A Comparative Study on the Thought of Ideal Society in Literature: Trai Phumi Pra Ruang, Utopia and Tao-Te-Ching

Abstract

The purpose of this research paper, “ A Comparative Study on the thought of Ideal Societies in Literature: Trai Phumi Phra Ruang, Utopia, and Tao-Te-Ching ”, is first, to discover different ideas about an “ideal society”;second, to find the ideas held in common by the authors of these various “ideal societies2, authors from various cultures and historical periods; third, to find why they wanted to reform the structure of society; and finally, to provide outline and content for a course in comparative literature on the topic of literary utopias. A comparative literature course such as this would cover not only literature but also humane values and politics, and make cultural comparisons. The thesis of the research is that Trai Phumi Ruang, Utopia, and Tao-Te-Ching had in common certain ideas concerning the “ideal Society”; and these ideas resulted from characteristics of geography, economics, population, education, law enforcement, and ruling system. These ideas reflect the influence of religion and environment, and what the authors believed have been the basis of political science and the science of education up to now. The scope of the research to study what ideal societies in literature have in common; and it follows the framework of comparative literature is that it emphasizes the origin of the authors’ ideas, the influences on the authors’ ideas and the relationship between his ideas and various science in literature.