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    2017 Legalism

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    lydia
    Legalism was a Chinese philosophy that advocated for a strong centralized government maintained through a system of laws and harsh punishments. It believed human nature is selfish and people will only behave properly if ruled strictly through laws. The philosophy influenced the Qin dynasty, which used legalist ideas like establishing a standardized legal code with rewards for good behavior and punishment for bad to build a powerful and well-organized state and society.

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    2017 Legalism

    Uploaded by

    lydia
    55 views12 pages
    Legalism was a Chinese philosophy that advocated for a strong centralized government maintained through a system of laws and harsh punishments. It believed human nature is selfish and people will only behave properly if ruled strictly through laws. The philosophy influenced the Qin dynasty, which used legalist ideas like establishing a standardized legal code with rewards for good behavior and punishment for bad to build a powerful and well-organized state and society.

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    Legalism in Ancient China

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    Legalism was a Chinese philosophy that advocated for a strong centralized government maintained through a system of laws and harsh punishments. It believed human nature is selfish and people will only behave properly if ruled strictly through laws. The philosophy influenced the Qin dynasty, which used legalist ideas like establishing a standardized legal code with rewards for good behavior and punishment for bad to build a powerful and well-organized state and society.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as ppt, pdf, or txt
    55 views12 pages

    2017 Legalism

    Uploaded by

    lydia
    Legalism was a Chinese philosophy that advocated for a strong centralized government maintained through a system of laws and harsh punishments. It believed human nature is selfish and people will only behave properly if ruled strictly through laws. The philosophy influenced the Qin dynasty, which used legalist ideas like establishing a standardized legal code with rewards for good behavior and punishment for bad to build a powerful and well-organized state and society.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as ppt, pdf, or txt
    of 12

    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

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