Confucianism And Legalism

Celebrated cases of Judge Dee, a detective novel which describes crime cases which happened in China during the Tang Dynasty, in the 7th Century. In the book Judge Dee is a well known magistrate of Chang Ping, whom and is famous for solving crime and maintaining justice, particularly amongst common the Chinese People. In the book, Judge Dee is faced with three murders. As Judge Dee begins solving the crimes, the story unfolds slowly and presents historical, social, legal, philosophical and even religious pictures of ancient China. Tang Dynasty China was a period in which society was strongly influenced by Confucianism, due strongly to the previous influence of the Han Dynasty. These

During the late Zhou period, thinker came up with idea of how to restore order to China......Confucius said the Chinese needed to return to ethic, or moral value. (191)He [Qin shihuang] order of burning all writing that does not agree with legalism.(195)Since the Confucianism is the official government philosophy during Wudi’s reign. Confucian about the family was also honored.

While China culturally remained the same from the 600s to the late 1400s, the country hardly changed politically either. A monarchy completely dominated China’s government during these years. Under the Tang dynasty, the rulers constantly changed and new policies were thought of, but the overall government did not change. The Tang Code, the criminal or penal code, was established in 624. It synthesised Legalist and Confucian of law, and it has constantly been considered one of the greatest achievemnts of traditional Chinese law. This code became the basis of later codes in both China and other parts of Asia. During the Ming dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhanged began the draft of a new Confucian law code, the Daming Lu, which repeated various clauses that were found in the Tang Code years ago. Specific aspects in the Tang dynasty were revived during the Ming dynasty, resulting in a very slight amount of change for the lives of Chinese citizens for almost 800 years. Women’s status remained lower than that of

Legalism was very different from both Confucianism and Daoism because Legalism was the belief that people needed to be controlled because they were evil. Legalism is found in China and was founded by Han Feize. While it is unknown when Legalism was established, it is known that Han Feize was born in 280 B.C. so that gives a general time when legalism started. Legalism didn’t deal with much religious concerns but was more of a political philosophy instead. Citizens were seen to be responsible for actions of one another. A person who is considered guilty, their relatives and neighbors should be punished as well. This was a way to make sure that the laws are followed. The laws are strict with harsh punishments. People who spy on others and report anything that they do wrong to the authorities are thought to be doing right of the law. Both Legalism and Confucianism are belief systems within a group of people, not religions, and both are intended to lead to an orderly way of life, how they approach their teachings are complete opposed.

The idea of ruling a powerful government based on the principle of using two conflicting ideologies at the same time appeared foreign to most dynasties of early China. In early Chinese times, after the Period of the Warring States, two ideologies emerged: Legalism and Confucianism. Legalism stressed a strong central government that expressed harsh laws while Confucianism had a decentralized government, placing trust in conscientious and learned individuals to work together to solve political issues. These two schools of thought were in stark contrast to each other and, up until the Han dynasty, had never been combined with each other through government policy. The Qin dynasty, for example implemented a strict Legalist government while the

Qin Shi Huang had many faults and unattractive features during his reign, he punished those who opposed him and destroyed much knowledgable literature. One of his most well-known traits is harshness. He ruled by force and violence maintaining strict order over his kingdom, and valued obedience above all. As the first ruler to have united the Warring States, and subsequently impose a central government with astonishing alacrity, this trait may seem expected in some ways. Hou and Lu, Scholars of the Qin court in 221BC highlighted the emperor’s wrong doings by saying ‘The emperor, never hearing his faults condemned, is growing prouder and prouder while those below cringe in fear and try to please him with flattery and lies.’ This tell us tat man were afraid to even think about disobeying him, let alone suggesting an idea, many just did as they were told without going their opinion. Qin Shi Huang was a a barbaric ruler, millions died through slavery or face brutal punishments if they disobeyed any of his rules or orders. He did indeed invent and build many projects but it was all at the expense of thousands of lives.Qin Shi Huang is most frequently faulted for the Burning of the Books and burying of scholars. The treasured literature of

(C2C, Source 7). The Qin Law Code consisted of so many possible offenses that ordinary people often did not realize that they had committed a crime until they had been arrested. The Qin Law Code set specified harsh punishments for particular crimes. For serious offences, lawbreakers faced bodily mutilation, however minor offences still faced severe punishments. The death penalty was reserved for the worst criminals, especially those who threatened the emperor or the state. These unnecessary, cruel punishments are the reason Qin Shi Huang is a cruel and heartless

They want to emphasize individual virtuous behavior, both by the ruler and the ruled as well as highly recommending obedience and respect, “people should know their place, even under bad rulers.” Even the Han emperors decided to implement Confucius ideas after looking at their doctrine called The Analects. The book shows Confucian political value and social order which states that the aristocrats and the educated are of the highest degree, and then comes farmers, and finally, the merchants. Although both Confucianism and Legalism call for governmental hierarchy, Confucianism possessed an optimistic view of human potential while Legalists believe that a powerful government is necessary along with a carefully devised law rewarding for good deeds and punishing for bad

Three areas of philosophy emerged amidst the chaos and constant warring of the Zhou era. The three were called Confucianism, Daoism, and legalism. They were Chinese philosophies that were thought to be the best ways to rule and achieve order in the society. Confucianism believed that a ruler 's job was to set a good example, and not order. Since people were thought of as naturally good, they would following the right path based on their own conscience. Legalism was a more harsh way of ruling, led by Hanfeizi. They thought people were evil, and needed strict laws and punishment to keep them in line. Daoism was very different from either of the other two. It was led by Laozi, who taught that the best kind of government was one who governed

Additionally, literature was discouraged under Legalism because they were believed as poisons to the mind. The Legalists believed this way because not all the information in books contains the truth. Agriculture and war were promoted on the other hand, because it would carve a rich and powerful empire (Walker 39). Many argue that the harshness of Legalism caused the downfall of the Qin Dynasty. However, it was one of the main reasons by the Qin Dynasty stood as the strongest among the Chinese states and possibly in the world. The reason why is because harsh punishments encouraged good conduct and discipline. When this is brought upon, there will be more room to contribute to society and there will be fewer worries about crimes being committed. In addition, the conduct and discipline was a plus for the military. By doing what they are told, the military can execute their job perfectly. All in all, Legalism flourished the Qin Dynasty; it did not cause it to go downhill.

Legalism is an ancient Chinese philosophy of administration that believes that humans are more inclined to do wrong than right because they are motivated entirely by self-interest. Shi Huangdi was the founder of the Qin dynasty. After conquering the seven kingdoms in ancient China, he halted the Warring States Period and took the throne as the first emperor of the unified Chinese nation. He ruled on the basis of Legalism. To prevent criticism of his rule, Shi Huangdi ordered that all books that seemed to be useless or against him be burned. This included all poetry from the Chou dynasty and all books written by Confucian scholars. The only books from previous eras that Shi Huangdi let off were the practical ones about medicine and farming. Focusing on the issue of media censorship, the current Chinese government governs in a similar way to the way Qin Shi Huangdi once governed. China still blocks and monitor citizens access to several social media services and shuts down media entertainment programs during government events. While some may see this as an extreme form of censorship, we must consider the fact that several other countries have similar policies in place.

Amidst the chaos of political instability and constant warring of the Zhou era, arose many intellectual thinkers that brought such a profound impact in the fields of politics, religion, and philosophy. Even to this day, their influence can be seen on the many matters of China. Confucianism became the paramount school of thinking and later significant philosophies such as Daoism and Legalism gained immense recognition as well. Each party had their own proposals for creating an idealistic political society where the many problems they faced in their everyday lives could be eliminated. All three approaches were very distinct but at the same time, they contained similarities as well. In my reasoning, I find that Confucianism and Daoism

Confucianism, Daoism, and Legalism, are three Chinese ideologies in Classic China that held influence on how society should be, how to achieve order and what made government strong. Anyone that was a practitioner of these three philosophies would have had no idea how the Roman Republic or Empire worked in those regards. It would not be surprising if a Confucian, a Daoist and a Legalist had praise and dislike for how Rome was ran.

Its ideas did not meet the requirement of Qin and could not deal with the situation in Qin, so Confucianism was not adopted by Qin. On the other hand, Qin tended to adopt an offensive grand strategy, and Legalism conformed to the situation in Qin, thereby, it was much favored by the Qin’s ruling class.

Secondly, Confucius viewed rules and laws as harmful. He argued that people led by laws and punishments will try to avoid punishment but lose the sense of shame. If they are led by virtue and guided by propriety, they will preserve their sense of shame and become good citizens5. He saw a country as an extended family and a ruler should take care of his citizens like a father would take care of his children. The ruler as the “father” would need to set a proper example for the right ethics to flow down5.