The Astral Analects

The Astral Analects were a series of political treatises written by Zhang Zeyue that formed the basis of Zhangist current of Stelsoc dominaint in the Democratic Republic of Yuanjing. Written in the aftermath of the Great Yuangjing Rebellion, an earlier Stelsoc revolt against the Stellar League, Zhang Zeyue, a middle ranking field organizer during the rebellion attempted to reconcile the failures of the rebellion with earlier Stelsoc theory that birthed it. Zhang wrote a number of polemics and manifestos over the course of a decade that were eventually collected into a series of books that came to eventually be called the Astral Analects. The Astral Analects birthed a movement that grew steadily during the Jred Scourge, and successfully seized state power in several systems in the Hawker Nebula leading to the foundation of the Democratic Republic of Yuanjing

Volumes in Order

Volume 1: What Need Be Done

What Need Be Done is the shortest of the volumes in the Astral Analects, being essentially an amalgamated manifesto. The polemics that became What Need be Done were written throughout the decade long process of creating the New Analects as a series of manifestos more than any dense work of theory, and were intended for a mass audience. Though not necessarily considered a proper work by Stelsoc academics, organizers use What Need be Done's constituent parts as a means of quickly boiling down Stelsoc, and Zhangist thought into something that can be used to radicalize and mobilize the masses.

Volume 2: Reflections

In Volume 2, Zhang reflects on the course of Great Yuanjing Rebellion, breaking down the causes, events, and ultimate outcome of the rebellion. Throughout the work, Zhang points out what they considered to be the ultimate reasons for the Rebellion's ultimate failure to overthrow the Stellar League. In the work, they point to overcentralization of command, a failure to listen to the needs of the people, and to the non-leading soldiers in the rebellion, and breakdown of democratic centralist principles in the face of time lags caused by interstellar communication preventing debate in a timely manner whilst using traditional means of debate. Additional causes mentioned are a matter of scale, attempting to overthrow the entire Stellar League without building sufficient strength to do so, and attempting to centrally manage everything despite the previously mentioned time lag caused by interstellar travel.

Volume 3: On Authority

In Volume 3, Zhang reaffirms some elements of Vanguardist thought, while recognizing the flaws therein and laying the foundations for changing the nature of the party in later works. Zhang states that a vanguard party is a necessity to ultimately seize state power and bring about a revolution. They also subscribe to notion of an economy that is, at least in part, planned centrally, with the central authority laying out broad objectives that are to be met. However, Zhang accepts that this centralization must be tempered, specifically due to the limitations imposed by the nature of interstellar civilization and the limitations of understanding that a central authority could meaningfully understand, allowing a degree of decentralization that is explored in Volumes 4 and 5. Zhang also suggests that some tolerance of dissent, even counter-revolutionary thought should be tolerated so long as it is not a danger to public order, though they leave the definition of what is considered a danger somewhat vague.

Volume 4: On the Party

In Volume 4, Zhang begins to formulate theory on how best to structure the party to better account for the realities of interstellar society, and to counteract the ossification of leadership they noticed within the power. In Volume 4, it is postulated that adopting the Mass Line is necessary for any vanguard party to better reach out to the masses and demonstrably meet their needs to better radicalize and mobilize them. Zhang also suggests that allowing debates to be resolved via E-Democratic vote including a larger share of the population is a necessity, as despite its slower resolution it prevents a disconnected party elite from making decisions that don't make sense with conditions on the ground.

Volume 5: On the Workers

In Volume 5, the final volume, Zhang focuses more on economic matters. They attempt to synthesize elements of Vanguardist and Federationist tendencies. Zhang first suggests that while broad economic objectives are to be set by central authorities, the actual workplaces are to be managed through the means of worker's councils that are structured in a federated system from small self-organized workers to local councils to regional councils that each set targets in cooperation with one another in order to best meet the central objective. Here, E-Democratic means are also suggested to be a valuable means of settling disputes, particularly at the regional level.