Legalism
- Warring States period (481-221 BCE) = intense fighting between rival Chinese states
- Zhou dynasty weakened control over China → split into states and started fighting
- People believed that people were naturally selfish because of the constant war → needed harsh rule
- Led to widespread legalism
- Qin dynasty wanted to reunite China but two different approaches argued
- Confucianism → promote virtue + respect
- Legalism → harsh law + military respect
- Shang Yang = Qin state official: founder of legalism
- Used power to create reforms:
- Got rid of the feudal system
- Divided Qin area into different regions with local governors
- Standardized systems of weight + measures
- Encouraged farming + soldiering careers
- Required all citizens to join the military
- Rearranged taxation
- Strict legal code → struck fear in citizens + Qin rulers
- Executed by Qin leader Duke Xiao
- Han Feizi = Han state official: creator of essays to help leaders organize legalist governments
- Stressed importance of harsh laws
- Punish those who do wrong, reward those who do right
- Place the most behaving men in charge
- Believed that the people were supposed to be able to do their own jobs/benefit the state with little direct help from the leader
- Natural allegiance
- Killed by Li Si out of jealousy for skills and knowledge
- Li Si = Qi state official; killed Han Feizi out of jealousy
- Divided Qin state into provinces
- Construction of the Great Wall
- Universal system of writing
- Legalism included order + strengthening state
- Period of book burning + prohibition of history education
- Executed (unpopular)