Abstract: Abstract: As the first part of our serial research, this paper explores the relation between the modern economics of regulation and Chinese traditional culture, thus illuminating how to work out the history of ancient thought on government regulation in China. Note that no terminology in ancient Chinese literature expresses exactly what “government regulation” means in economics. Therefore, to specify the subject of our exploration, this paper first defines “government regulation” explicitly and examines if the definition fits well in the historical context of China. Then, accordingly, it traces the origin of the thought of regulation. By showing clearly how the thought emerges, this paper finally illuminates a research approach to the history of regulation economics thought in ancient China.

摘要： 内容摘要：作为系列研究的开篇，本文希冀在现代政府管制经济学与中国传统的思想文化之间寻求对话的可能性，为《中国政府管制思想史?古代篇》的编写提供一个切实可行的研究路径。首先，在中国古代的文献典籍中，并没有一个专门的词汇可以完全对应于现代经济学中的“政府管制”概念，所以，当我们运用现代学科概念来规范“中国政府管制思想史”的研究对象和内容时，必须严格界定“政府管制”的现代涵义及其在中国历史语境中的适用性。其次，在前一项工作的基础上，追溯政府管制思想背后的思想渊源和基本取向，从中整理出一条相对清晰的主线索来，纲张目举，以便于我们在后续研究中对中国政府管制思想的产生、发展及其规律性以及对现实的作用和对后世的影响等进行系统考察。