Yumin zhengce
is a chengyu and concept in Chinese political philosophy.
Summary
The term refers to the practice of a government deliberately keeping its population in a state of ignorance in order to make them more obedient to political authority and too incompetent to form effective rebellions against the state, thus rendering them more easily subjugated. A fundamental idea held that by limiting the population's literacy their thoughts could be limited as well.The systematization of yumin zhengce has been attributed to Shang Yang, a statesman of the State of Qin. The 3rd century BC Book of Lord Shang states that "[when] the masses are kept ignorant, they are thus [made] easy to control".