Legalism and the First Chinese Empires: Qin and Han

Legalism

 * Another philosophy of the Warring States period
 * Developed in partial dialog with Daoism
 * Also needs to be considered part of the "Intellectual Chaos" of the North China Plain
 * Had a real impact on political practice
 * Also is connected to powerful political entity (State of Qin) suggesting a connection between its theory and potency

Han Feizi

 * In Chinese "Han Fay-zah"
 * Wrote a text named after him
 * Born into a prestigious family
 * Had a horrible stutter, so he could not speak fluently enough to compete in debates
 * So he wrote his thoughts

Laws

 * Founded upon to a powerful, wealthy state
 * Highly centralized state, with a single powerful ruler
 * Ruler should employ men of talent as official
 * Wisdom of the many at the service of the Ruler ("Crowdsourcing")
 * Ministers are at fault for their ideas
 * Rulers get credit for the ideas of ministers
 * And can blame officials for ideas that fail

Rewards and Punishments

 * Metaphor of tiger
 * "The ruler of men uses punishments and favors to control his ministers"


 * Metaphor of the Robe
 * Minister falls asleep, drunk from a party
 * Servant who is in charge of hats puts a robe over him
 * In the morning, Minister executes his servant and the servant in charge of robes
 * One has overstepped his responsibility, the other failed his responsibility

The People

 * Emphasis on the law
 * All are made equal before the law -> Leveling society

Idea of the Ruler
"Do not let your power be seen;  Be blank and actionless"

"'So still he seems to dwell nowhere at all;    so empty no one can seek him out'    The enlightened ruler reposes in non-action    above, and below his ministers tremble with fear"

Legalism in Practice: Qin Empire

 * 221 BCE -> Qin King Conquers last remaining independent state ("Qi")
 * Qin Shi Haung Di (Chin She Hwong Di) -> new name taken on to mean "First Emperor of Qin")
 * Li Si (d. 208 BCE) -> a student of Han Feizi, invited his master, then thru him in prison, and forced him to commit suicide

Legalist Action

 * Eradicate Feudal States -> No need/desire for sharing authority
 * Jun-Xian (Joon Zeehn) -> "Commandaries-Counties" basic administrative provinces who report back to Emperor directly
 * Military men installed for power maintainence
 * Established the Great Wall

Qin Society

 * Highly militaristic
 * Position in society determined by number of heads of enemy soldiers you could present to the king

Law in Society

 * Laws carved into stone tablets
 * Tablets shown around the empire
 * Standardization of weights, coinage, writing, cart architecture (wheel size)

Burning of the Books

 * Ideological and Intellectual Conformity preserved by destroying alternative philosophies, histories, ideas
 * Some books were exempted
 * Other books were hidden or memorized

Authoritative Personality

 * Removed, distant, autocratic
 * Obsessed with Death and Immortality
 * Sent ambassadors to Penglai -> Mythical island of the afterlife
 * Megalomania ->
 * Once, having a hard time going up a mountain because of a head wind, grew angry
 * Had 3,000 convicts cut down every tree on the mountain
 * And the mountain was painted red -> color of convicts at the time
 * He made the mountain into a criminal

Qin Shi Huang's Tomb

 * 2 Square Kilometer
 * Surrounded by river of Mercury (for Immortality)
 * Tomb sheathed in Bronze
 * Roof of the Tomb were painted with constellations
 * Crossbows -> trained at a the doors to kill intruders
 * Covered over by meadows to hide the location
 * Workers killed in the tombs so that they could never reveal the location
 * Terracotta soldiers are individualized by interchangeable parts (hands, heads, armament)
 * Over 7,000
 * Were painted

Fall of Qin and Rise of the Han

 * In 208 BCE a general was trying to meet up with the larger army, but was delayed by rain
 * Realizing being late would result in death -> the general rebels feeling he has nothing to lose
 * This small insurrection becomes an entire revolution for various factions joining for different reasons
 * 207 BCE -> 2nd Qin Emperor dies
 * Then a civil war rages for 5 years until HAN's Rise

Meaning of Qin Fall

 * Usually connected to its legalist tradition and oppressive governance
 * Confucian judgement was the most pronounced
 * Benevolence, not harsh law, was again extolled as a necessary foundation

Lu Bang

 * Establishes Han Dynasty
 * Successful leader of the Rebellion
 * Merchant

Han Dynasty

 * 202 BCE - 220 CE)
 * Continues many Qin Imperial Ideas
 * Still use standardized units
 * And law
 * Although punishments were lightened
 * Mutilation for instance, was outlawed