The term is an abbreviation of an expression meaning public governance and support for the people. Jing (经) means managing state and social affairs in an orderly manner; ji (济) means helping people who are in difficulty. This dual-pronged approach to governance is aimed at making the nation and society prosperous and ensuring that the people live in peace and contentment. The concept of jingji (经济) embodies the goals and principles followed by traditional Chinese intellectuals in the pursuit of scholarship and learning, and reflects their commitment to apply learning to the service of the country and for the benefit of the people. In modern times, the term is used to mean “economy,” namely, social activities that create, transfer or realize value, and satisfy people’s material and cultural needs.

The state selects talent through imperial civil service examinations solely on the basis of their literary ability and qualifies scholars only on the basis of their knowledge of the classics. This is ignoring the truly important and choosing the trivial. Even if we have an abundance of candidates, it will be hard to pick one or two competent ones out of every ten. In the current dire situation facing the empire and with paucity of talent, how can we save the country? Only by teaching scholars how to govern and help the people and by selecting talent in those areas can we hope to meet the demand for competent professionals. (Fan Zhongyan: Presentation of Ten Proposals in Response to Emperor Renzong’s Proclamation)

Why is it that there have been so few people adept at governance and helping the people since ancient times? (Du Fu: Reflections While Going Upstream)