their own losses, and to achieve maximum benefits. Many cases of modern commercial warfare are clear to prove this point. In order to promote management measures, we should try our best to seek approval and support, avoid unnecessary conflicts, exercise restraint and reduce management resistance. Theory of Victory in an Absolutely Dominant Position The Military strategist stands for picking a fight in an absolutely dominant position and believes that we should not engage in a war of attrition and strive to wipe out the enemy to obtain resources, boost morale, and support the strategy. The theory of victory includes three levels. First, we can’t go to a war we’re not sure about, which emphasizes that we should be fully prepared, the situation is in our favor, and that we didn’t make a mistake ourselves. The second is to strive for an active position and obtain spoils to supplement consumption and growth. Third, boost morale and confidence. These three levels strongly support the achievement of the overall strategy.

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In terms of management, it is necessary to attach great importance to the implementation of management, be cautious, rigorous and pragmatic, pay attention to actual results, and be keen to grasp management’s timing. As Peter Drucker said, management is a kind of practice. Its essence is not in knowing but in doing. Its verification is not in logic but in the result. “Its sole authority is an achievement.” Theory of Rapid Strike The rapid strike is a superb way to command an army. Speed is a key factor in generating strength and taking the lead. Only by stepping forward can we take the initiative and wait for opportunities; only quick wins can avoid long-term turmoil, lead to reduced consumption and strategic success. In modern society, the development of science and technology is changing with each passing day. The current market competition is for big fish to eat small fish and, more importantly, for fast fish to eat slow fish. Therefore, in management, we must pay attention to efficiency, speed and strive for a quick fix. Theory of Weak and Strong Points The Military strategist has always attached importance to the weak and strong points, and they advocated changing according to the situation of the enemy and concentrating on our strength in order to take the unexpected attack. Paying attention to the weak and strong points is to look at the situation, judge the situation, adapt to the situation, change strategy according to the enemy’s moves, avoid weakness, evade enemy’s strong points, choose the enemy’s weak points, seize the opportunity, concentrate resources, and strive for effectiveness. Theory of Intelligence The Military strategist attaches great importance to intelligence, emphasizes that everyone should know himself as well as the enemy. The intelligence is reflected in the situation, which is the key factor in the victory. Only by collecting information that is comprehensive and accurate can we lay the foundation for correct decision-making. To collect management information well, one should make sure internal and external information is integral. As for internal information, we should establish a perfect and smooth information system, while for external information, we should establish complete collection channels, including commercial spies. Chinese-Western Contrast Modern management also attaches importance to the collection of information. Management Information System (MIS) is a science to study how the organization can effectively use and manage its Management Information System to support the operational capability, improve operational efficiency and achieve the strategic objectives by computer hardware, software, network equipment, and the system of collection, transmission, storage, processing, sorting the pieces of information. Management Information System is different from other systems because it is used to apply other information systems in the organization’s business activities.

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Academically, Management Information System (MIS) is usually referred to as the information management methods (such as decision support system, expert system, and supervisor support system) related to decision-making automation or supporting decision-makers to make decisions.

1.3.4 Taking Taoism as the Basis: Basing on the Objectiveness and Respecting the Rule, “Do Not Struggle Against Nature and Do the Best for Things You Can Change” Tao Follows the Rule of Nature In management, “Tao follows the Rule of nature” requires that we should be objective-based, respect for the laws of nature, and do not violate the laws of nature. In particular, we should not exaggerate the subjective role. Management measures should do a good job rather than be anxious to achieve quick success and get instant benefits or brag about results. Relativism Taoism believes that all things in heaven and earth and the rules of operation are relative, doing nothing is doing something, the useless thing is also useful; the two sides of the unity of opposites can be converted to each other. Relativism requires us not to look at problems in a one-sided, isolated and static way but to learn to think in a comprehensive, interrelated, and dynamic way so as to make correct decisions. Harmony Between Human and Nature Taoism advocates “harmony between human and nature”, pursue the realm of “heaven and earth with me, everything and I as one”. It is required that enterprises should constantly explore and understand the management laws so that their management behavior conforms to the management laws. In other words, management behavior should be lawful, reasonable, rational, instead of exaggerating or demeaning subjective initiative. Governing by Non-interference Taoism holds that “Governing by non-interference” is the best management. Management should comply with nature, keep a low profile, know how to authorize and centralized, do their own duty, not do unauthorized things, and finally strive to the most natural, the simplest way to manage.

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Observing Things

2.1 The Goal of Observing Things Observing Things, is the most basic link in the management of an enterprise’s business affairs, emphasizes a process of understanding the nature, environment and conditions of things, and mastering the purpose, thinking and methods of examining things. Only should we do a clearer, more detailed analysis of the transaction can we achieve the process of Observing Things.

2.1.1 Hearing All Parties Hearing all parties, meaning listening to a wide range of views, makes one distinguish between right and wrong; only listen to the views of one side, one will often make a wrong judgment. “Hearing all parties” is from “Chinese History From Warring States to the Tang Dynasty”, the monarch asked Wei Zheng: “As the monarch, how to be wise, and how to be fatuous?” Wei said: “It is wise to listen to the opinions of many parties, but it is fatuous to listen to the opinions of one party.” Enterprise managers are required to listen to more opinions and make a comprehensive understanding and judgment of things in the course of observing things. Small Case During the reign of Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, there was a very famous politician named Wei Zheng. He was famous for his persuasion. Once, Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty asked him, “as a monarch of a country, how can we judge things correctly, clearly and not be confused? Conversely, what are the reasons for doing wrong?”. Wei Zheng thought for a moment and then replied, “you should listen to the opinions of all sides, and then you will naturally come to a correct conclusion. If you only listen to one side of the story, you will do things wrong because of one side.” Then, Wei Zheng listed many historical lessons, which showed that it would lead to very serious consequences if a monarch was biased. Emperor Qin II and others as examples, he said, “Qin II believed in Zhao Gao and suffered the misfortune of visiting foreigners; Emperor Wu of Liang believed in Zhu Yi and took the humiliation of Taicheng; Emperor Yang of Sui Dynasty believed in Yu Shiji, which led to the change of Pengcheng Pavilion. On the contrary, if we know more about the situation and listen to more opinions, we can avoid or prevent some disasters.” After listening to Wei Zheng’s words, Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty thought that what he said was very reasonable. He kept nodding and said, “great, great!”.

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2.1.2 Evaluating the Situation Evaluating the situation is to observe and analyze the situation and estimate the change of the situation, that is, to achieve the best result of dealing with things by actively analyzing the existing conditions. Before deciding to act, the Chinese will have a good idea about everything and make a thorough inquiry to have a clear and systematic plan for the foreseeable future. But this is not to say that the action is immutable, because in the process of implementing the management of things, if one insists on not making any changes, it is likely to be forced to stop. Therefore, it is necessary to observe the situation and adjust while making changes. Things are constantly changing, and the reason is understandable. Those that don’t seem feasible today will benefit in the future, while those that are feasible today but can not last for a long time will surely become a disaster in the future. To understand the law of change lies in the ability to judge the situation and distinguish the cart from the horse and the strong from the weak. (Chinese History From Warring States to the Tang Dynasty) It is to say that only when the situation is measured, can we get to the point of things. Now enterprises should deal with things correctly, and the personal experience and intuition of enterprise managers alone will make enterprises face huge risks. Especially as the volume of information is exploding, time is shorter, and the consequence of events is more and more extensive, the management has also changed from individual to the group, but the thought of decision-making is unchanged. There is no higher requirement for policymakers as “observation”. “Observation” is the basis for all things to be dealt with, and Buddhism thought that it is necessary to observe clearly, meaning to distinguish between the black and the white, the beautiful and the ugly, and to see the essence through the phenomenon, which can finally make the Planning Things smoother.

2.2 The Thought of Observing Things 2.2.1 Systematic Dialectic The ancient Chinese have long been familiar with using the thought of Systematic Dialectic to understand the world. I Ching regards the world as a system of basic elements and is divided into four instruments: four quadrants, eight hexagrams, and finally to the sixty-four hexagrams. The enlightened monarch of ancient China will look at things from the perspective of development and change, from the unity of opposites of Yin and Yang to things, from the whole to the local to see things. Managers must grasp the opposite and complementary modes of thinking from the combination of contradictions, adhere to the strategy of “Seeking harmony from diversity.”, and master the method of spiritual thinking to achieve a clever combination of instrumental rationality and value rationality. A modern enterprise leader should regard the enterprise and the enterprise’s environment as a whole, a system, and understand it with the system dialectical thought.

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2.2.2 Following Nature “Nature” is the nature of “Tao”. “Nature” does not mean nature outside human beings, but the “Tao” and the universe derived from it. The natural condition and the existing form and operation mode of natural talent. Lao Tzu said: “Tao” is great; Heaven is great; Earth is great; human is also great. In the universe, there are four that are great, and human is one of them. Lao Tzu said that “Humans follow the Rules of the earth, and the earth follows the Rules of the heaven, heaven follows the rules of Tao. Tao follows the rule of nature.” (Tao Te Cching) Here, “Tao” contains the rules, the laws, Taoism and other multiple meanings, but the most important thing is as the origin and law of all things in heaven and earth. On the basis of the laws of science, people can know more about what will happen. Ancient Chinese merchants have long recognized the importance of law of nature in market management. If we study the situation of surplus or shortage of commodities, we will understand the reason why prices rise and fall. If the price is too high, it will return to cheap. If the price is too low, it will return to expensive. (Shi Ji) It is to say that, in the market, the price of goods is low due to oversupply; the price of goods is high due to undersupply. A commodity that is expensive to the highest point will be cheaper, and a low price to the lowest point will be expensive. This is the rule of market operation that does not shift people’s subjective intentions. Mastering the laws can prompt people to explain things’ nature and law by natural phenomena and laws of nature. In modern enterprise management, only by not violating the objective economic law, or make decisions based on subjective imagination can make the enterprise succeed.

2.3 The Method of Observing Things In the 5000-year history of China, the ancestors left behind many historical works, which contained extremely rich thoughts of politics, military affairs, and life strategy, which could govern the country and could regulate oneself. Any of these methodological strategies can be used to run an enterprise. The main methods used by the ancient Chinese people in understanding things were: taking reason as the basis and taking history as the mirror (Fig. 2). Fig. 2 The method of observing things

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2.3.1 Taking Reason as the Basis Taking reason as the basis refers to judging things according to scientific theories in various fields. The ancients advocated the “Four Books” and “Five Classics”, and through the various scientific theories in the books, they understood various things. For example, Dream Pool Essays is a book written by Shen Kuo of the Song Dynasty, which contains the thoughts and insights of Shen Kuo’s life. The existing “Dream Pool Essays” is divided into 26 volumes, including stories, dialectic, music, quadrant, personnel, government, power, art, painting, skills, tools, magic, anecdote, sarcasm, miscellaneous, medicine. There are 609 articles in 17 categories, covering all aspects of science and technology. Tips In the sixth year of Emperor Gaozu of Han Dynasty (200 B.C.), Han Wangxin rebelled, and Emperor Gaozu personally led his troops to suppress it. When we arrived in Jinyang (now Taiyuan City, Shanxi Province), I heard that Han Wangxin and Xiongnu wanted to attack the Han Dynasty together. The emperor was very angry and sent people to try the Huns for the first time. The Huns hid the strong men and fat cattle and horses. Only the old people, children, and thin livestock were seen. More than ten envoys sent back said they could attack the Huns. The emperor sent Liu Jing to Xiongnu again. Liu Jing came back and said, “the two attack each other. They should boast and show their strengths. Now when I go there, I only see the small and thin livestock and the old and weak soldiers. This must be to let us see the shortcomings and ambush the strange soldiers to fight for victory. I don’t think we can attack the Huns.” The emperor became angry and scolded Liu Jing and said, “the bastard of the state of Qi got an official position by playing tricks. Now, a bunch of nonsense is obstructing our army.” So Liu Jing was imprisoned in Guangwu (today’s Dai County, Shanxi Province) and led his troops to go there. When they arrived in Pingcheng (today’s Datong City, Shanxi Province), the Huns did indeed send out raiding troops to surround Gaozu in Baideng (today’s Datong City, Shanxi Province). After seven days, they were able to extricate themselves from the siege. When Gao Zu returned to Guangwu, he pardoned Liu Jing and said, “I didn’t accept your opinion, so that I was besieged in Pingcheng. I have killed all the ten envoys who said the Huns could attack.” So Liu Jing was awarded the title of Marquis Neihou, known as Jianxin Hou. Liu Jing’s correct analysis comes from his mastery of the theory of suspected soldiers in the art of war. For the present managers, they must analyze and understand the affairs according to scientific theory.

2.3.2 Taking History as the Mirror Chinese civilization has been used for thousands of years, and the best reference for understanding things can be found in history. Li Shimin, the monarch Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, once said: “taking copper as a mirror, you can sort clothes;

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taking others, you can know the gains and losses; taking history as a mirror, you can know why dynasties fall and rise.” Taking history as the mirror, you can better understand yourself by drawing on historical experience and lessons. You can govern the country, and you can cultivate yourself. Throughout history, we can see the future: now is the continuation of the history, and the future is the continuation of the present. Summarizing historical experience and lessons is to seek the reasons for the rise and fall of the country or individuals’ success or failure.

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Planning Things

Planning Things, emphasizes the process of efforts, refers to based on the specific situation already known and the development of action strategies. Planning is the core and most important step in the management of affairs. The core problem is to solve the problem of how to plan and on what basis to plan. In China’s history, such as Shi Ji, Strategies of the Warring States, Sun Tzu: The Art of War, and Comprehensive Mirror to Aid in Government, there are plenty of career ideas and cases. The key point of this section is understanding the object of Planning Things, the idea, and the method of Planning Things.

3.1 The Object of Planning Things If you want to act, you must first plan. The most important thing in the plan is to know the subject to the plan and to make clear objectives of the plan (Fig. 3).

3.1.1 Planning for Oneself It is the first step in Planning Things is Planning for oneself. It is to plan for the cultivation of one’s own ability and quality. No matter what, the ability and quality of the leader is the most important. In ancient times, Mao Sui has recommended himself and stood out; Lin Xiangru volunteered to bring the Heshi Bi back from the state of Qin to the state Zhao and

Fig. 3 The object of planning things

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did it perfectly; Xiang Yu was obstinate and besieged on all sides; Zhao Kuo talked about the war on paper, and the whole army was destroyed. Therefore, we can see that Planning for oneself is the most basic ability of self-examination, aiming too high, not willing to listen to advice, and being opinionated is the enemy of Planning Things, which will lead to a result of “Never make, but always break”.

3.1.2 Planning for the Others Planning for others is more important than Planning for oneself. “Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will be invincible in a hundred battles.” Zhuge Liang borrowed arrows with that boats because of his understanding of Cao Cao’s suspicious nature. The “empty city strategy” has been used so many years because Sima Yi thought that Zhuge Liang was cautious and would not use this dangerous strategy. Pang Juan died on an ambush because he was too narrow-minded to recognize Sun Bin’s strategy was above his, but Sun Bin knew well that Shanxi’s soldiers have always been brave and despised the soldiers of Shandong, and guided in the direction conducive to achieving the goal. At a dinner in Hongmen, Xiang Yu could recognize his pride but could not recognize the plot behind Liu bang, who seemed weak. Planning for the others is to understand the social background and complex interpersonal relationships of your opponent. A wise man always sees the truth behind him through simple appearances. In the militarily, “Observing the opportunity and acting immediately when appropriate”, “guiding in the direction conducive to achieving the goal,” are the wise actions of Planning for the others. 3.1.3 Planning for the Time Planning for time is the highest level of planning. The ancients emphasized the appropriate time, the appropriate location and the appropriate people. The superior should know astronomy, understand geography, and be able to deal with complex interpersonal relationships. In the face of a complex interpersonal relationship environment, Zhuge Liang analyzed all kinds of forces and people’s mentality, fighting against each other. Since then, many interesting stories happened, Cao Cao was hit hard. Planning for the time means judging the situation and taking every factor into consideration. Planning for the time is not blaming the failure to chance, or fate is simply not the way. Time is not the gold, but the opportunity, environment and interpersonal relationship. An unfavorable environment is fair to everyone.

3.2 The Concept of Planning Things The concept determines behavior. In the process of Planning Things, the most important thing is to establish the correct concept. The success or failure of decision-making also depends on the concept of managers. A correct and positive concept representing the faith of enterprise can stimulate the vitality, promote the production and operation, better standardize the behavior, establish the team spirit, and make the long-term stability (Fig. 4).

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Fig. 4 The concept of planning things

3.2.1 Benevolence and Rite Benevolence is the most fundamental and universal moral category in Confucianism theory. The connotation of benevolence is very rich, and there are close relatives, filial piety and other family moral feelings based on kinship. As Confucius said, “Benevolence is love, dear relatives are the greatest benevolence.” (The Book of Rites). “Respecting parents and brothers is the foundation of human beings” (The Analects of Confucius). benevolence also includes the goodness of human nature based on “benevolence is full of love” (Mencius), and the moral principle reflecting the character of benevolence, such as “respect, generosity, credibility, cleverness, and wisdom”. For enterprises, benevolence is people-centered and emphasizes morality and authority, the perfection of personality, common interests of internal groups of enterprises, and social, moral responsibility. The core concept is “Benevolence is the purpose and rite is the means”, the mode of thinking and practicing is “On the one hand, they have the talent and morality of saints, on the other hand, they can carry out the rule of the monarch” and “Using our own mind to deduce others’ mind”; this puts forward higher moral requirements for the managers. Rite is not only morality but also an ethical principle. In Confucianism theory, the more important position of the rite is presented as ethical principles. The nature, function and its relationship with morality, benevolence and political personnel has been clearly defined and explained in The Book of Rites. These records show that. Rite is the Principle of Humanity to Identify the Interpersonal Relationship and the Rational Principle to Distinguish the Similarities and Differences Rite not only regulates the hierarchical order of people of different levels and different categories in the society (such as monarchs and officials, fathers and sons, couples, friends, teachers and students), but also become a variety of social behaviors in political, military, cultural, economic, religious and other activities; this shows that standards and systems show that the fundamental nature of “Rite” is the ethical norm and order system.

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Rite is the External Norm of Fulfilling Internal Moral Emotions The Confucianism theory said, “without rite, morality and benevolence can not achieve anything” (The Book of Rite). “It means that music and rite complement each other to promote people’s self-cultivation” (The Book of Rite). It says that the relationship between the system of rite and moral emotions is a harmonious relationship. Rite is the Ethical Norm to Impose Moral Requirements on Every Member of Society “There is a kinship between father and son, justice between the monarch and officials difference between husband and wife, priority and subordinate between elder and younger, and trust between friends” (Mencius). It requires all members of society to abide by these moral standards; that is the only way to achieve the goals of perfect personality, family harmony, and social stability. Rite in Confucianism Theory is Following the Time Confucius said that rite should be in accordance with the rule of time and the rule of nature, with the will of ghosts and gods, and even more in line with the rule of humanity, so as to govern all things… “Planning the title, we should first consider the time, then consider the ethics” (The Book of Rites). Confucius said that “A gentleman can obey the rule of moderation at any time” (The Doctrine of The Mean). We can see that although the rite of Confucianism has a wide range of social functions, they are mainly used to establish the external norms and systems of human relations in the hierarchical society. It is an ethical principle of heteronomy rather than a moral principle of self-discipline. Moreover, the rite is constantly developing and updating and keeping pace with the times. It can be seen that in the Confucianism theory, the relationship between moral benevolence and ethical rites is a kind of relationship between exterior and interior and should not be confused or classified as “Rite Theory” unilaterally. For modern enterprises, the existence of rite is based on benevolence, which is the external expression of inner benevolence and goodness. Therefore, Confucius said, “How to deal with rite system without benevolence?” and advocate “self-restraint and make everything belongs to rite”. Mencius thought that “compassion” is the “beginning of benevolence”, and “Humility” is the “beginning of ceremony”. Moreover, as a kind of morality, rite itself has multiple moral meanings, such as respect, concession, loyalty, and faith, which are actually the external manifestation of inner benevolence. It can be seen that in the traditional Chinese theory, although benevolence and rite are both moral principles, there is a relationship between them, that is, “benevolence is based on rite”.

3.2.2 Profit and Righteousness Profit and righteousness are the two poles of value orientation. In essence, it is the generalization of interests from different angles. Righteousness refers to a kind of macro and overall public interest, that is, the benefit of altruism, the benefit of the

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group, and the country’s benefit, which also refers to great righteousness, which is ethical, fair, and reasonable. Profit refers to a micro, personal self-interest. In the process of decision, profit and justice are often the most important factors that leaders attach. The ancient Chinese people had a definite conclusion about righteousness and profit. Confucius believed that “the mind of the superior man is conversant with righteousness; the mind of the villain is conversant with gain”; “the superior man holds righteousness to be of the highest importance”; “Take it when it’s time”; Mencius emphasized that “Righteousness is the right way”, “As long as everything is moral”; Xunzi thought that “The pursuit of justice is better than the pursuit of wealth, which is the world of peace; the pursuit of wealth is more than the pursuit of justice, which is the world of decline and chaos.”, emphasized that “Righteousness before profit”. It seems to be an indisputable conclusion that “justice is more important than profit”. However, our country’s traditional culture does not only pay attention to righteousness but pay attention to profit. We mainly emphasize that we must make money through honorable means rather than give up honor at the prospect of profits. The clever monarchs in Chinese history have a deep understanding of this. Therefore, they can gain insight into humanity when they choose a person for a job. As an economic entity in a market economy environment, modern enterprises pursue profit maximization. It is natural for enterprises to expect continued growth in wealth, continuous improvement in strength and stable and rapid economic development. However, we cannot make the purpose of enterprise management solely after profit. Enterprise is not only an economic organization but also a social organization. It is an integral part of human society. When enterprises pursue “profit”, it must be beneficial to society, which is also known as “righteousness”. Enterprises should pay attention to the immediate benefits as well as long-term interests, local interests and overall benefits. “If you are greedy for small profits, you can’t do great things.” “Not greedy for small profits”, only in this way, the economic profit of enterprises are the righteous benefits, which is the long-term benefit of sustainable development.

3.2.3 Honesty and Credibility Honesty and credibility are important moral concepts in the management process. Honesty is the most basic moral standard of Confucianism, and also the success of Chinese businessmen. In the market economy, all of the successful enterprises attach great importance of credibility and honesty. The harsh reality of market competition makes Western managers focus on enterprises’ external credibility and put forward the “customer is god” creed. The service concept “ forever honest” of Haier runs through the customer’s pre-sales, sales, and after-sales service, which won customers’ praise at home and abroad. Enterprises should not only pay attention to honesty in external credibility but also in dealing with internal, interpersonal relationships. The manager will lose prestige in front of the employees if he breaks faith with the people. “Honesty and credibility can get other people’s appointments.” Managers must first gain the trust of the people before they can

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manage the people. “The gentleman will serve them only after they get the trust of the people. If they do not, the people will think that they are abusing them” (The Analects of Confucius). Honesty in the internal management should be reflected in the enterprise objectives, corporate objectives, corporate culture and enterprise mind. Credibility is being a man of his word. Today’s market economy is a credit economy for enterprises. The degree of credibility often indicates the vitality of the company. “If you are credible, people will repose trust in you.” (The Analects of Confucius) People will trust you if you are sincere with each other. Business reputation has become an important intangible asset of modern enterprises, and a reputable enterprise will undoubtedly make each other feel a psychological sense of security when dealing with other enterprises. So that it in commodity trading, financing, investment, joint ventures, and other business areas have more advantages. To be credible and honest, enterprises should be in contact with each other with sincerity, not fraud or hypocrisy. The Chinese nation is a people of credibility. Tsze-hsia said, “if one wants to make friends, he must keep his words.” (The Analects of Confucius) Confucius dedicated his life to the teaching of credibility, which runs through the entire system of thought of Confucius. He respected the four religions “literacy, actions, loyalty, and credibility”. Modern enterprises fully realize that honesty and credibility are the business ethics that managers must have and the idea that managers must set up. Honesty and credibility are the important premises of cooperation between modern enterprises and the important criterion of fair competition. With the constant development of market economy society, laws and regulations are designed more elaborate and perfect like computer software. But the law is not perfect, the law is not the rule of all, so at the same time, there must be honest and credible, to regulate people’s behavior from their heart and to establish a healthy and orderly social life through law-abiding and trustworthy. In a sense, self-restraint from the moral level is more important than a restraint from the legal level. The law is only to a certain extent on the specific acts of human binding. Honesty and credibility are the cornerstones of enterprise development.

3.3 The Strategy of Planning Things Planning Things is often preceded by strategies and methods that guide action. Sun Tzu: The Art of War, Thirty-Aix Stratagems and other great episodes of “strategy”, “trick wins”, of the past Dynasties have a profound impact because it is not only confined to the military sphere but also applicable to the enterprise. Small Case Among the famous “five tyrants of spring and Autumn Period”, Emperor Huan of the state of Qi praised him for his “upright but not treacherous” way of planning things, and Mencius eulogized his “Emperor Huan was prosperous of five tyrants”.

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The strategy of Emperor Huan of the state of Qi is that he is good at judging the situation correctly and making necessary compromises with his opponents according to the actual situation. The alliance of Zhaoling fully embodies his steady style of realizing his strategic interests through compromise. At that time, the soldiers of the state of Chu marched northward and became a great threat to the Central Plains princes. Under such circumstances, it is impossible for the state of Qi to shrink its head and protect the small and medium-sized princes in the Central Plains. However, it is not the right choice to fight the state of Chu on a whim. The best way is to organize a multinational force, which will be stationed in the territory of Chu and exert great political, military and diplomatic pressure on the enemy to make certain concessions. Therefore, Emperor Huan of the state of Qi and the state of Chu jointly staged a compromise drama in Zhaoling area. The state of Chu acknowledged the fault of not paying parrhesia to the emperor of Zhou, and indicated that he was willing to bear the obligation of obeying the royal family, which gave Emperor Huan of the state of Qi the face he needed. This strategic approach of not Taking extreme and ingenious compromise may make people who are used to singing the high-profile of “suppressing foreigners” feel that it is not enough fun, but it is exactly the only feasible and correct choice for Emperor Huan of the state of Qi at that time. Emperor Huan of the state of Qi was good at grasping the opportunity, calculating wisely, and never made any loss making business. He always exchanged the most considerable benefits with the smallest investment. Some of the major events that he made later generations like to talk about, such as helping the state of Xing, saving the state of Wei, rescuing the dynasty Zhou and so on, were all cost-effective transactions with little investment but large profits. For example, when he helps the state of Xing, save the state of Wei, he did not send troops to assist the state of Xing and Wei when Rongdi attacked them, but only after the situation became clear. Therefore, when the soldiers of the state of Qi arrived late, the state of Xing and Wei was already attacked by Rongdi. In this way, the state of Qi army did not suffer losses but won the reputation of fighting against Rong Di and rescuing the crisis. Emperor Huan of the state of Qi himself almost became the great savior of the people. Data source: Pumin (2011).

3.3.1 Winning by Judging the enemy’s Situation Accurately The key of “Winning by judging the enemy’s situation accurately” is to have a comprehensive and systematic understanding of the affairs of the enterprise. The most important is to judge reality. In the modern context of enterprises, the operator is required to “Win by judging the enemy’s situation accurately and planning for the unexpected danger”. Judging the enemy’s situation accurately and winning is Sun Tzu’s winning thought is a comprehensive and systematic war theory. This thought’s emphasis is on a well-informed judgment of affairs that requires people to nip danger in the bud.

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Sun Tzu argued that: “Hence the skillful fighter puts himself into a position which makes defeat impossible, and does not miss the moment for defeating the enemy. (Sun Tzu: The Art of War) Those who are good at fighting always make themselves invincible and never letting go of every opportunity to defeat the enemy. Therefore, the victorious army will first conduct a comprehensive understanding of the situation and then seek to fight against the enemy; the failed army often first ventures into the enemy and then prays for victory. This includes two meanings: First, what winning before fighting needs to solve is the objective material basis of the war, emphasizing that people should “preventing the slight deterioration of the situation”, and all dangers must be resolved in advance. Second, winning before fighting requires the knowledge and prediction of information to be based on a certain strength. This strategy has two aspects of reference in modern enterprises. Leaders Should Have Cautious on a Strategic Level, Take Measures, and Nip the Crisis in the Bud Therefore, Lao Tzu once said: “Action should be taken before a thing has made its appearance; order should be secured before disorder has begun.” (Lao Tzu) Strategic success or failure is often determined before actual competitive engagement. If we use our tactics first, the enemy will not be able to use them even if they have strength, if we use force first, the enemy will have the strength and can’t resist it (Wei Liao Tzu). It emphasizes the importance of preventing problems before they happen. Managers Should Know as Much as Possible in Advance and Fully Grasp the Information The information we have is subject to the principles of accuracy and timeliness. Accuracy is to grasp the relevant information needed for decision-making; timeliness emphasizes the timely principle of information, meaning to quickly provide the necessary information for decision-making without losing the opportunity to minimize the retention of information in the intermediate links and to prevent information distortion. For modern leaders, to adhere to the principle of accurate and timely information, we must adhere to the principle of seeking truth from facts, conduct in-depth investigation and research, and proceed from reality, and consciously act according to objective laws.

3.3.2 Changing the Strategy with Changes of the Enemy One of the most important principles in Sun Tzu: The Art of War is to adjust the battle plan at any time as the enemy situation changes. “All warfare is based on tricks.” War is not tired of deception; surprise victory is the essence of the military theory of Sun Tzu. Using the trick on the battlefield is that “On the surface, it is empty, but in fact, it is well prepared; on the surface, it seems to be well prepared, but in fact, it is bluffing”. The key is to avoid the enemy’s main force and attack the enemy’s weak links with our own main force, attack by surprise, suppress the enemy and get an all-around victory (Sun Tzu: The Art of War).

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“Modify tactics in relation to one’s opponent” means “using army does not take a static form and must adjust according to the enemy”. Sun Tzu used a very vivid and easy-to-understand metaphor—“Military tactics are like water” to illustrate that the situation on the battlefield is changing, and the application of tactical warfare has to be changed according to the situation. We can only win if we are flexible. “Military tactics are like water; for water in its natural course runs away from high places and hastens downwards. So, in war, the way is to avoid what is strong and to strike at what is weak. Water shapes its course according to the nature of the ground over which it flows; the soldier works out his victory in relation to the foe whom he is facing. Therefore, just as water retains no constant shape, so in warfare, there are no constant conditions. He can modify his tactics in relation to his opponent and thereby win and is called the god of war. The five elements (water, fire, wood, metal, earth) are not always equally predominant; the four seasons make way for each other in turn. There are short days and long days; the moon has its periods of waning and waxing.” (Sun Tzu: The Art of War). In accordance with these principles, managers should also be based on market changes, competitors, customer demand and adjust their own business strategy at any time to ensure the survival and development of enterprises.

3.3.3 Knowing Your Enemy and Yourself Well “If you know the enemy and yourself well, your victory will not stand in doubt; if you know either one of the two, your chance of victory is halved; if you know neither, you are doomed to lose” (Sun Tzu: The Art of War). Knowing oneself and the enemy, that is, if we can know both the enemy and ourselves thoroughly, we can fight an invincible battle. Put it in the modern enterprise; this is the “information view” of modern management. We are in an era of information explosion. For a manager, making decisions without investigation and research, without knowing the actual situation, without knowing the development trend of the situation, and without authorization will be bound to lead the enterprise in a dangerous situation. This shows the importance of “Know your enemy and yourself” in management.

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The most central issue to be addressed is how to achieve the goals set. It must be carried out on the basis of the specific situation of the transaction and the corresponding decision-making strategy. This section focuses on the attitudes, methods and behavior of Doing Things.

4.1 The Attitudes of Doing Things The success or failure of a transaction often depends on the attitude of the leader.

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4.1.1 Repairing the House Before It Rains Small Case After Emperor Wu exterminated Zhou, he granted Guanshu, Caishu and Huoshu to the outskirts of the capital of Dynasty Shang to monitor the adherents of Dynasty Yin, who were called the third prison. Emperor Wu died and Emperor Cheng succeeded to the throne at a young age. His uncle, Zhougong, was in charge of the administration, which caused dissatisfaction among the three wardens. Guanshu and others spread rumors that Zhougong would not be in favor of becoming emperor. In order to avoid suspicion, Zhougong moved to Luoyi, far away from the capital. Soon, Guanshu and others colluded with Wugeng, the son of Emperor Yin. Zhougong was ordered by Emperor Cheng to set up an expedition to the East, punish Guanshu, kill Wugeng, release Caishu, and collect the remaining people of Yin Dynasty. After the fair and disordered Zhou Dynasty, he wrote a poem named “Chi Xiao” with Emperor Cheng. His poem said: “when it does not rain, peel the mulberry skin, mix with mortar, to bind the doors and windows. Do you dare to deceive me?” This poem was sarcastic. He hoped that Emperor Cheng would formulate measures in time to stop the rebellion. Although Emperor Cheng was dissatisfied, he did not dare to blame him. In battle, if the army is fast and gains a preemptive advantage, it will prevail and win. The market is like a battlefield. The most important thing to do is to have the ability to anticipate and plan ahead. If the manager lacks the ability to see the way ahead, his team will be in danger. In this regard, the ancients stressed in the smooth and successful time to do a good job of preparing for the rainy day. A gentleman should, when things are going well, consider the possible risks and prevent them beforehand. Of course, in times of trouble, we should carefully identify the changing trend of affairs from nature and find the direction of action (I Ching). For today’s enterprises, if they want to develop, they must have the consciousness of hardship, like “being vigilant in peacetime”., “Repairing the house before it rains rain”. As early as 1984, Zhang Ruimin, the president of Haier Group, smashed 76 refrigerators with slight quality problems in front of all employees, which spread a sense of crisis and responsibility for employees and created their unique attitude of service, such as “Users are always right”. “Haier” is not selling products, but credibility, “sincere to forever”, etc. Just like Haier’s survival philosophy: “forever fighting”, this company gives a strong sense of urgency and crisis awareness, which is the key to Haier Group’s success. Therefore, for a company, no matter what kind of environment, it must always maintain the consciousness of crisis.

4.1.2 Remaining Indifferent Whether Favored or Humiliated Those who want to be successful must remain indifferent, whether favored or humiliated.

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If a person’s goal is simply to gain wealth for extravagant enjoyment, then this person is not qualified to be a leader at all. Even if he becomes a leader by chance or tricks, he will eventually fail. Only when people are freed from the shackles of things and realize the spiritual elevation is the ideal leader and it is possible for him to become a successful person. The heroes on the battlefield are not afraid of death, and they are naturally fearless. The eminent ancient monks can wear the most simple cloth and fill the stomach by a little porridge. He naturally has no greed. Qian Zhongshu said, “Success does mean not only achievement in the career but also the improvement of the realm of life.” Cai Laixing, chairman of Shanghai Industrial (Group) Co., Ltd., also said: “How high a company can jump depends largely on the level of entrepreneurs: the higher your level can be, the higher a company can fly.” It is very important to improve your own realm.

4.1.3 Making a Prompt Decision There is a timing issue in the development of affairs and the resolution of problems. Therefore, making a prompt decision is also an important decision-making concept. Once upon a time, a parent took out a messy of hemp rope and let the two sons sort them. The eldest son picked it out little by little, while the younger son took out a knife and simply cut it. Decision-makers must have this kind of arrogance. making a prompt decision can establish a bold and confident image of the leader. Only such leadership can make the subordinates convinced and respectful. In contemporary business management, leaders are more demanding in their ability to act decisively, and they are reflected in a variety of decision-making processes. For managers, the timing of making decisions is extremely important. A variety of decisions are extremely time-sensitive and must be taken decisively to grasp the instantaneous opportunity that cannot reappear. If the decision is correct, but the opportunity is missed, the effect will be greatly reduced. Delayed decisions can have a negative impact on transaction management. Decisive personality, you can quickly analyze the situation in the case of sudden changes in the situation and make the right decision without losing the opportunity to adapt to the changed situation. Of course, leaders should understand that decision making is not arbitrary, nor is it random; this seemingly instantaneous decision is usually an accumulation of a large number of decision-making experiences and decision-making mechanism. Decision-making has gone beyond the scope of personality, and effective managers are more decisive from its rich experience, knowledge and grasp of the situation. Therefore, if the manager is in a dilemma and cannot make up his mind to decide, it may not because he is not bold enough, but because he needs further study. The Modern society is an information society, and the information is fast changing. The opportunity is fleeting. Thus, it requires the modern leader to be good at seizing the opportunity to obtain the success. Of course, it is on the basis of correct analysis and judgment, and it cannot be groundless, unconditional impulse or reckless behavior.

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4.2 The Methods of Doing Things The traditional Chinese way of doing things has its own characteristics and is different from the Western philosophical or scientific methods of dialectics, evolution, deduction, induction, intuition, comparison, phenomenology, occurrence, analysis, synthesis, etc. In summary, it is “the theory of constantly changing by law”.

4.2.1 Definition of “the Theory of Constantly Changing by Law” Law means not change frequently. “There are nine laws of governing the country”. Chinese people follow these common senses and pay attention to “The methods which used vary but with the same principle.” “Tao can not leave for a moment. If it can, it is not Tao” (The Doctrine of The Mean). The root of the Tao is that fate cannot be changed. From ancient times to the present, no matter how the Chinese improve and change, Tao is always the same. The Chinese talk about the law based on change, it is to find the law of Tao. Change means “changing according to the objective situation”. Confucius said: “Those we may study with may not be able to follow the same path with him; those who can follow the same path with him may to be able to do everything with him according to rite, those who we can do everything with him according to rite may not be able to do things flexibly with him” (The Analects of Confucius). Chinese sages believe that People we may study with can understand oneself and understand others. Understanding oneself is the premise of understanding others. Only people who can understand themselves can learn together with others. Therefore, only those who have a clear goal and stick to the same goal can stress the state of “changing according to the objective situation”. “Constantly changing by law” is to say that the principle can be immutable and variable. The immutable principle is law, and the variable one is Change. But in the eyes of Chinese, Law is not the opposite of Change, because Change is the application of law in special things. 4.2.2 Basic Law of the Law of “the Theory of Constantly Changing by Law” The basic principle of “the theory of constantly changing by law” is the rule of moderation. It is also the principle of “Flexible response to changing situations” (Fig. 5). Contingency Does not Transgress the Law Contingency does not transgress the law, which means that Contingency does not abandon its essence. The enterprise employees have different interests, and it is inevitable that they will compete and generate grievances, which will affect harmony. Everyone wants managers to help them with the power of “contingency”. If the manager opens a special case beyond the law, the result will only increase the employee’s inner injustice. It is better to insist that everything does not go beyond the law, and all Contingency is within the scope of the law. On the one hand, the

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Fig. 5 The basic principle of “the theory of constantly changing by law”

manager must remember that the law must be revised at any time to make it appropriate; on the other hand, managers can openly and honestly say: “I can try my best to help you, as far as it is within my authority and written in the rule book” Then you can get everyone’s understanding and promote harmony between members. Contingency Does not Hurt People The reason why people have been afraid of the Contingency is that it often hurts some people and benefits others. When the result is not obvious, there are always more people who oppose it and fewer people who agree with it. This formed the psychology of fear of change and obstruction of innovation. In fact, if managers adhere to the principles, they can build confidence in deployment so that employees not only do not oppose the change, but also firmly believe that it will benefit the public, and thus show a welcome attitude. To achieve the purpose of “contingency do not harm people’s interests”, the main factor is coordination. There is no doubt that coordination takes time and energy. But the drawbacks caused by no coordination will only take more time and energy to eliminate. Contingency Does not Abuse Contingency is a special change. If the Contingency is too much, it will seriously affect the routine and cause members to doubt the routine and lose confidence to obey. The routine is gold, but it must be adjusted appropriately according to the actual situation, which is in line with the spirit of Contingency. If there are too many contingencies, the power of routine will be lost. It is better to fundamentally revise the original routine to make it fairer and more reasonable. Moreover, if the power is used more, the organization cannot maintain the mutual restraint of all employees, and the employees will ignore the authority of managers and hope that

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the top supervisor can make special cases for them. Supervisors at all levels are not inconsistent; they are afraid of or not willing to take responsibility. According to Laozi, management is like cooking: it must be changed, and it cannot be changed easily. Among all the changing factors, managers must always grasp the constancy in changing.

4.2.3 The Application of “the Theory of Constantly Changing by Law” In the modern Chinese enterprise, what should be done as the principle to integrate all external management? We grasp the spirit of “easy and simple” and based on the experience of nearly 100 years of modernization in China, “ethics, democracy, science” is the “the principle” of Chinese enterprises. Ethics–The Most Important Thing in Chinese Culture is Ethics Ethics describes the relationship between people, including the relationship between the individual and the group, as well as intergroup relationships. Ethics is different from the rule of law, and ethics inspire human consciousness from the nature of human beings. For enterprises, the legal system is the most basic requirement. Chinese enterprises, especially modern enterprises, should use ethics as a starting point to inspire managers and employees within the company to remind everyone of their responsibility to the enterprise, to the organization, to others, to oneself, so that it is sensitive and inductive, and the effect of management will expand. Democracy–Confucius Advocates Accommodating Dissidents, Which is the Basic Conditions of Modern Democracy In Chinese-style management, establishing a democratic spirit is the only effective way to make the members be disciplined and responsible. Democracy in different countries in the world is different, and there are still some shortcomings: some of which have racial discrimination and some of which let the evil take power. Sun Yat-sen once agreed to “use democracy to eliminate the evils of democracy” and hope that “to fight against democracy and fake democracy with more democracy”, China’s enterprise management, including the democratization of China’s management, any institution should base on “Reasonable democracy”. Science–Chinese People Are Practical and like to Engage in the Performance of Physical Phenomena to Make a Truthful Description The invention of science and technology is very early, and ceramics, paper, printing, the compass, gunpowder, etc., all have made a significant contribution to human culture. When China’s management is scientific, it must be vigilant: the science that China needs is not the anti-human science of killing, colonizing, and destroying things; what China cherishes is the science of “protecting the people” and “cultivating the people.” The scientific spirit we want is the spirit of seeking truth and reason. and the method should be thorough and precise.

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Tips The relations between labor and capital, because of the influence of John lock, was often believed that “the labor side is superior to the capital side, or the management side is superior to the labor side” the western countries. However, from the perspective of Chinese ethics, everyone has the same heart of love. If we follow the method of Confucius, we should “do our best what we should do”. The management strives to create a suitable working environment for the employees to feel cared for and cared for, thus producing a strong centripetal force. The employees feel that they are valued, encouraged and encouraged, and feel that they are aware of each other. As a result, they try their best to do their own work well. All negative personnel management is unnecessary and tends to be “Non-interference”, It will further eliminate the feeling of “work for pay” in the minds of workers. The organization is full of the atmosphere described by Confucius that “to make the old people happy, to make friends trust each other, to make children get care.”. What is the difference between “labor” and “capital”? Therefore, in the modernization of China’s management, labor relations should be transformed into “harmony is the most important thing”. Harmonious coexistence, mutual respect and mutual love are the spirit of Chinese ethics. However, we do not believe that if there is a harmonious relationship between labor and capital, there is no need for trade unions. According to the viewpoint of democratic management in China, a labor union’s existence is very beneficial to enterprises and the whole society. In order to deal with capitalist patents, protect labor status and improve labor welfare, labor unions were organized to check and balance. There is no need for checks and balances in China’s ethical society. However, the Chinese people’s concept, the goals pursued by the employers and the employees are the same in the end. We all work together for the purpose of “protecting people”. However, the company and the trade union pay attention to different points. Through mutual adjustment and cooperation, we can accelerate the achievement of the goal. The company and the trade union should treat each other sincerely, work together, provide valuable opinions from different angles, and consider the same problems from different perspectives. This will not only accelerate the development of the company, but also improve the welfare of employees. From the perspective of scientific orientation, labor relations are like the wheels of a car. If one side is large and the other side is small, it is difficult for the car to move forward properly and gently. It is necessary to maintain the same size balance of the wheels on both sides. Therefore, when one side’s strength is greater, he is willing to help the other party’s development and contribute. It is gratifying to have such a measurement. Only when the company’s power and the trade union are well balanced can the best labor relations be achieved. It can be seen that China’s modernization of management neither holds the conservative mentality of “no trade union saves trouble”; it does not adhere to the westernized mentality of “all trade unions operate in accordance with the west”; it also thoroughly sublates the hypocritical mentality of “making a fake trade union to disguise itself or deceive workers”. We use the “Changing strategy with changes of

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the enemy” to filter the western style labor relations with ethical, democratic, and scientific classics and establish a trade union system that is helpful to both the company and the trade union. Both sides can adapt to the actual situation and make appropriate Contingency to solve problems and improve the well-being of both sides. Data source: Shiqiang (2004).

4.3 The Mode of Doing Things According to the theory of I Ching, the interrelationships of various times in the universe are orderly, reasonable, and fruitful. If you master the ability to dynamically interact with each other, you can make the right behavior based on scientific decisions. Leaders should take “do more in less intervention” as the highest management realm and ensure the management of crisis management through the management method of rigid and soft, in order to achieve the success of a transaction.

4.3.1 Being and Not-Being Grow Out of One Another Being and not-Being grow out of one another is to say that, Being and not-being can be transformed into each other. Not-being means invisible, nameless, etc. Being means tangible and well-known etc. Tao is the unity of being and not-being. Lao Tzu said that “In accordance with the principle of “Governing by non-interference”, the world will be at peace”; “Tao is non-interference, but everything does by it”; “Governing by non-interference, Winning by trick, Governing the country without disturbing the people.” Being and not-Being grow out of one another contains two meanings of physics and metaphysics. From the aspect of metaphysics, Lao Tzu thought that all visible and well-known things in the universe originate from the real things which are indistinguishable from chaos while being invisible and nameless originate from not-being. All things in the world return to not-being in the movement and change. From physics, Any concrete thing is constantly produced from not-being and constantly transformed from being into not-being. The process of existence and absence is cyclic, and each cycle is the progress of history. In modern enterprises, many well-known entrepreneurs face economic restructuring and fierce market competition, consciously apply “existence between to be or not to be” in the management of enterprises as the most direct method. To change nothing into something, advocate reform and innovation, and oppose old rules as one of the most important enterprise management content. 4.3.2 Using Both Kindness and Authority In management, Sun Tzu advocates “using both kindness and authority” and “both civil and military”. “If soldiers are punished before they are attached to you, they will not prove submissive, and in such case, they will be practically useless; If the soldiers are attached to you but there is no rule and penalty, they will grow lazy and

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become useless as well. Thus, Commanding the army must attach equal importance to both kindness and authority, as well as rigidity and flexibility” (Sun Tzu: The Art of War). Rigidity is the basic element of management. Management is the integration of resources by various effective means to achieve the organization’s established objectives and tasks and ensure that the key business activities. In the past, Chinese enterprises lacked deep exploration and research on system innovation, function transformation and connotative expansion and reproduction, which led to low management efficiency and poor effect. Flexible management is the extension of rigid management. Flexible management is the coordinated use of planning, organization, command, incentive, control and other means. Based on the study of the organization’s psychological needs, such as understanding, guiding, and stimulating the potential, the members of the enterprise can feel the pleasure and pride of hard work to work actively to realize the goal independently and voluntarily. The combination of rigidity and flexibility can be used for reference in modern enterprise management. The general management principle of “using both kindness and authority” should be adopted according to each enterprise’s specific situation. From the actual effect, rigid management and flexible management have their own advantages. Rigid management is easy to maintain the enterprise’s normal work order and is easy to quantify employees’ management. Flexible management can meet the high-level needs of employees, stimulate their working motivation, and exert their potential. At the same time, flexible management is conducive to the formation of the spirit of collectivism and mutual cooperation within the enterprise. In practical work, rigid management is the premise and foundation of management, and flexible management is the sublimation of management. At present, there are two kinds of management methods and measures in many enterprises in the world: either rigid management or flexible management. In fact, most enterprises are using both rigidity and flexibility. If the transaction management is compared to a car, then rigid management and flexible management are like the car’s two front wheels. It is the two wheels rolling at the same time, the same goal and direction, and the pursuit of continuous improvement of the two aspects so that the management can be constantly improved and sublimated in practice. The management method of combining rigidity and softness is to study the activity law of employees’ psychology and behavior on the basis of rigid management, so as to combine the individual needs of employees with the will of enterprises, so as to achieve the overall improvement of production efficiency and management efficiency.

4.3.3 Being Prepared for Danger in Times of Peace Being prepared for danger in peace means in an environment of peace, one should think about possible dangers and be vigilant. Ancient Chinese leaders used to be prepared for danger in peace to take preventive measures. When Liu Bei was drinking with Cao Cao, he deliberately dropped the chopsticks on the ground, only to eliminate Cao Cao’s suspicion and save his own life. Qin Shi Huang also built the great wall to guard against foreign invaders.

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For the modern enterprise, it faces both opportunities and challenges. As the saying goes, “There are unexpected events in the sky, and people have misfortune and fortune overnight.”. If an enterprise wants to succeed, it must prevent the crisis in advance. Quick Exercise 1. Explain what Dealing with the Things is and point out the objects, principles, and how to apply it in modern times. 2. Explain the purpose, thinking, and method of Observing Things. 3. Point out the object of Planning Things. Clarify the relationship between three groups of ideas, and describe the strategy of Planning Things. 4. Please comment on the attitudes and methods of Doing Things and explain the ways in which you act. 5. Some people think that profit and righteousness is difficult to achieve. How do you understand their relationship? 6. There is an old saying in China that goes: “Man proposes, God disposes.” Do you agree with this statement? Case Japan’s intelligence-gathering activities are world-class. Of course, the collection of scientific and technological information has always been known as “plagiarism”. After World War II, more than 10,000 people in Japan were sent to the United States to learn new techniques and management techniques. The Americans later concluded that the Japanese had spent almost $2.5 billion, which accounts for 10% of the United States’ annual research funding to learn almost all Western technology. As early as the 1960s, Japan paid great attention to China’s oil development because of its strategic needs and took the briefing of Daqing Oilfield as the main direction of intelligence work. According to a sentence in a newspaper: “Wang Jinxi said in Majiayao: ‘that’s a big oily reserve, which can help us to remove the backward title in the oil industry.’” and many other clues, the Japanese figured out the geographical location of Daqing Oilfield. Later, according to the photos of a refinery reaction tower in a Chinese newspaper, the Daqing refinery’s scale and capacity were derived. The rice paper of Jingxian County, Anhui Province, China, is known as the “Emperor of paper”. However, this unique advantage has been broken by the Japanese. Things started like this: Jingxian County, Anhui Province, supported a town in Zhejiang to start a paper mill. In the same year, the paper mill welcomed three “technicians” from a Japanese paper company. At the symposium, the Japanese raised questions about the rice paper’s production process and processing methods and even asked questions about the steamed raw materials’ concentration saltwater. Today, the Japanese can claim proudly that China’s paper is the best in the world, and Japan’s paper is second. It is reported that in the mainland of Japan, there is a special broadcasting supervision room in a building, with eight wiretapping personnel monitoring and

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recording China’s central and local radio programs around the clock, and recording as well as archiving them immediately. In China, Japan’s commercial and financial institutions have grown to nearly a thousand, spreading over large and medium-sized cities in China; they either do themselves or use Chinese employees to engage in economic espionage. In recent years, Japan has been implementing the second basic science and technology plan on its comprehensive strategy for science and technology. During the five-year period, the total investment in science and technology should reach 24 trillion yen, basically achieving the goal of 1% of GDP, an increase of 40% over the first basic plan for science and technology, which make life sciences, information and communication, environment, nanotechnology and materials a special focus for increased investment. The Japanese association’s research liaison center for academic revitalization in Stockholm, Sweden, was officially opened. The center is located where the Nobel prize for medicine and physiology (Karolinska Institutet) are selected. In addition to promoting Japanese science and technology to the world and introducing the strength of Japanese scientists, the center is undoubtedly playing a role as a high-sensitivity antenna for intelligence gathering. According to Japanese newspapers, since 2001, to strengthen the collection of intelligence in genetics and nanotechnology, the Ministry of culture, science and industry and the Ministry of economy and industry selected partners from the universities and industrial researchers, respectively. The Ministry of culture and science and the Ministry of science and technology have chosen 1,800 people as basic research centers. The Ministry of economy, industry and technology, with the aim of applied research, requires intelligence-gathering partners to collect information on technology development. The conference on integrated science and technology signed a contract with a dozen researchers active on the front line to establish a separate intelligence network. It commissioned a private advisory body to investigate the main national science and technology strategy and science and technology policy trends. Collaborators of scientific intelligence focus on gathering the latest information in their respective fields of expertise. As soon as it is available, it is reported through the Internet to the conference on integrated science and technology for analytical research. This shows that after the official launch of the Japanese research and development strategy center, Japan’s world science and technology information-gathering activities will be more systematic. Questions 1. Please describe the impact of Japanese intelligence on its economy, culture and technology. 2. Please talk about the importance of inspection to an enterprise according to the material. 3. Please analyze how Chinese enterprises should do to achieve long-term development according to the materials.

References

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References Pumin, H. (2011). The way of planning affairs of Emperor Huan of the state of Qi. Ancient Chinese Literature Search. Shiqiang, Z. (2004). Management principle. Peking University Press.

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Zhi Yuan-Management of Personal Relationship

If the people are government by the law and published by criminal penalty, they will try to avoid the punishment, but have no sense of shame; if they be led by virtue, and uses etiquette to standardize their actions, they will have the sense of shame and keep away from crimes. —The Analects of Confucius The use of etiquette is to make interpersonal relationship harmonious —The Analects of Confucius The monarch should make full use of all power and formulate rule of law, and the people would inevitably see and hear on his behalf —Han Feizi

Abstract

1. Zhi Yuan is the management of human relations, that is, the management of interpersonal relationships. The principle of Zhi Yuan is to deal with the relationship between “Qing, Li, Fa”, in the management process, manager should firstly touch people with Qing, moving others with empathic friendship and considerate feelings; if it doesn’t work, the manager should use the Li and rationality to convince others; if it doesn’t work either, then the manager should use effective rules and regulations to standardize and deal with. The objective of Zhi Yuan is to reach the level of harmony. 2. The function of management of Qing is reflected in: Leaders should love, help subordinates and sympathize with subordinates so as to win people’s hearts; retain talents for enterprises; help to build up trust among the members of the © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021 H. Hu, Principles of Chinese Management, Management for Professionals, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-6522-3_9

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enterprise and get along with each other; and improve their organizational identification by taking care of subordinates and their families and friends. The management with Qing also should conform to Li and Fa, not only tallying with the principle of pursuing interests in the market competition environment and rationally analyzes the situation, while it’s wrong to replace the Li with Qing. Otherwise, it will lead to disorder and chaos of the organization. 3. Management of Li is the management conforming to Li. It’s organizational management that is carried out based on the group psychological utility and future psychological utility of members in the organization, and it’s the thread, method, way and means of this organizational management. Management conforming to Li should focus on balancing the thread of efficiency logic and affection logic, and explain it properly and skillfully according to a different place, people and matter in order to make different people accept (at least most members in a period of time), on converging small Li to a great Li by convincing individual members. Rationality refers to characteristics and features conforming to Li. So, rationality requires not only a reasonable Li, but a reasonable method or way. The rationality here is neither total scientific rationality, nor absolute truth, but it is conforming to the perspective of the involved object and can be wildly accepted by members. 4. The management of Fa is the management conforming to the Fa, which is a kind of organization management implemented not on the basis of individual and group psychology of the organization, and is an idea, way, method and means of organization management. The necessity of Fa is reflected in clarifying the management system of the enterprise, keeping members rule-based and then providing protection for the achievement of organizational goals. The scientific nature of the Fa is reflected in the scientific nature of management and way of treatment; the management of Fa is a kind of management based on efficiency logic, which is the necessary consideration in scientific management and administration science. At the same time, the Fa also needs flexibility, needs to change according to Li timely, so as to be fit for use. Keywords




Zhi Yuan Investment of Qing management of Fa


The management of Li
Rationality
The

Learning Objectives and Requirements Understand the connotation, principles and objectives of Zhi Yuan. Comprehend and master the effect as well as applicable scenario of moving people with Qing (emotions), and be capable of finding out its scope in management practice.

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Comprehend the management of Li, management conforming to Li as well as the connotation of rationality and be capable of combining the management of Li with management practice. Comprehend and master the management of Fa (rules) as well as its necessity and scientific nature in management, and understand the aspects that should be noted while applying the management of Fa (rules). Introductory Case Convincing with Li and Touching with Qing Zhao Tuo, the guardian of Nanjun, officially established Nanyue Kingdom while Chu and Han were fighting in the Central Plains in 204 B.C. After unifying the Central Plains, Liu Bang was busy consolidating his kingdom with no time dealing with Zhao Tuo in the distant place, so he decided to take a pacification policy. Therefore, Liu appointed the Palace Counsellor Lu Jia as special envoy, and sent him to Lingnan with the imperial edict, the seal of king and presents to confer Nangyue King on Zhao. Zhao didn’t think highly of the special envoy from the court. He neither wore a hat nor tied a belt, waiting for Lu in an indecent sitting posture. Lu was neither humble nor arrogant, and said seriously, “You come from the Central Plains, and the graves of your parents, brothers and ancestors are all in Zhending. Why did you forget the custom of the Central Plains people now and get dressed like that? Did you intend to oppose Emperor with such a tiny place like Nanyue? You’re quite wrong if so. The social order and Fa of the Qin Dynasty was corrupted, therefore heroes of the world rise all other the place, overturning it with bloodshed. You didn’t have any contributions to this war but ceded territory and made yourself king, so military and political leaders in the court all ask to crusade against you. The Emperor of the Great Han Dynasty didn’t want the people to suffer, so dispatched me here to offer you the king’s seal and make an exception to appoint you as the King of Nanyue. You should have knowingly repaid the kindness and welcome me outside the suburbs solemnly with a liegeman’s etiquette, but your behavior was surprisingly unreasonable. If the Emperor knows this, he will, first, dig your ancestors’ graves, then, kill out your family; next, he will send a general with a hundred thousand troops to Nanyue to denounce your crimes; finally, your soldiers are bound to kill you and submit themselves to the Central Plains. Well, you will die without a grave.” Lu convinced with Li, knowing with reason, touching with Qing and clearly stating the stakes, which made Zhao get up, change dresses and apologize immediately, and then accepted the appointment of the Court with a liegeman’s etiquette. An interpersonal relationship is a direct psychological connection established through interpersonal exchange. It includes relationships between family members, friends, teachers and students, employers and employees. People have social attributes, and every individual has a unique ideology, background, attitude, individuality, behavioral pattern, and value, but through social activities, the interpersonal relationship will greatly influence everyone’s emotion, life, and work. People’s growth, development, success and happiness are all closely related to it.

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There is no life foundation without a relationship between people. As for all of us, normal interpersonal interaction and good interpersonal relationships are both the prerequisite of an individual’s psychological development, personality health and happiness. Meanwhile, during the practice of enterprise management, human resource plays an extremely important role, while interpersonal relationship also influences the atmosphere, communication, operation, and efficiency of an organization. Therefore, an organization’s stability and development need to adjust and utilize interpersonal relationships. In this chapter, we’ll use the “Yuan (predestined relationship)” in the traditional Chinese concept as an entry point, helping readers have a good grasp of the application principle of “Qing, Li and Fa” in an enterprise practice.

1

Introduction

Yuan, when explained as a relationship, has many examples like Shang Yuan, Di Yuan, Qin Yuan, Wen Yuan, and Shen Yuan, and those are all people-centered and divided on the basis of interpersonal relationships, which is a kind of social capital. When we are talking about dealing with Zhi Yuan, it’s actually the management of interpersonal relationships. It involves problems from many aspects in the management of people, and it’s important for leaders to appraise the influence of interpersonal relationships on organization management from the perspective of psychology, behavior, motivation, etc.

1.1 The Connotation of Zhi Yuan 1.1.1 The Connotation of Yuan Yuan, a word full of connotation, bears the explanations like edge, reason, and relationship and can be regarded as noun, conjunction, preposition, and verb. The exploration towards “Yuan” is multi-angled and wide-ranged as well, and even as a simple word, “Yuan” always has the attraction for people from literature and religion field to understand and learn. Among the explanations, Yuan that indicates relationship, moreover, includes lots of content, leading to lots of insights. Yuan has always been thought highly of in Chinese society, and the research towards Yuan has a long history as well. In all kinds of relations, the people-centric relation, again, is the most important part. Chinese culture is just an ethical society linking with the relationship, centering with family, and emphasizing the ethical relationship between nation, family and individual. The Confucian culture that dominated Chinese history for a long time is different from Western contract social culture, and the most obvious feature of it structurally is ethics centrality. This ethic

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centered cultural structure takes family as center and forms a network of social relationship from small to big, from close to far, from intimate to estranged. Created and developed on this basis, the Eastern culture of relation with people (Ren Yuan) studied interpersonal relationship, summarized ancient and modern theoretical researches and practical experience of management of interpersonal relationship in all over the world, divided interpersonal relationship, that is a social capital, by its nature, proposed creatively the theory of “Wu Yuan (five human relationships)”, which is Qin Yuan, Di Yuan, Wen Yuan, Shang Yuan and Shen Yuan. Tips Qin Yuan is kinship and clan relations. It includes blood relation, relation by marriage and fiction kin (nominal kinship, like sworn brothers or sisters), and the combining of the Qin Yuan of a family is the most ancient, primitive and natural way of combination, and the link of the Qin Yuan of the family generally has an important meaning in any society. Di Yuan is neighborhood and villager relations. That is known commonly as “fellow villagers” and “fellow townsmen”, which is rooted in the emerge of rural community at the end of primitive society. Wen Yuan is classmate and colleague relations. The groups who have common interests and business relations or need to compare notes and communicate form an organization like alumni reunion, trade association, chamber of commerce, seminar, etc. The organization of Wen Yuan arose in ancient feudal society. Shang Yuan is an economic and trade relation. By Shang Yuan we mean groups of who set up relations and assemble with an organization as a medium, such as guild and seminar sorts of organizations that are established objected to a thing. Shen Yuan is religious belief relations. By Shen Yuan we mean groups of who gather with same religious belief and same god to worship in places, such as shrine, church, etc. Source: Dongshui (2005).

1.1.2 The Connotation of Zhi Yuan Zhi Yuan literally means the management of human relationship, which is the management of interpersonal relationships. The core of Zhi Yuan is “People”. As the old saying goes, “Only heaven and earth are the parents of all creatures; only human is the wisest of all creatures” (The Book of Documents, the Great Declaration), the subjects that of biggest concern in Chinese management are people’s subsistence, value, dignity and circumstances, which means all methods and activities of management should be people-oriented, implement human nature management, handle the relation between “Xiu Ji (cultivate ourselves)” and “An Ren (pacify others)” and stick to the standard of “Ren Wei (done by person)” and “Wei Ren (oneself conducts)”. Handling the relationship between “Qing, Li and Fa” reasonably is the principle of Zhi Yuan. In the management process, we should touch people with Qing at first, which means to touch others with empathic friendship and considerate feelings. If it

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doesn’t work, we should convince others with Li and reasonable statement, and if it fails again, effective Fa should be applied to standardize and manage. “Wu Wei” is the highest level of Zhi Yuan. Members of the organization play their own part to reach the organizational objective with willingness and initiative, which is thought in Confucianism, called “Wu Wei Er Zhi (govern by non-interference)”. “The Doctrine of the Mean” is the essence of the thinking of Zhi Yuan. The Doctrine of the Mean does not mean that managers can stay ambiguous in the management process but means managers need to address the issue to a harmonious and optimum condition within a reasonable and moderate range.

1.2 The Principle of Zhi Yuan 1.2.1 The Effect of Qing, Li and Fa As Chinese society is a society of human relationships, a large social network and deep-rooted concept of human relationships make a big difference in leaders’ decisions in management practice and test their leadership art. In human relationships, ancient people concluded that individual behavior should be regulated and constrained by “Benevolence, Righteousness and Courtesy”, while modern management solves realistic problems according to “Qing, Li and Fa”, so we could say that “Qing, Li and Fa” is the practice and expression of “Benevolence, Righteousness and Courtesy” in modern management because the explanation of the former and the connotation of the latter happen to be consistent with each other. Qing is characterized by “An Ren Zhi Tao” in management, that is alleviating the restlessness of employees by cherishing, care and love, providing them the environment to live and work in peace, letting them work without worries behind, warming their spirit and solve their contradiction with love, then the stuff will repay leader’s sincere friendship with good performance on work because “One will repay 10 times the favor he used to receive from benefactor”. So “Cherish Management” is exactly a humanized management, as well as a humanized performance of management. Li is a “Jing Quan Zhi Tao (doctrine of principle and flexibility)”, which is to identify the consensus view as a principle, “Zhi Jing Da Quan (stick to principle with enough flexibility)” and reach the objective of “Quan Bu Li Jing (flexibility does not leave principle)”. There is no secret formula for managers to apply the principle in management; only if managers understand the essence can they reach such a level. Whether it would work or not, it depends on the judgment of Li. In order to solve the problem and reach the state of rational management, ways and means of management need to be adjusted at anytime and anywhere. Fa is the institutionalization of management. As the old saying goes, “Nothing can be accomplished without norms and standards”, Chinese strive for balance and tact, and dislike anyone to be lawless. Therefore, Fa is the “Xie Ju Zhi Tao” in

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management, which means regulating and standardizing people’s behavior. The introduction of Fa relies on the external power and authority, while people in this part just accept passively, so Fa is also a necessary tool that should be used prudently in management.

1.2.2 The Application of Qing, Li and Fa How to achieve an integration of Qing, Li and Fa and how to establish a priority of them in management is always a topic involving much discussion. Someone says that the highest level of Chinese management is an effective integration of Qing, Li and Fa. Management with these three factors is starting with Qing, centered with Li, used Fa appropriately if necessary. When they can reach a great harmonization, a management sticking to Qing, Li and Fa can reach a perfect unity as well. Meanwhile, the opposite and contradictory movement of them will again push the development of leading behavior, So the managers must constantly adjust and adapt and at the same time coordinating the relationship of the three before role of Qing, Li and Fa can be truly played. Chinese management is actually a management of Qing, Li and Fa. Always start with Qing, focus on Li mutually and carry out Fa when one cannot be touched or convinced. No one will feel unreasonableness or ruthless about such a rigid-flexible and step-by-step management method. What worry about all kinds of emotions if the manager is sincere? Qing can arouse initiative, Li can continue to adjust emotional factors and Fa can regulate the standard, but they need a limit to be transformable and unified. Under the competitive market environment, competition not only means merciless, but needs Qing and Li, therefore, presenting hardness should be reasonable while showing softness should be limited, thus integrating hardness with softness to the optimal state (Fig. 1).

Fig. 1 Relations between Qing, Li and Fa

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1.3 The Application of Zhi Yuan 1.3.1 The Effect of Yuan The Yuan we are talking about is a relationship, and the relationship has an important position in Chinese minds. A harmonious relationship is not only good for the completion of work objectives but the central topic and goal of Chinese people’s life. Obviously, one cannot establish a good relationship with all connections at the same time, but he needs a great relationship in his chief group for the sake of his job. The relationship shows its important effect on Chinese people’s life in the following two aspects: Relationship Plays a Big Part in Defining Individual Identity We usually hear people introduce themselves as someone’s student, fellow-villager, friend, relative, etc., and the “someone” we noticed here must be an important person known by the other. A social recognition established on a mutually known person basically determines the level of their relationship and the extent of relationship dependency afterward. Different Types of Relationships Directly Influence the Way of Interaction in Human Relationships China and the Western are the same on this point, while it’s more apparent in Chinese society. In 1948, Fei Xiaotong revealed that Chinese interpersonal relationship shows “the Pattern of Different Sequence”, which means to be self-centered but spread outward constantly, just like a ripple caused by a pebble, the further ripple travels, the lighter the ripple becomes, the worse the relationship will be, and it works till now. For example, the family relationship focuses on responsibility rather than rewards with a low return rate; other types of relationships should be a relationship based on mutual benefit. In all kinds of relationships, the human relationship has the broadest effect and the most influential factors. Statistics show that a good interpersonal relationship can make work success rate and individual happiness rate reach 85%; among the factors to achieve success, the interpersonal relationship makes up 85% while knowledge, technology and experience only make up 15%. As the competition becomes fiercer in modern society, one’s ability of handling interpersonal relationship reflects not only his wisdom, but also a representation of his mental attitude and values. Those who are good at dealing with human relations can grasp the way to get along with others, obtain great relationships, and these are all helpful for him to achieve the maximum of individual triumph. Small Case Zhao Kuangyin once turned to Dong Zunhai’s father’s army when he was young and sorehead, while Dong always offended him. Finally, he turned to others. Later, they were both court ministers; Dong again was supportive to Zhao’s political enemy. After Zhao’s accession to the throne, he called in Dong. Dong was afraid

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that capital offence was inevitable, so he decided to commit suicide. At this moment, his wife told him, “It’s never too late to die if the Emperor surely wants you to die. How could the king of great power be so mean to make a fuss about past individual animosity with you?” Sure enough, Zhao forgave him totally with a guffaw when Dong asked for death in the court, and he not only past the matter by, but also appointed Dong to an important position. Dong appreciated it greatly and was faithful to Zhao all his life. That’s how Zhao cherished harmony and swiftly stabilized his new dynasty.

1.3.2 “He” is the Objective of Zhi Yuan “How could people form a group? The answer is the common traits. How to identify common traits? The answer is righteousness. So, people can achieve harmony they share righteousness, and harmony leads to solidarity, solidarity leads to mightiness, mightiness leads to victory.” (Tsunzi, King’s Regulations) Tsunzi believed that human is the most dignified animal, although human beings are not strongest in physical strength, they can tame cows and horses, and that’s because human beings can form a group, while the group has clear division of labor as well as etiquette and righteousness to coordinate mutual relations. Therefore, using etiquette and righteousness to coordinate mutual relations, people can play their own role and work together with one heart; working together with one heart can achieve solidarity, solidarity leads to great power, great power leads to organization stronger, and an organization can defeat anything with mightiness. It was mentioned in the Analects of Confucius that, “Etiquette is for making personal relationship harmonious. The reasons why ancient kings were great is they cherish harmony when dealing with things and treating people, no matter how significant is the thing or the person. However, harmony without rules will not work” So, we could see the value of harmony in management activities; Wise kings see it to build a harmonious atmosphere in groups, but it also must obey the etiquette and allow diversity. Harmony also plays an important role in interpersonal relationship management because humans are not only “rational man” who pursue the maximum benefit, but also “social man” who desire a harmonious interpersonal relationship. Therefore, the harmony of a human-centered interpersonal relationship is always the objective people pursued. From ancient times, Chinese traditional culture has been treasuring the natural harmonious state of heaven, earth, human, and society. “He He” is to purchase the harmony of the human relationship when embodied in social relationship. The concept of “He He” is gradually accepted by individuals through society’s civilizing and becomes the initial motivation for individuals to pursue harmony. It’s not unforgivable to break the harmony, but it’s necessary to try to make up in order to reach a new harmonious state.

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1.4 Touching People with Qing Chinese people value Qing, while “Yi Jie Jin Lan (becoming sworn brothers)” between friends means one is willing to make great sacrifices for a friend whom they acknowledge. It also works between leader and staff: it’s hard to mobilize staff’s work motivation and generate staff’s feelings of belonging if there is only a pure employment relationship. But if combining both with Qing and leaders attach great importance to staff’s psychological needs, get to know and communicate with them, it will raise staff’s sense of belonging, sense of identity and sense of place while gaining respect, and an excellent relationship like this will form a great cohesion and centripetal force, which is the magic weapon for organizations to overcome difficulties and achieve success.

1.5 The Connotation of Qing 1.5.1 The Connotation of Qing One of the most precious characteristics of Chinese culture is “Qing”. A single word Qing covers and contains everything, such as Qing that represents emotions: “It’s known without learning to be happy, angry, sad, afraid, fond, hateful and orectic.” (The Book of Rites, Ritual Movement), and Qing that represents nature in “It is natural for things to be diverse and unique” (The Works of Mencius, Tang Wan Kung), and Qing that represents law or principle in “obeying the law of things”, so that Qing play an extremely special role in Chinese culture. Although there was no clear concept about Qing, in The Analects of Confucius, benevolence was mentioned repeatedly. Mencius said, “Benevolence is man’s heart.” (The Works of Mencius, Kao Tzu) Actually, Benevolence is just affection that tallies with the etiquette and righteousness and is expressed abstemiously. This affection is inborn but depends on education to express. “Xiao” (filial piety) is Qing that children should have on their parents, “Ti” (fraternal duty) is Qing brothers and peers should have among themselves, “Zhong” (loyalty) is Qing one should have to his elders, superiors, monarch and homeland, and etiquette is the right way of expressing affections. Confucius thought highly of human sympathy, which was shown in The Analects of Confucius. Tsai Yu once criticized that it was too long to mourn their parent’s death for three years, and he thought one year was enough, so Confucius asked him, “Can you feast well, dress well and live your life very comfortable soon after your parents’ death?” Tsai Yu answered, “Sure.” Confucius said, “If you don’t feel sorry for this, then you just mourn less time. When a dutiful son is mourning, he thinks food is tasteless, music is boring and even a gorgeous house is uncomfortable. So, he stops every enjoyment. If you take it calmly and remain indifferent, then you could help yourself!” The moment Tsai Yu went out, Confucius told other students that, “Yu is not benevolent at all. When a child is born, he will stay in parents’ embrace for three years and that’s why people all over the world would set three years for mourning. Did Tsai Yu repay his parents’ three-year-embrace

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kindness?” Here Confucius criticizing that Tsai Yu was not benevolent was blaming his coldness to parents. Confucian stands for the filial piety, aiming at advocating affective education and maintaining ordinary people’s moral level through affections. Meanwhile, Confucius also advocated running the country with Qing, and he believed that rigorous Fa is not a good way to run a country, so he advocated rule of virtue, which is influencing people with “Qing”. Later, this proposal was developed into a justice-ruled political thought by Mencius, “He who uses virtue to practice benevolence is the king with followers; he who uses force to rule in the name of benevolence is the king can not rule for long.” Affection was actually born under a family-unit economic production background in China and constituted Chinese people’s lifestyle and thinking mode so that it’s family-centered. No matter bringing glory to one’s ancestor, being a good monarch or ordinary person, it’s all about how to maintain long-term stability and harmony of interpersonal relationship, is part of social relationship or social interaction. In society, the matching between this interpersonal psychological framework and social relationship framework spreads from family to society, and social relationship represents not only blood relationship but also the interaction between social or group members based, wither the link is established by chance or not. Human relationship is a precious asset of Chinese culture. We should cherish and treasure Qing of parents, children, brothers and sisters, friends, villagers, country and ancestors. The value of Qing always takes its effect surprisingly and efficiently in interpersonal communication.

1.5.2 The Status of Qing The Necessity of Qing The complexity of a modern organization is shown intensively in two big contradictions systems: The first is the unbalance of ability and power; the second is whether a member’s demand can match organizational objectives. To solve the first type of contradiction, the basic idea is to start from rationality (the ability and power do not match, it is considered unreasonable. People with strong ability, small power or large responsibility and small responsibility think so, and those with mediocre ability but small responsibility, large power or large responsibility and great power actually think so in their hearts); Once power and capacity have formed a collocation structure, the basic way of management is to proceed along with the legitimacy (follow the ideas from the management of Fa). To solve the second type of contradiction, the basic idea is to start with sensibility (humanity and humanity), and then adopt a reasonable management method (rationality), that is, focus on inducing, educating individuals and groups to develop and balance between organizational goals. The People-Oriented Nature of Qing Confucius, the founder of Confucianism, said that, “If the people are restrained by law and punished for their crimes, they will try to avoid the punishment, but have

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no sense of shame. If they are led by virtue and uses etiquette to standardize their behavior, they will have a sense of shame, and moreover, will stay away from crimes.” (The Analects of Confucius, the Exercise of Government) It means that if guiding people with politics and rectifying them with criminal law, they will only want to avoid punishment temporarily but have no sense of shame; if guiding with virtue and restraining with etiquette, they will not only have the sense of shame, but also be in obedience in their heart. So, regulations can restrain people’s behavior instead of “reaching people’s heart” and “please people’s minds,” while Qing can achieve the direct effect of wining people’s hearts as adhesive. In humanized management, emotional factors may unify the organization while affective bond may combine the individual value of staff with the value of organization and make them work hard for a same objective, which means to make the orientation of staff and the development direction of enterprise reach a high degree of unity. That’s why we say the application of Qing in management shows the humanization of management. As the subject of management, people have thoughts and emotions, if regarding people simply as working machines and ignoring people’s emotional needs, management will lose long-term development as well as a wonderful chance of developing people’s ability and potentiality.

1.6 Qing is Essential in Management 1.6.1 The Effect of Qing Win people’s Heart with Qing Bai Juyi, the poet of Tang Dynasty, said that, “There is nothing more touching than Qing, when people are moved by Qing, they would submit naturally.” In history, Liu Bei was a leader who was good at showing benevolence in order to achieve personnel controlling of internal public relations, and this characteristic helped him grow into a fierce and ambitious hero from a man weaving straw mats and selling straw sandals. Ren (Benevolence) is the core of Confucianism, and so-called “The benevolent man loves others” (The Works of Mencius, Li Lau) means leaders should care about, help and understand subordinates in order to reach people’s heart. Chinese culture is a spirit of Ren, valuing human relationship and individual mental feeling. Mencius said, “The people are the most important element in a nation; management of the country is the next; the sovereign is the lightest.” “When a ruler rejoices in the joy of his people, they also rejoice in his joy; when he grieves at the sorrow of his people, they also grieve at his sorrow.” It reminded leaders to attach importance to people’s feeling and share their joys and sorrows, so that leaders can obtain people’s support. In Chinese history, the support or opposition of the people usually decided the survival of a country or regime. So, if the monarch wants to manage the country successfully, he must cherish people and exercise benevolent government.

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Therefore, the stability of a country can be maintained by wining people’s heart and the monarch could reach his expected objects in eventful times. Small Case Liu Bei, was beaten by Cao Cao’s army, once was running around in the Three Kingdoms Period, and managed to settle down in a small county with the assistance of adviser Xu Shu. Cao then appointed someone to kidnap Xu’s mother, sent him his mother’s letter and asked him to surrender to Cao. Although Xu knew it was Cao’s trick, he was a dutiful son and insisted on leaving. Liu burst into tears and said, “Xiao (filial piety) is the most important of all virtues, and it is, moreover, a separation of closest relatives, so you can leave at ease and after you rescuing your mother, I will ask for your advice if there is any chance in the future.” Xu appreciated deeply and wanted to leave immediately, while Liu persuaded him staying one more night for the farewell dinner on the next day. The next day, Liu prepared Xu a feast as farewell and held Xu’s horse personally when he mounted, accompanying him for a long time and being reluctant to part. Xu was moved greatly with tears in his eyes, and in order to repay Liu’s trust, he not only recommended Zhuge Liang, the “Wo Long” (Crouching Dragon), who assisted Liu latter, but also swore that he would never offer Cao any suggestion. Although Xu joined Cao cao, the allusion “Live in the Cao camp but with one’s heart in Han camp” was left. Pursuit Development with Qing (i)

(ii)

Retain talents. It’s essential to exercise the benevolent government in modern management activities. By improving work conditions, treasuring production safety and caring for staff’s suffering, managers can reach the state of “The benevolent has no enemy” and obtain all kinds of resources essential for organization development. Actually, “Human-oriented” that was implemented broadly in the modern commercial field and social life is in line with Confucian thought of “The benevolent loves others”. In the organization, managers care for every employee with a parent’s Qing, answer their question at any times, often get to know their true feeling, try to help them solve problems and thus make them work happily. From here we see that only caring subordinates with “Ren (Benevolence)” spirit and never regarding them as office machines can win people’s hearts and retain talents. Caring for subordinates is not only an emotional operation method in accordance with humanity but also a management tool to help staff establish dignity and confidence and make them do their best to work for the company. Build trust. Research in management science indicates that the good relationship between the manager and one single group member would not transfer to another automatically so that it’s very important to constantly establish good trusting relationships with more staff and make them fully feel

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your care. Usually, this communication won’t take too much time, and a greeting or a nod will gain surprisingly good effect. It is your constant concern about every staff that matters rather than what you say or what you do. Such little effort will “nourish things silently and continuously” and become a lubricant of manager getting along with the staff, which is good for team collaboration, harmonious coexistence, and more important is the staff will repay with loyalty and be hardworking as much as responsible. Improve identification. Obviously, in an organization full of Ren (benevolent) spirit, members are more likely to accept the organizational culture and more willing to get on with organizational life because they would form an organizational identity automatically in a trusted environment. Meanwhile, it should be noticed that audiences of Qing are not only employees but also their family and friends. Modern research indicates that family would influence the emotional experience and work attitude of the staff. If leaders manage to care for staff’s family, it will naturally arouse their work enthusiasm, stimulate organizational vitality, and enhance cohesion. Especially when facing a fierce competition, the leader of organization taking good care of staff’s family is also good for staff to focus on work and improve the operational efficiency of organization.

1.6.2 Investment of Qing Investment of Qing borrows a word investment from economics, and it indicates that leaders should pay attention to the affection input of subordinates to develop their affection towards organization and increase their sense of hero consciousness and responsibility. Investment of Qing has been many leaders’ magic weapons, and effective management of affection often could decrease employee turnover, reduce human resource cost, arouse employee’s enthusiasm for working and enhance organizational cohesion. In the investment of Qing, things to be invested could be feelings as well as material, but they must all be the product of affection. A group leader usually goes down to grassroots to communicate with employees, take care of them, celebrate their birthday and so on, and these are investments with affection. Giving a timely helping hand to employees when they meet some troubles in life is investment with material as the medium of affection. So, in general, we invest our affection in the hope to gain affection, which can be directly or indirectly or in other forms of activities based on affections. The Application in Ancient Management Such management of touching people with affection and investing with Qing existed since ancient time, while great ancient sages fully understood its profound meaning and if applied properly, it will bring great benefits.

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(i) Duke Huan of Qi appointed Guan Zhong to an important job, ignoring past animosity Although Duke Huan of Qi put Guan Zhong in an important position and forgave all past animosity because of his own will to dominate the world, it’s hard for ordinary people to have such magnanimity of ignoring Guan Zhong’s past attempt to kill him, and Duke Huan of Qi exactly used the way of investment of Qing to enrich the country, strengthen the army and dominate vassal states. As it turned out, he not only got this return but also a return far more beyond his initial expectation. Sima Qian also said in Records of Grand Historian that, “Knowing that giving is taking is a magic weapon of running a country.” Small Case In the late Eastern Han Dynasty, Wei, Shu and Wu were three kingdoms that divided China into three kingdoms. Zhuge Liang, the prime minister of Shu Kingdoms, accepted the testamentary edict of Liu Bei, the Zhaolie Emperor of Shu Kingdoms, to take care of his son and Zhuge made up his mind to start Northern Expedition in order to revive the Han Dynasty. Now, southern barbarians in the south of Shu raided Shu again so that Zhuge immediately headed the troops to crush them. After reaching the territory of southern barbara, Zhuge won a great victory in the first fight and caught the leader of southern barbarians, Meng Huo. However, Meng Huo was not convinced and said victory or defeat is a common occurrence in wars. Zhuge Kongming (Zhuge Liang) heard and let him go with laughter. The next day, Zhuge invited Meng Huo to his tent and sent Meng Huo back after releasing him. Then Zhuge caught Meng Huo again with a tactic, while Meng Huo was still not convinced, so Zhuge let him go again. This time, generals in Han camp were all confused. They thought letting the enemy go such easily seemed like a joke as they took a long journey for fighting enemy. Though, Zhuge had his own reason: Only convincing people with virtue can really win one’s heart, while convincing people with power would leave troubles in the future. As Meng Huo came back to his cave, his younger brother Meng You offered him a stratagem. At midnight, Meng You brought troops to Shucamp as a pretending of surrender, however, Kongming saw through his trick at a glance, so he ordered to reward southern barbarians plenty of good wine which made them drunk completely. At this time Meng Huo came to raid the camp as planned, not knowing they were putting necks in a trap, so he was caught again. Meng Huo was still unwilling to submit this time, so Zhuge thirdly set free the tiger back to the mountains. Meng Huo had been caught for three times, but was released by Zhuge as he was not convinced every time he was defeated. Until the seventh time, as Zhuge was going to release him, Meng Huo immediately dropped on his kneel swore: He would never plot a rebellion again. Zhuge saw he was totally convinced and believed that he can be made capital of, so appointed him to govern the southern barbarians’ land, which moved Meng Huo deeply. After that Zhuge could worry about southern barbarians no more and focus on dealing with Wei.

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(ii) Zhuge Liang moved the king of barbarians by catching and releasing him seven times

From the above story, it can be noticed that investment of Qing should cooperate with other means, including convincing with Li, tough and controlling method, and if not driving him into a corner, Meng Huo probably would not submit sincerely because of the personality he had. So, affective investment should be gentle as well as tough, curve as well as straight, tangible as well as intangible, light as well as dark, direct as well as indirect. Therefore, “nothing moves a person’s heart more than Qing”, although affection is not a commodity, it is an especially important resource and its intrinsic value of which cannot be measured by money. However, the investment of affection can bring certain material effects and create value. Cohesion needs to be sustained by affection, and it’s also an expression of “culture” victory in modern management practice to cultivate and consolidate the cohesion of the organization by means of communication between emotions. II. Its importance in modern management

Investment of Qing is an important expression of organization caring for its members as well as an important means to improve the efficiency of the organizational operation, and it’s an important guarantee to establish a good relationship between leaders and subordinates. (i)

(ii)

Affection has the function of motivation. If an organization has a good atmosphere to facilitate communication and establish harmonious organizational relationships, it can greatly enhance employees’ enthusiasm to improve the operational efficiency and economic benefit of the organization. Frank, the president of General Mills in America, said that “You can buy a person’s time, you can hire a person to a designated job, you can buy a technical operation on time or on a monthly basis, but you can’t buy a person’s enthusiasm, creativity, or total commitment.” Establishing a good affective atmosphere in the organization, focusing on building a sense of belonging and sense of responsibility of members are important means of the smart leader in management. Affection has the function of influence and signal. A leader’s behavior has a great influence on the members of the organization. If the leader takes the initiative to throw off his airs, get close to his subordinates, be approachable and share their joys and sorrows, his subordinates will have a kind of respect and love for him, which can better promote the development and growth of the organization. This kind of affection also exerts a subtle influence on the relationship between subordinates and the organization and cultivates the sense of ownership and solidarity of the subordinates.

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Affection input has a good regulatory function. If leaders trust subordinates, cherish them and respect them, the work enthusiasm and self-confidence of subordinates will naturally appear, and this kind of enthusiasm will stimulate the subordinate’s work initiative and enhance the working efficiency. The attitude, mood and level of satisfaction of subordinates in the organization are all related to their work efficiency directly. The affective factor that leaders invest in subordinates can arouse the enthusiasm and creativity of them, which cannot be exchanged by money and material.

1.7 Management Cannot Just Pay Attention to Qing 1.7.1 The Scope of Application of Qing Qing is important as well as profit. In real market economy, profit is the target that the enterprise pursues; if there is no profit, the enterprise will have no means to exist. As a tool of enterprise management, Qing serves to promote the healthy development of enterprises, and its ultimate objective is to make enterprises better access to resources and competitive advantages in market competition. Chinese economist Mao Yushi had a superb saying in Principle of Optimal Allocation that, “From the aspect of economic behavior, being profit-driven is not only permissible but also necessary to achieve the optimal economic interests of the whole society. We have no reason to criticize the legitimate actions of small retailers and multinational companies in pursuit of their own interests, and there is no reason to ask enterprises to give up the operation principle of doing anything without profit. If they act according to another principle, the economic activities of society will be plunged into great chaos. Undifferentiated encouragement towards lofty aspiration can unexpectedly lead to poverty, so ‘the road to hell is paved with good intentions.” The “lofty aspiration” we talk about here is that in a market economy, it will lead to the loss of social interests if we blindly emphasize noble sentiments and neglect the purpose of social competition. What we need to understand is that because of the starting point of “self-interest”, “Each individual is only pursuing his own comfort and his own interest. During this time, there is an invisible hand guiding him to a goal, which is not what he seeks at all. By pursuing his own interests, he often promotes social interests more effectively than when he really wants to promote them.” From the economic point of view, the economic relationship established on the basis of voluntary, interest-driven, will not cause contradictions, but will constantly improve the social benefit. But from the ethical point of view, it’s noble to sacrifice yourself to help others. These two standards, which seem to oppose mutually, are dialectical in the practice of human society. Any attempt to affirm one side by denying other side will bring harm to society. A “Kingdom of Gentlemen” was once mentioned in Romance of the Mirrored Flower, in this “Kingdom of Gentlemen”, contrary to real life, the subject of bargaining between buyers and sellers in trade is that the seller wants to sell the goods at the lowest possible price, while the buyer insists on buying at the highest price. If such a thought is brought into real life, it probably will make the seller secretly pleased. But if we really obey

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the rules of “Kingdom of Gentlemen”, it not only cannot form a society but also would plunge life into great chaos. If the act of self-interest goes beyond the scope of legal, it will also cause social instability. Combining these two standards correctly and separating them from each other is not only one of the basic topics of economic management and social management, but also an important aspect that human society needs to explore continuously.

1.7.2 The Application Scenarios of Qing Managers cannot ignore Qing, but he also cannot only pay attention to Qing. The management that only focuses on Qing would finally lead to contradictions and confusion, resulting in the slackness and rupture of affection. Only counting on Fa in the management would easily cause dissatisfaction and uneasiness of the members of the organization, and only counting on Qing would lead the disorder of the organization. The application of Qing should also pay attention to specific situation. In some cases, the development of an organization will be heavily hindered as a result of making affection a priority; even the organization will go into a dangerous situation. In the management process, replacing the principle of Fa out of consideration of Qing is unwise, which would make a good situation get worse and easily make a good start into a vicious circle. Thus, we conclude that management cannot be without Qing while Qing shouldn’t be the only thing to count on, either. It is decided by Reason. A good manager cannot lose his reason at any time. There is a Chinese idiom called “Li Ling Zhi Hun”, which means it’s extremely dangerous to lose one’s sense of reason in front of material interests, because once losing one’s sense of reason, he would fall into blindness. Similarly, there is also power, anger, love, affection, and fear that make a person lose his sense of reason, while in these factors, love and affection belong to the category of Qing. “The one enlightens others while he is in darkness” is not a good manager.

1.8 The Art of Managing by Affection 1.8.1 Pacify Others: Meeting Demand Management of Qing includes two aspects: humanity and affection. Corresponded in management practice are reflecting, releasing demand, and developing human nature, and respecting, satisfying and encouraging the energy of affection. Since ancient times, there had been debates between “human nature is good” (Mencius being the representative) and “human nature is evil” (Xunzi being the representative), while we’re not here to comment on who is right and who is wrong, but to understand the enlightenment for us: Human nature has the psychological characteristics of demand, and the demand and motivation of human not only have more than one kind in the same time and same situation, but change along with time, space and condition, so the way of guiding and managing people’s psychological activities should vary according to time, space, matter and condition.

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Fig. 2 People’s behavior pattern

As for the understanding of a person, it’s actually to understand the reason why a person has his behavior, so as to master the aspects, objective and result of behavior. As for people’s behavior patterns, existing research is shown in Fig. 2. Demand causes a person’s tension, as well as a desire that needs to be satisfied, and such a desire would produce an intentional behavior. But there are two outcomes of behavior: Achieving the objective and failing to achieve the objective. If the objective is achieved and the demand is satisfied, there will be feedback that demand has been satisfied, so new demand will arise under new stimulation. There will be feedback as well if the objective isn’t achieved, while here feedback is a sense of setback and there will be two new behaviors: One is probably adopting constructive behavior in order to continue to achieve the objective; the other is probably adopting defensive behavior and giving up the original objective. Dialogue between China and the West Alderfer revised Maslow’s version in his 1972 and 1973 writings, compressing Maslow’s five-tier demand into three (Fig. 3):

Fig. 3 Contrast between Alderfer’s and Maslow’s needs

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Alderfer’s theory (ERG) had the following difference compared with “Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs”: (i)

(ii)

(iii)

(iv)

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs was based on a rising of satisfaction, which means once lower levels of demand are met, people will rise their demand to a higher level. While ERG theory was not only reflected on the aspect of rising of satisfaction but also put forward the aspect of retreat from setbacks. This aspect indicated that when a higher level of demand was not satisfied or facing setbacks, people would put stronger desire on a lower level of demand. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs believed there is only one outstanding need in every single period, while ERG theory held that there could be one or more than one needs taking effect in any time period. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs argued that human needs rise strictly from low to high, while ERG theory thought human needs don’t necessarily follow the development sequence from low to high and can leap over several levels. For instance, some people could directly rise to relatedness needs after the existence needs are satisfied. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs thought human beings have five or seven needs, which are inherent. But ERG theory only put three needs forwards, some of them are inherent and some are acquired postnatally, like growth needs.

Source: Fuchi (2001). It’s obvious that human behavior is driven by demand, and the purpose of the behavior is to meet demand. Behavior can be motivated if one’s needs can be met and the possibility of satisfying them can be seen. And the motivation mentioned here, which is why and how managers encourage members of the organization, is the basic starting point of the thinking of the management conforming to Qing. We know there are different levels of human needs. There are also many studies on-demand in Western management thought, such as Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and Alderfer’s three-need theory, explaining the development of demand with different development stages of humans. People at a different level of demand have different behavior motivation. It determines that the management mode and method conforming to Qing needs different pertinence. So when managers touch people with Qing in real management practice, they should consider what organization members need and think, and make use of Qing pertinently so as to meet their needs as well as achieve the objective of encouraging them to realize the manager’s own goal.

1.8.2 The Use of Personnel: Creating an Initiative Everyone has an imbalanced development on the initiative, degree of responsibility, creative spirit and so on. Some have a stronger sense of responsibility only limited

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to his role and responsibility; some works with initiative but lacks persistence, can’t afford setbacks and gives up easily. The initiative comes from one’s own needs. Besides, it’s adjusted by subjective cognition and restrained by the change of the objective environment. So, people’s initiative is mainly arising from needs, cognition and change of environment. It involves incentive problems about how to synthesize the relationship between needs, cognition and change of environment in order to stimulate, arouse and maintain people’s initiative, an incentive is the starting point of management thinking conforming to Qing. Management is a long-term process, as for how to make the management effect longer and better, it needs the manager to be good at arousing the enthusiasm and initiative of members constantly. The emergence of the initiative involves three processes: the process of cognition (feelings, memory, imagination), the process of affection (happiness, vexation, excitement) and the process of will (insistence, tolerance). These three aspects are closely related to Qing. If managers fully exert the positive factor of Qing in the management process, sincerely communicating with subordinates, caring for them and offering help on their job instead of ordering mechanically, it would be happier or easier for them to accept work task and make efforts on it. This is a process of stimulating initiative. If needs are the motivation in management process, the initiative is a catalyst. It can promote the objective of the organization to be achieved better and faster and make the management process more sustained and smoother.

1.8.3 Love People: Managing People Like Their Parent Six Strategies said, “Those who are good at running a country manage people like parents loving their children, or brother loving the younger. They are worried when people suffer hungry and cold, sad when people are starving; they punish and reward people as if they do it to themselves, levy taxed as if they take their own stuff. This is the way of loving people.” The Art of War by Sun Tzu said, “Regard your soldiers as your children, they will follow you into the deepest valley; look upon them as your beloved sons, and they will stand by you even unto death. However, if you are kind-hearted but unable to enforce your commands; if you treat people well but unable to maintain authority; there is chaos and you cannot bring it to order; then your soldiers must be spoilt and are useless for practical purpose.” When a manager regards subordinates as his children, he would be empathetic and feel like in the same boat to worry about what they worry about and rejoice what their rejoice sincerely. For managers, regarding subordinates from the perspective of parents is different from blending oneself into subordinates; it requires managers to not only understand their feelings, often communicating with them and standing by them, but also help them out at the height of their parents and plan for their career development. Because we know those good parents will not blindly dote on their children, although doting is love, it would delay their children’s education and development. Good parents need to be kind as well as strict and not force their education, love or

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giving to them, instead, they should make them accept and recognized their love through communicating, guiding and approving beforehand. Different from dominating parents, “managing people like their parents” is to combine real affection with rational management methods so as to promote the management thinking conforming to Qing into a new level.

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Convincing People with Li

Chinese treasure Qing as well as Li. Leaders should touch subordinates with Qing as well as convince them with Li, to make them work spontaneously and maximize initiative and creativity, which is to combine Qing with Li and make sense. Management must be humane and reasonable so as to make sense and produce a good result.

2.1 The Connotation of Li 2.1.1 The Connotation of Li Li has the meaning of texture, sorting out, principle, and by extension, it means theory, truth, scientific principle, method and so on. It mentioned in Statecraft that “the Li in people’s heart will show up in any situation”, which means when people’s action is governed by the same reason and the same thought, it will become a conscious action as well as the action of individuals of society and groups with mutual cooperation but no mutual hurting. The characteristics of Li have the following aspects: First, Li is the opinion towards a specific object. Second, a different person has different perspectives and starting point of considering a problem, which leads to a different view and perspective, and that means Li will be different. But common features can be found in it so as to reach an agreement. Third, different groups have different understandings. Just like China and the West have different cultural values, in the management of Li it requires to seek common ground while reserving differences, coordinate for coexistence and allow using and existing multi Lis simultaneously. Fourth, Li will change along with the environment and condition. Because Li is an opinion, perspective, appraisal, and spiritual form kind of thing. In general, Li is cognition and reason conforming to people’s psychological utility. For different things and different elements, environment and condition of it, different persons and groups will show all kinds of forms, so it needs communication, coordination, negation, and distillation so as to tally with the artistic requirement of “management conforming to Li”.

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2.1.2 The Status of Li Li is the Objective of Qing Mencius said, “Be Ren (benevolent) and obey the Yi (righteousness)”, in which “Ren (benevolent)” is “Qing” in management and “Yi” is “Li”. “Be Ren (benevolent) and obey the Yi (righteousness)” is also “from Qing to Li”, and it identifies that benevolence is the foundation of righteousness and Qing is the cornerstone of Li. When we say from Qing to Li, although it’s adjusted by measures of Qing, its final object is to reach the level of “conform to Qing and Li”. If the expression of Qing lacks the support of Li or the result of paying Qing doesn’t conform to Li, they can’t be considered as the management method conforming to Qing. Li is the Standard of Fa Fa needs to be enacted according to Li, and any regulation should aim to be reasonable at any time. With institutionalization keeping in pace with rationalization, is only reasonable to make regulations adapt to the change of time and space and meet the needs of comforting people. We know that Li is a kind of perspective, and when the perspective is accepted by most people, and become dogmatic and compulsory, it is Fa. Fa does not exist in a vacuum, and its spirit is Li as we usually say is reasonable and lawful. Although Li and Fa have something different and contradictory, the enactment of Fa should be deliberated and examined by Li, as there is no unreasonable Fa. Li is the Center of Qing and Fa “It must involve Yi (righteousness) when we talk about Ren (benevolence), so benevolence and righteousness are called “Ren Yi”; it must involve righteousness when we talk about etiquette, so “Li Yi” are equally important.” We know that both benevolence and etiquette can’t live without righteousness, and need to be along with righteousness, which tallies with the principle of “the golden mean”. Among the benevolence, righteousness and etiquette, righteousness is in the middle as well as the standard of weighing benevolence and etiquette. The Master said, “There are some with whom we may study together, but we cannot reach principles; there are people we with whom we can reach common principles, but they cannot adhere to the principle with us; for those who can adhere to the common principle, they may not apply it on different.” According to the depth of them, the Master grasped and introduced these four layers step by step: studying in common is the easiest and belongs to a lower level as many people can make it; adopting is most difficult and belongs to the highest level with only few people reaching it. So, the Yi (righteousness) used to weigh and adapt is definitely hard to judge. Among Qing, Li and Fa, Qing is before Li and Fa is after Li. Ordinary people think Qing is most important, Li the next and Fa the last. Actually, as influenced by the golden mean. Chinese people naturally have their own opinion on the order: Li is in the middle while the middle is great, so the meaning of its order should be “Qing is the first while Li is most important”. Besides, what we usually say “one

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Fig. 4 The relationship between benevolence, righteousness, propriety, Qing, Li and Fa

with Li could go anywhere while one without Li could go nowhere”, “thousands of brutal Fa can’t compare with a single Li” also prove people value Li. The practice of Ren (benevolence), Yi (righteousness) and Li (propriety) is just “Qing, Li and Fa”. Chinese people call Qing and Li together as well as treasure Fa and Li, while both Qing and Fa can’t do without Li, so the most important is Li in those three (Fig. 4).

2.2 The Management and Rationality of Li 2.2.1 The Management of Li The management of Li is management conforming to reason. It’s an organizational management that is carried out based on the group psychological utility and future psychological utility of members in organization, and it’s the thread, method, way and means of this organizational management. The psychological utility on which this management method is based is rational thinking, or that the judgment of organization members towards a task is based on rational thinking. If the management of Qing is humanistic management starting with affection, human relation and emotion, creating initiative by satisfying members’ needs and carrying out incentives, then the management of Li is a management based on the group psychology and emotion of the staff of the organization. So, the management of Li is a consideration based on the standpoint of combining efficiency logic and emotional logic. Management conforming to Li totally focuses on coordinating the thread of efficiency logic and emotional logic and explaining the reason properly and skillfully according to location, people and specific issue in order to make different people accept (at least most members in a period of time), on guiding different individual Li to a greater and broader Li. 2.2.2 The Connotation of Rationality The Connotation of Rationality Reasonable means conforming to reason or principle. Rationality means characteristics and features conforming to Li. The preceding article has already introduced

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the connotation of Li, and we grasp according to the characteristics of Li to understand how to be reasonable and possess rationality. The members of the organization impose individual perspectives on others or groups, though he asserts eloquently and claims he is following Li, it is not the way of conforming to Li we are talking about. Even if the Li should exactly be the agreement of others and groups, it is not reasonable to adopt an imposed approach. So, rationality requires not only a reasonable Li, but a reasonable method or way. The rationality here is neither total scientific rationality nor absolute truth, but it’s conforming to the perspectives of involved subjects and can be wildly accepted. The Criterion of Judgment on Rationality In real life, the assessment on whether it is reasonable is different, and it’s reflected in two aspects: First, every individual has different understanding and cognition on Li, so everyone has his own criterion of judgment on rationality. Second, under different background and condition, the judgment on rationality differs. If we devote our savings to anyone, it sounds unreasonable, but if the money is given to people in need or children in the poor mountain areas, it will make sense. So, whether it is reasonable differs for different time, different place, and different people. However, the Li we mentioned here is the Li based on the foundation of people seeking common grounds and reversing differences, satisfying most people’s psychological cognition, so its criterion of judgment should depend on the common condition and background. That is to see whether it tallies with most members’ perceptions. As in management practice, it is hard to reach an agreement accepted by organization members one hundred percent, so rationality is the perspective of most people. Thus, the management conforming to Li is usually represented as neutralization, compromise, accommodation, and coordination. And this exactly reflects the combination of scientific nature and artistry of management. Therefore, the rationality of group agreement seems common, ordinary, and average, with no great contrast or magnificence.

2.2.3 The Explanation of Rationality: The Doctrine of the Mean The Doctrine of the Mean The mean (Zhong Yong) advocated by Confucian is an attitude of treating people moderately. The thinking of the mean had a special position in Chinese five-thousand-year development of civilization, which not only influenced every area of social life imperceptibly, but also was the fundamental essence of Chinese culture. In Song Dynasty, Zhu Xi said, “Zhong means even-handed and not to bear an overvalued fame. Yong means normal.” Cheng Hao and Cheng Yi said, “No deviate means Zhong, no changing means Yong. Zhong is the right path of the world; Yong is the theorem of the world.” It means Zhong is impartial and Yong is gentle and modest. Their definition to the mean pointed out that the original

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meaning of the mean is neither going extreme too far nor relying on some extreme too much; neither being too realistic nor idealistic; neither being too isolated nor denying everything; neither being too aggressive nor being too defensive. We could say that the thinking of the mean is a philosophy, an ethical thought, a political proposal, a cultivation requirement and so on. In a word, it shows the great Li about how to be a man, do things and manage people and matters. So, the doctrine of the mean has strong vitality. From the Mean to Li While people are learning every single thing, the Li they express and insist are different because the visible elements and their ways of expression are different with different perspective. This is at best a small Li. Interpersonal relationship becomes inharmonious and poses a contradiction, and people insist on their own opinions with their own statement, these are all because their Lis are not compatible with each other. Thus, it needs communication and coordination for an organization or a group, which is to communicate and coordinate their Lis, make people reach an agreement and obey the common values and thought. And the perspective and behavior conforming to common rules or an agreement on cooperation are conforming to Li. So, conforming to Li, in a sense, is conforming to Li of reaching consensus. Because of the doctrine of the mean and rationality have this compromised agreement in common, we believe that the connotation and values advocated by rationality and the doctrine of the mean are consistent with each other.

2.3 The Application of Managing by Li 2.3.1 Ming Li: Set Objectives Management Needs Objectives The management process is: identifying objectives and standards, then endowing employees with due responsibility and authority, allowing them to make their own strategy for profits within the range permitted by Fa and regulations. This is “Jing Quan Zhi Tao”, is righteousness, which is the Fa of Li. The members of the organization should fully display the spirit of “Chi Jing Da Quan” and adjust to the changing circumstance timely to be reasonable. The management of Li is a process of coordinating and making accommodations for agreement. That is the process of carrying out a principle and getting everyone’s approval after a joint discussion of members and gathering people’s thoughts. As for the flexibility, it is the accommodation made on this certain objective, such as the change of method, way and progress stage along with different time and different place. As the objectives are the agreements after a joint discussion, the complaining voice will decrease naturally during execution. Besides, it is convenient to coordinate when individuals are given a unified organizational objective. So, setting objectives is a process of Ming Li (addressing reason), only making

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organizational members have a clear idea about the recognized Li at first could they start their work in a reasonable condition. The Setting of Objectives In management, an objective can be either big or small, either common or private, so how to make the best of objectives? (i) It’s essential to describe the relationship between individual objective and enterprise objective precisely and tersely. Individuals should notice how to make an achievement and improve work efficiency for promoting the completion of enterprise objectives; meanwhile, it’s also necessary to know about what rewards will be offered by the enterprise as compensation so as to help individuals achieve their own objectives. (ii) Make the objectives full of fun. Chinese are always willing to pay more attempts to play a game, in which they are far more concentrated than their job. It is easy to understand because when people are in a game, they each act the character they like, and everyone knows how to achieve victory. In games, most people show their abnormal excitement and abundant energy. Such Fa of game and competition is a quotable and practical way for the work of an enterprise and exploiting the potential of enterprise employees. Nowadays, this way is applied to many Chinese enterprises. In order to improve the whole working level of the organization, applying graphic method, game method, and competition method to make objectives more fun, then the action of enterprise will be full of individuality and fun, and the corresponding rewards must be efficient productivity and increasing profits. If every one of the organization thinks separately, the group will lack resultant force. Though everyone has power, it is difficult to gather them together. It is hard for the Chinese to be both cooperative and like-minded. People who are like-minded but not cooperative will end up working separately; people who are cooperative but not like-minded is even worse, though they keep on good terms with each other on the surface but each of them works on his/her own plot and will eventually fail the project and create a loss for the company. So being cooperative and like-minded should both become our objectives achieved with common effort, so that people could not only cooperate but also be all of one mind. Dialogue Between China and the West Management of Objectives, MBO, is firstly put forward and discussed systematically by American management scientist Peter Drucker in The Practice of Management, 1954. “The system of MBO can be described as such a process: The superior managers and inferior managers of an organization set the common objective, then stipulate the individual’s major area of responsibility according to anticipated effects, and use these measurement scales as the guidelines of units operating and the standards of evaluating individual’s contribution.”

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Concisely, MBO is the management based on developing employees’ abilities and centered on achieving objectives. This management’s key point is transferred from actions to objectives to change employees’ views on work. In the companies where MBO are better implemented, employees care about “what my working objective is” instead of “what should I do” and take responsibility for outcomes rather than actions. Its fundamental thought is to start all activities by setting objectives, guiding the activities in progress, and evaluating the completion degree of objectives at the end of activities. Carrying out MBO generally includes setting objectives, breaking down objectives, identifying the evaluation method, implementing and assessing. Source: Fuchi & Tongsen (2001).

2.3.2 Da Li: Do What Should Be Done Without Overdoing Small Case In the period of Emperor Hui of Han, Cao Shen was newly appointed and entered the Minister Mason. After assuming office, he did not follow what a successor would to make a radical change to showcase the difference. He issued no decree, no mobilization on troops, and just obeying the rules of old minister Xiao He. He was idle all day long, drinking wine and sightseeing day and night, as if totally forgetting to govern the country. Emperor Hui of Han blamed him for ignoring the matter, and he replied, “Please think about it, who is more wise and noble than the deceased emperor?” Hui Emperor immediately said: “How dare I compare with the deceased emperor?” Cao Shen again asked: “Your Majesty, who is more talented? Xiaohe or I?” Hanwhiti smiled and said: “I see you seem to be inferior to Xiaohe.” Cao Shen continued, “Your Majesty, you are right.” Since we are both inferior to our predecessors and have formulated a number of clear and complete policies after uniting China and the policies work well, should we really attempt to do anything beyond that? “Then he sincerely said to Hui Emperor:” Now your Majesty is inheriting the empire, not starting a new one. Therefore, we are ministers, we should be in accordance with the deceased emperor’s will, be cautious and abide by the duties. The laws and regulations that have been enacted and implemented should not be changed indiscriminately, but only in accordance with the implementation. Isn’t it great that I am doing this right now? Cao Shen in the court as prime Minister three years, strongly advocated no intervention, followed Xiaohe’s laws and regulations to govern the country, so that the Western Han Dynasty achieved political stability, economic development, the better living quality. When he died, the people made up a ballad and praised him, saying, “Xiaohe made the Law, clear and tidy; Cao Shen followed after succession. The administration is quiet, and the people are happy.” “In history it’s called” Xiao Gui Cao Sui (Cao continued to use the rules of Xiao)”. Source: Sort out from the story of “Xiao Gui Cao Sui”.

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Lao Tzu’s Inaction Lao Tzu’s thought of “no intervention” has a rich connotation of management knowledge. We are in the center of Qing, Li and Fa, and it is a way of “Jing Quan Zhi Tao”, so the essence of its mastery is also a process of weighing the speculation in the course of being and not. Lao Tzu said, Best ruler, people only know he exists; second best, people love him and admire him; average ruler, people are afraid of him; worst ruler, people insult him. Governor has no credit so people don’t believe in him. If you want to govern leisurely, why do you pay attention to command! The empire goes with expectation and people are willing to say that they have made their own efforts. I have made it clear here that if the ruler can let the common people only know that his existence, this is the most brilliant ruling because if a ruler do not give massive commands but manage the state leisurely, although he has completed the great cause, people take it as their own credit. This so-called “no intervention” is not really inaction, which on the surface seem to lack responsibility and intelligent management, in essence, it contains a great sense of responsibility, great wisdom and superb management capabilities. Lao Tzu also said, “The sage manages the world with minimal intervention, and educate people without empty words. All things naturally happen without intentional effort, and does not take things as his own, make accomplishments but do not indulge in pride, and because there is no sense of pride, there is no sense of loss.” Lao Tzu here emphasized a great idea that all things exist relatively, complementary, and interactively. Just because to conform to the nature of all things, the true ruler practices no intervention, do not talk meaningless things, not create against Fa, but manage the country with calmness and comfort. Thus, there is no achievements nor mistakes; no honor nor shame; no gain nor lose. So, no intervention is doing a great deal, is great wisdom, as long as conforming to the situation, Qing, Li and objective law. Do What Should Be Done Without Overdoing A wise manager, a person who is good at governing the country and managing the organization, must leave something undone to get others done. Leaving something undone to get others done reflects the remarkably high management thinking and superb management art. Statecraft said, “People who govern the country should not only devote themselves to trivial matters in daily life and forget state affairs. In this world, small things are not to be dedicated too much energy, but must leave the main energy to catch a major event, and then consider the small things; this is called decency. It is not easy to make up for the loss in the big things if time and energy are wasted on small things”. In the management practice, managers should be good at grasping the main direction and key events, and if you can deal with other aspects, that nature is the best, even if not taken care of, don’t worry, because as long as the overall situation is stable, then you can deal with the Non the main aspects and secondary events,

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which will not cause significant losses. This is called “leave something small undone to get other major event done”. Getting something done does not mean the manager should attend to every detail and do everything by himself, while this does not to let managers be idle and irresponsible. Getting things done or undone needs to conforming to the Li, that is, to be reasonable, make sense, within the scope of Li. Confucius said, “Not in its place, do not do it job”, which means leaving something undone. If it is changed to “do its job in its place”, it is to get something done. Therefore, because of the different roles of management, different functions and behaviors of different parts, it is necessary to obey the idea of leaving something undone to get others done, otherwise it will cause chaos. Shuo Li: Establish Communication (i) The meaning of communication Communication in interpersonal relationships is the basic way of discussing, exchanging, arguing, seeking common ground, and gaining consensus, which is the basic method of realizing the reasoning and the important manifestation of Li’s management. Without communication, people cannot realize the exchange of ideas and cannot achieve consensus in communication. The communication between people has its particularity: First, communication between people is mainly carried out by means of language (or language form). Second, communication between people is not only the exchange of information but also the communication of emotion, thought, attitude, and viewpoint. Third, in the process of communication between people, psychological factors are of great significance. Between the sender and receiver of the information, it is necessary to understand each other’s motives and purposes for information exchange, and the result of the exchange of information will change the behavior of the person. Fourth, in the process of communication between people, there will be special communication barriers. This obstacle is not only due to the distortion or error of information channel (i.e. transmission), but also because of the psychological obstacle peculiar to people. (ii) The significance of communication Communication in the management process is a bridge of mutual understanding and Knowing of people: managers need to understand their authority and reputation among subordinates, need to understand subordinates’ understanding level and acceptance, and subordinates need to communicate work tasks, get due support and help. At the same time, peer members also need to communicate with each other to express feelings and work together.

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The vision is important, the goal is only half the action of the leader, and the other half is trying to make people understand their vision and goals. At a critical juncture, it is important to communicate so that the people who are led have consistent goals as the leader. With lofty goals, good communication with people, success is getting closer. By communicating, the combination of character, emotion, level and ability with the logical expression of reasoning, as well as the charm of personal style, can better promote the “Li” to the members of the organization while making “Li” more willing and easy to be accepted.

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Chinese treasure Qing and Li, but this does not mean that the Chinese do not pay attention to the Fa. In fact, in modern society, Fa is the basis of the theory of balanced Qing, and without the Fa there is no Qing or Li at all. The embodiment of Fa in enterprise management is the rules and regulations, and it stipulates the basic principles and methods of enterprise management. It is equally binding on all of the company’s owners and departments: The leader is to be good at using this binding force to enable enterprises to have Fa to obey, must obey existed Fa and form a Zheng Qi of behavior. Tips Rites of Zhou is the classic of Confucian, written by famous statesman, thinker, litterateur and strategist in Western Zhou period, Zhou Gongdan. Now analyzing from its ideological content, it shows that when Confucianism developed into the late Warring States period, compromising Taoism, Legalism, Yin and Yang and other thought, it was different from the thought of Confucius in the spring and Autumn period greatly. The contents of Rites of Zhou are extraordinarily rich. Up to the geography of China, down to specific road, river, plants and animals. It covers political systems, political and cultural education, propriety, music, war tactics, punishment, tax, food and clothing ornaments, house, temples, cars, horses, agriculture, business, medicine, divination, craft production, all kinds of stuff are all included. It is regarded as a treasure trove of ancient cultural history. Source: Sort out from network data.

3.1 The Connotation of Fa 3.1.1 The Connotation of Fa The meanings of Fa in ancient Chinese are complex and diverse, the most important meanings are: First, Fa symbolizes justice, integrity, universality, and unification, and is a kind of norm, rule, routine, model and order. Second, Fa means fair and it’s

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the standard and foundation of fair litigation. Third, Fa is the punishment, and it is punitive, taking the punishment as the backing. “Fa does not please bigwigs, and ink line does not curve in crooked place” (Mo Tsi), “So the state will be disordered without Fa, sticking to the Fa without any reform will be wrong” (The Spring and Autumn of Lü Buwei). Fa is principle, decree, system and rule. We often say “nothing can be accomplished without norms or standards”, it is obvious that the Chinese people attach great importance to the system. As early as the Western Zhou period, there was Rites of Zhou, which is the rules and regulations of Zhou Dynasty. Fa is the propriety in “benevolence, righteousness and etiquette”. Confucius attached great importance to etiquette, which is laws and regulations and code of conduct, expressed as the “Xie Ju Zhi Tao” in management, that is, the institutionalization of management. The concept of etiquette is the starting point of the theory of Confucius. Confucianism started with the concept of Li, and then to Ren (benevolence) and Yi (righteousness), which is a continuous process of ascension. Institutionalization is the basis of management. Any system, at the beginning of its creation, must have its external needs, as well as its intrinsic intention, which is by no means imagined. The legal system of an organization is a Fa that members must observe together. The system should be adjusted regularly to make the staff feel fair and reasonable.

3.1.2 The Status of Fa Confucius praised “Rites of Zhou”, advocating “according to the laws and regulations in the glorious age of Zhou Dynasty, adjust the rights and duties of the monarch and his subordinates”. Every organization, if its members are able to do what they are supposed to do according to their fame, and to use what they are authorized to use, then everything will be in its place and there will be order. Some people think that only Legalists treasured Fa, but actually Confucianism also attached importance to the Fa as well, but the difference was Confucianism emphasized Fa instead of punishment and believed that “If the people are restricted by laws, and uniformity enforce by giving punishments, they will obey only to avoid the punishment, but they have no sense of shame; If they etiquette are restricted by morality, and uniformity educated with etiquette, they will have the sense of shame, and no crime will be committed”. In other words, he attaches more importance to the its effect on the “degree of order”, and believed that if members of the organization can “be constrained with etiquette”, “see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil and no one will act evil”, they will not violate the criminal Fa. Nothing can be accomplished without norms or standards. In modern management, every organization has its own rules. Nations have national laws; families have family rules. The rules of the Organization are the basis of each member’s work, and those who do not know the rules have no idea how to do. We often say that a person who is not disciplined does not deserve to be free. So, it can be said that rules, regulations, systems, etc., are used to constrain the behavior of members. All systems throughout history cannot work without adjustment as time passes. Therefore, the institutionalization of management needs to rely on people to create,

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revise and implement Fa; otherwise, it must be rigid. Institutionalization is the basis and the starting point of management; we must constantly upgrade to achieve the perfect state of management. The system has its specific context, and it can neither be blindly transplanted nor be left without improvement, while it needs to be revised at any time. Among Qing Qing, Li and Fa of management, the Fa is the foundation, and the organization member must observe together. However, “worship the Fa and be practical” is the basic accomplishment of members, and they need to do better in “no arbitrary predeterminations” and “no obstinacy”, prevent the “system” from becoming rigid and dogmatic, and fully adapt to the change of time and space.

3.2 The Effect of Fa in the Management Small Case In the Three Kingdoms period, Shu was far away from the central plains, where people formed a pampered and wild folk custom. In order to strengthen the government, Zhuge Liang adopted a strict decree, but this kind of severe punishment had aroused many officials’ objections, including Zhuge Liang’s important advisor Fa Zheng, who also asked the reason. Zhuge Liang explained that, according to the usual practice, when a kingdom is newly founded and people are stable mentally, it is necessary to implement light corvee and taxes, lenient penalty, and take the recuperation of conciliate policy. But when the cowardly and incompetent Liu Zhang governed Shu, he indulged people and law is ignored here. If we do not change it, it will not help to consolidate the territory and improve cohesion, seeding hidden risks in the future. Fa Zheng was convinced and understood the good intention of Zhuge Liang of reversing the chaos in Shu land through aggravating the way of punishment after listening.

3.2.1 The Necessity of Fa Strict Fa is the guarantee of the effective operation of society, and the clear enterprise management system is the key to the harmonious development of the organization. Effective rules and codes of service keep members rule-based and then provide protection for the achievement of organizational goals. Han Fei Zi said, “The monarch knows little about strategy will be blinded by courtiers, while the courtiers limited by no decrees will make insurrection in secret, so strategies and decrees are both indispensable and the Emperor’s tools for governing the country.” An organization only to have a scientific system, laws and regulations; managers can supervise the deployment, prevent members from working separately, and finally successfully achieve the organization’s development goals. When it comes to the system, the strictest discipline is probably the military discipline, and through strict discipline, the commander-in-chief can command the armed forces and ensure the efficient implementation of the mission. Similarly, in

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the enterprise management activities, managers cannot rely entirely on virtue to guide subordinates but need to rely on Fa to constrain. Smart managers should be good at using the system to restrain subordinates, ensure the implementation of the plan and lead subordinates effectively through the establishment of a scientific and effective management system. This is how enterprise management activities should be instead of dispensable things. In the operation of the enterprise, the imperfect management system will often result in the stagnancy of workflow, inadequate internal assessment and the disunity of staff’s values, while these will seriously limit the development and growth of enterprises. At this time, it’s essential to build a clear and effective enterprise management system, “Ding Fen Zhi Zheng (stop the dispute)”, to make everyone get down to their work. In fact, many people know that managers should do things according to rules instead of personal preferences, but it is really difficult to make it. Chinese people tend to attach importance to affections, often fail to be totally fair in front of practical problems or stick to justice without any personal emotional factors. Therefore, it is very important to adhere to rules for managers. Lao Tzu said, “heaven and earth is not Ren (benevolent), they let everything be and watch them thrive or die; the sage is also not Ren (benevolent), let people thrive and die without interference” It means that heaven and earth produce all things, allowing them grow naturally with no preference; the saints treat people without preference, letting them develop naturally. To the management is to act impartially, hold a natural, objective attitude. Only by doing things within the system can we establish the prestige of personal leadership and improve the quality of interpersonal relationship with subordinates. In the social-economic life, the enterprise manager must face the human nature flaw as well as the complex influence factors of the environment and should be good at taking advantage of decrees to make the complex management affairs become executable and operable in management.

3.2.2 The Scientific Nature of Fa The Management of Fa Fa’s management is the management conforming to Fa, which is a kind of organization management not implemented based on individual and group psychology but is an idea, way, method, and means of organization management. The management of Fa is tangible. Its management implementation starts from the perspective of efficiency considerations, and finally goes back to the evaluation of efficiency and consideration. Therefore, the management of Fa is regarded as a kind of management based on efficiency logic, which is like the requirement of scientific management. The management conforming to Fa is reflected in the rules and regulations in enterprises, in the operating procedures, in the employee handbook, in the decision-making method, in the planning, in job scheduling, in the job description, in post responsibility system, in the way of coordinating and controlling, in the layout of factory and workshop and in the production time and space organizations, etc.

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So we regard the management of Fa as the performance of scientific management. Treat Fa Scientifically When we talk about the scientific nature of Fa, it not only means the scientific nature of management method but requires us to treat Fa in a scientific way. No one likes to passively obey all the time; on the contrary, people like initiative. People are most willing to obey their own decisions, not others’ decisions. People are usually stressed and resistant to other people’s decisions, receptive to their own decisions, and will execute them down to detail. Therefore, the Fa, that is, the system and rules, needs to be in the specific implementation of the appropriate flexibility: (i) If the Fa is not flexible, then this method is not workable. The Fa has to be quite flexible in order to work. So, there is a range of flexibility changes. (ii) Qing and Li should be within the bounds of the Fa, which is to consider three factors at the same time. The reasonable solution is to make sense in the scope permitted by Fa. The Fa is determined by people; it will eventually be outdated, only changing according to Li can make it fit for use. Institutionalization is the starting point of management, and an organization needs to standardize and normalize behavior by the system, but at the same time, the system needs to improve constantly. On the one hand, it cannot be separated from the basis of theory; on the other hand, it also should work in with the effect of practice. Regard theory as the spiritual life of system and consider reality as body of system. We can neither negate the theoretical basis behind the traditional system nor ignore all the real demands in the real environment. If the system is in a rut, all kinds of problems are bound to arise in the course of continuous development, and if the system changes without serious consideration, the system loses its stability and the necessity of existence. So, we need to institutionalize, at the same time to rationalize the system. All the regulations and laws must be reasonable at any times. The sun will go down, the system has its expiration time as well, and “Fa of sunset” is the spirit of the rationalization of the system. It is reasonable to revise the laws and regulations regularly so that they are suitable for the change of time and space and meet the needs of the people.

3.3 The Application of Managing by Fa 3.3.1 Ming Fa: Bring System into the Public Guan Tzu, The Explanation to Ming Fa mentions, “Fa is the rule of the world and the instrumentation of everything.” The so-called “rule of Fa” is to announce the legal system, make it public and clear, and get people to understand and conscientiously abide. In this way, rule with Fa and assess contribution with Fa, then there will be no dissatisfaction and complaints.

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In ancient times, the governor believed in “When the government secretly knows the Fa, its power is unpredictable for people”, which caused many social problems because the information is not public. Similarly, if the system is not made public in the management of enterprise, it will not only cause the ambiguity of Fa, but also cause the contradictory situation with no Fa to follow. Since the Fa is the reasonable institutionalized form formed on the basis of the agreement of organization members, the members of each organization have the responsibility to comply with and the right to know about. It is necessary to inform the members of the organization openly and transparently from the origin of the system to the procedure and scope of the system. Otherwise, even if the system is reasonable, it will arouse people’s suspicion and dissatisfaction, it is not conducive to further implementing the system. We say what is reasonable, it must be legal, too. So, as long as the system conforms to Li, it is bound to be accepted and implemented by the members of the organization; on the contrary, if the system is unreasonable, it is also conducive to revising a more suitable system in the discussion and consultation among members, which is also the scientific requirements of the Fa.

3.3.2 Chong Fa: No Personal Privilege Equality is the basic principle and requirement of implementing Fa. Shang Yang once pointed out that if the monarch abandons the laws and regulations and manage the country according to his personal preference, then the country will be disordered definitely. Therefore, the monarch should take the lead in obeying the Fa, his speech and behavior should abide the Fa; in the implementation of rewards and punishments, the monarch should also apply Fa equally to everyone. In the Three Kingdoms Period, Zhuge Liang beheaded Ma Su in tears. Although Ma Su is the general Zhuge Liang appreciated, Zhuge Liang did not have mercy on him because he knew that once the Ma Su got the privilege, the authority of military Fa will be greatly reduced, resulting in worse consequences. The system in the company is like the military Fa of Zhuge Liang, which must be carried out without exceptions, and the company’s system is likely to get out of control once it is neglected. But in the modern enterprise, because the Chinese thought of “criminal penalties do not apply to scholar-officials and etiquette does apply to common people”, managers often ignore this point, undermining the system. Therefore, after the establishment of the system, the key lies in the implementation, otherwise, a good system is useless without enough execution. The ancients said, “When a governor’s personal conduct is correct, his government is effective without giving orders. If his personal conduct is not correct, even he may give orders, but they will not be followed.” As the managers of the organization, their exemplary roles have a direct and important effect on surrounding staff. The power of a demonstration is astonishing, so the manager must set a good example for his subordinates. Once the prestige in the organization is established by the exemplary role, it will greatly improve the fighting power of the organization. Therefore, as the manager of the organization, he must work in accordance with the regulations in management, emphasize that everyone is equal

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in front of the system and not seek personal privilege because of his own preference. Only in this way can organizations unite and have a clear system of rewards and punishments.

3.3.3 Yan Fa: Implement Stoutly Yan Fa is to implement regulations strictly. Yan is also a guarantee of an organization’s strong power. It would be a deterrent if those who blatantly flouted the rules of Fa were dealt with seriously. Han Fei Zi advocated that every reward and punishment must be resolute to encourage meritorious deeds and prohibit crime. If rewards are generous, there will be a situation where people rush to make contributions; If punishments are severe, all kinds of treacherous phenomenon can be very effectively prohibited. The thought of a strict legal system requires that managers must have the Fa to obey and enforce the Fa strictly. Shang Yang believed that only by enacting detailed and comprehensive provisions of the Fa, can people’s behavior have something to rely on. But for the modern enterprise, after formulating a complete enterprise system, the manager must carry out scientific and strict management, as the enterprise will fall into chaotic disorder without strict management. Konosuke Matsushita said, “As an enterprise manager, the most important thing is to be able to do the leniency with severity. If being blindly indulgent, people will slack, but if being blindly strict, it will make people shrink back. So it is important to be lenient along with strict.” Therefore, as a manager, one should be strict with oneself, adhere to principles and make oneself an example, only when he plays an exemplary role for employees can he prohibit with order and ensure the smooth conduct of enterprise rules and regulations. It impossible to let enterprises in the fierce market competition come out on top only with strategies, and only strong executive power can enable enterprises to create real value. If losing executive power, the enterprise will lose the necessary conditions of long-term survival and success. Without executive power, there will be no core competitiveness. Reviews 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

What is Zhi Yuan? What’s its principle? How to apply? What’s the status of Qing in management? What is its scope and conditions? What is investment of Qing? What effects does it have? What’s the management of Li? How to explain rationality with the doctrine of the mean? What’s the management of Fa? How to treat the management of Fa? Some people think that Chinese leaders like obedient subordinates, but actually Chinese leaders do not appreciate people who are completely obedient. The most important thing Chinese leaders treasure is the person who “obeys something but not everything”, which is the one respects others opinion but not obeys blindly. Please tell me from your point of view, how do you understand “obeys something but not everything”?

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8. How to deal with the relationship between Qing, Li and Fa, there have been many views, and Ma Mingzhe, the chairman of Ping An insurance company of China, believed that we should insist the principle of “Fa is first, Li is second, Qing is last”, and according to your understanding of Qing, Li and Fa, how to deal with the relationship between Qing, Li and Fa in the management practice. Cases Article One In Wahaha, if you ask any employee: who lifted them up when they fell? Who often teaches them? And who soothes their wounds? “Zong Qinghou” is the answer. Zong Qinghou is just like this, making efforts to create a large family atmosphere in the company, giving employees meticulous care in life, helping them solve worries so that they can wholeheartedly concentrate on work. And he will try to create a large family atmosphere of work and life. For example, he will resolve the difficulties of staff members without families around and actively help the employees living in two places find a suitable position in the enterprise. Zong also asked the logistic service department to fully understand the importance of their own work, ensure that employees eat enough, eat well and rest well, and strive to do a good job in employees’ life service. In addition to a series of logistic measures in life, Wahaha also implements a paid tourism system, in which each employee has 7 days of holiday each year with a payment of 3000 yuan as travel expenses so that employees in the busy work can relax. As Wahaha has numerous subsidiaries in the field, there are many front-line sales staff in the field for a long time, and the company’s logistical support for these employees is more nuanced: organizing power especially to help their families to solve worries and managing to visit to offer care and service actively. This kind of humanized and meticulous care moves the employees deeply and encourages them to do a good job. Source: Yang and Jin (2005). Article Two At each end of the year, Wahaha Company will always give awards and give out bonuses. Because in the past there is no day-to-day performance appraisal, it turned out that no one thinks the winners deserve the awards, some departments simply took turns to get awards; some other apartments even decided award on drawing lottreries, and the effects are very unsatisfactory. Since June 2000, the Ministry of Security established the performance appraisal regulations, and it’s all clearly stipulated about finishing what task should add points and by how many; making what mistake should get deduction and by how many. All levels of the teams examine themselves, and the disputes can be appealed to the superior. In January 2001, the “Final elimination system” officially started. With the production base as assessment units, staff of all levels exercises mutual supervision,

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and on-duty cadres randomly conduct spot checks. At the end of each month, scores will be published and ranked, and the ones who had the worst performance will be notified of leaving the post. As a result of the final elimination system in strict accordance with the score, ranking, the whole process is open and impartial, so although it’s somewhat sudden, those who are eliminated thought it was done fairly. Employees’ enthusiasm and sense of crisis have been strengthened at the same time. Source: Chao (2004). Article Three A company’s boss was surprised to hear that one of his managers wanted to leave his job because the employee was a very good technical backbone he had personally trained, and when he first entered the company 3 years ago, he swore to the boss and signed a 5-year work contract. The boss personally found this employee, had dinner together after work, chatted at first and asked him his thought of working in these years and if there is any difficulty. In the conversation, the boss knew that the manager wanted to quit because the salary problem and a foreign company wanted him. After listening, the boss firstly touched him with Qing then convinced him with Li, stating a lot of difficulties of enterprises at this stage, and it was temporarily unable to meet the compensation of foreign companies, but just because the enterprise was in the development stage, such talent like him was more needed as support. But the manager was not so moved, and he already made up his mind leaving. As a last resort, the boss took out the company’s rules and regulations and the manager’s contract, told him that if he really wants to leave, then the company will respect his choice, but because of the previous contract, and the company cannot find the right person in a short period of time, so he needed to stay for a few months to transfer the work and trained a qualified new candidate. Considering the problem of default and the boss persuading him in person, the manager decided to stay after weighing. Soon the company promoted him as vice-president, who took a complete charge in company. Source: Haifang (2006). Questions 1. Article one and two are both the management methods of Wahaha, with great difference, so are these two methods of management contradictory? Please talk about your understanding according to articles. 2. The boss in Article three combined Qing, Li and Fa in the management, resulting in retaining talents. Please talk about your understanding to the relationship between Qing, Li and Fa according to the article, and how to apply them?

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References Chao, G. (2004). The Wahaha method (pp. 88–89). Worker Press of China. Dongshui, S. (2005). Oriental management. Fudan University Press. Fuchi, Z., & Tongsen, A. (2001). Qing: Li and Fa in management. Economy & Management Publishing House. Haifang, S. (2006). Chinese details in management. China Yan Shi Press. Yang, S., & Jin, C. (2005). The Wahaha code (pp. 171–172). Peking University Press.

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When the world changes, things will change, and when things change, then preparations for it will change. —Han Fei Zi, Five Beetles People deal with a major event by the principle and take medicine because it is good. The book does not need to be written by Zhong Ni; the medicine does not need to be made by Bian Que. A good man can conduct Fa and do the right for the world. —New Language, Lu Jia The best way to rule people is to leave people to develop; the second good way is to induce them with gain; the third good way is to educate them; the forth good way is to restrict people with law; the worst way is to complete with people for benefits. —Records of Grand Historian, Biographies of Merchants

Abstract

1. Situation refers to the relative or combination of situations in each period. Situational management is a management process that analyzes, takes measures, and corrects these specific situations. Situational change has three basic characteristics: continuity, direction, and diversity, and has the basic characteristics of predictability, changeability, and prone to mutation. 2. Situation is influenced by many factors. It can be roughly divided into three categories: personnel factors, competition factors and environmental factors. According to the influencing factors and characteristics of a situation change, the situation change can be divided into three types: natural change, Li Dao (Guide a good development situation), malignant development. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021 H. Hu, Principles of Chinese Management, Management for Professionals, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-6522-3_10

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3. In order to manage the natural changing situation, managers should take measures to shape and improve people and themselves to adapt to the changes and cater to the situation, so as to obtain the best management effect in a favorable situation. 4. The characteristics of Li Dao situation are often the situation that fluctuates greatly. This kind of situation change trend can be guided by the direction of good through forecasting and preparing in advance, and the best benefit can be obtained by creating a self-benefit situation. 5. In the malignant development situation, the enterprise or organization is already in or about to be in a disadvantageous situation. At this time, the managers should take measures such as breaking the old-fashioned ideas, encouraging innovation, and establishing systems to regulate them to control the malignant situation and reverse the bad situation. 6. The Shan Yin (the situation that adapts to the natural change) must accomplish three points: Adapting to the changing situation caused by their own factors, adapting to the changing situation caused by other factors, and adapting to the changing situation caused by environmental factors. There are corresponding strategies for situation changes caused by different factors. 7. To adapt to the changing situation caused by their own factors, we should achieve the goal of Zi Xing Zhi Chi—introspection and summary; Xue Er Shi Xi—continuous progress; Ren Zhong Dao Yuan—set the goal of the incoming period in the current situation. To adapt to the changing situation caused by others’ factor, we should teach students in accordance with their aptitudes, teach them in accordance with their aptitude and combine Xu Shi, Yu Zhi, Gong Shou flexibly. In order to adapt to the changing circumstances caused by environmental factors, we should not make too many comments on the changes of the external environment, conform to its natural changes and do not violate the laws of nature; we should not expect to indulge ourself in the past or follow the so-called everlasting rules; Time goes by like a stream of water, and it will never return, we must cherish the timing and make changes. 8. Li Dao (to guide the situation of good development) to do three things: identify talents and inspire them, create momentum to win, change according to interest. If a worker wants to do good work, he must first make his tools sharp. In an adverse situation, if you want to create a favorable situation, you must first choose the right person, at the right time, to create the right favorable situation in order to achieve a complete victory. 9. Identify talents and inspiring them: to oneself, to people and to managers, we need to shoot the arrow at the target and be resourceful and alert, apply clear rewards and penalties; we need to create a win-win situation: a favorable situation to achieve complete victory or to win with the smallest loss. Corresponding to the current business management, it is to do a good job of planning before the competition and avoid direct competition with competitors. Change according to interest: human nature has the characteristics of admiring good and hating bad, so we make decisions based on benefit points.

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10. Zheng Qi (managing the malignant situation) should be governed from three levels: ideological enlightenment, institutional constraint and unified management. Ideological enlightenment, means when the situation is not favorable, the idea of striving for strong management to dominate and the idea of long-term benefit are the victories should be used to win; the practice of institutional constraint is to strictly govern and reform the system within its borders; unified management emphasizes the role of leaders. Keywords
















Situational management Shan Yin Li Dao Zheng Qi Li Dong Quan Bian Fen Shu Xing Ming







Learning Purpose and Requirements Understand the meaning of the situation, the characteristics and influencing factors of situational changes, and the three types of situation changes. Understand the source, application and relationship of situational change in the governance of “Shan Yin, Li Dao, and Zheng Qi”. Master specific methods that should be adopted to three types of situational development. Introductory Case In the spring and autumn period, the king of Yan Zhao respected and lots of talents in order to revenge for his father. He set Yue Yi as the army general and united with the Zhao, Chu, Han, and Wei, defeated the Qi by leading the army of five countries, conquered the capital of Qi, Lin Zi, and brought countless treasures and ceremonies back to Yan. At this time, Tian Dan of the state of Qi was appointed as the leader in the immediate danger of Jimo city. When Tian Dan heard that there is a conflict between king Yan Hui and the general of the state of Yan, Yue Yi, he sent people to the state of Yan to sabotage their relationship further. He threatened that Yue Yi is timid and afraid to defeat two remaining cities, and Yue Yi was likely to unite the forces of Qi and to be the king of Qi. The king of Yan Hui thought this was right, so he sent a general, Qi Jie, to instead of Le Yi. But the officers and troops of the state of Yan knew it was an unfair decision. Therefore, in Jimo city, Tian Dan advocated that the state of Qi should have prophets to guide them to defeat the enemy and win. Moreover, Tian Dan found a “prophets” as a teacher in the city and asked “the teacher” for everything. Tian Dan also induced Yan’s soldiers to do things that angered the people in Jimo, such as cutting off the nose of Qi’s captives and unearthing the graves of Qi’s ancestors. Jimo people cried bitterly and asked to leave the city to fight for their lives. Tian said it is still not the right time. Then he put his wife and his concubine, together with the soldiers in the construction work, and gave them all the food to his troops as a reward. When the time was right Tian Dan ordered the old and weak women to go up to the city to defend themselves, and all the well-equipped troops lay in ambush. He sent the emissaries to make an

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agreement with the state of Yan on surrender. When the time was right, 5000 strong men of the Qi’s army silently killed the Yan’s army, and drove them away. Tian Dan took different measures in different situations, such as sabotaging relationship plan, publicity plan, ambush plan and victory war plan. All of them have achieved good results. This is the most primitive “Situational Governance”. What are the applications of “Situational Governance” in modern enterprises? This is the question to be discussed in this chapter. Source: (Han) Qian (2009).

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Introduction

With the change of the times, the management thought system of ancient China has gradually formed. In the course of two thousand years of development, it combined with the management practice under the situation in China, and collided with the Western management thought, and many products of the integration of management ideas and methods between the East and the West were born. Situational Governance, managing under certain situation, is one of its applications.

1.1 The Connotation of Situational Governance In the ancient Chinese management ideology, legalists believed that the ancient law was not necessarily used by modern people, and it was required to change according to the changes of the situation. Shang Yang pointed out that “the etiquette is determined by the time and the order is appropriate” (Book of Lord Shang, Reform Law). That is to say, the etiquette system should be determined according to the current situation, and the system orders should conform to their related matters. “No matter whether it is governing the world or the country, it cannot be done in a rigid way. It must be flexible according to the actual situation.” (Book of Lord Shang, Reform Law) Governing society does not have to adopt the same method, and it is not necessary to follow the example of ancient times for the benefit of the country. Han Feizi also believes that with the changes of the times, the methods of governing the country and the people must also change to meet the requirements of the new era. This is the earlier “contingency management” in China. Combining it with Western management thinking–situation management, it is what we call “situational governance”.

1.1.1 The Meaning of Situational Governance Situation refers to situations that are relative or combined in a certain period. Managing under certain situations is a management process that analyzes, takes measures and corrects these specific situations. In the Western thought of

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management, “management has four basic functions—plan, organize, lead and control”. Managers in each management situation should perform the basic functions of management, but the types and styles of these functions should vary according to the situation. The types and styles of executive management functions depend on the situations in which management practices are located. Different situations lead to changes in management practices. This is the view of Western situational management (also known as contingency management) theory, and in China, the most popular expression of managing under certain situations is “Change based on people; adapt according to the land”.

1.1.2 The Source of the Model of “Shan Yin, Li Dao, and Zheng Qi” Sima Qian in the “Historical Records of Merchandise Collected Biographies” mentioned: “The best way to rule people is to leave people to develop; the second good way is to induce them with gain; the third good way is to educate them; forth good way is to restrict people with law; the worst way is to complete with people for benefits.” This statement is a concentrated expression of Sima Qian’s advocating economic freedom. “leave people to develop” means that the country’s best economic policy is to comply with the nature of economic development and allow private individuals to carry out production, trade and other activities without intervention or restraint; The “induce them with gain” is to encourage people to engage in economic activities in this respect, under the premise of complying with and allowing private economic activities to conduct certain aspects of guidance by the country. “Educate”, “restrict” and “complete with people” refers to the interference of people’s economic activities by the feudal country by means of enlightenment, administrative means, and rule of law, and to restrict and coercion private economic activities. The situation management mode of “Shan Yin, Li Dao, and Zheng Qi” is evolved from Sima Qian’s “theory of Shan Yin”.

1.2 The Method of Managing Under Certain Situation A situation is in the specific management practice, so it is affected by many factors. It can be roughly divided into three categories: the first is personnel factors, including managerial factors and employee factors. Management factors include the manager’s leadership model, management ability, values and personal charisma, etc. Employee factors include employee value feeling, employee professional skills, and staff quality, etc. The second category is the competitive factors, which mainly refers to the development situation of competitors and the impact of responsive strategies on their own situation. The third is environmental factors, including natural factors, political factors, economic factors, and cultural factors, etc.

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1.2.1 The Type of Situational Change According to the influencing factors and characteristics of situational change, the situational change can be divided into three types: natural development type, positive guidance type, malignant development type. The Type of Natural Development This is the primary stage in which many factors affect the situation. The situation is in a natural, warm and benign change. Managers should follow the tendency of the situation through moderate changes, such as improving themselves and training employees. The Type of Positive Guidance This type emphasizes the “situational initiative”. The situational initiative refers to the active guidance and creation of positive situations, as well as the choice of favorable time in specific situations. The Type of Malignant Development If the malignant development situation changes are beyond the scope of the manager’s prediction or have been developing in the wrong direction; the managers need to make the correct decision at this time, and prevent the malignant development of the situation through powerful means such as ideological education, institutional constraints, centralized management and so on.

1.2.2 The Relationship Between the Model of “Shan Yin, Li Dao, and Zheng Qi” and the Situational Change Types Sima Qian’s theory of “Shan Yin” is the point of view of national economic affairs, which extends his thought to the field of management as well. The relationship between Shan Yin, Li Dao and Zheng Qi is a progressive relationship: Shan Yin refers to following the tendency of the situational change; the Li Dao refers to the encouragement and guidance to positive side; Zheng Qi refers to the important role of attaching importance to ideological education, institutional constraints and unified management in the managing under certain situation. In combination with the three types of situational change, managers should take certain measures to adopt situational management measures in different types. The Type of Natural Change Managers should adopt the shaping and improvement measures for people and themselves to adapt to changes and cater to the situation to obtain optimal management results in favorable situations. The Type of Positive Guidance This is usually the type of large fluctuating situation, and the trend of the situation changes can be guided by early prediction and advance preparation in a good direction. Driven by self-interest, the benefit is optimized.

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The Type of Malignant Development When enterprises or organizations are in a disadvantageous situation, the managers should break the old ideas, encourage innovation, establish the system to standardize and other measures, control the vicious situation and reverse the bad situation.

1.3 The Application of Managing Under Certain Situation The application of “Shan Yin–Li Dao–Zheng Qi” model to management practice can explain the following problems: in different situations, different strategies are adopted to manage different people; in the management practice, in different time periods take different measures; in the management process, there are different management priorities for different levels of situation.

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Naturally changing situations refer to situations in which natural, temperate and benign changes occur. Managers need to adapt to changes in the situation through gentle changes. “Yin” means to follow. In this section, the situation is classified according to the three factors affecting the situation change: self-factors, other factors and environmental factors, and the measures to be taken by the managers are enumerated in view of the situation changes caused by different factors.

2.1 A Situation Change by Following Oneself The context of change caused by self-factors refers to the change of management situation and management environment caused by managers’ personal factors. Because of the profit-driven characteristic of human nature and the constraints of managers’ own values, the situation changes caused by managers’ personal factors have a strong subjectivity. At the same time, managers play the role of decision-makers in the enterprise, and the decision made by managers often affects the development of enterprises in the future.

2.1.1 Introspection and Sense of Shame When Confucius answered his disciple Gong’s question about “what kind of person deserves to be called a ‘Shi (scholar)’”, he answered the words “Xing Ji You Chi (conduct his behavior with the sense of shame)”. Confucius believes that we can use “Zhi Chi (have a sense of shame)” as a standard to be a human being. Only those who “Zhi Chi” deserve to be called “Shi”. And “Zhi Chi” should first “Fan Xing (introspect)”. Although the situation of natural change is warm and benign, the manager should also reflect on yourself in the specific situation, and clear the

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right and wrong, the gain and loss, the success and defeat in the situation management. The experience of success is collated and studied, and the lessons of failure are cautions and introspection. Introspection Confucianism advocates “Xiu Shen (Introspection)” and introspection is an important method. Introspection is a kind of self-action. Without the supervision and supervision of others, it is entirely based on his own consciousness, to examine oneself, to carry forward achievements, to find shortcomings, to correct mistakes and to continue to progress. For managers, they shoulder the decision-making responsibility for the development of enterprises and the well-being of their employees. The thought, behavior and decision of the manager are often the most important personal factors that affect the situation of the enterprise. Therefore, the manager needs to constantly amend his thoughts through “introspection” to make it objective, rational, and global to better adapt to the change of the situation. Shen Du (Behave Oneself When Alone) This is a concept of personal integrity. Shen Du is a high state of introspection. In the case of staying alone, Shen Du is to behave prudently and cautiously, and do not do anything offensively. In this regard, Shen Du can be linked to sincerity. It means that managers should be sincere to people and be sincere to them. As a manager, in the face of a continuously changing situation, we must maintain a calm and persistent heart, and find the same rules in the ever-changing world-all for the long-term interests of the whole, so as to adapt to the situation and not be controlled by it. Small Case Founded in 1969, Wanxiang Group is in the national economic and Technological Development Zone of Xiaoshan District, Hangzhou. Since 1990, it has been listed as a separate group in Zhejiang Province, one of the 120 pilot enterprise groups under the State Council since 1997, and one of the 520 key enterprises in China since 1999. The brand in the World Brand Value Lab was ranked sixty-sixth in the list of “top 500 brands of China” in 2010, with a brand value of 8.746 billion yuan. It is mainly devoted to the auto parts industry. Lu Guanqiu, the founder of Wanxiang, has the most precious quality of Chinese entrepreneurs, Shen Du. The Wanxiang Group is born out of Lu’s starting product, the cardan joint (a mechanical structure that uses a spherical connection to achieve dynamic transmission of different axes), which is a very insignificant part of the auto parts. At the corner of Lu’s staircase hung a frame of a car. His dream of whole life was to build a car, but after 21 years, he still couldn’t fulfill his dream. Around 2000, more than 50 private enterprises across the country announced that they were going to build automobiles. Li Shufu of Zhejiang Province announced that he would enter the automobile industry with 500 million yuan, and instantly stole the limelight of Lu. But Lu kept calm and made a careful analysis of the automobile

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industry. He concluded: “to build a car, I need 10 billion yuan.” Because of suppressing all kinds of impulses, Lu has made the small cardan joint the world largest manufacturer and has been among the top five richest people of all kinds. Lu’s Shen Du thought makes Wanxiang successfully turn a century of crisis into a century of opportunity. In 2011, the business income of the group reached 81.6 billion yuan, the profit and tax 7 billion yuan, and the export earnings of 2.3 billion US dollars, all set a new record high. Zhi Chi No one is perfect. Everyone can make mistakes, and managers are no exception. Even if the situation is good in the enterprise, the managers should examine their own decisions by “Zi Xing (introspection)”, and analyze whether the decision is the most correct, the most objective and the maximization of the benefits. When enterprises conform to the situation, the small mistakes in some decisions are not enough to have a huge impact on the existing situation, but the accumulated disadvantages will become increasingly prominent, so the managers should avoid this situation through timely correction. This is “Zhi Chi”.

2.1.2 Xue Er Shi Xi (Learn and Review on Time) “Xue Er Shi Xi” is the thought of Confucianism. Confucius regards learning as a happy thing, but also to achieve “Shi Xi Zhi (review on time)”, constant learning is the driving force for human progress. As managers in the management process, there will be different situations; in different situations, the management mode and management art should be different. Managers need to accumulate management experience in continuous learning. In this way, management skills can be applied flexibly to achieve management purposes. Bu Chi Xia Wen (Feel no Shame to Learn from One’s Subordinates) Managers not only wise but also eager to learn, and they should also can “Bu Chi Xia Wen”. It is easy to ask, such as asking the predecessor, asking the leader, asking the superior, asking the person who has a good reputation; this will not to reduce the authority of the manager. However, asking subordinates is the higher level of asking a question, such as ask the subordinates, ask the staff, ask the lower ranks and asking an insignificant person. Managers should master the process of management in an all-round way. Asking subordinates questions is the way to receive information most widely and quickly. Therefore, it is indispensable for managers to increase knowledge and accumulate experience. At the same time, Confucius also put forward the management idea of “Mei Shi Wen (asking questions for everything)” (The Analects of Confucius, Ba Yi), which requires the manager to ask more questions in the process of management so as to achieve the purpose of widely receiving opinions, comprehensive understanding of the problem and making a correct decision.

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Xue Si Jie He (a Combination of Learning and Thinking) Learning and thinking should be combined. We must have thought in our study and try to understand it very well. Learning without thinking is superficial learning, and it is meaningless; if thinking without learning, there will be no material for thinking, and it will only be empty thinking. When you are learning, you must think, use your brain and think hard. To get the right solution to the problem, you should learn and think, and learn again and think again. For the managers, the situation is constantly changing, and they should not fix their thinking. It is necessary to accept new management ideas through continuous learning and thinking and transform it into a management model suitable for enterprises. At this point, the understanding of thinking should be further spread. The results of thinking are based on practice, put the lessons learned into practice, and think about the scientific and practical content of the contents in the process of practice, sum up experience, make corrections and improvements. Jin Er Bu Zhi (Never Stop the Progress) There is a saying in “Analects of Confucius”, “It is like piling mud to make a hill, if I stop before one basket to completion, it is my decision; it is also like flattening the ground, even though I have only poured one basket of mud, if I decide to do it, I will do it well” It tells us it is important to make a consistent effort and stick to the end, regardless of progress.

2.1.3 Career Design Confucius once made a summary of his life, he said: “From fifteen, my heart-and-mind was set upon learning; from thirty my words and deeds was very appropriate; from forty I was no longer doubtful; from fifty I understood the fundamental laws of the world; from sixty I can face everything quietly and calmly; from seventy I can smoothly deal with things without breaking rules” (The Analects of Confucius, Governance) Confucius actually talks about career design. In the changing situation, the manager (decision maker) should adjust the objectives and methods of management according to the changes of the situation, make the goal of the management object, the individual and the enterprise, and carry out the career design of the individual and the enterprise according to the goal of the stages. Situations change constantly, and certain methods and criteria should be mastered in the process of career design. Managers Design a “Zhi (Will)” for Themselves and the Enterprise People have the backbone to make people straight; people have noble Zhi (will) to make their spirit stand straight. Managers set a goal for themselves and the enterprise. Only if there is a goal can there be a way. Build a Learning Self and Enterprise Learning is important in building a learning self and in career design. Only learning can obtain knowledge and talent. From this point of view, Confucius’s “learning”

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has laid a solid foundation for his growth in the future, such as “the words and deeds was very appropriate”, “no longer doubtful”, “can face everything quietly and calmly”, “can tell right from wrong”, “can smoothly deal with things without breaking rules” and so on. This shows that “learning” is very important. This is the “learning” of self. For enterprises, it is necessary to establish a learning organization. Learning is the source of the life of an enterprise. When the world is more closely related, complex and changeable, the ability to learn must be strengthened to adapt to changes. Enterprises can no longer rely solely on a great leader commanding the overall situation. Since the situation changes quickly, it is impossible to wait for a slow bureaucratic process from the top down. In an era of increasingly complex and rapidly changing industrial and commercial activities, work must be associated with more learning. The age of learning only by one person instead of organizational learning has passed, and a truly outstanding enterprise will be an organization that can try to make all levels of employees devote themselves and have the ability to learn continuously. Attaching Importance to Important and Sensitive Periods of Time For individuals, we should attach importance to the time of “from thirty my words and deeds were very appropriate” period. In one’s life, “thirty” belongs to the period of youth and middle age, and “took my stance” stands for adults. This is the most basic and important period of a person’s life. This period is usually spent in work and labor. Whether a person has made achievements in his career depends mainly on his performance in this period. For this period, we must take care of ourselves and not waste time. At the age of thirty, it’s the most vigorous and promising period of a person. In this period, people are quick in thinking, energetic, strong in memory, rich in creativity and outstanding in understanding, which is the time for people to make many achievements in their career. Tips Li Xiang, born in 1981, is currently CEO of Bubble Net (Beijing Bubble Information Technology Co., Ltd.). Before 1998, writing articles such as “computer newspaper”, “computer world” and other newspapers and periodicals; in 1998, he began to be a personal website; in 2000, the bubble network was registered and started operation; in the second half of 2001, he came to Beijing from Shijiazhuang to start “formal business operation”; in 2005, he expanded from doing IT products to the automotive industry and created the Autohome website; May 2006, he was named “China’s ten new entrepreneurial new elite”. Da Beni, born in 1981 and former CEO of Pcpie video search engine, has a background in technology, media and management integration. With years of media operation experience, she has a profound knowledge at product planning, commercial technology, technology media. Prior to joining Pcpie, she had independently published and operated the first domestic consumer entertainment magazine, DM. In 2004, she worked for one of Australia’s five major law firms (Allens Arthur Robinson, AAR), mainly serving enterprises in the Asia Pacific region. At the end

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of 2005, he invested in and set up a Pcpie video search engine as CEO. She is currently studying for a Ph.D. in the direction of a network economy. Source: http://www.cec-ceda.org.cn/cyqyj/. For the enterprise, we should pay attention to the internal system construction, the goal construction, the enterprise culture construction, the staff training and other aspects in the mature stage. Only when the person and the enterprise all pay close attention to their own situation during the important time period and the sensitive time, they could comply with the situation.

2.2 Complying with the Situation Changed by Others’ Factor The “others’ factor” refers to the employee factor in addition to the manager and the competitive factor in the industry in which the enterprise is located. In order to comply with the changes caused by these factors, it is possible for the employees to take the method of “teaching without discrimination and teaching students in accordance with their aptitude”. To the competitors, we can adapt the method of “combining Xu (unreal, weak) and Shi (real, strong), Yu (curve, indirect) and Zhi (straight, direct), Gong (attack) and Shou (defense) freely”.

2.2.1 Teaching Without Discrimination and According to the Aptitude Teaching Without Discrimination This means that anyone who is willing to learn should be taught well, regardless of his status or whether he has money or not. Teaching can make people understand Ren (benevolence), Yi (righteousness), Li (etiquette), Zi (wisdom) and Xing (credibility), make people know lots of truth, make people smart, and make people full of knowledge. There is no man born with knowledge, only one who is going to be full of knowledge after education and study. This idea is even more meaningful today, especially in the context of changing management practices. Nowadays, the society carries out lifelong learning, everyone needs to learn, and everyone needs to be taught, that is “Live and learn”. For enterprises, enterprises want to adapt to modern economic competition, it is necessary to continue to inject new knowledge and information through continuous learning; for employees, they are the main force of enterprise production and sales, and they should arm themselves with advanced knowledge. Now is the era of knowledge economy, the importance of knowledge is more prominent. It is more necessary to teach without discrimination. Give Systematic Guidance It means teaching according to the law of teaching and learning. Teaching people to obtain knowledge and knowledge should be taught step by step. Acquiring knowledge and doing research must be learned and done progressively. Moreover,

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in the process of teaching, we always start with simple and intuitive, then deepen step by step, and eventually grasp very profound knowledge. In the management practice, we must first do a good job of basic things and not aim too high. Employee training should also start from the basic business, so that employees through solid basic skills in the enterprise when the situation changes to achieve “face changes with solid stance”. Teach with Aptitude Teach with aptitude is one of Confucius’s teaching ideas. Teaching students in accordance with their aptitude is a generalization made by Confucian scholars according to Confucius’s thought. Confucius once said: “with those people who are above the middle level, you can talk about the profound knowledge; while with those people who are below the middle level, you cannot talk about the profound knowledge”. The meaning is, to students whose quality is above the medium level, the teacher can give him a profound knowledge; to students whose quality is below the medium level, the teacher cannot give him a profound knowledge. To teach students in accordance with their aptitude means that teaching should be based on the different intelligence, preferences, levels and habits of the students, not on a universal, fixed or rigid style. Teaching students in accordance with their aptitude, is targeted at teaching. In employee training, because the level of education, personal ability, the position of employees are different, and different people’s needs and acceptance of knowledge are not the same, so in the training of employees to teach in accordance with their aptitude, employees can skillfully grasp the business within the scope of their abilities to cope with changes in the situation.

2.2.2 Combining Xu and Shi, Yu and Zhi, Gong and Shou Flexibly Xu and Shi Sun Tzu wrote a special article on “Xu and Shi”, which said, “The characteristic of military tactics is to avoid Shi and strike Xu.” In this text, it also requires that people should avoid the strength of others, and strike the weakness of others in warfare, so as to achieve “Appear at points which the enemy must hasten to defend; march swiftly to places where you are not expected”; “You can be sure of succeeding in your attacks if you only attack weak points unexpectedly”; “You can ensure the safety of your defense if you only hold positions that must not be attacked”. (Sun Tzu, Weak and Strong) One should be good at attacking and defending in business, putting forward new strategy when it should be and retreating when it’s necessary. When competing with rivals, we should strike their weakness, avoid their strength, avoid my weakness and shortcomings, and take advantages of strength. In the market competition, the technique of “Qi (unexpected) Zheng (ordinary)” is also worth applying, in the competition enterprises should be good at surprising, such as surprising goods, surprising advertisements, surprising sales and so on.

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Yu and Zhi About what is Zhi, connecting two points with a straight line, the line is Zhi. Zhi is straight line distance, diameter, the short, cutting corners and taking the shortest way. But sometimes it needs to be Xu; although it takes more distance to travel, it can avoid the dangers encountered on the straight line. The straight-line route may also appear to be “more haste, less speed”. Gong and Shou Sun Tzu had such words, “If the enemy is invincible, one should Shou (defend); if the enemy is surmountable, one should Gong (attack).” (The Art of War by Sun Tzu, Energy) There is always Gong and Shou in a war. Being Gong is good because of the initiative, but it will also leave the home base empty, which will be taken advantage of by the enemy. It is also not bad to Shou, and defense is to accumulate strength, spy on the time, and wait for the opportunity to launch a counterattack. It is necessary to understand that one should both have the ability to Gong and Shou, Gong when one should, in an all-in way; Shou when one should, invulnerably, to bring the enemy to their knees.

2.3 Complying with the Situation Changed by Environmental Factors Among the factors that influence the change of situation, some of them are force majeure for humans, such as natural factors and cultural factors; some are created artificially, such as economic factors, political factors and so on. As for the situation change caused by external environment factors, what action should be taken for an enterprise to conform to this change?

2.3.1 All Things Are Continuously Growing, but Tian Does Not Say Anything “Tian doesn’t say anything” is one of the philosophical opinions of Confucius, which emphasized the natural condition of Tian (godly heaven). This saying is valuable for: first, materialism, as Tian is objective, existing independently from human; second, revealing the celestial state, which is time is passing and all things are growing; third, separating Tian and human, as Tian is Tian, and the human is human. Tian exists independently, usually in a state of self-changing; human is generally independent but depending on Tian to live themselves better. Humans depend on the change of Tian, for instance, humans would take an umbrella to keep out the rain if it is rainy as responsive action. However, human are definitely not in a total passive state, as human could totally do some job to adapt to or subdue Tian, reaching the “Tian and Human”, making “the relationship between Tian and Human” more harmonious. For example, do something to protect natural eco-environment proactively, because nature is the foundation of human survival, and all human activities are within the range of nature.

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Here we introduce the conception of Tian into the management category, aiming at emphasizing that managers should conform to the change of nature, obey the objective law of the development of things. Because of the objectivity of things’ development, the influence on situation caused by nature state is objective, so in the management practice, managers should set the development goal and strategy of an enterprise according to objective law. When the situation of enterprise is influenced by objective law, managers should make decisions conforming to this change, as one will survive in nature only if he obeys the law of nature.

2.3.2 Neither Seek to Follow the Ways of Ancestors nor Establish Any Fixed Standard for All Times Sages cannot be infatuated with the past or follow the so-called timeless principles, but come up with a corresponding method of changing as backup according to the changed world. In the preceding article, we should abide by the laws of nature, and shouldn’t violate the objectivity of the development of things; here we should break the outdated and backward principles and rules, while managers should be sensitive to the change of situation and create strategies to adapt to the objective law at this time based on changing environment. 2.3.3 Time Keeps Passing just Like a Flowing River, Does Not Matter if It Is Day or Night Time is precious for managers. The situation changes quickly and there is no time to think about it slowly; the circumstance changes greatly and there is no time to conjecture carefully. To conform to the changing situation, managers must adapt to its characteristic of changing quickly and cherish the limited time to make decisions.

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In the Analects of Confucius, Wei Linggong proposed the phrase, “if you want to do a good job, you must make your tools sharp first.” This phrase is to emphasize the importance of preparatory work. The second type of situational change: Li Dao, managers should take the initiative to guide and create good situations. If you want to create a favorable situation, you must do a good job of preparation: with the right people, choose the right time, create the right favorable situation in order to achieve a complete victory.

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3.1 Encourage Talented People In any situation, the leading subject is always the person, so we should pay attention to the role of the person in guiding the change of the situation. Generally, there are two types of people in the enterprise: managers and ordinary employees; in this section, we further divide managers into managers and middle managers, that is, top decision-makers and ordinary managers. For themselves, managers should follow the principle of steadiness, and respond to the changes of others with calmness; for the ordinary employees, they should be tactful in the guidance process to avoid being tempted and deceived; for the middle managers, they must be clearly rewarded and punished in order to give full play to their talents and maintain loyalty.

3.1.1 To Oneself: Complying and Inaction Shen Buhai said: “the king of ancient times acts occasionally and always following nature. Following nature is the principle of the king; acting is the principle of the courtier. Acting leads to worry and following nature leads to peacefulness (The Spring and Autumn of Lü Buwei, Ren Shun). Following nature has been explained in the previous article, that is, to comply with the law of nature, with minimal intervention. Chinese people attach great importance to the accomplishment of the Chengfu, and often use the Chengfu to describe a person with great care. For a manager, to hide his likes and dislikes by cultivating the Chengfu, to hide his abilities by appointing talented people and wise men, and to hide his attitude before making final decisions, so as to avoid his shortcomings and weaknesses being exploited by bad competitors. It can be seen that the Chengfu is very important to a manager. Hidden in the Heart, Keeping as a Secret Lao Tzu said, “I watch again and again in utter quietness that all lives circulate between life and death.” (Tao-te Ching) he thinks that meditation can recognize the essence and the law. Han Feizi believes that “Shu (technique)” is based on quietness and secrecy. Guan Tzu also believes that some techniques should be hidden in heart, secretly, “By hiding “Shu” in your heart, you can avoid disasters far away’s. The only person who can do this is to know others by himself. (Guan Tzu, Jin Chang) In specific situations, managers should hide their own opinions so that others cannot deduce managers’ likes and dislikes, cannot guess the attitude of managers, and cannot control managers. This avoids managers from being deceived when making decisions. In addition, it is advocated that virtual static control and surpassing oneself can avoid the decision-making errors caused by subjective factors, and then effectively control the management object. Wise Lord Governs the Rule and Clears Division of Labor The clear division of labor between upper and lower positions means that leaders should grasp the core and key and clearly define the staff’s responsibilities. In the

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view of legalists, the monarch is in the dominant position between the monarch and the minister, and the monarch and the minister cannot replace each other, so there must be a division of labor. As Shen Buhai pointed out, “A wise lord is like a body, a courtier is like arms; the lord is like a horn, the courtier is like its sound. The lord set his foundation, the courtier built the rest of it; the lord set the main goal, the courtier made the specific action; the lord ruled the main direction, and the courtier did the ordinary work.” (Shen Tzu, Da Ti) Han Feizi thought: “The wise lord does not govern courtiers but the rules.” (Han Fei Zi, Wai Chu Shuo) Small Case After a young artillery officer took office, he went to his subordinates to inspect the drill and found that there was a common situation in the drills of several units: during the drill, a soldier always stood under the barrel of the cannon without moving. After questioning the soldier, the soldier answered: drill regulations are stipulated in this way. Originally, the regulations followed the rules of the era of horse-drawn artillery, when soldiers standing under the barrel were tasked with pulling the reins of the horse, preventing the recoil after the cannon was fired, and reducing the time for re-aiming. Now artillery no longer needs this role. However, the regulations did not adjust in time, and there appeared soldiers who did not pull horses. The officer’s discovery made him a commendation by the Ministry of national defense. The primary task of management is the scientific division of labor. Only when each employee has a clear understanding of his or her duties will there be no such undesirable phenomena as blame-shifting, responsibility pushing and so on. If the company is like a huge machine, then every employee is a part, only they love the job dedication, the company’s “machine” can operate normally. Enterprises are developing, and managers should adjust the number and division of labor in time according to the actual dynamic situation. Otherwise, there will be no soldiers in the ranks. If someone in the team is not doing his/her job, it will bring not only the loss of wages but also bring up a sense of unfairness among other personnel, eventually leading to the overall decline in the efficiency of the company. Source: Soldiers who did not pull horses. The Chinese coal industry, 2007 (3). In the enterprise, only when the division of labor is clear and the requirements of each post are clear, can we do everything better. There should be a clear division of labor in everything so that members of the organization know what to do and what not to do; what these people are responsible for, and what others are responsible for. If the responsibility is not clear, either nobody is responsible for one thing, or everyone is responsible, it will cause inefficiency. And as a manager, in the process of managing the enterprise, cannot do everything by oneself, can only manage key issues. Clear division of labor helps managers to obtain the fastest, most systematic and most important information and data in the decision-making process, so as to ensure the timeliness and scientific nature of decision-making. At the same time, a clear division of labor enables people in the enterprise to understand their job responsibilities and tasks, in the face of specific situations, can make judgments and corrections in the first place.

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Treat the Virtuous and Capable Person in a Polite Way, and Only Employ the Virtuous and Capable Person Guan Tzu said: “Wise lord utilizes courtiers and let them learn from his intelligence and improve their skills, so the smart ones are used for tactics, and the capable ones are used for their ability.” (Guan Tzu, Ming Fa) In a word, “the wise lord does not use his wisdom, but borrows the wisdom of saints; he does not use his power, but allows the strength of other people.” (Guan Tzu, Xing Shi Jie) These two sentences mean the same thing. The wisdom and strategy of a wise lord are not used to do the basic thing, but to employ wise men or with the help of wise men. To enable talented people to focus on the enterprise, and their talents to play to the extreme, the need for managers to promote based on merit. In the process of changing situations, the role of human beings cannot be ignored. Therefore, when selecting and appointing personnel, we should attach great importance to their talents and avoid using relatives. Talents with genuine talent are relatively easy to educate and restrain in thought and behavior. They understand the changing characteristics of the situation, define their responsibilities, and have the quality of being brave to take responsibility. This lays a foundation for the Li Dao of situational changes in situational governance.

3.1.2 To People: Wisely Observe People In the process of a situation change, managers should timely revise the strategies in specific situations and make timely decisions. Because the situation is unpredictable, and there are many influencing factors, especially human factors, so in the process of guidance, we should be tactful, to avoid being tempted and deceived. Be Vigilant to Black Sheeps Han Fei-zi, Eight Traitors pointed out that the courtiers may use the monarch’s wife, actors, father and brother to achieve their own purpose of not telling others. First of all, using the monarch’s closest people (wife), bribing the monarch’s favorite wife, concubines and so on, “to confuse the monarch.” Secondly, using the monarch’s undefended actors (beside) and bribing them, so that they unconsciously gradually exert influence on the monarch, “to change the mind of their monarch.” Finally, using the monarch’s relatives (brothers and fathers) and bribing them, making the relatives speak for themselves” make the offense against their monarch.” In the practice of management, we should treat everyone around us with objective eyes and minds, especially those who are close to us. Managers make decisions that guide and create situations that are beneficial to the whole enterprise, not to individuals or small organizations within the individual enterprise. Therefore, we should avoid being influenced by individual subjective factors and should consider the interests of all. Be Vigilant Against the Evil Plots It is also pointed out in Han Fei-zi, Eight Traitors that the ministers may exert political conspiracy on the monarch by means of bringing the monarch, bribing the

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people, popularity, external force, and mentioned specific preventive measures Han Fei Zi, Nei Chu Shuo, Liu Wei puts forward six kinds of situations that kings should be on guard against. There are three main points: (i) Bribing the monarch directly As managers, they should ask themselves to be Lian Zheng (honest and clean), do not take bribes first, do not accept disguised bribes, and do not give calamity space to survive. (ii) Bribing the people (civilian union). Most of this way is to scatter public wealth to please the vast number of employees so that everyone speaks good words to deceive decision-makers. In this regard, managers should be open-minded, accept direct feedback from employees, and prevent the growth of small organizations in the enterprise. (iii)

The use of external forces (four directions).

People usually using competitors to pressure enterprises through unfair competition, at this time, managers should distinguish the competitors’ competitive intentions and do not take immediate action; once competitors did not get the desired effect in the competition, traps would break without attack. Investigate the Fact Wisely “Gold can’t be 100% pure, and no man is perfect.” In specific situations, superficial phenomena are different from the nature of events. If managers want to avoid detours and waste no time in the process of guidance, they must be tactful in investigating the fact. There are six witty ways to examine the facts: (i) (ii) (iii) (iv) (v) (vi)

Investigating from multiple aspects—observe and verify the words and deeds of employees in the enterprise. Listening and supervision—take advice and strictly examine the affairs of the subordinate departments. Using a plot—make all kinds of stratagems so that employees cannot hide the truth. “interrogate” with known information—ask employees about what they know. Saying the opposite—say the opposite of the original intention and do the opposite of the original intention to test the doubts. Identifying benefit and harm—consider from the opposite side of the affair: if the state is infringed, we must observe who gets the benefit; if the enterprise is damaged, we must observe who the biggest gainer is; if the employees are hurt, we must observe the people who have the opposite benefit.

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3.1.3 To Officials: Rewards and Penalties Are Clearly Defined In management practice, officials act as an important link between decision-makers and executives (employees); we will understand them as middle managers. In specific situations, in addition to assuming the role of managers, they manage their respective departments or teams and analyze the situation, they may adapt or guide or rectify the situation in order to contribute to the improvement of the situation in the enterprise, and officials also assume the role of being managed. In view of their important position, decision-makers should attach great importance to the guidance of officials. Following will introduce three kinds of guidance measures for “official”: reward fairly and punish strictly; give position based on capability; judge people according to facts and clear rewards and penalties. Reward Fairly and Punish Strictly Reward fairly means that rewards must be kept in good faith, so that people can do their best. Punishing strictly means that punishment must be executed to show its power. Give Position Based on Capability The fact, legalists refer to those who serve as government officials. The name refers to titles of those officials. These titles should specify everything that the person holding the position should do ideally. This definition is also applicable in enterprises. The name coincides with the fact refers that the person who is responsible for holding certain position should do what the position is supposed to do. The responsibility of a manager is to add a special title to a particular person, that is, to confer a certain position on a certain person. The function of this position has already been stipulated by rules and system, and is also specified by this title. In a specific situation, the manager does not need to know what method he uses to complete the task; he only needs to pay attention to whether the task is successfully completed. At the same time, managers should also pay attention to whether the title is in line with the capability, that is, to supervise whether the person in a certain post should assume all the responsibilities and affairs of the post, whether there is an overstepping authority phenomenon in the management. Judge People According to Facts and Clear Rewards and Penalties As a manager, there are often many people to advise him, in general, it is difficult to decide which words are really useful, which words are not, and which words are not only useless but also harmful. Therefore, only one-sided words cannot evaluate a person’s character, quality and ability, managers should judge a person through specific events. Comparing and combining his actions with his words and deeds, we can see whether the person is consistent with his words and deeds and whether he is responsible enough. If his behavior is consistent with his words, and for the benefit of the enterprise, the manager should reward him; if his behavior and words do not agree, exaggeration or weakening is to be punished.

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It is beneficial to guide the good development of the situation that the right person will always be in the right position and the incompetent person will be eliminated.

3.1.4 Create Shi (Momentum) to Win What is momentum? The Art of War by Sun Tzu, Shi said, “The speed of water is so swift that it moves a stone, that is Shi.” It means that the surging water moving the stone is a kind of momentum. In the same article, he added: “The momentum of good commander is like a round stone rolling down from a thousand-meter-high mountain.” That is to say, those who are good at commanding warfare will build momentum like a round rock rolling down from a thousand-meter-high mountain. Enterprise management should also seek momentum, such as a strong momentum of scientific research, production, sales and so on. How can an enterprise achieve victory in management practice by momentum, so as to create a favorable situation for itself in the ever-changing situation? 3.1.5 No Battle: Take the Strategy as the Head The Art of War by Sun Tzu, Ji said: “If a man has a careful plan before a battle, he will win; if he has no careful plan, he will lose.” That is to say, to win the battle, we should strive to make more plans and ensure a greater possibility of victory. If there is not a careful enough plan made to ensure the possibility of winning, the battle will be lose. What is a careful plan? A careful plan is a strategy. It is the plan of the ancestral temple. Before the national expedition, or before the battle, the monarch often takes his officials with offerings to the corridor temple and ancestral temple to do sacrifices. May the ancestors bless me to win the battle, and analyze, study and decide how I should fight this battle. Tips Sun Tzu said: “Military is the great events of the country, and live and death are on the line, so it must not be ignored.” (The Art of War by Sun Tzu, First Strategy) How to inspect it? Sun Tzu put forward: to “through five things”, “Tao”, “Tian”, “Di”, “Jiang (The general)”, “Fa”; “use seven plans”, “Does the monarch have Tao? Does Jiang (The general) have the ability? Do we get the advantages of Tian and Di? Do we implement Fa? Are the soldiers strong? Are the soldiers well trained? Are the reward and punishment clear?” Some factors are the same between five issues and seven plans as “Tao”, “Jiang” and “Fa”. This is what Sun Tzu emphasized in the process of building momentum. Source: Xianju (2010). The careful plan is the plan after considering factors like five issues and seven plans, and comparing with the other side’s corresponding factors, so as to make my decision-making is superior and is more likely to win. Decision-making should take

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into account internal and external factors, such as weather, astronomical phenomena and other natural and social issues; Decision-making should take into account the climate, terrain, and other natural and social issues, and also consider the inside situation, such as my Tao, my soldiers, my army, my decrees, my rewards and punishments, and consider the same factors of the other side and make the right decisions. The fight needs to plan and consider the situation of the other side, and make the plan as much as possible. In this way, we can fight against the other side, otherwise, we cannot. In terms of competition between enterprises, the business competition also needs a careful plan, as well as “five issues” and “seven plans” and “more plans” and strive to “gain a greater possibility of victory” in order to win the other side in the competition.

3.1.6 Before the Battle: Know Both Ourselves and the Enemy There were three main uses of “know”: as knowledge, as learning, and as intelligence and information. The Art of War by Sun Tzu, Mou Gong in “Knowing both ourselves and the enemy, we can fight without defeat” Knowing means intelligence, information and other things. With clear situation and accurate information, it is possible for operational decisions to succeed in combat. This is what one should know about the other and oneself—I am “oneself”, the part which is not oneself is the “enemy”. In general, it is difficult to know one another, because the “enemy” in the war will never easily let the other party to obtain his information, or even create a false “trick” to deceive the other side, such as “Though we can, we show them we cannot; though we used, we show them we didn’t use” (The Art of War by Sun Tzu, First Strategy) and so on. People deceive others in order to win. The question of knowing is still particularly important in modern times. We need to know everything we do, including management. Mao Zedong called it “the law of Sun Tzu” and “the truth of science” when he said “Knowing both ourselves and the enemy we can fight without defeat”. We consider that business management, to compete with other enterprises, must also acquire each other’s knowledge and know their strengths and my strengths, and then take the right countermeasures to combat it. Dialogue Between China and the West Enterprises can generally use SWOT analysis to analyze the advantages and disadvantages of enterprises. S (strength) advantage; W (weakness) disadvantage; O (opportunity) external opportunity; T (threat) external threat. That is to say, in carrying out the external competition, enterprises should make the SWOT Analysis mentioned above, then determine the pros and cons of the situation in which the enterprise is located, and then make the competitive strategy and strategy of the enterprise. SWOT analysis steps:

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(i) (ii)

(iii)

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Analysis of the internal strengths and weaknesses of enterprises can be relative to the objectives of the enterprise, but also relative to competitors. The analysis of external opportunities and threats faced by enterprises may come from changes in external environmental factors unrelated to competition, from changes in the strength and factors of competitors, or both, but the critical external opportunities and threats should be recognized. Match external opportunities and threats with internal strengths and weaknesses to form a viable strategy.

SWOT analysis has four different types of combinations: (i)

(ii)

(iii) (iv)

Advantage: Opportunity (SO) strategy is a strategy to develop internal advantages and use external opportunities, is an ideal strategic model. This strategy can be adopted when an enterprise has a specific advantage and the external environment provides a favorable opportunity to exert this advantage. Weakness: Opportunity (WO) strategy is to use external opportunities to compensate for internal weaknesses so that enterprises change their weaknesses and gain advantages. There are external opportunities, but there are some internal weaknesses that hinder the enterprises from taking advantage of the opportunities. Measures can be taken to overcome these weaknesses first. Advantage: Threat (ST) strategy refers to the use of their own advantages to avoid or mitigate the impact of external threats. Weakness: Threat (WT) strategy is a defensive technology designed to reduce internal weaknesses and avoid external environmental threats.

SWOT analysis can give full play to the advantages of enterprises, overcome weaknesses, avoid risks, gain or maintain cost advantages, and establish a cost control strategy based on the analysis of internal and external factors and the judgment of a competitive situation. If we want to fully understand the advantages, opportunities, weaknesses and risks that enterprises are facing or will face, value chain analysis and benchmarking analysis provide methods and approaches. Sources: Xuefeng (2005), Xiaochun (2011).

3.1.7 In Battle: Win First and then Fight Those who are good at fighting prepare first and then fight for the war; those who are not good at fighting, fight against the enemy first, and then seek victory. The former battle is a battle of certainty, the latter is a battle of fluke and the result is a loss. This idea tells us to be fully prepared after we are sure that we can win, and then confront, that is, to win first and then to fight. Zhuge Liang said in “Sixteen Strategies for Ruling the Army” that “wise men first win and then fight, while the weak first fight and then win.” In his military

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book General Court, General’s Commandment, he also said, “First plan, then move, fight after ensuring victory.” We have already talked about many ways to win, such as careful plan, undermining the enemy’s strategy, knowing both ourselves and the enemy, creating Shi, etc. These are undoubtedly especially important, but the battle still depends on fighting to win the final victory. It is inevitable to lose the war by rushing to war without preparation. Careful plan, undermining the enemy’s strategy, knowing both ourselves and the enemy, creating Shi are the positive factors for victory, not the complete, sufficient and necessary conditions for victory. Only by doing a good job in careful plan, undermining the enemy’s strategy, knowing both ourselves and the enemy, creating Shi combined with full preparation for the war, can victory be achieved, in Sun Tzu’s words, by “winning first and then fighting”. Winning first and then fighting is the principle of military contention and the principle of winning the competition among enterprises. We must prepare for war and fight for war. The decision-making of the enterprise has been made and the determination to compete has been determined. We must do a good job in the preparatory work against each other, such as selecting the location of the factory, purchasing the equipment, selecting the personnel, preparing the funds, doing a good job in material production preparatory work, making the preparatory work of the people, property, production, supply and organizational work meticulous and thoughtful, and then compete with the other.

3.2 Consider Benefits and Harm as an Action Guide Quan Bian (Contingency) means to set certain things as standard changes, such as setting the profit was the standard change. Regarding contingency, the meaning in Sun Tzu’s Law of War is to say that water avoids the high ground and tends flow to the low ground; the soldier avoids the strong and attacks weak. There is no static tactic, and there is no static water shape. The person who can change and fight according to the change of enemy is God. This remark is about the importance of contingency. The measure of Quan Bian (contingency) is Li Dong. Li Dong means that leaders should consider the advantages and disadvantages of the problem when considering the problem; in favorable circumstances, leaders consider the adverse aspects, so that things can go smoothly; in adverse circumstances, leaders consider the favorable aspects, so that the disaster can be eliminated.

3.2.1 Act When It Is a Benefit; Stop When It Is Harmful The principle of conformity to interests is the basic criterion of decision making. Interest is also an objective condition that satisfies people’s needs. It is a basic category. Some thinkers in ancient China have realized the importance of interests, such as “wealth and nobility are what people want” and “poverty and lowliness are what people hate”. (The Analects of Confucius, Internal Benevolence) The interest principle is the basic principle and starting point for enterprises to make decisions. Ancient Chinese military strategists advocated this principle, and

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Sun Tzu’s view was that national interests were the ultimate measure of war decision-making. For enterprises, the decision-making of managers affects the development of enterprises in the future for a period of time; managers should analyze and calculate interests in complex situations, and make decisions when maximizing benefits. If the benefits cannot be maximized or there are negative benefits, then no action can be taken.

3.2.2 Choose the Best Benefit; Choose the Least Harm Choose the least of two evils and the best of two options. The principle of conformity to interests is the basic principle of decision making. The pros and cons, however, are combined, and for smart managers, both are often taken into account when choosing a solution. Seek Advantages and Avoid Disadvantages “The wise man’s worries must be mixed with benefit and harm, if he can think of advantage in disadvantage and vice versa, things can be solved” (The Ninth Variation of the Law of War of Sun Tzu) means that the wise man always considers both advantages and disadvantages when he decides, and considers the disadvantages when he is in a favorable situation, but not the favorable aspects when he considers the disadvantage, the disasters can be eliminated. In the process of management decision-making, we should consider both the advantages and disadvantages. In favorable circumstances, we should consider the disadvantages and try to avoid the disadvantages and solve the disadvantages. Under difficult circumstances, we should not lose heart, consider the advantages and amplify it, turn the disadvantages into advantages and increase the benefits. This practice is called “seeking advantages and avoiding disadvantages”. The Obvious and Hidden Pros and Cons This is another point of attention to the analysis of pros and cons-evident advantages and hidden advantages, corresponding to the obvious disadvantages and hidden disadvantages. It requires us to have a good sense of the pros and cons, not to be glad of the advantages of the moment, or to worry about the disadvantages of the moment; we should think calmly and to think aloof from the mistakes. Sometimes, for the long-term interests of temporary loss of some immediate interests need not be alarmed; similarly, managers do not have to work hard for partial victory, but to analyze the pros and cons of the overall situation, so as to be conducive to the long-term development of enterprises. Win-Win Marx said: “Everything people strive for is related to their profit.” People need profit is one thing, but profit-seeking is another matter. It is not good for a man to live in a society without a penny, but it is even worse for him to do whatever it takes for profit. Similarly, in the enterprise competition, enterprises are profit-oriented organizations, have the means to obtain benefits, which can be carried out between enterprises “mutual benefit”. That is to win the competition. Each side makes a

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concession with regards to profit, so that it will not lose for both, and it will have benefits. In addition, there are other strategies for changing the situation in the context of situational governance: “Plan values teamwork; decision values independence.”. It points out the relationship between brainstorming and independent decision-making, and also points out the general process of decision-making: to absorb the opinions of the masses in planning, and to have the spirit of independent thinking in decision-making; to overcome by trickery means to adopt a new, oddity and strange strategy in the course of the competition, so as to produce a strange system and win.

3.2.3 Change According to Profit, Win Through Surprise Strategy This is to say that managers should have the spirit of innovation, evaluate the changes in the external environment of the enterprise and market conditions, and develop a variety of contingency plans in order to be invincible. Change is the essence of the world. Nowadays, the external market environment is changing more and more rapidly, and many enterprises have failed because their planning decisions cannot keep up with the pace of changes in the external environment. The traditional “big fish eat small fish” merger threat has been replaced by the “fast fish eat slow fish” speed threat. For enterprises, the only way is to change and make plans according to enemies and then beat them.

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There are many factors affecting the situation change. Managers often cannot take into account the impact of all factors. What is more, they will ignore the most serious factors affecting the situation change, resulting in a vicious change of the situation, seriously deviating from the original development line. The third type of situational change is malignant development. Suppose the situation changes beyond the scope of managers’ prediction or has been developing in a bad direction. In that case, managers need to make correct decisions at this time through ideological education, institutional restraint, unified management and other powerful means to curb the vicious development of the situation.

4.1 Ideological Education Ideology guides behavior. Therefore, when dealing with malignant situations, we should start with the ideology of governance. The content contained in this ideology is no longer confined to the human mind, but also contains the idea of the enterprise.

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The idea of “governing the strong for the king” is put forward to the managers to position the enterprise in the “king” role, in order to make better choices and countermeasures in the vicious changes of the situation; the idea of far-reaching victory requires the managers to treat the immediate situation with a long-term perspective in order to obtain greater benefits.

4.1.1 A Stable and Strong State Will Dominate Han Fei-zi, Shi Xie said that “the chaotic and the weak state perishing is the nature; a strongly governed state becomes dominant is the ancient way.” That is to say, if the social turmoil and nation are weak, the nation will go wild, and this is a common experience; if the society is stable and the nation is strong, then this country must be dominant in the world; this is the truth that history tells us. Since private ownership has been established, wars have been continuous, and those who win become kings, those defeated are pirates. How so? The fundamental point lies in the strength of power. “Strong power leads to dominancy and weak power leads to extinction.” (Han Fei Zi, Xian Xue) To be a political person, we must be strong and reliable. The key is governance, power and military. Historically, except Yao and Shun who ascended the throne by abdication, all rulers took over the throne by striving for strong management, using power or force, such as the Spring and Autumn Five Overlords, the Seven Warring States and Qin Shihuang. As for enterprises, the idea of “A stable and strong state will dominate” should be rooted in the corporate culture. Only through strong internal affairs and diplomacy, marketing, and loyalty, can enterprises remain invincible in the competition. In the malignant changes of the situation, the idea of “Reigning in power is the one of proposition and stability” is used to guide the development of the enterprise, the decision-making of the managers and the behavior of the employees, and to give full play to their own to dominate in the field, to govern or reverse the malignant changes of the situation. To rule with strength and stability is not only one person’s strength, but also the unity of the enterprises. In a bad situation, managers should advocate” striving for strong management” from four aspects: self-improvement, strictly govern internal affairs; joint efforts; and the four is to pacify the masses. Self-improvement In the process of enterprise development, if you want to be called “king” in an advantageous field, you must do not rely on others’ ideas, instead, be independent. We must constantly strive to strengthen our destiny and firmly grasp it in our own hands. Strict Internal Han Fei Zi said in Han Fei Zi, Five Beetles: “we must not blame external factors, but focus on internal affairs.” This means that we should wholeheartedly “strictly govern their internal affairs”, strictly rectify the internal order of the enterprise, not fawn on others and do our work well.

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Joint Efforts This refers to the management of enterprises in the process and cannot rely on a single decision-maker but the wisdom and strategy of many managers. Pacify the Masses This means that when dealing with harsh situations, we should also fully mobilize the enthusiasm of the staff so as to achieve substantial results of governance and reversal.

4.1.2 Long-Term Benefit Leads to Victory It was mentioned in Han Fei Zi, Wang Zheng that, “the one who is greedy and cannot be satisfied, and short-sighted, is bound to die.” This is to say that greedy and unsatisfied, and those who are interested in the short-term interests will take the lead to death. This is a correct point of view, it warns the managers of modern enterprises to look at the problem from a long-term point of view and the overall point of view, people can not only pay attention to immediate and short-term interests, or others which will make the mistake of going for the small things and missing things that are worthwhile. Situational change is affected by many factors, so in the process of governance of deteriorating situations, we should take into account all aspects and cannot attend to one thing and lose sight of another. The governance process should be able to meet the interests of the collective rather than just meet the interests of a part of the people, and managers should be able to resist the influence factors from the political, economic, cultural, scientific research and other fields.

4.2 Institutional Constraints Different organizations should establish different systems and norms according to the nature and situation of the Organization. A system is a fixed, generalized rule on behavior and a regulation of conduct. The existence of Fa overcomes the arbitrariness of enterprise behavior and employee behavior, improves the efficiency of management, guarantees the stability of management, and also embodies fairness. Managers should standardize the behavior of all the enterprises through the strict enforcement of laws and regulations so that the enterprise can achieve the same pace in the management of the situation across different levels; there are norms as limits, and these norms can help avoid the impact of sudden factors in the process of governance. The establishment of the system norm is not according to the decision-maker and the system maker’s likes and dislikes to make, but must follow three principles: First, it must obey the objective law. That is, the so-called “Shun Tao and follow the Li” Shun Tao is to say that Fa should take into account the laws of nature, personnel behavior should follow the natural law; Second, we must face up to human psychology. The establishment of a system and norms should conform to people’s subjective psychology. Third, we should focus on objectivity and feasibility. This

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means that the system should be built based on an objective possibility. It usually requires simplicity and effectiveness.

4.2.1 Be Strict to Internal Management As mentioned in the previous article, striving for strong management to dominate, which is to be strict, the following will focus on how to achieve strict internal management. Popularizing the Law First, Knowing and Learning the Law To popularize legal norms so that employees are aware of its essence. Organizing employees to study the existing system and norms of the enterprise regularly, and record and recognize their virtues and skills; organizing employees to participate in the modification of enterprise system and norms, cultivating the sense of ownership of employees, and encouraging employees to supervise each other. Strict Enforcement of Law, High Reward and Heavy Punishment Enforcement is a measure of the degree of implementation of the system, “strict law enforcement can gain civilian favor, light law enforcement may lose truth” (Han Fei Zi, Zhi Fen) means that the rule of law is consistent with human nature, and under loose law will deviate one from the reality of things. In the management practice, the heavy penalty can make people fear authority and dare not defy the will, the thick rewards can maintain the staff loyalty and stimulates the staff’s enthusiasm. Therefore, the law enforcers cannot give up the limits and standards set by the system, the one which handling things through personal experience must make things unclear, reward and punishment confused and decision-making errors. Small Case Skyworth television sales in 2008 and the total volume of LCD TV sales are ranked first in the country, the total operating income in the same year was estimated at 1.5 billion yuan, realizing the year-on-year growth of 8%; Net profit was about 4.8 million yuan. Under the impact of the international financial crisis, Skyworth achieved growth in not only the fiscal year, but also the highest net value in history, why? First, Huang Hongsheng was inspired by a series of “Skyworth events”—he must change the “manage every tiny detail” of the previous practice, and do truly decentralization, so that employees really put the system into action. Renowned for the “hard-working” and “hands-on approach” to the control of Skyworth, Huang initialized “full support to the active and creative staff” and the relevant system, which is the reason for the sound development of Skyworth, but also Skyworth “slow” deadlock. Huang did too much, and he attended to every tiny detail, involving too much “rule by man” but the subjective initiative by professional elite was not strong. The other people in this industry even generally think “Skyworth cannot live without Mr. Huang.” 2008, the most outstanding marketing personnel under Huang, the original marketing director Lu Qianghua’s become an opponent of the company. Lu made Skyworth’s annual sales from 700 million yuan to 4.4

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billion yuan in 4 years, and his departure let Huang fall into introspection, and he finally decided to decentralize. This is the stage that enterprises enter the system of active implementation of employees in essence. Second, Skyworth successfully transformed from “rule by man” to “rule by law”, and introduced a professional manager system and employee stock ownership plan. Huang’s family launched the “Employee Stock Ownership Plan” within Skyworth, and mobilized employees to buy a large number of shares in the group; thus he diluted his ownership of the company to employees; he gave professional managers shares and made the professional elite owner of the stock reform plan, which quickly put Skyworth’s management system into the track of institutionalized construction and to a healthy track where there is no Huang but Skyworth operate as usual. At this point, Skyworth began to enter the era of rule of law in the post Huang era. Source: http://www.studyceo.om/zxzx/3/698.html. Everyone Should Be Equal Before the Law The Legalism in ancient China advocated “All should be judged by Fa”, which means everyone should obey the rules of the system and be equal in front of the system. The system should be fair, and the implementation of the system should be treated equally in the enterprise, regardless of closeness, inferiority, upper and lower, merits and demerits, senior and junior.

4.2.2 Reform the Rule of System The opinion mentioned in The Book of Lord Shang refers to the reform system and norm according to the change of situation. The reform of the system and norm is mainly reflected in two aspects. Revise Timely In ancient China, the etiquette, law and system of all dynasties were changed based on the change of objective situation. The change of situation has uncertainty, so revise the system and norm in time to adapt to the concrete situation. “Sages shouldn’t be infatuated with the past or follow the so-called everlasting principles, but to come up with a corresponding method of changing as backup according to the changed world.” (Han Fei zi, Five Beetles) This idea indicated that the flexible system can adapt to situational change, while the conservative system cannot play a role in the ever-changing situation. Implement New Law The change of situation has led to the enactment of the new law, which also should satisfy the three principles of establishing a system and encourage employees to participate in the revision at the same time. Is the new law a panacea for the situation in which it is governed? It also needs to be popularized in management practice in order to verify the validity and advancement of the new law. Actively promoting the new law is also needed to avoid that during the process of alternation between new and old law, the people or matters that may negatively

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influence the change of situation seize the chance to seek loopholes making the situation develop towards an uncontrollable direction.

4.3 Unified Management Unified management emphasizes the role of managers, organizations and information in the governance of situations. This paper enumerates concrete measures from three angles of Shi Zhe, Fen Shu and Xing Ming, which are used to protect the important role of the three in the governance of the situation.

4.3.1 Shi Zhe: Build the Authority of Management As a kind of management environment created deliberately based on power, Shi (momentum) firstly needs to be maintained by the rule of Fa (law) and rule of Shu (technique), so that its basic functions are properly played. There are three levels of Shi: first, there is must be Fa and Shu to maintain the basic power of leaders; the second is to enhance the image of management, aiming at improving the management status of managers; the third is to reduce Shi of others, in order to stabilize the management situation. Fa and Shu Are Indispensable In Legalism’s view, the monarch must pay attention to defend his power. Both Fa and Shu are the means of creating Shi. To the people, it should form a trend of “Fa is like morning dew” (Han Fei Zi, Principal Features), existed everywhere but not yet dispersed; to the minister, it should form a deterrence to courtiers, so that they are like phoenixes without feathers, who cannot survive at all without serving the monarch well. The purpose of ruling the people by Fa, governing the Minister by Shu is to form an environment of Shi within a country, so that everyone is worried for their safety and dares not to raise any objections to the monarchy. In this way, the monarch can effectively run the country even if he has only a medium talent. For modern enterprises, we should also pay attention to the power of Shi and identify the leadership position of managers. The situation changes greatly and continuously, only by ensuring that the leadership of the manager is not shaken can he have a lasting governance strategy, a systematical governance politics, continuous control over changing situation. Dialogue Between China and the West How can we be more adept at politicizing behavior? The following approach will make you more proactive if you do not consider moral issues, management scientist Robbins suggested. (i) Create public opinion that is conducive to the organization rather than individuals. No matter how selfish your purpose is, the speech used to support your purpose must be felt like for the good of the organization. (ii) Establish a good image.

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(iii) Control organization resources. Controlling the organization’s scarce resources or important resources is a good way to gain power. (iv) Make oneself seem indispensable. Even if one thing is both good with or without you, try to appear to be important. (v) Let others know your performance, become a significant person, become a celebrity. (vi) Establish good relations with those in power. Establish a relationship with the powerful person among the superiors, peers, or subordinates. (vii) Avoid dangerous people. Do not associate with those who have an unstable status or make people have doubts about their loyalty and performance. (viii) Support your boss. Your immediate future is in his hands, and you must make him stand by your side. Source: (American) Robbins (1997). Enhance the Shi of Image As the protection from Fa and Shu on Shi only can maintain the leadership of manager, which is strengthening the natural Shi, it’s not yet able to improve the authority of the manager practically. Therefore, managers should also try to enhance their Shi. The Shi of the image is the new power created by managers by various means, which is artificially created. Comparatively speaking, the Shi of image is more important than the natural Shi, and managers must strive to build it, even if the natural Shi is deficient, it can still be supplemented. The artificial Shi is divided into intelligent Shi and dignified Shi. Enhancing the intelligent Shi is to use everyone’s wisdom for one’s own use and to enhance their own management authority with the genuinely discerning ability and wisdom. Enhancing the dignified Shi is to build authority among employees and get them convinced and loyal. The dignified Shi can be achieved by establishing system and norms, clearing rewards and punishments, appointing talents only and other measures. Reduce Shi of Others Managers should also try to reduce Shi of others. There are the following measures: first, clarify the responsibilities and power. The aim is to stabilize the structure of power distribution before reducing Shi of others. Legalists believed that the problem of “Fen” should be dealt with properly while using Shi, which is dividing and determining the authority and power of subordinate managers. It is an effective institutional protection for the power of top managers to carry out their duties to managers at all levels while separating the powers and responsibilities of their subordinates. Secondly, managers should centralize their power on specific issues. In order to grasp the lifeblood of enterprise development, when the key and core are grasped, the key to the governance of specific situations will also be grasped.

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4.3.2 Fen Shu: Identify the Object of Management It was mentioned in Sun Tzu, Shi that, “The control of a large force is the same principle as controlling a few men, it’s merely a question of Fen Shu; fighting with a large army under your command is not different from fighting with a small one, it’s merely a question of Xing Ming.” According to Cao Cao and other people’s explanations, “Fen Shu” in the first half of the sentence means “Bu Qu” or “Shi Wu”, which all belong to the matter of organization, so we might as well understand it as “organizing”. So the meaning of the first half of the sentence is that governing a large number of people is like governing a small number of people, which should be governed by an approach of organizing. According to the military book Military and Politics, the ancients used golden drums to fight and transmitted information with flags. These things belong to the category of form and name, so we might as well interpret them as “information”. Then the latter half of the sentence means that commanding the army is like commanding a small troop, which all rely on the information. The problem of Fen Shu is the problem of organizing, which is the first problem of management. The whole work of management starts with organizing. In this section, we will focus on the effect of the organization in the process of situational changing, while the organization is the influencer of situation change and the executive unit to govern the change of situation. In the process of situational governance, there are three main problems concerning the organization. Problem of Establishing an Organization In order to give play to the role of the organization in the process of situational governance, we must first consider the establishment of this organization. There should be division of labor and cooperation within the organization, and the actions of members of the organization must cooperate with each other in order to achieve the goal. Organizations should be understood like this: When a group of people has a common goal, and they realize that their personal success depends on the success of others, the organization emerges. They all depend on each other. In fact, this shows that in most organizations, each person contributes to his or her own skills. It is clearly not enough to pool personal skills. How can the situation changing be felt smoothly in the organization? Members of the organization are required to perform their duties. In order for people to work effectively in an organization, people must behave in a certain way (system), it needs someone to focus on the work at hand (doer), someone to provide expertise (knower) and someone to solve problems when problems arise (solver), it needs someone to ensure that everything goes smoothly, and everyone in the team is functioning (investigators) and at the same time, it also needs people who are as active as cohesive molecules (caregiver). Situational changes are influenced by many factors, which may attack any part of the organization’s work. So, establish an organization with a clear division of labor, unity and cooperation, no matter which part changed, it can make the whole organization feel and respond the first time.

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Problem of Strategic Adjustment From the dynamic perspective of enterprise development, when the enterprise is in different stages of development, it will certainly adopt different organizational structure; from the perspective of a situation change, the enterprise structure must be constantly deduced and innovated with the changing process of situation, so as to find the best state. One of the important characteristics of enterprise strategy is its adaptability. Enterprise organizations should use the resources that they already possess and the resources they may possess to adapt to the situation of enterprises. This adaptation is an extremely complicated dynamic adjustment process. Tips Strategic adjustment requires enterprises to strengthen internal management on the one hand, on the other hand, to continuously introduce an adaptive and effective organizational structure. The following are five kinds of organizational restructuring under the guidance of enterprise development strategy in different situations. (i)

The organizational structure of the strategy pursuing exponential growth. Enterprises will establish the form of a functional organizational structure. In the organization, the specialized function organization makes the reference to the enterprise’s organization decision-making, at the same time, the senior enterprise management directly manages all subordinate production department. (ii) The organizational structure of the integration strategy. On the one hand, the organization establishes a regional organizational structure, and the company headquarters will centrally govern the local business; on the other hand, the organization establishes a unified organizational structure of governing all production, supply, and marketing, which would make an overall arrangement, command and coordination to the operation activities of the enterprise. (iii) The organizational structure of the multi-angle business strategy. At this time, enterprises generally implement the department of business’s organizational structure according to products, users or regions, and other factors. (iv) The organizational structure of the project management strategy. At this time, the organization will combine centralization and decentralization, achieve internal resource sharing, internal information symmetry and strengthen the coordination of various functional departments and planning departments. (v) The organizational structure of austerity and liquidation strategies. At this point, the organizational structure of the enterprise will become more simple and clearer. The company will cut its organizational structure or set up clearing centers to lead the liquidation work. Source: Jianye (2003). Problem of Information Management Information is purposeful and interrelated data. When an enterprise focuses its data processing capability and attention on the use of information, its organizational

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structure will surely be affected. The managers who neither make decisions nor lead in the organization act as the communicators of information, that is, the “magnifying lens” of micro-information in traditional information organizations’ communication. With the development of information technology, the effect of these people is weakening, which will inevitably lead to the consideration and adjustment of decision-makers on the organizational structure. The problem of Xing Ming management will be introduced in the following article.

4.3.3 Xing Ming: The Process of Assisting Management Now let’s discuss the latter half of “The control of a large force is the same principle as controlling a few men, it’s merely a question of Fen Shu; fighting with a large army under your command is not different from fighting with a small one, it’s merely a question of Xing Ming”: the problem of Xing Ming. The problem of Xing Ming is the problem of information. Fighting with a large army under your command is not different from fighting with a small one is to command many people like commanding a few by Xing Ming and by information transmission. It is obvious that Xing Ming exists in the whole process of management, and its adaptation to the situation is the assistance to the management practice. Xing Ming of battle in ancient times is to use golden drums and flags to release various combat orders. For instance, beating the drum means to go forward, and beating gongs means to retreat. Now, this primitive form of the command is outdated, and it’s replaced by telephone, radio, walkie-talkie, handie-talkie, PA, satellite, computer, network and other transfer tools. Modern warfare is the battle of airplanes, tanks, missiles, warships, guns and the like, and it is the battle of information, whose message is more accurate, swift and complete, who are more likely to win. The position of information in enterprise management is equally important. Like the nerves of man, it flows in the whole body of the enterprise. Let information, intelligence, condition, information, news and other information flow inside and spread out their own situation. In the internal information, the instruction, statistics, production reports, subpoenas, accounts, etc. flow everywhere, making production and sales carry on smoothly. Three words are crucial in information: accuracy, timeliness and completeness. Accuracy, it is the life of information; inaccurate information is rubbish or even worse than its function. Timeliness is the magic weapon to win. Opportunity knocks but once and the one with fast information should be the first to engage into research, development, production and sales based on the information and transform it into victory. Thoroughness means the information as thorough as possible rather than a few words or sporadic clutter; while it doesn’t mean to endlessly pursuit the thoroughness, but to focus on the key point and remove redundant information from the effective information. The situation is constantly changing so that managers must filter massive information and change according to different types of situation changes while the focus of information should also have a corresponding change. If it’s the type of natural development, managers are primarily concerned with changes in natural

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factors and capture the slightest change in the situation in order to make the right response at the first time; if it’s the type of positive guidance, managers should collect more information from the favorable situation, and compare with the actual situation of the enterprise, in order to make the correct decision to the right direction; If it’s the type of malignant development, managers should pay attention to the comparison of information and grasp the key information to govern the specific situation. Reviews 1. What is situational management? 2. Why should the situational management adopt the model of “Shan Yin-Li Dao-Zheng Qi”? 3. What are the specific methods of “Shan Yin-Li Dao-Zheng Qi”? 4. How to achieve the “Li Dong Quan Bian” according to the specific situation? 5. How to use the thought of “reigning in power is the one if proposition and stability”? 6. What do you think should be paid attention to in the process of situational management? 7. Some people think that since situational management is so important, there is no need to formulate programmatic strategies and plans within the enterprise. We can only have a leader who is sensitive to situational change to make the enterprise invincible in competition. What is your opinion? Do you think there are drawbacks in situational management? If it exists, please give a brief explanation. Cases E-commerce: the driving force of industrial upgrading The “2012 China Shoe and Clothing Industry E-commerce Summit” sponsored by the Quanzhou Municipal People’s Government opened on April 17. The Summit, with the theme of “E-commerce: the driving force of industrial upgrading”, was attended by more than 80 influential and appealing industry leaders and relevant government leaders. In April 2012, there were many important events in China’s E-commerce industry. Lashou network entered the payment field Recently, it was reported that the creative domain name of “payment” was registered by Lashou network in a low-key fashion, but the website is only a static picture. According to knowing, Lashou network has five ways of payment, such as Lashou net support fast money pay, Alipay, fortune Tong, Yi Bao, Lashou direct payment. At present, Some platforms are popular and famous in the domestic payment field: Alibaba Alipay, Tencent fortune Tong, Sheng Dashengtong pay, etc., they all have “pay” in their names, we can see that it is also possible for the Lashou net to enter the payment field. Ganji network and Wowo Group joint operation

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The joint operation of Ganji Network and Wowo Group has been confirmed by Yang Hao-yong, CEO of Ganji Network, who disclosed that the group buying business would seek third-party cooperation. Ganji network and Wowo Group have reached a strategic cooperation and will start joint operations group buying business from now on. Log on to the group buying website found that the web site has been listed as a sub channel of the website. In August 2011, Ganji group buying business department changed to an e-commerce business unit. In fact, people in the industry are not surprised by the outsourcing of group buying a business. The joint operation of Ganji Network and Wowo group is actually a kind of transformation of this kind of website, which can be understood as heating up the group during the capital freezing period, and this will accelerate the group buying shuffle. Kaixin network contraction strategy News of April 5th, Shengda made a low-key launch of group buying navigation website (www.tuan.sdo.com), and formally marched into the group-buying market, and with the Lashou, the Meituan, Digu group, Nuomi website under the Qianxiang group-buying website cooperation. Kaixin net Nanjing, Ningbo and other 12 city sites were shut down one after another, the size of layoffs may reach more than 100. This indicates the strategic contraction of Kaixin in the field of group buying. Jingdong mall tries real estate On April 9, Jingdong Mall announced the introduction of a large number of well-known jewelry brands and made great efforts to enter the jewelry sales industry. The sales of jewelry products in 2012 will reach 700 million yuan. On April 10, Jingdong Mall announced a high-profile venture into the real estate industry, joined force with real estate agents to sell real estate online, and became the first in the industry. April 13 news, Jingdong is accelerating the pace of listing, while underwriters have been finalized and will go to the United States in the second half of this year IPO. On April 18, Jingdong officially launched its first house selling project, the group purchase of Tianhenglehuo city. The preferential price is 9500 yuan per square meter, which is equivalent to 20% discount of the market price. Jiuxian network enter Dangdang network On April 19, B2C wine chain retail website Jiuxian network cooperate with Dangdang network, all kinds of liquor in Jiuxian network will enter into Dangdang, Dangdang network liquor channel will be handed over to Jiuxian network exclusive operation; April 19 news, Dangdang network will exclusively operate QQ online book business. In addition, Dangdang’s entry into Tmall is also under discussion. April 29 news, China’s largest online wine e-commerce platform also announced that in early May with the Jingdong Mall to carry out cooperation, a comprehensive expansion of multi-channel sales business. Lekutian announced that it would stop serving. Lekutian, which is Baidu Letian Joint Venture Company, announced that Lekutian Mall began to stop service at 0:00 on April 27, 2012. When the news came out, the industry was not shocked, as if the curse of death for foreign investment to do a website in China was once again worked out. The closure of Lok days has made the e-commerce that has entered the cold winter worse. For Baidu,

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the end of Lekutian declared the Internet giant launched the second e-commerce blockade a complete failure. Before Lekutian, Internet giants such as eBay, AOL, Myspace, GROUPON all tried to do business in China, but eventually failed with inadequate localization and management problems. Faced with the existing domestic Tianmao, Jingdong Mall, Amazon China and other well-developed B2C platforms, Lekutian can be said to have no competitive advantage, from online to closed, Lekutian has not brought any impact on the domestic B2C market pattern. Internet events are chaotic Netease Company recently announced that its important mobile Internet product “Netease News Client” has been infringed by Tencent News IPhone Client. There is dispute between the news clients of the two portals over who is right and who is the copycat? How many such copycat products are there on the Internet in China? Netease accuses Tencent of plagiarizing and the war between “163” and “penguin” reflects the chaos of Internet design copying. April 27 news, the official website of Vancl launched a series of T-shirts, and used pictures of the country’s leaders to make a large advertisement, which was criticized by net citizens. The industry and Commerce Department has said that the advertisement has violated the law and will investigate the relevant enterprises according to law. In April 13, Taobao.com pulled out the iPhone smuggling case: Shenzhen customs found a Taobao.com store named “Blue Number” selling iPhone 4S at a large number of low prices. At that time, the iPhone 4S was not officially listed in the Mainland. The customs anti-smuggling department suspected that the shop had a serious suspicion of selling smuggled mobile phones, so it began to investigate. “Blue Number” Taobao shop procures goods mainly from Hong Kong, the use of “smuggler” to take the “bring a large group to smuggle, and each individual smuggling a small amount” way into the country on-line public sales. At present, 68 suspects involved have been under criminal detention. At the present stage, the E-commerce giants have begun to focus their competition on improving the management model, improving the quality of products and services, and gradually explore a suitable development model. Source: http://www.admaimai.com/News/Detail/14/82767.html. Questions 1. Analyze the material and summarize the development process of the e-commerce industry, what factors affect the situation of enterprises? 2. What method of situation management does the material reflect? 3. April 10, Vancl internally confirmed the brand marketing vice president Yang Fang resignation news. On April 16th, Dangdang announced that its CFO Yang Hongjia had resigned for personal reasons. April 20 news, the country’s largest e-commerce Happy Person Online Pharmacy (hereinafter referred to as “Happy Person”) operation director, marketing director also resigned recently, coupled with the resignation of the former technical director and financial director in just three months, Happy Person encountered a series of sudden changes in the resignation of five top executives. Contacting the knowledge of this chapter,

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how do you think this change will affect the situation of the corresponding enterprises? How do you think the enterprises should deal with this situation?

References Jianye, S. (2003). The advance management methods of EMBA: Contingency management. China Yan Shi Press. Qian, S. M. (2009). Records of grand historian (four). Inner Mongolia Culture Publishing House. Robbins. (1997). Organizational behavior. China Renmin University Press. Xianju, Y. (2010). Learn management from “Four Tzus”. Dongbei University of Finance & Economics Press. Xiaochun, Z. (2011). 88 tools of human resource management. People’s Post and Telecommunications Press. Xuefeng, L. (2005). Management in China: Harmonizing the wisdom of the past and the present. China Renmin University Press.

Appendix A Ancient Chinese Wisdom in Management

Ancient

Modern

Tao: truth, strategy Shun Tao: conform to the law, conform to moral principles, and guide following the momentum Harmonious: balance, harmony, complementarity Noninterference: conform to natural changes and not act recklessly so the world is well-governed Doctrine of the Mean Management: not extreme and strong pertinency Keeping pace with the times: flexibility and mobility

Rule: law Scientific management: conform to the law, not only by experience

Conduct: an effective way of doing things Da Dao Zhi Jian: great truths are extremely simple Zi Hua Management: human nature

Long life: follow the nature of things, guard the Tao(way) and embrace virtue Harmony between human and nature: the combination of man and nature and society Emphasizing tactic: seize the opportunity, seek first and then move Quantify work: measure merit, assess merit

Holistic management: focus on the relationship of the whole and the part Full and reasonable authorization: reasonable division of labor and give full authorization Control: control in advance, control during the event, and control afterward Strategic management thought: management behavior should have the ability to predict the future Theory of decision-making: management is decision-making Simple management: grasp the law of things and form a natural order The theory of human nature management: respecting people and making rational use of managers Lewin’s three-step model: unfreeze—change —refreeze Interpersonal relationship theory: People’s behavior should be adjusted to all kinds of relations Management functions: planning, organizing, leading and controlling Performance management: performance planning, performance counseling, performance appraisal and feedback (continued)

© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021 H. Hu, Principles of Chinese Management, Management for Professionals, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-6522-3

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(continued) Ancient

Modern

Choosing talent: choosing the right people Rule by man: a politics of the capable

Recruitment: interview, hiring, etc Experience management: management based on managerial experience of managers Eclecticism: reconciling all aspects to make it moderate Duality of management: natural and social attributes Medium talents: medium talents and middle talents Autonomy: self-discipline

Moderation: middle, positive and peaceful Yin and Yang: the two opposite attributes of things Talent following the Doctrine of the Mean: common talent Cautiousness when alone: act according to certain moral standards The theory of good nature and evil nature Fairness and justice: treat people fairly and impartially Harmonious relationship: cooperation between people Jinghe: competition and cooperation Law: the legal system and legal restriction Yuan tong: thoughtful in every aspect of life Identifying people: Identifying Talents Employing people: putting talents into practice Follow the name and responsibility: pay attention to the actual effect of managers Sharp people: creating talents on demand Flaunt Saint: move and inspire people by personal charisma Governing body: self-cultivation

Erudite: knowledgeable

Inquire: explore the principles of things in detail Careful reflection: think carefully about what you have learned Discerning: try to distinguish truth from truth

The theory of X and Y The principle of fairness: one of the fourteen principles of Fargo’s management Team management: teamwork among team members The idea of strategic alliance: cooperation, sharing risks and rewards System and discipline Contingency theory: change based on specific situations Selection: selection based on screening and examination Match between man and position: dual correspondence between man and position Talent assessment Talent training Charismatic leadership: leaders use their charisma to encourage followers and make significant organizational changes Self-management: the management of an individual’s goals, thoughts, psychology, and behavior Comprehensive quality: a person’s comprehensive literacy in knowledge level, moral cultivation, and various abilities Systematic thinking: through information collection, grasp the whole picture of events and clearly see the nature of the problem Weighing: measurement means more thinking and thoughtful consideration when doing things Insight: the essence of things or problems (continued)

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(continued) Ancient

Modern

Practice: Be resolute in practicing the truth you learn Art: talent, skill, technology

Practice: doing and managing the ideas actually in management activities Professional skills: professional knowledge and management skills Employee management: maximize the motivation and creativity of the employee achieve the best fit between people and things Humanistic management: taking human nature as the center and managing according to the law of human nature “Walk around” management: managers get richer and more direct management strategies for employee work Feedback: subordinates provide information to superiors and influence their behaviors System management: enterprise organization, operation, management, and other norms and models Training: organized knowledge transfer, skill transfer, standard transfer, information transfer, belief transfer, management disciplinary behavior Leadership traits: persistent and stable personality and temperament tendencies that a leader must possess to accomplish a business mission and goal Merit-based management: give raise or promotion based on merits

Zhi Zhong (govern the people): managing the people and managing the masses Benevolent government: to govern with virtue, to treat the people with kindness, and to give benevolence to others Close to the people: go deep into the base level employees and get close to the public Admonish: criticize or advise a monarch or elder′s words and deeds Decree: policies and decrees issued by the government Teaching: impart knowledge and skills to others

Official morality: professional ethics and political integrity that officials strictly adhere to Shang Xian: respect for people who have talent and virtue, regardless of the background Recommendatory system: the system of selecting officials

Be vigilant in times of danger: be vigilant in a peaceful environment and prevent disasters

Governance: interpersonal relationship management

Performance appraisal and promotion mechanism: enterprises use specific criteria and indicators to evaluate employees ‘performance and determine employees’ promotion according to their content Crisis management: the process of planning, decision-making, dynamic adjustment, resolution and employee training for enterprises to deal with various crisis situations Employee relationship management: managerial behavior of regulating the interrelationship and influence between enterprises and employees, employees and employees (continued)

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(continued) Ancient

Modern

Etiquette: the system and moral norms of ancient society

Institutional management: regulations, systems, models, and standards of management Leadership contingency theory: leaders choose different leadership styles to achieve ideal leadership effect under different leadership environment conditions Internal control: A form of management and a system of division of responsibilities established within a management organization that restricts each other

Rule of situation: changing politics is easy according to the changing situation

Be strict with internal affairs: strengthening domestic governance

Note According to the order of chapters

Appendix B Ancient Chinese Reference Books

The Analects of Confucius is one of Confucianism’s classics, compiled by Confucius’ disciples from many generations. It mainly records Confucius and his disciples’ words and deeds, and embodies Confucius’ political propositions, theoretical thoughts, moral concepts, and educational principles. It is also called “The Four Books and The Five Classics” together with The Great Learning, The Doctrine of the Mean, Mencius, the Book of Songs, Book of Historical Documents, The Book of Rites, I Ching and The Spring and Autumn Annals. Shi Ji (Historical Records) is the first Chinese biographical history written by Sima Qian. The whole book records more than 3000 years of history (philosophy, politics, economy, military, etc.) from the Yellow Emperor era in ancient Chinese legends to the first year of the Hung Dynasty of Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty. It is called “the First Four Histories” with the Book of Former Han, the History of the Later Han Dynasty and The Records of Three Kingdoms. It is also known as Sima Guang’s Comprehensive Mirror to Aid in Government, which is also called “the Double Historiography”. Zhu Si Kao Xin Yu Lu was written by Cui Shu, a total of three volumes in Qing Dynasty. Zhu Si Kao Xin Lu mainly examines Confucius’life stories, while Yu Lu mainly examines Confucius’ disciples. After Zhu Si Kao Xin Lu was completed, things related to other sages like Ji yan and Min Yijiang were recorded in another book, Yu Lu, and it was an important reference for the study of Confucius’ educational practice and thought. Xun Zi is a book written by Xun Kuang, a famous materialist thinker in the late Warring States period. Xun Qing Xin Shu (Xun Zi) has been passed down to the present day which was edited and renamed by Yang Lu according to Sun Qing Xin Shu in the middle of Tang Dynasty. The book aims to summarize the contention of a hundred schools of thought and their own academic thinking, reflecting the materialist view of nature, epistemology and Xun Kuang’s ethical, political, and economic thoughts. Lao Tzu (Lao Zi), also known as Tao Te Ching, Wu Qian Yan, and Lao Tzu Wu Qian Wen, was a work written before the division of the ancient pre-Qin philosophers. All the philosophers admired it at that time. According to legend, it was written by Lao Tzu (Li Er) in the Spring and Autumn Period, and it was an important source of Taoist philosophy. Tao Te Ching is divided into two chapters, © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021 H. Hu, Principles of Chinese Management, Management for Professionals, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-6522-3

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the first and the second. The first and the second are the Tao Ching and De Ching respectively, which are not divided into chapters, and then changed into Tao Te Ching. It is the first complete philosophical work in Chinese history. Mo Tzu (Mo Zi), written by Mozi and his disciples, is an encyclopedia of the pre-Qin period, covering all fields of natural and social sciences at that time. Mozi is a book that explains Mozi′s thoughts, which is divided into two parts: one is to record Mozi′s words and deeds and expound Mozi′s thoughts; the other is to elaborate Mozi′s thoughts in six chapters, namely, Jing Shang, Jing Xia, Jing Shuo Shang, Jing Shuo Xia, Da Qu, Xiao Qu, which emphasizes on the epistemology and logic thought of Mohist school. Sun Tzu: The Art of War is also known as Sun Wu′s Art of War, Wu Sun Tzu′s Art of War, Sun Tzu′s Art of War, etc. It is an ancient military theory masterpiece written by Sun Wu of the Qi vassal state in the late Spring and Autumn Period. The chapter of strategies includes planning, warfare, tactics; the chapter of war commanding includes tactical deployment, momentum and strong and weak points; the chapter of special tactics includes fighting for advantages, nine changes, troop mobility, terrain, and fire, use of spy. The book is one of the big three military strategy books in the world, and is the gem of Chinese classics. The Book of Changes (I Ching), also known as Yi, is the source of Chinese theory and national spirit and an encyclopedia of ancient China. It is a book of ancient Chinese philosophy, which is based on Yin-Yang dualism to prove and describe the law of things. It classifies the nature of heaven and earth, divides Heaven and earth into five elements, and even accurately predicts the future development of things. The book outlines the essence of the basic dialectical relationship between the complex and meticulous universe evolved from the model of “Yi has two poles and is the birth of two instruments”. Lv’s Commentaries of History is an ancient encyclopedia-like masterpiece edited by Prime Minister Lv Buwei of the Qin Dynasty. It combines various theories, collects the essence of each school of thought, and forms its own school. It includes the history of the world and the past and the present. It is also called Lv Lan. Guan Zi is said to have been written by Guan Zhong of the State of Qi in the Spring and Autumn Period. In fact, later generations extracted Guan Zi′s words and deeds and the comments of Jixia School and compiled a large number of Legalist works of the State of Qi. It is based on Guan Zhong′s thoughts and historical materials of Guan Zhong′s alignment. The content of Guan Zhong′s works is very extensive. Among them, the management theory of the state is particularly prominent. Mencius (Meng Zi) is one of the Chinese Confucian classics, occupies an important position in the Confucian classics, and is one of the “The Four books”. A total of seven articles were compiled by Mencius and his disciples in the Warring States Period. It records the political thoughts, strategies and actions of Mencius, a thinker in the Warring States Period. It was written about the middle of the Warring States Period and belonged to Confucian classics. Qi Min Yao Shu is the most complete agricultural book in China. It was written in the last half of the Northern Wei Dynasty. It is a comprehensive agricultural book

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written by Jia Sixie, an outstanding Chinese agronomist in the Northern Wei Dynasty. It is one of the earliest Monographs in the history of Agronomy in the world. The “Qi Min” in the title refers to the common people and “Yao Shu” refers to making a living. The book systematically summarizes the experience of agriculture and animal husbandry in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River before the sixth century, the processing and storage of food, the utilization of wild plants and so on. Hai Guo Tu Zhi is a comprehensive book about world geography and history written by Wei Yuan at the request of Lin Zexu. Based on the less than 90,000 words Si Zhou Zhi compiled by Lin Zexu, it expanded the other documents and books collected at that time and many papers written by Wei Yuan. Then it compiled the Brief History of Yinghuan and other materials compiled by Xu Jishe in the 28 years of Daoguang, and completed 100 volumes. It was published in the second year of Xianfeng. The Doctrine of the Mean was originally a part of the Book of Rites. The existing edition has been revised by the Confucians in the Qin Dynasty and was roughly written shortly after the unification of the whole country. The theme of the doctrine of the mean is to educate people to achieve a state of self-cultivate, self-supervise, self-educate and polish themselves consciously, and to cultivate themselves into ideal personalities, to achieve the highest kindness, the most benevolent, the most sincere, the highest moral, the holiest, consistent externally and internally, and to create a state of peace and harmony in which “all things are nurtured”. Chuang Tzu (Zhuang Zi), also known as the Nan Hua Jing, gradually spread in the middle and late Warring States, mixed and beneficial, until the Western Han Dynasty roughly took shape, but the version circulated at that time has been lost. At present, 33 articles have been sorted out by Guo Xiang, and the contents and chapters are different from those of the Han Dynasty. There are 52 pieces of internal, external, and miscellaneous articles in the book. Bing Jing Bai Yan, the author is one of the ancient military books in Guangchang at the end of Ming Dynasty. It inherits and develops the ideological essence of ancient and modern soldiers, and runs through it to form a relatively complete system. Shortly after it was published, it was regarded as a “strange book”, which was precisely the result of its courage and ingenuity, indicating that its ideas were advanced. Tou Bi Fu Tan, the author signed the name of the West Lake Yishi, a military book of the Ming Dynasty in China. He compiled annotations according to the law in Ming Dynasty. The present Ming Dynasty Wanli thirty-two years (1604) Hong Xitang edition. The book is divided into the first volume and the second volume, totaling 13 articles: the first volume of the book Ben Mu, Jia Ji, Da Quan, Weiheng, Espionage, Enemy Situation; the second volume Military Power, Military Plane, War Form, Fangshu, Wulue, Geji, Tianjing. The book is rigorous and prominent, which clearly reflects the thought of “resist the enemy” in the late Ming Dynasty. Six Strategies (Liu Tao) is a famous military book in ancient China. According to the legend Jiang Taigong, the founder of the Western Zhou Dynasty, wrote the

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book, which is also known as Six Taos of Taigong and The Art of War of Taigong. The book was compiled by way of dialogue between Taigong and King Wen and King Wu. Three Character Classic (San Zi Jing) has been known for more than 700 years since the Southern Song Dynasty. It covers traditional Chinese education, history, astronomy, geography, ethics and morality, as well as some folklore, and is widely vivid and concise. The full text contains 1722 words, and its content is divided into six parts, each part has a center. Xin Shu, also known as Jia Zi, is Jia Yi′s collection of political essays. Han Shu is listed in Confucianism, which reflects Jia Yi′s political and economic thought. The first chapter is the famous Guo Qin Lun, which summarizes the historical lessons of the fall of Qin Dynasty and puts forward a series of political propositions. The thought of strengthening centralization of power was in Zong Shou, Fan Qiang and Quan Zhong, the thought of benefiting the people and protecting the people was put forward in the Great Government and the Revision of Government. Book of Historical Documents, also known as Shu and Shu Jing, is an achievement after multi-genre literature compilation and is the earliest existing historical book in China. It is divided into Yu Shu, Xia Shu, Shang Shu and Zhou Shu. In the existing edition, authenticity and falsehood are mixed. It is generally believed that the 16 pieces of Mu Shi and Lv Penalty in Jin Wen Shang Shu are the real historical materials of the Western Zhou Dynasty. The order of Wen Hou, the Fei Oath and the Qin Oath are the historical materials of the Spring and Autumn Period. The earlier contents of Yao Dian, Gao Tao Mo and Yu Gong are the ancient historical material compiled from the Warring States Period. Zuo’s Commentary (Zuo Zhuan) was originally named Zuo′s Spring and Autumn Period. In Han Dynasty, it was renamed Zuo’s Commentary in the Spring and Autumn Period, abbreviated Zuo’s Commentary. It is an independent chronicle and is one of the most important Confucian classics. It not only develops the chronological style of The Spring and Autumn Annals, but also quotes and preserves some popular practical writings at that time, providing a reference for later generations. It has great artistic value in our literary circles and has made great contributions to historiography. Discourses of the states (Guo Yu) is the earliest history book classifying the history of different states in China. It records the history of the Zhou Dynasty royal family and the states of Lu, Qi, Jin, Zheng, Chu, Wu and Yue. Guo Yu records the economy, finance, military affairs, military law, diplomacy, education, law, marriage and other contents of the Spring and Autumn Period, which is very important to study the history of the Pre-Qin period. Strategies of the Warring States (Zhan Guo Ce) is a national history book, also known as the Guo Ce. It mainly describes the political ideas and Strategies of the Zongheng School (strategists advocating coalition against Qin and counter strategists) in the Warring States Period, shows the historical Zongheng School and social features of the Warring States Period, and is an important classic for studying the history of the Warring States Period. Records of the history, from 490 BC Zhibo

Appendix B: Ancient Chinese Reference Books

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delimitated Fan Shi, to 221 BC Gao Jianli attacked Qin Shihuang with a music instrument, and the book has about 120,000 words. Zhen Guan Zheng Yao is a political historical book. The writer is Wu Jing, a historian in the Tang Dynasty. This book mainly records the historical facts, but does not organize the whole book in chronological order. The book summarizes Tang Taizong′s experience in governing the country with the intention of admonishing the emperor today. It is a unique and enlightening historical work created by the renovation and renovation of the ancient Chinese historiography. The Book of Lord Shang, also known as Shang Zi, is one of the representative works of the Legalism of Pre-Qin Dynasty. It contains 24 pieces of works compiled by Shang Yang in the Warring States Period and his later works. First synthesize and then analyze, or first analyze and then synthesize, concurrently use induction and deduction, head and tail echo, to show Shang Yang′s opinion. Its main content is to expound Shang Yang′s political thought and legal thought, emphasizing the use of law for mandatory management. Han Feizi is a compilation of Han Fei Tzu′s works by posterity. It involves various fields such as politics, law, philosophy, society, finance and economics, military affairs, education and literature and art. Combining “power”, “law” and “tactic” and enriching and developing, a pure theory of monarchy dictatorship, namely the so-called “learning of emperors,” was put forward. The book records a large number of popular fables, the most famous are “self-contradictory”, “wait for the rabbit at the sump”, “taboo against disease and avoid doctor”, “ fill the number and pretend to work”, “old horse knows the way”. Qiu Shu is a collection of academic papers by Zhang Binglin, a thinker in modern China. Qiu means that what is mentioned in the book is a question of being forced to save time and save the nation. It was first published in early 1900, Zhang Binglin has collected 50 published and unpublished papers since 1897. The revision criticized the reformists from the political point of view, propagated the democratic revolution and called for the overthrow of the Qing government′s reactionary rule, which had a positive impact on the bourgeois-democratic revolutionary movement at that time. Records of Personages (Ren Wu Zhi) is an important reference book for studying the academic thoughts of Wei and Jin Dynasties. The book contains 3 volumes and 18 chapters. The book tells about the skills of discerning talents, the ability to use people′s side, and human nature analysis. The overall thought of Confucianism, Taoism, legalism, names, Yin and Yang, based on the social reality at that time, combs and summarizes the traditional techniques of discerning people systematically. Comprehensive Mirror to Aid in Government (Zi Zhi Tong Jian) is short for Tongjian, which is a chronicle book edited by Sima Guang in the Northern Song Dynasty, totaling 294 volumes. It takes time as the outline and events as the goal, from the twenty-third year of King Zhou Weilie to the Xiande six-year expedition to Huainan by Emperor Shizong of the Five Dynasties, covering the history of 1362 years of the 16 Dynasties. It is the first general chronicle of China. It is the

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imperial learning that summarizes the experience and lessons from history and provides the rulers with the country′s policy. Annals of Master Yan (Yan Zi Chun Qiu) is a book that describes Yan Ying′s thoughts, words and deeds in the Spring and Autumn Period. It is also the earliest collection of short stories in China. It is said that Yan Ying wrote the later generation. Now it is generally believed that later generations compile it. It is divided into two parts: the inner part and the outer part. Each part′s contents are both relatively independent and interrelated, and there are contradictions in some places. Helin Jade Crystal Bits (He Lin Yu Lu), written by Luo Dajing in the Song Dynasty, is a literary book describing poetry and literary anecdotes of the Song Dynasty and belongs to the collection of notes. This book is divided into three parts: A, B, C, a total of 18 volumes. More than half of the poems and commentary on the former dynasties and the Song dynasty recorded the anecdotes of the literati in the Song Dynasty. Wo Qi Jing, also known as The Sutra of the Grip and The Sutra of the Coup, which is an ancient Chinese soldier′s book on the eight formations. Legend has it that the sutra was written by the Yellow Emperor′s minister Feng Hou, Jiang Shang to be extended, the Han Dynasty Chancellor Gong Sun Hong to make an explanation. Also attached to the anonymous hold strange scriptures continue to map a volume, when Emperor Wu of the Jin Dynasty, Xi Ping Taishou Ma Long, the General Description of Eight Formations Map a volume. The book of Rites was compiled by Dai De, a western etiquette expert and his nephew, Dai Sheng. It is an anthology of Confucian scholars from the Warring States Period to the Qin and Han Dynasties who explained the Confucian classics of Rites. It is a compilation of Confucian thoughts and an important book of rules and regulations in ancient China. Mainly records and discusses the pre Qin ceremony system, etiquette, and explanatory etiquette. It is called “three rites” with “etiquette” and “Zhou Li”. The Great Learning (Da Xue) was originally the 42nd chapter of the Book of Rites. It is generally believed that its author is the grandson of Confucius. In the Song Dynasty, Cheng Hao and Cheng Yi drew it out of the book of rites, and compiled a series of sentences. The meaning of Zhu Xiju and Cheng Zi is divided into ten chapters: “Jing” and “Chuan”. It is also referred to as “four books” by commentary together with Doctrine of the Mean, the Analects of Confucius and Meng Zi. Di Zi Gui was originally named Xun Meng Wen, and the original author Li Yuxiu was a famous scholar and educator during the reign of Kangxi in the Qing Dynasty. It is divided into five parts, elaborates in listing that disciples at home, going out, treating others, receiving things and studying should abide by the rules and norms, advocating through life study, and practicing to achieve family harmony and social harmony. It concentrates on the traditional Chinese family instructions, family rules, family education, but also the basic teaching of life in today′s society. Zhu Zi Yu Lei was edited by Li Jingde in the fourth year of Jingding in the Song Dynasty, and was published in the second year of Xianchun as 140 volumes of Zhu Zi Yu Lei Da Quan, which is the current popular edition. It represents Zhu

Appendix B: Ancient Chinese Reference Books

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Xi′s thought, rich in content and precise in the analysis. The content involves content arrangement and order, and is the first book on the world′s origin such as Liqi, Xingli and ghosts and gods. Tu min Lu was compiled by Yuan Shouding, a Qing Dynasty official. “Love for the people” constitutes the core of the book, the author takes the story of the ancients “Jiaxing” as an example of state and county herdsmen admiring, and expounds that “government” must be based on “love for the people”. This “love for the people” of judicial officials constitutes one of the connotations of “love” in the traditional Chinese judicial field. Qian Fu Lun is written by Wang Fu in the Eastern Han Dynasty. It contains 36 articles, most of which are political essays on the art of governing the country and securing the people, and a few involve philosophical issues. It also discusses the role of teachers, pointing out that people are not born to know, even if such saints as Huang Di, Confucius still learn from teachers. Xin Tang Shu is an official book in the Song Dynasty. It is a biographical history book recording the history of Chinese Tang Dynasty. It is the first time that it has written Military Records and Electoral Records in style. It systematically discusses the military system and imperial examination system of Tang Dynasty. This is a great start in the history books of Chinese official history. Zhu Shun Shui Ji was written by Zhu Zhiyu (Shun Shui) in the late Ming and early Qing Dynasty. The Zhonghua Book Company publishes this book in 1981 after several editions. It mainly focuses on revealing the cruel facts of oppression and plunder by the nobles and analyzing and summarizing the Ming Dynasty′s demise lessons. The philosophical ideas of the commentary mainly criticize the idealism of Neo-Confucianism in the Song and Ming Dynasties. Huainanzi, also known as Huai Nan Hong Lie and Liu An Zi, is a collection of papers written in the Western Han Dynasty in China. It was written by Liu An, the Royal of Huainan in the Western Han Dynasty. On the basis of inheriting the Taoist thought of pre-Qin Dynasty, the book synthesizes the essence of the hundred schools of thought and plays an irreplaceable role in the later study of the culture of Qin and Han Dynasties. It combines Taoism, Yin and Yang, Mohism, Legalism and some Confucianism, but its main purpose tends to be Taoism. Shen Zi is a representative of Legalists in the Warring States period. The Book inherits Taoist doctrine, mainly from the Taoist family to absorb the “monarch′s southern skills”, that is, to control the minister, emphasizing that the emperor is the body, the minister is both hands; the emperor is the master of power, the minister to do specific work, advocated by the “art”, the most typical example is “pretend to see nothing and know nothing, so ministers cannot figure out the ruler”, it is the specific driving strategy for the minister′s tactics. Mei Qin Shi Lun, written by Xin Qiji, a patriotic poet in the Southern Song Dynasty, is a very good military work with high research value. The book mainly deals with the plan of resisting gold and saving the nation, recovering lost territory, and reunifying China. Since then, people have called “celery” and “grieving millet” together pronouns for worrying about the country and the people, grieving the country, “celery” also has a specific and far-reaching meaning.

Appendix C Ancient Chinese Thinkers

Jiang Shang (1156–1017 BC), given name Wang, literary name Ziya, commonly known as Jiang Tai Gong, born in Haibing, Donghai. Zhou Wen Wang was called “Tai Shi”, assisted by Wen Wang and seeking “Jian Shang”. Later he helped Zhou Wu to overthrow Shang Dynasty. It is the most famous statesman, militarist, and strategist in Chinese history. Guan Zhong (723 years ago or 716–645 years ago), named Yi Wu, posthumously said “Jing Zhong”, known as Guan Zi. He was a descendant of the Qi state′s famous statesman and strategist during the spring and Autumn period. He was called “the first phase of spring and Autumn” and assisted Qi Huan Gong as the first dominant power in the spring and Autumn period. Lao Tzu (about 471 BC 571–), given name “Bo Yang”, posthumous Dan, is the Chu country bitter County, Li Xiang Ren Ren. He is one of the greatest philosophers and thinkers in our country. His philosophical thought and Taoist school have exerted a far-reaching influence on the development of our country′s ideology and culture for more than 2000 years. Confucius (551–479 BC), given name Qiu, literary name Zhong Ni, Han nationality, Lu Guo Yi people. He was a thinker and educator at the end of the Spring and Autumn Period in China, the founder of Confucianism, and was respected by later rulers as the holiest, the holiest ancestor, the model of the world. Sun Tzu (470 years before 535–BC), given name Wu, literary name Changqing. He was a famous strategist and philosopher in ancient China and a strategist in the late spring and Autumn period. He wrote The Art of War by Sun Tzu, and his theory and thought were also applied to modern management decision-making and social management. Duanmu Ci (520–456 BC), literary name Zi Gong, statesman, the first Confucian businessmen, and is from Wei in the late spring and Autumn period. He is Confucius′s favorite pupil, and he is an excellent speaker. In the Analects of Confucius, there are more records of words and deeds. Mozi (468 B.C.–376 B.C.), named Zhai, was a famous thinker, educator, scientist, strategist, social activist and founder of the Mohist school in the Warring States Period. Mozi founded the Mohist School of thought, and the book Mozi was handed down from generation to generation. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021 H. Hu, Principles of Chinese Management, Management for Professionals, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-6522-3

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Li Kui (455 B.C.–395 B.C.), a jurist during the Warring States period. Li Li, referring to the laws of various countries, synthesized it into a code, named “The Book of Laws”, which is one of the oldest statutory codes in China. The basic idea is to safeguard the autocratic monarchy and feudal order. Shen Buhai (385 B.C.–337 B.C.), also known as Shen Zi, was a famous thinker in Han State during the Warring States period. As a legalist figure, he is famous for his “art” and is a representative figure in the contention among hundreds of schools of thought during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States Periods. His work Shenzi has been lost. Su Qin (? B.C.–317 B.C.), literary name Ji Zi, Han Chinese, from Luoyang of the Warring States Period, were renowned as Zonghengjia (diplomatic strategist) with Zhang Yi. It can be described as “he gets anger and vassal states will fear, he lives in peace and the world is at ease”. Su Qin′s most brilliant time was to persuade the six monarchs to unite. Yang Zhu lived between Mozi (479 B.C.–381 B.C.) and Mencius (371 B.C.289 B.C.). Pre-Qin philosopher, a Wei nationality in the Warring States Period, literary name Zi ju, was against Confucianism and Mohism, especially against Mozi ′s “universal love”, advocating “noble life” and “value oneself”, attaching importance to the preservation of one′s own life and opposing others’ invasion of oneself. Shang Yang (about 395 B.C.–338 B.C.), Han Chinese, Wei nationality, was a politician and thinker in the Warring States Period, and a representative figure of pre-Qin legalists. Shang Yang persuaded Qin Xiaogong to reform and strive for strength, so that Qin overtook the six kingdoms in Shandong for a long time and laid a foundation for the unification of the six kingdoms. Mencius (about 372 B.C.–289 B.C.), given name Ke, literary name Ziyu, Zou Guo nationality, is a great thinker, statesman, educator in the Warring States Period. One of the main representatives of Confucianism. He inherited Confucius′s thought and was honored as “the Holy One”. He wrote “Meng Zi”. Chuang Tzu (about 286 B.C.–369 B.C.), the philosopher of the Warring States period, Zhuang, given name Zhou, literary name Zi Xiu, Song nationality. He was a great thinker, philosopher, and writer in the Pre-Qin (Warring States) period of our country. He was the main founder of Taoist doctrine, and he was called Laozi, the ancestor of Taoism. Xunzi (about 238 B.C.–313 B.C.), given name Kuang, literary name Qing, Han Chinese, Zhao nationality in the late Warring States period. He is a famous thinker, writer, statesman and one of the representatives of Confucianism. Xunzi developed Confucianism and advocated “evil nature”, which was often compared with Meng Zi′s “theory of good nature”. Han Fei Tzu (233 B.C.–281 B.C.), Han nationality in the late Warring States period. He is a famous philosopher, thinker, political commentator, and essayist in ancient China. He is a master of Legalist thought and a representative figure of the famous legalist thought in ancient China. Qin Shihuang (259 B.C.–210 B.C.), named Zheng, was the greatest statesman, strategist and military commander in Chinese history. He was the first founding

Appendix C: Ancient Chinese Thinkers

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emperor of the Qin Dynasty to complete China′s unification. Emperor Qin Shihuang established the emperor system, which laid the foundation of China′s political system for more than 2000 years. Han Gaozu (256 B.C.–195 B.C.), Liu Bang, literary name Ji, Han Chinese, born in Pei county Fengyi Zhongyang. He made a decisive contribution to the unification of the Han nationality, the unification of China and the protection and the Han culture. Han Wudi (87 B.C.–156 B.C.), Liu Che, the seventh emperor of the Han Dynasty, statesman and strategist. During his reign, he defeated the Huns several times, annexed Korea, sent envoys to the Western Regions, and promoted Confucianism as the exclusive school of thinking, creating the reign title. He pioneered the greatest layout of the Han Dynasty and made brilliant achievements. Jia Yi (200 B.C.–168 B.C.), Han, Luoyang. A famous political commentator and writer in the early years of the Western Han Dynasty. His works mainly include prose and ci-fu, essays such as Guo Qin Lun, Lun Ji Shu, Chen Zhengshi Shu and so on; ci-fu is the most famous in “Zhuo Qu Yuan Fu” and “Bird Fu”. Dong Zhongshu (179 B.C.–104 B.C.) was a thinker and Confucian who kept pace with the times in the Western Han Dynasty. He was a famous idealist philosopher in the Western Han Dynasty and a master of modern classics. Up to now, there are still scholars studying his ideological system and the culture of his hometown. His great works are collected in the book Chunqiu Fanlu. Sang Hongyang (80 B.C.–152 B.C.), the Minister of Han Wu Di, Luo Yang, came from a merchant family. He served as a senior official of agriculture and an imperial historian. Some of his measures alleviated the economic crisis in varying degrees. History has said that at that time, “As a country’s economy expands, the national treasury gets more and more surplus without increasing tax rate, and the people do not feel exploited.” Cao Cao (155 B.C.–220 B.C.), Meng De, named Xiaoman, Han, born in Pei Guo Qiao County, a famous statesman, strategist, writer and calligrapher at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty. The founders the Cao and Wei Dynasties in the Three Kingdoms, lead the coalition under the name of Prime Minister of the Han Dynasty and made great contributions to the unification of the Central Plains. Zhuge Liang (181 B.C.–234 B.C.), literary name Kongming, named Wolong, was born in the Han nationality, Lang Yin Yang Du. He was the Prime Minister of Shu Han in the Three Kingdoms period, an outstanding statesman, strategist, inventor and writer. Zhu Geliang was greatly respected in the later ages and became a model of loyal officials in the later ages. Jia Sixie (386 B.C.–543 B.C.), the Northern Wei people, the Han nationality and the yidu people lived in the Northern Wei Dynasty and the Eastern Wei Dynasty. He was an outstanding agronomist in ancient China. Sui Wendi (541–604), Yang Jian, the founding emperor of the Sui Dynasty, Han Chinese, born in Huayin, Hong Nong county. During his reign, he successfully unified China, which had been severely divided for a century, created an advanced system of selecting officials and developed its cultural economy. Yang Jian is the

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greatest Chinese emperor in the eyes of Westerners. He was honored as “holy man Khan”. Tang Taizong (599–649), Li Shimin, the second emperor of the Tang Dynasty, born in Cheng Ji in Longxi. He is a statesman, strategist, calligrapher and poet. Tang Taizong initiated the “rule of Zhenguan” in history and pushed the traditional Chinese agricultural society to its peak. Liu Yan (716–780), a famous economic reformer and wealth manager in Tang Dynasty, literary name Zi an, from Caozhou. As a minister, he carried out a series of financial reform measures, which made an important contribution to the economic development of the Tang Dynasty after the Anshi Rebellion. Song Taizu (927–976), Zhao Kuangyin, founder of China′s Northern Song Dynasty, Han Chinese, born in Zhuozhou. During the sixteen years of his rule, he strengthened centralization of power, advocated literati politics, and created a prosperous Chinese civil governing period. He was a wise and benevolent emperor and an outstanding figure in promoting the development of history. Fan Zhongyan (989–1052), literary name Xiwen, Han Chinese, ancestral Suzhou Wuxian, once a soldier in Wuning, known as “Fan Wenzheng Gong”. He was a famous statesman, thinker, strategist and writer in the Northern Song Dynasty. The complete works of Fan Wen Zheng Gong were handed down. Wang Anshi (1021–1086), literary name Jie Fu, nickname Banshan, posthumous title Wen, award the title of Jingguo Gong. He was a Linchuan native of Fuzhou in the Northern Song Dynasty. He was an outstanding statesman, thinker, scholar, poet, writer and reformer in Chinese history. His collected works include Wang Linchuan collection and Linchuan collection collection. Kublai Khan (1215–1294), the founder of the Mongolian and Yuan Dynasty. He fought all his life and set up a vast unified multi-ethnic country. During his reign, he established a provincial system and strengthened centralization, so that the social economy gradually recovered and developed. Ming Chengzu (1360–1424), Zhu Di, lead army to Mongolia 5 times, consolidated the northern frontier, and maintained the unity and integrity of China′s territory. He has sent Zheng to the West several times and strengthened friendly exchanges between China and foreign countries. During his incumbent period, the economy developed significantly and its national strength was strong. Zhang Juzheng (1525–1582), Han Chinese, ancestral home Hu Guang Jiangling. Given name Shuda, literary name Taiyue, posthumous title “Wen Zhong”, a Ming Dynasty statesman and reformer. He is one of the best cabinet leaders in Chinese history, the greatest statesman in the Ming Dynasty. Huang Zongxi (1610–1695), Tai Chao, De Bing, Nan Lei, Han Chinese, born in Yuyao County, Shaoxing Prefecture, Zhejiang. He was a Confucian, historian, thinker, geographer, astronomer and educator in the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties. Huang Zongxi, with Gu Yanwu and Wang Fuzhi, is known as “the three great thinkers of the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties”. Gu Yanwu (1613–1682), literary name Zhong Qing, Han Chinese, born in southern Zhili Suzhou Kunshan. He is a famous thinker, historian, and linguist. He is a learned scholar who has studied the classical system of the state, ancient

Appendix C: Ancient Chinese Thinkers

399

allusions of prefectures and counties, astrology, river management, war, and agriculture, a hundred schools of classics and history, and phonological exegesis. Wang Fuzhi (1619–1692), also known as Wang Chuanshan, Han, Hunan Hengyang people. He is the master scholar of China′s simple materialism. Wang Fuzhi advocated the idea of applying the world for all his life and resolutely opposed Cheng Zhu′s Neo Confucianism. Kangxi (1654–1722), Aixinjueluo Xuanye, was the defender of our unified multi-ethnic country, laid the foundation for the prosperity of the Qing Dynasty, created a “prosperous Kangqian era” situation, is a wise monarch, great statesman. Wei Yuan (1794–1857), given name Yuanda, literary name Moshen, Han Chinese, born in Hunan Shaoyang Longhui. He was an enlightenment thinker, politician and writer in the Qing Dynasty, and one of the forerunners of “looking at the world with open eyes” in modern China. Wei Yuan holds that the aim of learning is to “learn from the world” and advocate learning western advanced science and technology. Zeng Guofan (1811–1872), literary name Bohan, nickname Disheng. he was born in the late Qing Dynasty, the founder and ruler of Xiang army. He was a military strategist, a Confucian, a statesman, a calligrapher, a litterateur and one of the four famous ministers in the late Qing Dynasty. He is the most prominent and controversial figure in modern China. Wang Tao (1828–1897), a famous reformist thinker in modern China. He was first known as Wang Libin, literary name Lan Ying, and from Fu Li village, Suzhou, Jiangsu. Wang Tao has made outstanding achievements in many fields such as philosophy, education, journalism, historiography, and literature all his life. Zheng Guan Ying (1842–1921), the official name Ying Zheng, literary name Zheng Xiang, nickname Tao Zhai, born in Luo Fu. He was the earliest theorist with a complete ideological system of reform in modern China, an enlightening thinker who opened the prelude to democracy and science, and an industrialist, educator, writer, philanthropist and enthusiastic patriot. Kang Youwei (1858–1927), also known as Zu Zhao, literary name Guang Xia, nickname Changsu, a famous politician, thinker, social reformer, calligrapher, and scholar in modern times. He believed in Confucianism and devoted himself to transforming it into a state religion that could adapt to modern society. He was the president of the Confucian Church. Zhang Jian (1853–1926), literary name Jizhi, nickname Bian'an, Han Chinese, ancestral home is Changshu, Jiangsu Province, modern Chinese industrialist, politician, educator. He was an early pioneer in the field of cotton textiles in China and made an important contribution to the development of the national textile industry in China. Sun Zhongshan (1866–1925), given name Wen, literary name Zaizhi, nickname Yi Xian. He was the forerunner of China′s modern democratic revolution, the founder of the Republic of China and the Chinese Kuomintang, and the advocator of the Three People′s Principles. He was honored as the “father of the Republic of China”.

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Mao Zedong (1893–1976), literary name Runzhi, pen name Ren Ren, Hunan Xiangtan people. He is a Chinese revolutionist, strategist, theorist and poet, the main founder and leader of the Communist Party of China, the People′s Liberation Army and the People’s Republic of China, and the main founder of Mao Zedong Thought. Deng Xiaoping (1904–1997), the core of the second generation leadership of the Communist Party of China, Marxist, proletarian revolutionist, politician, strategist, diplomat. He was the chief designer of China′s socialist reform, opening and modernization drive, and founded Deng Xiaoping Theory.

Appendix D The Classical Business Cases in Ancient China

The Chinese business has a long history. After a long-term accumulation and experience, a series of business methods have been formed, which has left a rich content for business history. The Chinese traditional business culture is profound, and many classic business cases have been bred in long commercial activities, which are widely spread. Case 1: Fan Li sells horses In the period of vassal state wars, Fan Li founded that the Wu Yue area needed a lot of horses; at the same time, the northern horses were cheap. If someone can transport the northern horses to Wu Yue, he would make a big profit. But the problem is that it is difficult to transport. Because at that time, there was chaos, and there were often bandits along the way. After some investigations, he finally learned that there is a powerful force in the north that often trafficked linen to Wu Yue. Jiang Zidun has made a great relationship with the bandits by giving them gold and silver. So Fan Li put his mind on Jiang Zidun. He wrote a notice posted at the gate of the city, the general idea of the note was that Fan Li set up a horse team, opened on a bargain, and could help people to transport goods to Wu Yue for free. As expected, Jiang Zidun took the initiative to find Fan Li, and asked for the linen. Fan Li naturally agreed. In this way, Fan Wei and Jiang Zidun walked along the way. The goods and the horses arrived safely in Wu Yue. The horses were sold quickly in Wu Yue, and Fan Li gained great profits. Case 2: Fan Li’s three throws Fan Li is a counselor of Gou Jian the king of Yue. He is knowledgeable and proficient in military methods. He is as famous as Sun Zi and Zhang Liang. In his life, he used to “spend a significant amount of money”—three times to lose all his asset but got rich three times later. Fan Li assisted Gou Jian with “endure and revenge”, made the country strong and destroyed Wu state. After revenging the shame of being defeated on the mountain of Kuai Ji, he resolutely resigned from the position to do business, only loaded with few light pearls and others distributed to the local people. Fan Li came to Qi State with his family, claiming to be a Zhi Yi Zi Pi, farming at the seaside, and engaging in commerce. Since Fan Li was good at business, it was not long before the property was quite rich. Everyone in Qi knows his genius and © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021 H. Hu, Principles of Chinese Management, Management for Professionals, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-6522-3

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asks him to be a prime minister. Fan Li refused, distributed his property, and quietly left, moved to Tao Di (now Ding Tao County, Shan Dong Province) to settle down. Tao Di was the transportation center, business and trade destinations at that time, the merchants gathered, the shops were row upon row—it was very prosperous. Fan Li settled in this place and changed his name to “Tao Zhugong”. He adapts to local conditions and, in addition to farming, focuses on commercial activities. He is good at waiting for the opportunity, paying attention to material information and market dynamics. His sales principal is low profits and high sale volume which generally does not exceed 1/10 of the profit. Soon, the property has reached a million dollars, as rich as a country. At this time, Fan Li once again distributed his property to the local people, and he only kept a small number of shops to continue his business. Case 3: Yi Dun rich fast in western river Historical Records Collection contains, Yi Dun, the man in Wei state in the Warring States Period, the great industrial and commercial genius, and the Yi Dun is its alternative name. He was originally a poor scholar of Lu State between the Spring and Autumn Period, who is in hunger and cold, and life was difficult. Just as he could not do anything for a living. At that time, he heard about Fan Li’s story of managing the business. He was envious of it and tried to ask for advice. Since he was very poor and had no capital to operate other industries, Tao Zhugong let him raise a small number of cattle and sheep first and gradually prospered and prospered. Therefore, in accordance with the instructions of Tao Zhugong, Yi Dun migrated to the western river (now southwest of Shanxi Province) and kept livestock cattle and sheep in the southern part of the county. At that time, the soil in this area was damp and the grassland was vast. Especially the swamp in the south 20 miles of Yishi County was a large low-lying area with abundant water and beautiful scenery. It was an ideal place for animal husbandry. In the beginning, Yi Dun was grazing here. Due to the hard work of Yi Dun, the scale of animal husbandry has been expanding. “In ten years, the interest cannot be counted, and he was rich as a prince.” Because he was famous for Yishi, he was named Yi Dun. While operating animal husbandry, Yi Dun has noticed that pool salt in the eastern river, located in the south of the Han Dynasty. Therefore, he used to transport some pool salt and sell it along with livestock when he was selling cattle and sheep. In the process, it is recognized that the salt of the tank is a more profitable way to get rich. Therefore, after accumulating abundant capital by animal husbandry, he deliberately developed the pool salt in the eastern river, engaged in pool salt production and trade, and became a craftsman and businessman. Through multi-party management, Yi Dun has become the richest man in the country and has a great influence in society at that time. Case 4: Zhuo′s rich by moving far Biography of the Goods of Historical Records contains the wealthy businessman Zhuo Shi, he was originally from Han Dan, the state of Zhao (now Han Dan, He Bei province) His grandfather became rich by smelting iron ore, and later Qin defeated Zhao state, exiled the rich, and Zhuo was among them. Among the people who were captured by Zhao state, those who were slightly wealthy rushed to bribe the bureaucrats responsible for the migration of Qin, and asked to move to Jia Meng

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who is more developed in the economy and closer to Zhao. However, Zhuo was far-sighted. He said:“The place where Jia Meng is small and inferior, I heard that there is a fertile wilderness under the mountain of Wen (Ming), there is iron ore, and there is big sized yams. Even under famine, people work and do business in the market as usual.” Thenhe asked to migrate to the Lin Qiong (now Sichuan) area, which is famous for producing iron ore. After arriving in the area, he used the rich iron ore resources in the local area, combined with his own expertise in the family, and the neighboring areas were the places where ethnic minorities in need of iron tools were concentrated. And he hired a lot of cheap labor, mining iron ore, casting pig iron and managed the old industry. Because the original production tools are very backward, the advanced iron tools are very popular, often in short supply. Coupled with the fertile local land, the wild plants that can replace the grain are abundant, which is conducive to reducing costs, so the profit is very high. Because he is good at discovering and utilizing favorable conditions, he has finally become the richest man in the area, with thousands of servants. Case 5: Bai Gui hoards with whatever others may want Bai Gui, the man of the Warring States Period, the family name Dan, the first name Gui. He has a reputation of “business ancestor”. He is “optimistic and time-changing”, good at doing business, and always regards “I buy what people throw away and sell what people chase after” as his business purpose. Most of the Warring States merchants enjoyed the profitable jewelry business, and he took a different approach and engaged in the sale of agricultural products. He saw the agricultural development of the society at that time, and the grain was something that the people of the whole world could not do without. The profits were not big, but the demand was great. Whenever the grain harvest season or the grain harvest, the farmers sell the grain, and the price is relatively low. Currently, he buys a lot. When the weather is bad, the farmers don’t have much food to sell, he sold the harvested food at a higher price and earned the margin. Once merchants sold cotton in a swarm, some merchants did not hesitate to put the price down very low to sell cotton as soon as possible. Bai Gui saw this situation, so he told his servant to put on the cotton signboard and collected all the existing cotton in the hands of the merchant. Later, due to the excessive purchase of cotton, Bai Gui had to ask servants to rent a place from other merchants to store cotton. At this point, the merchants who sold the cotton were all together and rushed to buy fur. It turned out the news that nobody did know from which merchants, saying that the fur has become a hot commodity recently, and people in the winter may have difficulty buying fur from the market. At this time, Bai Gui’s warehouse was holding a good number of good furs, but after hearing the news, he did not put the fur in his hands but sold all the fur in stock and earned a lot of money. Not long after, due to continuous rain, cotton suffered a serious loss. The merchants who had no stock of cotton in their hands began to look for cotton everywhere. At this time, Bai Gui sold all the stock of cotton at a price higher than the purchase price, and once again made a fortune. After a while, for some reason, the fur of the street suddenly could not be sold, and the price dropped lower and lower. Other businessmen regretted it and lost a lot.

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Case 6: Ren Shi (the businessman of Qin) grains storage At the end of the war in Qin Dynasty, wealthy people began to rush to buy and store gold and jade jewelry, but there was a governor named Ren who was a storekeeper purchasing the grain mills and storing them in his own cellar. Many people could not understand it. Later, Chu Han was at war. The conflict between the two sides is in the chaos, and the vast areas of the central plains have become the battlefields of the two armies. The fertile land was desolate, the people are not allowed to cultivate, and the food is scarce. At this time, the merchant whose family name is Ren took out the grain he has stored and sold. Those who had rushed to buy gold and silver jewelry must use their gold and silver jewelry to buy the food of his. At this time, the governor named Ren, who was a storekeeper, became a big merchant selling food. His food was sold to a million gold per food. As a result, a large number of gold and silver jewels were exchanged to the hands of the big merchants of Ren, and thus he became rich. The Ren of the supervising hurdles stood tall and looked far. He keenly foresaw that after the demise of the Qin dynasty, Liu Bang and Xiang Yu had a long-term battle. They keenly felt the high price of the future grain when everyone snapped up the gold and jade. He threw out gold, rushed to buy and store food, and profiteer from a pandemic of country. Case 7: Pei Fang buy bricks in a fire In the 10th year of Shaoxing in the Song Dynasty, there was a fire in Lin'an City. The fire had a lot of collateral damage: the house, warehouse and jewelry store of a businessman surnamed Pei were also burned. However, Pei Fang is shrewd; when the fire broke down in the family, the disaster was over, the whole city was busy, people was blaming in danger, he saw a huge business opportunity from the fire of Lin'an City. He did not save his own fire and immediately organized manpower to go out and purchase bamboo and wood tiles, reeds, and other building materials. If these things are for sale, they would immediately be acquired all by Pei Fang. Pei Fang squandered and monopolized all the building materials needed for the reconstruction of Lin'an. After the fire, there was a lot of repair jobs, and there was an urgent need to build housing materials on the market. At this time, the government also offered a tax-free concession for the sale of building materials. Therefore, the company not only made up for the loss in the fire, but also obtained a huge profit. Case 8: Uncle Jue three regrets According to Liu Bowen′s Yu Li Zi, Uncle Jue is a very confident person. He cultivated land in the north of Guishan, planted rice in the highlands, and planted wheat in the lowlands. A friend told him about the growth habits of rice and wheat and let him change it. Uncle Jue did not listen, and after 10 years, he lost everything. So, he went to the field of friends to see that these fields are very good. He said to his friend: “I see my mistake now.” Soon afterward, he went to Wenshang to buy and sell. While he saw what kind of goods the best sellers were, he rushed to buy them. He often bought them with others. When the goods just arrived, many people who distributed the goods also rushed, so his goods were hard to sell. A friend told him: “People who were going to buy and sell the goods that people were not eager to buy. When the time came to sell it again, the profit would be multiplied.” Uncle Jue did not listen. He did that

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for ten years and ended extremely poor. At this time, he saluted his friend and said, “From now on, I dare not regret it!”. After a while, he had to take a big boat to sail and invited friends to go along, so they went eastward and went to the deep sea. The friend said: “We would arrive at Feixu, if you went ahead, I was afraid it was difficult to return!” He did not listen. Boat advanced into the deep sea, and he drifted on the sea for nine years; only with the help of a strong sea breeze and waves did the ship float back. By this time, his hair was all white and his body was as thin as dry meat. No one can identify him. He swore to his friend and vowed to sky: “I repent, the sun witnessed!” The friend laughed at him and said, “You had repented, but it was too late!” Uncle Jue did not care about the law of doing business. The battle of prices in sale and purchase of overpriced goods has made him increasingly embarrassing. Case 9: Rishengchang Business house News Lei Lvtai, the Shanxi exchange shop founder, has created more and more exchange transactions after the establishment of “Ri Sheng Chang”. As a business expert, Lei Lvtai, who is well versed in wealth, has come up with the inconvenience of Shanxi businessman’s e-banking in other merchants. Therefore, he conducted in-depth investigations into the sales location of medicinal materials, tea, summer cloth, satin and groceries. He dispatched smart, honest and reliable partners to set up an exchange shop successively in Hankou, Tianjin, Jinan, Xi'an, Kaifeng, Chengdu, Chongqing, Changsha, Xiamen, Guangzhou, Guilin, Nanchang, Suzhou, Yangzhou, Shanghai, Zhenjiang, Fengtian, Nanjing and other places. He has a central exchange shop in the Shanxi headquarters, and several subsidiaries are built in some cities in other provinces. They collect information, usually through the business link between the subsidiaries and the center. Different information is exchanged between the central exchange shop and each change shop every three and five days. The local agricultural production and market sales are notified through letters, which facilitates the general business′s business decision. Lei Lvtai contacted Jinshang, solicited business, paying money here, and using money from there, never had bad cheques. Due to high creditworthiness, not only Shanxi merchants have frequent exchanges with “Ri Sheng Chang”, but the rice gangs and silk gangs from other provinces and coastal areas have also exchanged funds through “Ri Sheng Chang”. Due to the well-managed business of Lei Lvtai, the business of “Ri Sheng Chang” is booming. With the expansion of the exchange, the deposits were subsequently absorbed, loans were issued, and profits increased. “Ri Sheng Chang” is a thriving scene. In view of this, Shanxi merchants have taken effect and invested in other projects. Since then, the Shanxi banking industry has flourished, and during the heyday, he once held the national financial industry. Case 10: Meng Luochuan ‘s layered profit The famous Shandong businessman Meng Luochuan began to do business when he was 18 years old. His business has developed greatly during the first 20 years of involvement in the company. In 1893 (Guangxu 19 years) and 1896, he opened “ Ruifuxiang Silk” in Dazhalan, Beijing and Yantai, and sold silk, foreign goods, leather goods, and department stores. He adhered to the operating principle of

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“good quality, trustworthy to all, set price based on quality, make profit on market segmentation.” (1) High-end goods dominating the market. For the precious goods that a few people need, the small general store is weak to produce, and the large store is not willing to operate because of the backlog of funds. Ruifuxiang Silk often rely on their own strong funds, do everything possible to collect, and make a great profit. Before 1930, Beijing and Tianjin’s leather goods, such as 4000– 5000 yuan per sable flown, the sea dragon collar of more than 1,000 yuan, the best golden monkey, black fox, nest, white fox’s rare leather goods often unique to Ruifuxiang Silk. Due to the poor sales of these precious leather goods, Jinan is generally out of inventory, but the grape ridge of more than 600 yuan and the sea dragon collar of more than 400 yuan are unique to Ruifuxiang Silk. In the embroidered goods, the clothing of senior officials of the Qing Dynasty is hard to find, but Ruifuxiang Silk has everything. After the Republic of China, the stage credits, tables, and chairs embroidered drapes, curtains, etc. that are used by some famous actors such as Mei Lanfang, Yan Huifang, they are all entrusted to Ruifuxiang Silk. (2) Customized goods. Ruifuxiang Silk could order the woven goods for some high-grade silk goods, which means that the goods are customized. The quality of the ordered goods is higher than the average, such as the best of the mature Luo is 11 mm of thickness, while the Ruifuxiang Silk ordered goods has 13 mm of thickness, 15 mm of thickness. Another example is the spinning of silk, which is usually made of four synthetic silk, and the ordered goods of Ruifuxiang Silk is made of six synthetic silk, and the finest silk is used, and there are many kinds of flower samples. Around 1921, there was a kind of “wool” in silk goods that was very popular. Originally a large group of flowers that looks like old, Ruifuxiang Silk would be changed to a small group of flowers, very popular among customers. Ruifuxiang Silk also created a kind of “Gorena”, which is made with good artichokes or Wuhuage, with a lining in the middle, and a white cloth as the base. This kind of goods is specially designed for the upper-level figures to make clothes at the turn of autumn and winter. These customized goods have a high quality and price, which dominated the market because of the lack of other industries, the profits are very impressive. (3) Self-dyeing cloth. Although Ruifuxiang Silk was known as a store selling high-end goods, the sales of his cloth still accounted for a certain proportion in each store, and the sales of cloth always dominated the total sales. Ruifuxiang Silk also works hard on all kinds of color clothes. Before 1930, the machine dyeing factory was still underdeveloped, and the color fabrics such as Yindan Shilin were still few. The various color fabrics operated by the silk cloth industry (including wholesale stores) were sold by hand-dyed dyeing workshops. In order to create his own brand and obtain monopoly profits, Ruifuxiang Silk used fine grey fabrics, purchased the best dyes, commissioned dyeing workshops to dye, and stamped his own seal in each period. Ruifuxiang Silk would never easily change the cloth and dye for short-term benefits and

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compete with peers. Ruifuxiang Silk has always insisted on the selection of famous brands, using high-quality dyes to process the dyeing, and never shoddy. All kinds of color clothes sold by Ruifuxiang Silk have the characteristics of no fading, the blue-teal cloth is different, and has a high reputation, especially in the countryside. Many local farmers do not buy the cloth except for Rui Yixiang’s. Rui Yixiang has a large market in these places. White cloth is a public good, and profits cannot be hidden. Ruifuxiang Silk used it as a means of competing with the peers, and the price was set exceptionally Low; profits are only a few percent, sometimes even at a loss. Because the quality of self-dyed color cloth is higher than the general market, the profit is as high as 12–15%, so Ruifuxiang Silk monopolizes the market. (4) The goods are genuine. Ruifuxiang Silk never adopts the promotion methods adopted by general merchants such as big price reduction, big sales, big gift, and discounts. Ruifuxiang Silk rarely advertises himself by advertising. However, Ruifuxiang Silk rarely pays attention to advertising. Instead, they have their own way of promoting. The main thing is that the equal treatment to all customers, the hospitality is welcoming, the good are free for inspection, and the customers will promote on behalf of them.

Appendix E The Civil and Commercial Organizations in Ancient China—The Top Ten Commercial Gang

Shang Bang (business group) is a geographical organization based on geographical relationships that is extended by kinship organizations. In the history of the business group, the commodity group was generally developing in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the commodity industry was complicated, and merchants’ number increased. The ranks of merchants grew stronger and the competition became increasingly fierce. The rulers of feudal society have always pursued the policy of “emphasizing agriculture and limiting commerce” in society. In the ranking of the class, the order is “politician, farmers, workers, and businessmen”, and social status of businessmen is always at the bottom. Therefore, merchants use natural township and clan relations to support each other and become market price makers. At the same time, in order to avoid vicious internal competition and enhance external competitiveness, business groups can use the collective strength to protect itself better in the feudal system, so business groups emerged in this particular economic and social context and many of them were formed in different locations. The top ten business groups: Shanxi Business Group, Huizhou Business Group, Shanxi Business Group, Shandong Business Group, Fujian Business Group, Dongting Business Group, Guangdong Business Group, Jiangyou Business Group, Longyou Business Group, Ningbo Business Group. 1. Shanxi Business Group (Jin Merchants) Shanxi business group, also known as “Jin Merchants”, is the earliest rising businessman among the top ten business groups. Its history can be traced back the Jintang dynasty of the Zhou dynasty, but it really rose in the Ming Dynasty, and it has developed to the peak in the period of Qing Emperor Qianlong, Jiaqing and Daoguang. At the same time, the Shanxi exchange shop almost exclusively occupied the national exchange business, becoming the most powerful commercial, financial capital group in the country. They operate various companies throughout the country, and travel to Europe, Japan, Southeast Asia, and the Arab countries. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021 H. Hu, Principles of Chinese Management, Management for Professionals, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-6522-3

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They have been in business for 500 years, and they are called “the world′s three major businessmen” with Jewish businessmen and Venetian merchants. The size of the Shanxi merchants is gigantic, the length of time is long, and the business field is wide. There are two reasons for this: on the one hand, the geographical and blood relationship are used as the link, the centripetal force of the business groups’ merchants is high, and the traditional ethical business practices are used to seek political ethics to rely on, sheltering the business activities of the business group; on the other hand, it is one of the important traditions of the Shanxi merchant family: only the one who is best at learning can be a businessman, it is said that the children of the first and second tiers of the Shanxi merchant family went to do business, and the children of the third and fourth-tiers went to participate government official exams. There have even been scholars qualified to be officials in the imperial examinations but went to do business. The representative of Shanxi business group is Kong Xiangxi (1880–1967), the first name is Yongzhi, called Ziyuan, the 75th generation of Confucius. He is the Executive Director of the Nanjing National Government of the Republic of China, Minister of Finance, and he is also a banker or wealthy businessmen. Kongjia and Qiaojia, Changjia, Caojia, Houjia, Qujia, Yijia and Fanjia are also known as Shanxi merchants. 2. Huizhou Business Group (Hui Merchants) Huizhou Shangbang is also known as “Xin’an Merchants”, commonly known as “Hui Merchants”, which refers to the general name of the merchant group of the old Huizhou government (now Jixian, Qixian, Xiuning, Jixi, Qimen, and Wuyuan counties in Jiangxi Province). Hui Merchants was born in the Eastern Jin Dynasty and grew up in the Tang and Song Dynasties. Huizhou merchants have been active in the north and south of the Yangtze River and on both sides of the Yellow River, as far as Japan, Siam, Southeast Asian countries, and Portugal. Huizhou merchants’ business is the most important in terms of salt, pawn, tea and wood, followed by rice, grain, cotton, silk, paper, ink and porcelain. There are many salt merchants in Jixian County; many teas and wood merchants in Wuyuan; Jixi people are more operating restaurants; Xiuning people are more pawnbrokers; Tuen Mun and Jixian people manage cloth and groceries. Huizhou is the hometown of Zhuxi who the great Confucianism of the Southern Song Dynasty is. It is known as Confucianism. Therefore, most of the Huizhou merchants are characterized by Jia and Confucianism. Their business ethics has a strong Confucian flavor. Huizhou merchants regard Confucian sincerity, credibility, and righteousness as the foundation of their business ethics. This has earned them a reputation in the business world and promoted the development of commercial capital. It is the secret of their business success. Not only that, but they also understand the operating rules of the market economy and the ability to control market changes. They perfectly reflect the pragmatism and savvy, historical mission, and sense of responsibility of businessmen. Huizhou merchants’ representatives include Hu Xueyan (1823–1885), a famous entrepreneur and politician in the late Qing Dynasty. He was formerly known as Hu

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Guangyu from jixi, huizhou. Hu Xueyan is a famous “red-top businessman”, also known as the official merchant. He has organized the foods and weapons for the Qing army, borrowed foreign debts for Zuo Zongtang, raised military squadrons and ordered arms, and relied on the Xiang Army to establish the bank named Fukang in 20 different places across all provinces. He has also operating Chinese medicine, silk tea business and operating Jiangsu and Zhejiang business, was the “China′s richest man” at that time. 3. Shaanxi Business Group (Qin Merchants) Shaanxi Business Group, also known as “Qin Merchants”, is the earliest business group in China based on geographical kinship. During the Ming Dynasty, the Shanxi business group formed the center of Jingyang and Sanyuan, with the northwest, Sichuan, Yunnan, Mongolia, and Tibet as the territory. The tea was transport to Longqing; the salt was sold in Sichuan; the cloth was in the lake of Su; the smoke is sold in Jiangzhe, making them a famous commercial capital group in Jiangsu and Zhejiang Province and was honored as “the biggest businessman in Western Qin” or “Guanshan Merchants” because of the sufficient wealth. In the 300 years of the Ming Dynasty, it has long been ranked among the top ten business leaders in China during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. In the book Heavenly Creations, Song Yingxing analyzed the power of the merchants in the middle of the Ming Dynasty: “Those who have capital is mainly a person from the three parties of Qin, Jin and Huizhou.” Shaanxi merchants rank firstly in the three groups. Shanxi business group is a comprehensive business group. There are many ways to make money. Based on agriculture and other resources, it forms a huge local commercial group. It combines with usury capital, gets interested on commodity loans, makes their own monetary instrument, and expands into business capital. Their pursuit of wealth is the same as that of the general business: try their best to chase substantial profit. If not, then become the second best. Shanxi business group is most famous for salt merchants. The operation of cloth, tea and leather goods is also an important way for Shanxi business to make profits. Representatives of the Shanxi Business Group include He Dating, a native of Weinan County, Shaanxi Province, and the head of the Shanxi Heshi pawn shop during the Jiaqing period of the Qing Dynasty. He Dating’s ancestors have been opening pawn shops for generations. The He’s family has opened more than 30 pawn shops in Guanzhong counties, distributed in Weinan, Lantian, Xianning and Chang’an. 4. Shandong Business Group (Lu Merchants) Shandong business group, also known as “Lu Shang” or “Shandong group”. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Shandong business group controlled the silk satin cloth, grain wholesale and retail, catering, and other industries in Beijing and even in North China. Especially in the northeast region, Lu merchants has geographical and ethnic advantage, and it also occupies a strong sphere of influence. Shandong business group is a native of Shandong, who is simple, bold, and honest. The way to get rich in Shandong Business Group is summed up as a

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business method of long-distance trafficking and business dealings, with an emphasis on creditworthiness and standardized business practices. The Shandong business group member is mainly a high-rank official, a landlord and a big businessman, so most of them are feudal businessmen, which also determines the flow of the commercial capital of the Shandong merchants is from the poor to the rich. Representatives of Lu Shang are Meng Luochuan (1851–1939), an old soldier from the town of Zhangqiu, Shandong Province, and a well-known national commercial capitalist in modern times. He started to do business at the age of 18, and he has overseen Mengjia Enterprise since then. Businesses such as “Ruifuxiang Silk” and “Quanxiang” are in large and medium-sized cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Tianjin, Qinghai and Yantai. Newspapers in cities such as Beijing, Tianjin and Jinan are called “financial giants”. 5. Fujian Business Group (Min Merchants) Fujian Business Group, also known as “Min Merchants”. The development of Fujian business group shows typical marine cultural characteristics. During the Song and Yuan Dynasties, the world-famous “Maritime Silk Road” was created by Fujian businessmen. On the occasion of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Zhengshi Sea Business Group established a maritime business kingdom in East Asia and Southeast Asia and became a strong force in the international business community, which is called the largest overseas business group. The initial development of Fujian business group was in direct contradiction with the official tributary trade and the ban on the feudal government′s sea policy. The internal and external collusion trade mode is the most common mode of business for Fujian maritime merchants. They acquired sea cargo and hoarded smuggled foreign goods for sale. In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Fujian merchants closely integrated domestic and foreign trade worked hard, and traded in various forms, thus forming an influential local business in Chinese later feudal society. The representative of Fujian business group is Pu Shougeng (1205–1290), also known as Pu Sougeng, called Haiyun in the late Song Dynasty and the Yuan Dynasty, the Arab (Semu) merchant descendants, who served as Shipping Secretary Quanzhou City for 30 years. He is a well-known Muslim maritime trader, politician, and military strategist, the representative of “Fanke Return” in the Song and Yuan Dynasties and moved to Guangzhou in the eleventh century and operated a merchant ship, becoming the leading tycoon. 6. Dongting Business Group (Dongting Merchants) Dongting business group, also known as “Dongting Merchants”, “Dongting Mountain group”, “Mountain group” or “Dongting mountain People”, is the name of the mountain of Dongting Mountain in Dongting, and is the main body of “Su Shang”. The Dongting merchants formed in the Ming Dynasty during the Wanli period. In the south of the Yangtze River, Huizhou merchants dominated by commercial capital, scope of activities, and operational ability during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. However, the Dongting merchants were able to compete with them

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and spread the slogan of the folks: “While Huizhou merchants are massive, Dongting merchants can reach places where no one can reach.” Dongting merchants used the unique business conditions of Dongting Lake to traffic rice and silk cloth. They constantly updated their ideas and lay foundations to new business. After the Opium War, in Shanghai, as a financial center, Dongting merchants opened up financial institutions such as the buying and selling industry, the banking industry, the money industry, and silk and cotton yarn industries. In the new historical context, they are engaged in business activities different from the past and embarked on the road of development from commercial capital to industrial capital. Representatives of Dongting Merchants include the Rong Brothers—Rong Zongjing and Rong Desheng, who are the founders of the flour and cotton empire in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province. They are known as the “Flour King” and “The Cotton King”. The Rong Brothers founded a number of enterprises. They are famous national entrepreneurs in modern times. 7. Guangdong Business Group (Cantonese Merchants) Guangdong Business Group, also known as “Cantonese Merchants.” In modern times, due to the intrusion of foreign economic forces and China′s slow pace of modernization, Jin Merchants and Hui Merchants have gradually declined due to their adherence to traditions. However, Cantonese Merchants have experienced the expansion of commodity circulation in modern Guangdong with the development of the commodity economy, the rise of overseas immigrants’ transactions. Guangdong businessmen have made their mark in Southeast Asia, Hong Kong and Chaoshan. During the Second World War, Guangdong businessmen have once gone quiet, but after several years of hard work after the war, it finally rose after the 1970s. Representatives of the Guangdong Business Group include Zhang Zhenxun (1840–1916), who is a native in Dapu. He is the modern overseas Chinese capitalist. He is also an official, he has been the consul general in Singapore and the supervision of the Yuehan Railway. He was involved in the wine industry, planting industry, medicinal materials industry, tin mining industry, and shipping industry. His business reached Singapore, Malaya, Thailand, Vietnam, and the Philippines. He became the richest man in Southeast Asia at that time and was called the “a generation of wine king”. 8. Jiangyou Business Group (Gan Merchants) Jiangyou Business Group, also known as “Jiangxi Business Group” and “Gan Merchants”. Jiangyou Business Group was the earliest formed business group in ancient China. The Ming and Qing dynasties dominated it, and it was in the fields of Chinese finance, salt industry, industrial products, and agricultural products. The vast majority of Jiangyou Business Group was forced to do business because of their family circumstances. Therefore, small businesses and borrowing are starting to become their characteristics. Their business activities generally start with the sale of local products. Its unique background makes the Jiangxi merchants

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have the characteristics of scattered capital and small business. Paying attention to the inhere quality of business, especially credibility, is an external reflection of the simple and serious character of Jiangxi people, and it is also the natural expression of traditional Confucianism in the minds of Jiangxi people. Jiangxi merchants are good at trying to figure out consumer psychology and cater to the needs of different customers. Selling all inventories and capturing business opportunities is a summary of the experience of getting rich. The representative of Jiangyou business group is Li Yimin (1704–1798), the first name is Danchen, called Houzhai, and the ancestral home is Wenzhen Yangxi Village of Linxi County (now Wenzhen, Jinxian County, Jiangxi Province), a famous salt merchant in the Qing Dynasty. has the famous name of “Linchuan Lishi”. 9. Longyou Business group Longyou Business Group, referred to as “Longyou Group”. Longyou Business Group is named after Longyou, but it is not a single Longyou County. The merchants refer to the merchants of Longyou, Changshan County, Xi'an (now Jixian County), Kaihua and Jiangshan counties in Zhejiang Province. Among them, the number of Longyou businessmen are the most, and their business method is the most sophisticated. So, the group of businessmen gain the reputation of “Longyou Business Group”. They are mainly engaged in the jewelry industry, the land reclaiming industry, the paper industry, and the printing industry, and become a powerful business group. In the business activities of Longyou Merchants, the history of the wealth comes from Tao, making profit only if it meets righteousness, following the Confucianism, high creditworthiness as a foundation are the consistent style of the Longyou Merchants, and also make them gain a good market and reputation. In a fundamental sense, using honesty as a business ethic is the key to the success of Longyou Business Group. The representative of Longyou Shangbang is Shen Wanshan (1330–1376). His natural name is Fu, the word Zhongrong, and called Wansan by others. He is a wealthy merchant in Suzhou in the early Ming Dynasty and the richest man in the end of the Yuan Dynasty and the beginning of the Ming dynasty. 10. Ningbo Business Group Ningbo Business Group, referred to as “Ningbo Merchants”, refers to the merchants of Ningbo. Ningbo businessmen have a long history of going out to do business, but they are doing business on a large scale, and it is too late to form a business group. After the Opium War, especially during the Republic of China, the Ningbo Commercial Group’s new generation of commercial capitalists stood out and brought the business and financial industries together. As a result, Ningbo Business Group ranks among the famous businesspeople in the country with emerging modern merchants’ position. They mainly operate the silver store, medicinal materials industry, garment industry, the seafood industry, and the insurance industry.

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Ningbo Business Group is good at exploring the activities and developing business projects in a timely manner. They are based on the traditional industry management, relying on the pillar industry management, taking the direction of emerging industry management, often a family manages several businesses. The businesses are complemented by each other, making their business operations superior in the national business community. The representatives of Ningbo Business Group include Liu Hongsheng (1888– 1956), named Keding, from Dinghai, Zhejiang provinces, who is a modern Chinese industrialist. During the First World War, Liu Hongsheng started his business as a coal mine and was called the “King of Coal”.

Appendix F The Development and Transformation of Personnel Management in Ancient China

The “Shi” in “Ren Shi” means an appointment. “Ren Shi” refers to the recruitment, training, assessment, promotion, deployment, reward and punishment, and retirement of the staff of state organs or institutions. In ancient China, the personnel system was generally expressed in officials’ selection and appointment, and there were different contents in different periods. 1. The Xia-Shang-Zhou Period In the Xia, Shang and Xizhou periods of slavery, the hereditary system was adopted, and no system of selection and appointment was formed. 2. The Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period (1) Implement the military merit system and give a certain title according to the size of the military power. “The clan does not have military merits will not get a title.” The military merit system was the first system of appointment in the feudal society, breaking the hierarchy of the slavery era and promoting the development of the feudal bureaucracy. At the same time, since the Warring States, government officials began to be appointed by the monarch; government officials got their seal when appointed and the seal is taken back when they are demoted. At the same time, they began to implement the salary system. (2) From the Warring States period, there is an appraisal system for bureaucrats’ political achievements, which is called “Shang Ji”. It is to report the tax revenue of one year to the country at the beginning of the year and to complete the assessment by the end of the year. The Zhou Dynasty has a system of “Xun Shou” and “Shu Zhi”. “Xun Shou” means that the emperor inspects the vassal state kings. “Shu Zhi” means that the lower official stated his duties. In the Warring States Period, countries began to set up “Yu Shi” and were responsible for the supervision of the bureaucrats. There is also a system of “Shang Ji” and an inspection of local places. “Shang Ji” means that the local government reports to the central government at the end of each year as the basis for evaluation every year. The inspection is the inspection of the king, the prime minister, and the magistrate of a prefecture to the local or county. It is called “Xun Xing” or “Xing Xian”. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021 H. Hu, Principles of Chinese Management, Management for Professionals, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-6522-3

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(3) During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, there was the rise of private lectures and the provision of talent resources for the princes of recruiting talents. At that time, there were schools that trained aristocratic children, and ordinary schools where civilians learned culture. 3. The Qin Dynasty (1) Qin implements the system of selection and recommendation. The system of selection is choosing from top to bottom, and the recommendation system is recommended from the bottom up. The Qin dynasty stipulates that all those who have merits in the three aspects of “Pi Di” (expanding the territory), “Sheng Luan” (winning the internal and external wars), and “Li Nong” (developing the agriculture) can be selected as officials. At the same time, in recommending talents, if the fact of the recommended talent is not true and there is a major mistake, the legal responsibility of the recommender must be held accountable and the same crime should be punished. (2) The Qin Dynasty pays attention to the regular assessment of the bureaucrats. The king set the censor official centrally to use the power of supervision and check officials. He also sent censorship to the county for supervision, calling it “the official of the imperial court.” During this period, we followed the idea of “good ruler manages officials not people”, rewarded the “five good” and punish the “five mistakes”. Five good are: First, loyalty and respect; second, honesty and integrity; third, good political judgment; fourth, good deeds; fifth, kindness. Five losses as follows: First, false reports of political achievements, complacency, and pride; second, luxury enjoyment; third, self-righteousness and listen to no advice; fourth, disrespect the senior; fifth, ignore agriculture and value commerce. 4. The Han Dynasty (1) The bureaucrats are selected through two channels: “Cha Ju” and “Zheng Pi”. Cha Ju is the recommendation of talents by bureaucrats at all levels. Zheng Pi is the recruitment of talents by the emperor or at all levels of government. In the word “Zheng Pi”, the “Zheng” is the celebrity in the landlord class of the emperor′s lower edict, “Pi” means that the ministers of state and the sheriffs have appointed their own subordinates. Whether it is Cha Ju or Zheng Pi, the required bureaucrats must be in accordance with the high quality of virtue, abidance of a decree and other standards, otherwise, the accomplices and recommenders must be convicted. The Han Dynasty opened the door to the political power of the landlord class intellectuals further through “Cha Ju” and “Zheng Pi”, strengthen the role of the dictatorship of the landlord class. (2) The Han Dynasty has a small test of the bureaucrats every year, and a three-year test. According to the results of the assessment, the bureaucratic reward and punishment will be determined. The general merits of the work are relocated. Those with special merits or genius abilities are surging (advanced promotion). At the same time, the bureaucrats are also tested,

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and the test is divided into “Dui Ce” and “She Ce”. The “Dui Ce” refers to the open examination; the “She Ce”, refers to answering the questions by drawing lots. This is the way of examination in China′s budding, laying the foundation for the later examination. (3) There are official and private schools. At the time of Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty, the establishment of Chinese studies in Chang’ an (now Xi'an) mainly cultivated feudal bureaucrats. Dr. Wu Jing is an instructor and has 50 formal students, called doctoral disciples. When Emperor Shun Emperor of the Eastern Han Dynasty, there were 340 rooms and 1850 little rooms in Taixue. There are 30,000 students in the quality of Emperor, the earliest and largest bureaucratic training school globally. As for private schools, almost all Confucian scholars in the Han Dynasty recruited students, and the famous civilian minister also often holds private lectures. 5. The Wei, Jin and North–South Dynasties (1) The accesses of being officials has many similarities with the two Han dynasties. Choosing an official is either through the government′s recruitment or the county′s inspection, and the county inspection is still an important way to select officials. The subjects examined during this period mainly include piety, scholar, virtuous and classics scholar. It involves political and economic issues in the country to choose an exam winning scholars. And those piety winners must take exam of 5 classics. (2) Implementing the nine-rank system, also known as the nine-grades official law. The content is to select the prestigious people of each county, to be the “Zhong Zheng”, to inspect the local scholars, to divide the talents into upper, middle and lower grades, etc., according to the grade, recommend to the court. The officials award the cadres, the higher the grade, the bigger the official position. However, the nine-rank system deviated from democratic nature. The officials are chosen by those who are powerful and people with average background had no chance. 6. The Sui Dynasty The Sui Dynasty abolished the “Nine-rank System”, which was monopolized by the family of the officials. It opened a system of imperial examinations throughout the country and selected bureaucrats through the examination room. In the imperial examinations, it was the establishment of various sections in the feudal state, which regularly conducted unified examinations. After the candidates were tested, they were granted official positions, that is, the so-called “Kai Ke Qu Shi”. 7. The Tang Dynasty (1) In the Tang Dynasty, the subjects of the examination were divided into two categories: “Changke” and “Zhike”. “Changke” is hosted every year, and the examinations temporarily held by the emperor are called “Zhike”. “Changke” examination subjects include more than 50 kinds of topics,

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Mingjing, Jinshi, Junshi, Mingfa, Mingzi, Mingji, and so on. Among them, Mingfa, Mingsuan, Mingzi are not valued by people. Junshi and other departments are not held frequently. Xiucai’s requirements were very high, and later they were gradually abolished in the early Tang Dynasty. Therefore, the Mingjin and Jinshi subjects became the main subjects of the Tang dynasty. After Tang Gaozong, Jinshi subject was especially valued by the people of the time. Most of the prime ministers in the Tang Dynasty were from scholars. In addition to the imperial examination system, there are other ways to make official appointments: “Yin Bi”, royal family and high-ranking children, relatives, can be awarded officials, sometimes to the extent abusive. Civil official has great merits, and a military officer has great achievements and can also apply. There are also donations of food, donation of grass, donations of silver to get an official title, which is the purchase of officials. The rest is through recommendation. (2) The examinations in the Tang Dynasty were divided into small examinations and major examinations. The small examinations are taken once a year and the exam is taken every four years. The assessment criteria are very specific, and there are “four good” requirements in terms of morality. That is to say, “ morality,” “clearness,” “fairness,” and “dedication and diligence.” In terms of talents, there are “twenty-seven most” requirements for different situations in all walks of life. For example, “the balance of the characters, is the best for the selection of the Secretary”; “the Ministry is well-organized, guarded without loss, is the best for the palace guards “; “pushing the truth, breaking the peace, is the best for the judge; “reward and punishment are strict, the battle must be used, the military will be the most”; “store carefully, know the accounts, is the best for warehouse officer”; “shepherd and fertilize, produce more food, is the best for the farmer”; and so on. According to the assessment criteria, the amount of merit is divided into nine. Those in the middle and above are promoted to higher, and the middle is not moving. The lower and middle members are demoted and the next one is dismissed. (3) The Tang Dynasty school is divided into six subjects, Guozi, Taixue, Simen, Law, Book, and Mathematics. The first three belong to Confucianism, and the latter three belong to occupational and technical studies. The education in the Song Dynasty was quite developed, and there were many government schools and private colleges. There are villages or private colleges, as well as government departments from the central state of the country, the school to the provincial, prefecture, state, and county. The official school has the nature of an administrative school. It is a place for the country to train candidates for examinations and certain officials.

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8. The Song Dynasty (1) The Song Dynasty was an important period for the transformation of the imperial examination system. The subject changed from the complex to the simple and gradually formed the scholars’ basic pattern into the division. In the Song Dynasty, the system of dispatch was implemented. The official positions were more than nine ranks, all of which were appointed by the emperor and required to be sent Gaoshen. The appointment of the post is the appointment of the emperor. In the Song Dynasty, it was also stipulated that when the official was appointed, the cadre sent his resume to the middle of the Zhongshu, Zhongshu (the prime minister) examines and approves, and the emperor was briefed and make the appointment. (2) Since the Song Dynasty, there has been a “Shi Guan” system, that is, the first time an official is to be tried for two or three years, and the ability to be qualified is then changed to permanent. There is also an avoidance system. In the Ming Dynasty, the county government order was generally not allowed to serve as an official for the hometown. During the Qing Dynasty, you should not be an official in your own province. Even in different provinces, you should avoid it when you are within 500 miles of your origin. (3) In the Song Dynasty, there was a “two-department three-level examination system” for the examination of the two departments, namely, the interview court and the examination center, which were responsible for the assessment of the royal court officials and the local officials respectively. At the same time, different officials were also in charge of examining other ranks, which makes the appraisal institution more complete than the Tang Dynasty. The division of labor and responsibilities are clearer, the assessment jurisdiction is more specific, and the Chinese traditional personnel assessment system is enriched and developed. 9. The Yuan Dynasty (1) The Imperial Examinations of the Yuan Dynasty are held every three years and are divided into three levels: Xiang Shi (the provincial examination), Hui Shi (the ritual examination), and Dian Shi (the palace examination). At the examinations at all levels, Mongolians and color-eyed people were tested separately from Han Chinese and Southerners. In the township test and the test, the Mongolians and the color people only test two subjects, while the Han and the South people must test three subjects. Although all ethnic groups were asked the same question during the royal test, the first two were limited to 500 words or more, and the Han Chinese and South must be more than 1000 words. On the content of the examination, the Mongolians and the color people′s topics are relatively easy, and the problems of the Han and the South are more difficult. If the Mongolians and the color people are willing to take the examinations of the Han and the South, the official positions awarded can be improved. These provisions

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reflect the ethnic discrimination policy pursued by the Mongolian rulers in the imperial examination system. The appointment of officials in the Yuan Dynasty “Wu Ding Zhi”, which means there is no definite system for the appointment of officials, the general situation is: Fifth rank or more are appointed by the emperor′s order, called the “Xuanshou”; sixth to nineth rank are awarded by Zhongshusheng with the emperor’s approval. (2) The assessment of the Yuan Dynasty is divided into two categories: “Ji Nian” and “Lian Fang”. The method of “Ji Nian” assessment is that regardless of the size of the bureaucracy, the examination sheet is issued by Zhongshusheng “Certificate of Examinations”. The first name is written in the first volume, and the superior official indicates the term of office during the transfer, and achievements are also listed. Officials who fill out the “test scores” must also end up with a joint guarantee to avoid cheating. The cadres decided to appoint based on the “Certificate of Examinations”. To make up for the shortcomings of the “Ji Nian”, the Yuan Dynasty also stipulated that Yushitai and its affiliates should conduct “Lian Fang” to bureaucrats at all levels. 10. The Ming Dynasty (1) Before the Ming Dynasty, the school was only one of the ways to transport candidates for the imperial examinations. In the Ming Dynasty, the school became the only way for the imperial examinations. When he entered the court in the Ming Dynasty, he was referred to as a “Jiansheng”. “Jiansheng” are divided into four categories: “Gongjian” (scholar), “Yinjian” (through nepotism), “Jujian” (through recommendation) and “Lijian” (through donation). (2) The official imperial examinations of the Ming Dynasty were divided into three levels: the township test, national test, and the palace test. The township test is a local examination held by the South and North Zhili and the various administrative divisions. The location is in the South, Beijing, and the Buzheng Division, every three years. The national examination, which is presided over by the Ministry of Rites, is also called “Liwei”. It is held in the second year of the township test. The palace test was held in the same year after the test. The time was initially on the first day of March. The palace test was presided over by the emperor, and only one policy was taken when the exam was taken. (3) In the Ming Dynasty, there were two types of exams for the bureaucrats. After three years of examination, it is divided into three levels: regular, ordinary, and incompetent. Investigate the eight methods: greed, cruel, unstable, restless, inferior, old, sick, and careless. According to the inspection situation, it will be dealt with by changing, lowering, closing, and serving the people.

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11. The Qing Dynasty (1) The system of imperial examinations is still the most basic and important method of talent selection. The imperial examination system of the Qing Dynasty was basically the same as that of the Ming Dynasty, but it implemented the policy of ethnic discrimination. Manchus enjoy privileges, and officials do not have to go through the imperial examination. In the Qing Dynasty, the imperial examinations were divided before the Yong Zheng between different ethnic groups. The Qi people enjoyed special specials in the township test and the test. They only translated one article, called the translation test. Although it was changed to Manchu and Han people take the same test, the Han people were still the majority who take the test. In addition to Zhengke, there are sometimes specialties such as “Bo Xue Hong Ci Ke” and “Jing Ji Te Ke”. Some official positions, such as the Zhanshifu, the Hanlin Academy, the Ministry of Military, the Ministry of Etiquette, and other departments, must consider applicants’ backgrounds and parents. In the Qing Dynasty, the official directly appointed by the emperor was called “Te Jian”, and the minister would push the appointment and call it “Hui Tui”. The children of a deceased war hero and inherit the position, and the talented and people with integrity can get an official position through recommendation. (2) In the Qing Dynasty, there was an official system that bureaucrats in various departments had quotas. The number of officers and ethnic distribution are stipulated. In the Qing Dynasty, the military officers of the Qing Dynasty held the power of recruitment, and the officials of the middle and upper levels were appointed by them. The military bureau discussed and drafted the list and reported it to the emperor for approval. In the Qing Dynasty, the system of “Ting Tui’ and “Hu Tui” were abolished, but senior officials inside and outside Beijing could conduct “secret recommendation” and “public recommendation”. A secret recommendation is that a senior official think someone has a special ability to be used. The policy is deposited with the military and reported to the emperor at the appropriate time. The public recommendation is a high-ranking official from inside and outside Beijing who recommends a talent officer to the court and requests an official position. After the report, Li department will review and select. The lower level bureaucrats are elected by the cadres. Anyone who has no quota and has the qualifications to be an official is a candidate for the cadre. The cadres will list the names of the officials who have been distributed and will be drawn once a month according to the position, qualifications, and shifts. The candidate then waits for assignment to a random department, and this process official called “Hou Bu.” If a candidate wants to go to a certain department, he must pay a fee, called “Zhi Sheng”. In the Qing Dynasty, it was also stipulated that royal court officials with rank below five and local official with rank below four must

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meet the emperor through Li department. Alternatively, they can be examined by specially appointed nobles, and the process is called “Yan Kan”. (3) At the time of the Qing Dynasty, the Beijing official was assessed once every three years. Its content is talent, virtue, policy, and experience. The grades are divided into competent, hard-working, and just doing the job. The emperor only personally received and promoted those who are good at talent and virtue are “extraordinary.” Those who fail will be given separate dismissal, reduction, or retreat.