Legalism

Legalism
Philosophy Goal How Influence
Achieved
Legalism Rulers should The Qin dynasty
establish strict used legalist
laws with rewards ideas to build a
Founder: Peace and order for good behavior strong central
Hanfeizi in society and harsh government and
punishment for well-organized
bad behavior. society.
 Belief Systems (Not Religion)
• Legalism
– Human nature is wicked and selfish, people
behave only if they are ruled by laws and
punishments – becomes basis of many states
– Individual freedom should be sacrificed for
the state
– Highest emphasis on ‘practical professions’
such as farming or military
Rise of Chinese Philosophies
Legalism
• Founders:
– Li Si, Hanfeizi
• Ideas About Social Order:
– Efficient & powerful gov’t is key to social order
• Ideas About Government
– Gov’t should control ideas & use law & harsh
punishment to restore harmony
– Rewards for people who carry out their duties well
 Co-Founders
• Han Feizi
– Was taught in Confucian tradition
– Wrote the Han Feizi, the main book of Legalism
– Died as a result of political duel in 233 B.C.
 Han Feizi Text
• 55 chapters
• Some Taoist in theme
• Inform ruler what pitfalls to avoid
• System of rewards and punishments
 Legalism
• The Ruler requires
– shì ( 勢 ): authority
• the power to make his commands be
obeyed
– shù ( 術 ): methods
• the ability to handle his subordinates
– fǎ ( 法 ): law
• to guarantee impartiality and justice
 Fa (The Law)
Legalist Criticisms
• Rulers made laws when they came to power.
• Purpose was to allow rulers to be “benevolent”
• Really this meant laws could be enacted arbitrarily and lead to
corruption.
Solution
• Legalism sought to make a public, written legal code.
• This system would run the state, not the ruler.
• Laws were enforced by strict rewards/ punishments.
 Legalism
• Because of self-interest, Legalists believed
that only harsh laws imposed by a strong
ruler would ensure order.
• Han Feizi noted:
“The ruler alone possesses power, wielding it
like lightening or like thunder.”
 In 221 B.C., the Qin emperor Shi Huangdi
used Legalist ideas to unite China.
 Education
• Scholars and books that disagreed with
Legalists beliefs were destroyed.
• Legalists wanted people to think the same
way and not gain too much knowledge.
• The legalist government would burn books
that were not in favor of the way they wanted
their government to run.
 Household
• Family came second to obeying the laws.
One's duty was to turn his or her family
members into the government if one of their
family members broke a law.
• Families were overall controlled and
organized
 Legacy of Legalism
• Unified China under the Qin (Ch’in) Dynasty
• The Qin dynasty adopted Legalism’s strict laws and controls
• Helped to unify territory quickly and with large construction
projects (Great Wall)
• Caused great resentment amongst populous
• Drove people to Confucianism and Daoism
• Legalism was brutally applied--forced labor, harsh taxes,
ruthless penalties-- and Chinese always looked on it with
distaste from a historical perspective