Confucianism and Legalism
The Comparisons Between The Goals And Techniques To Government Between Confucianism And Legalism
Haoyu Zhan
World History 12. 2
Mr. Rory Dean
12-21-2015
Do you want to know how to make a country powerful? Confucianism and Legalism, two of the most influential ideas in Chinese culture, were created for the purpose of running a good government. Both philosophies came out during the Warring States Period of China (453-221BCE), a time when many strong separate kingdoms fought for the unity of China. Under such a political chaos, a number of knowledgeable individuals had their ...
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by standard and administrative regulations.
Confucianism's political ideas supported hierarchy and moral power. Confucius believed that people were supposed to fulfill their hierarchical titles and obey the rules in the etiquette and caste systems (Riegel, Jeffrey). Confucius believed that: "Good government consists in the ruler being a ruler, the minister being a minister, the father being a father, and the son being a son" (Riegel, Jeffrey). This meant that everyone should do what his title required him to do. Beside the importance of hierarchical titles, Confucius emphasized the significance of de or "virtue". He believed the ruler should set a moral example. The right way of ruling people was to win people by virtue (Riegel, Jeffrey). Only in this way, the public would respect and followed the ruler from the bottom of their heart, thus creating a compact and strong state.
Legalists politically sought to gain a "rich state with powerful army" by using laws to govern (Pines, ...
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his virtue is, to use an analogy, like the pole star: it remains in its place while all the lesser stars do homage to it" (Riegel, Jeffrey). For instance, Liu Bei, a descendent of Han Dynasty ---whose emperors highly supported Confucianism--- wanted to recapture land and power under a chaos political period (the three kingdom period). In order to flourish his state, Liu went to ask ZhuGe Liang, a clever and powerful politician, to come and help him. ZhuGe, at that time a nobody, refused Liu twice. Liu insisted in wanting to get ZhuGe's help and visited ZhuGe by himself for three times. Liu and his virtue finally moved ZhuGe at the third time. After that, ZhuGe was loyal to Liu and helped ...
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"Confucianism and Legalism." Essayworld.com. May 7, 2016. Accessed November 23, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Confucianism-and-Legalism/105616.
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