Legalism During The Ch In Dynasty Essay

Classical China was a breeding ground for new ideas, inventions, and most importantly, religions. Although Classical China was littered with different religions and beliefs, Confucianism was the most prominent. Confucianism is based on the teachings of a philosophical

Legalism was founded by Han Fei 280-233 Bce. Legalist proposed that humans beings were evil by nature. Legalists wanted a rigid system of laws and punishments. The law keeps people from doing wrong things. The ideal ruler would be a powerful, uncompassionate dictator. A legalist writer wrote “ To govern the state by law is to praise the right and blame the wrong”{Document 5}. A ruler should deal with his subjects by expecting them to obey and follow the laws of the

In China during 406-221 BCE, the battling states between the Zhou and the Han Dynasties? were in a state of governmental disorder. Although the era was in a disruptive state, it ushered in a cultural opening that left a long lasting imprint on the Chinese history. As a result, three major belief systems surfaced Confucianism, Daoism, and Legalism in an attempt to achieve a sense of political order in a disorder period. There are distinctions in the way each of the belief systems approached the many problems that plagued the Chinese society. First, all of the founders were contemporaries in China. As well as considered philosophies, who studied the future, and sat out to focus on the present rather than the past. In contrast, Confucianism, Daoism and Legalism established various paths in search of an optimistic future for the success of China. Second, both Legalism and Confucianism developed a social belief system, but are considered a religion. However, both Legalism and Confucianism purpose was to create an orderly society in the hopes of prosperity. In contrast, Daoism does

Confucianism has been a part of Chinese culture for over a thousand years. Many who have studied Confucianism would say that it is not a religion. It is better described as a philosophy or moral code. The philosophy of Confucianism comes mainly from the speeches and writings of Confucius, a great Chinese thinker and educator. He believed that Humanity, Rite, Neutrality, Virtue, Education, and Cultivation were the basis of human behavior. In addition, Confucius felt that this philosophy was the best way for people to behave and interact with others in society.

At first, Confucianism was unsuccessful and Confucius, during his lifetime only managed to collect a few followers. After his death, however, his followers passed on the Confucian tradition. It survived, with a few changes, to the Han dynasty (221 BC) and became established as China 's official philosophy. From then it was firmly well established in Chinese culture, and its values can still be seen today. The Five Classics of Confucianism were works from the Zhou Dynasty, which preceded the Warring States Period. They were collected and edited by members of the original Confucian school. After Confucianism became the official state philosophy, one had to know the philosophy well in order to gain the coveted position of government official.

Legalism during the Ch’in Dynasty had many important beliefs. To the Ch’in, Legalism was the right way of life. The only way of life. Legalism was a philosophy that was created by Han Feizi, a Chinese philosopher, in which the people believed that the government

During the Qin Dynasty, the beliefs of Legalism greatly impacted government in that the government was sculpted based off of strict laws and harsh punishments. Legalism believed that peace and order would be kept using strict laws and harsh punishments. This was a tough government. They believed that these laws would stop crime from happening in the first place.

There was a doctrine fixed into law, called the Six Parasites. This is however a textual problem, there are actually sixteen. These “parasites” were rites, music, odes, history, cultivation, goodness, filial devotion, brotherly love, sincerity, trustworthiness, uprightness, integrity, humaneness, rightness, criticism of army, and lastly being ashamed of fighting. To violate any of these laws against the “six” was subject to punishment. Death to any criminals and any officials who allowed crimes, their punishments were carried out to their families and three generations after. “When punishments are imposed, they shall not be applied to the guilty party alone.” Punishments were severe. Small crimes were punished severly to make sure the punishment was understood and not repeated, especially if it were a larger crime. When Shang Yang wrote, “...if they let their ambition go too far, they will become too strong…” it is interpreted that knowledge and aspiration for a better life can be power and lead to rebellion against the government. “More consequential victims were the critical thinking of Legalists and the spirit of ruling by law, blamed for Qin’s demise and condemned for two millennia by Confucians advocating the rule by men

Confucianism in China had been a way of life, a state ideology as well as a combined philosophical, religious, and social system. Fundamentally, Confucianism focused on

Confucian culture, also known as Confucianism, was founded by Confucius during the Spring and Autumn Period, which was developed gradually after the Han Dynasty with benevolence as the core. Since the Han Dynasty, Confucianism was the official ideology and the basis of mainstream ideology in the vast majority of historical periods of China, and it also influenced many southeast Asian countries in history. After a variety of shocks, Confucianism was still the core values of China's social public, and represented the Chinese culture and national tradition in the world (Littlejohn, 2010). In the contemporary society, the Confucian culture in China increasingly spread, at the

During his reign, Qin prohibited people from following other philosophies and replaced them with his official philosophy, Legalism. His precepts of this philosophy holds that people were naturally born corrupt and selfish, thus developing depicted laws with severe punishments would discipline their behavior. (Mark) Not only he provided tight control over their education, but trusting others besides their emperor was forbidden as well. Life in the Qin dynasty became more restricted and independent due to his morals, and many were unable to live freely without facing any harsh punishments. Eventually, Qin’s crude ruling caused rebellions to occur, leading to downfall for his empire after 15

The religion of Confucianism begins, of course, with Confucius whose Chinese name was Kong Qui and who lived from 551 B.C. to 479 B.C. Surprisingly Confucius was merely a low level government worker. He did not exactly view himself as the founder of a school of thought. Regardless, Confucianism is the most influential belief system in Chinese culture. It provides the rules which govern the social behavior of the individual. The basic teachings of Confucius are grounded in the Five Constant Virtues: humanity, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and faithfulness. Confucius went on to define five basic human relations and

The three philosophies were very important to China. There were confucianism, daoism, and legalism. The goal of confucianism was to have a peaceful society. The goal of daoism was to be with nature. Also the goal of legalism was to be strict because the stuff they did, did not set a good influence.

Confucianism is regarded as one of the primary religions that have profoundly influenced Chinese beliefs and ideologies. While Kongzi, or Confucius, is the founder of Confucianism, he is not the only philosopher who has contributed to such a significant impact on China. Similarly, the Analects of Confucius is not the single text that represents Confucianism. In fact, during different time periods throughout the history, there are a number of eminent representatives of Confucian thoughts, such as Mengzi and Xunzi. Because Confucianism aims at eliminating chaos and maintaining order in a harmonious society , they all agree that the guidance and education of virtuous Confucian pioneers are of extreme importance to achieve this

In Chinese history, there were three main philosophies: Confucianism, Taoism, and Legalism. These beliefs helped shape Chinese culture as well as Chinese history. Not only did people believe in these ideas, but the three helped to govern the mighty Chinese dynasties. These dynasties all provided an impact to each doctrine; the philosophy that had the greatest impact was legalism because it ended the Warring States Period, provided structure, and strengthened agriculture, and the military of China. Although Confucianism, Taoism and Legalism had a few things in common and at times tried to resolve the same problem, they were very different from each other in their beliefs, character, and ways of life.