The Prince written in early 1500s by Niccolò Machiavelli is a legendary and controversial book in the Western cultural. Many people despise its immoral remarks, and it was even banned for a time, mainly because it was the first political philosophybook that talks of interest rather than morality aspects. Thus, it had such a devastating effect and was also called the “Copernican Revolution” in politics. Despite all these controversies, the book still spread across time and space across the whole world. There is even a term named after the author: "Machiavellianism," which meanspoliticians who believe in their principles and do whatever it takes to achieve their goals. Also, the prince in the book stands for all the people that holds power, and especially the new ones. Hence, the book is a textbook for a new ruler on how to holdpower.

At around the time during which the book was written, Italy was not a unified country. Instead, it was a collection of city-states, each with its own court and rulerand each attempting to gain power over the others. The Prince addresses how to maintain power in such tumultuous times. However, are the principles of The Prince,originally written for a 16th Century audience, still applicable to nowadays or to different cultures? The answer is yes; the principals of The Prince are still applicable to different cultures like the ancient China, as well as modern politics.

First, the principals of The Prince are still applicable to nowadays because of humans’ inherently evil nature that cannot change. Machiavelli points out that theprince must have a different set of moral standards than others. The prince should not bound by ordinary moralities if they are not conducive to the prosperity of the country or if the prince is consolidating his power and authority.

Machiavelli also points out that “A prince...must learn from the fox and the lion.”By this quote, he suggests that a ruler must have the authority and stateliness like a lion to establish his rightfulness for the seat of power. At the same time, Machiavelli also suggests that a ruler must be smart and have a penetrating insight like a fox to avoid all traps and conspiracy. This is because “The lion cannot protect himself from traps, and the fox cannot defend himself from wolves.” Machiavelli lastly points out that a prince not only need to have animalistic instincts, but also needs to know howto hide those cruel instincts from others. Thus, he suggests a prince to “appear as you[sic] wish to be”, which may mean being a hypocrite. Although everyone can see the prince, only few can feel him or know the real side of him. Along with this contrived surface appearance, Machiavelli states that a prince has absolutely no need to fulfill his promise if it is not conducive to the prosperity of his country or isn’t consolidating his power and authority.

These principles are still applicable today because humans are always blind to things that they don’t want to see. Thus, like Machiavelli states, “so much dominated by their immediate needs, that a deceitful man will always find plenty who are ready to be deceived.” Such ideas are clearly exhibited in House of Cards, a tv series in 2010s about Frank Underwood’s rise to power and the Presidency. Despite being a fictional story, the show received many real-life politicians’ approval, for example President Obama’s. One of these politicians even said that the show revealed 99% of their real life.

Second, the principals of The Prince are also applicable to different cultures. Nomatter what ethnicity one is, as humans, we all have much more similarities than differences. As early as the Spring and Autumn Period in ancient China, the political moralism opposed by Machiavelli had already been denied in practice. The last politician to rule by morality in China was the famous "foolish" Duke Xiang of Song.In the battle against the Chu army, Duke Xiang of Song adhered to his moral values of benevolence and justice. He chose to wait for Chu’s soldiers to cross the river firstbefore starting the battle, claiming that attacking them when they’re on river with no method to fight back is inhumane. As a result, he was wounded in a big defeat and died of his wounds the next year.

After this, even though Confucius and Mencius all called for the implementation of the practice of benevolence, justice, and morality throughout their lives, no onedared to try to run a country by these moral values. Instead, a group of Legalists, such as Han Feizi, put forward a more realistic governing strategy similar to that in The Prince. Han Feizi summed up the theories of Legalism into "Fa", "Shu" and "Shi". He suggested that a ruler should use "Fa", which is law, to rule the people, "Shu", which is skills, to control the subjects, and "Shi", which is force, to keep the position. In Han Feizi’s mind, beneficence, justice, and morality were of little use. Exemplifying this Legalist theory, the state of Qin unified the six states to become China.

Through these examples, one can see that Machiavelli’s The Prince is a work that spans across time and culture. The principle of doing what is needed, even if the action presents a moral dilemma, is ever present in both modern politics and in ancient governments of different countries. And as long as human nature remains the same, the political tactics described in The Prince will never fail and the book will never diminish in the stage of history.