Ye Shi (simplified Chinese:叶适;traditional Chinese:葉適;pinyin:Yè Shì;Wade–Giles:Yeh Shih, 1150–1223),courtesy nameZhengze (正则),pseudonymMr. Shuixin (水心先生), was a Chineseneo-Confucian of theSong dynasty.[1]: 748
A native ofWenzhou, Zhejiang, he was the most famous figure of theYongjia School, a neo-Confucianism School composed mostly of philosophers from todayWenzhou Prefecture inZhejiang province.[1]: 748 In contrast to other scholars in the same period likeZhu Xi andLu Jiuyuan, he stressed practical learning and applying Confucian doctrine to real world problems. This school had important influence on later thinkers from Zhejiang province, includingWang Shouren andHuang Zongxi, who were the most important philosophers in the Ming and Qing periods.
Ye Shi wrote numerous articles and extensive discussions on topics such as finances, government organization, and the military. His approach towards tackling issues of the state caused puzzlement among Southern Song government officials.[1]: 749
Ye Shi criticized the expansion of fiscal apparatus by the Song dynasty and advocated for fiscal conservatism deeming the expansion as morally bankrupt "exploitation" and "money grubbing". However, many Confucian moralists were sanguine regarding to this topic.[2]
He also defendedWang Anshi's stance that theNew Policies falls on "li cai" (the proper managing of government finances) even though he argued that the actual policies crossed the line into "yan li" (accumulating material gain).[2]
He served as Director of Studies in the Directorate of Education during the reign of the Southern Song dynasty. During the reign ofEmperor Ningzong, he was labeled as a "factionalist" and part of the "heretic scholar faction". Due to this, he lost his office in government.[3]
During a time of opposition against the adoption ofpaper money, Ye introduced a view of money which emphasized its role as a medium of exchange created by merchants for trade. Ye argued that during the age of sage-kings, people were self-sufficient, producing all necessary goods. As societies became more complex, adivision of labor emerged, leading to a need for exchange and the use of money as a measure of value. This transition allowed various commodities to be quantified: cloth in feet and inches, grain in pecks and bushels. The establishment of theQin andHan empires significantly expanded trade, with coinage becoming the preferred medium of exchange due to its convenience. By the end of the FormerHan dynasty, precious materials like jade and gold were primarily ornamental. Ye believed that a stable currency system was not realized until theTang dynasty began minting the Kaiyuan coin in 621.[4]
Some of his important surviving works of Ye Shi include:[3]
Ye Shi, for example, seemed to support Wang Anshi's distinguishing of li cai from yan li, even as he argued that Wang's actual policies had crossed the line into yan li—but the mere existence of serious debate over this issue already suggests a general softening of attitudes. The severe political and military challenges faced by the Song from the 12th century onwards seemed to nudge its elites towards greater tolerance for fiscal expansion.
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