"A ruler makes use of the majority and neglects the minority, and so he does not devote himself to virtue but to law."
-Han Feizi
What is Legalism?Fa-Jia or Legalism is a Chinese philosophy, that was the basis for the Qin Dynasty. This philosophy taught that humans are greedy and are motivated by it ("Legalism" 1). Laws were created for people to do things for the greater good. Punishments for breaking these laws were extremely harsh, Qin Shi Huang forced people to work on the Great Wall of China. Methods of torture were used as punishments for Legalism.This philosophy was not tolerant of others. Legalists cast out all other philosophies and even executed 400 scholars of Confucianism (Mark 1).
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Who Taught it?These teachings were created by Shang Yang, Li Si, and Han Feizi. Han Feizi, was born on 280 b.c.e. to the state of Han during the Warring States period. He had a great deal of displeasure with the fighting but his state leaders would not listen to him. Instead, he wrote his ideas down, which were later followed by Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of China. Han Feizi's legalistic thinking influenced other philosophers to solve this issue (Hsiao 1).
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What are the Main Ideas of Legalism?The first main rule was that an efficient, and powerful government is key to order and harmony. The second was that punishment and reward is needed to maintain a social organization. Legalism taught that humans were naturally greedy and evil, so to keep humans in check, they need to be punished and rewarded. The last rule of Legalism is that thinkers and ideas should be strictly monitored by the government. Legalists believed that only farming and weaving were productive, and that education was evil. This meant that reading was simply a waste of resources. Legalists ordered that all books not written for farming and weaving, were to be burned (Watkins 1).
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ConclusionAlthough some find that Legalism is a suppressing, punishing, and a despondent philosophy, many dynasties were able to thrive under Legalistic views, such as the Qin Dynasty under the rule of Qin Shi Huang. People of modern China both adapt and follow the main rules of this philosophy. The following video discusses some of the details of Legalism.
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