Legalism

=**Legalism**=

Time and place of origin:
legalism originated during the warring states period of china(475 BC to 221BC) in the state of Qin. Legalism was originally developed by Shang Yang, and further reformed and refined by Han Fei Zi, and Li Si.

Shang Yang
Shang Yang was a chancellor of Lord Xiao of the Qin dynasty. He started a long line of reforms that brought the state of Qin to power, and laid the basic building blocks for the legalistic philosophy. His fundamental beliefs were that humans were inherently selfish, and to stupid to maintain their prosperity and peace. He used this philosophy as a tool to bring rise to the Qin dynasty imposing harsh punishments for disobeying the law. Creating a state where the law was above all.

Han Fei
(c. 280-233 BCE) Han Fei wrote several essays on how to create a strong government. His main philosophies were to lead with two handles. Punishment and reward. He believed that government should be a complete meritocracy so that people must obey the laws to further themselves. Han Fei also believed in having strict regulations, he thought that even if a ruler is weak his rule will be strong as long as there are strong rules and regulations.

Li Si
Li Si employed legalism to centralize control of the Qin dynasty, help unify china through standardization of weights and measures. He is also held responsible for the persecution of the constructionists and anyone else who disagreed with legalism.

Main beliefs:

 * Humans are fundamentally flawed and selfish
 * punishment is the only way to keep people form bad habits
 * Government must be based on a meritocracy to keep it from becoming corrupt
 * Emperors must hide their own desires to keep people from trying to please the ruler rather than simply follow the law
 * the three governing Philosophies of Legalism
 * Fa: The law or code must be clearly written and made public. Laws should reward those who obey them and punish accordingly those who broke them. This guarantees that the actions of the public are predictable making it easier for the ruler to maintain control. Lastly if the rule of law is strong even a weak ruler can be strong.
 * 1) Shu: Morality is not important in legalism. The ruler must be strict in order to keep his subjects in line. The law must always be enforced not matter the circumstance.
 * 2) Shi: It is the position of ruler that holds the power, not the ruler himself.

The Book of Lord Shang: a law book written by Shang Yang.

 * 1) The Reform of the Law
 * 2) An Order to cultivate Waste Lands
 * 3) Agriculture and War
 * 4) The Elimination of Strength
 * 5) Discussion about the People
 * 6) The Calculation of Land
 * 7) Opening and Debarring
 * 8) The Unification of Words
 * 9) Establishing Laws
 * 10) The Method of Warfare
 * 11) The Establishment of Fundamentals
 * 12) Military Defense
 * 13) Making Orders Strict
 * 14) The Cultivation of Right Standard
 * 15) The Encouragement of Immigration
 * 16) Compendium of Penalties (missing)
 * 17) Rewards and Punishment
 * 18) Policies Planning
 * 19) Within the Borders
 * 20) Weakening the People
 * 21) (missing)
 * 22) External and Internal Affairs
 * 23) Rulers and Ministers
 * 24) Interdicts and Encouragements
 * 25) Attention to Law
 * 26) The Fixing of Rights and Duties

Differences between China Korea and Japan:
Legalism was not practiced in Japan. However Korea did adopt the Legalism philosophy in order for the government to gain control of the people. The philosophy did not change much between the different countries except the texts.

Works Cited:
http://www.absoluteastronomy. com/topics/Legalism_(Chinese_ philosophy) [] http://www.chinaculture.org/ gb/en_madeinchina/2005-09/27/ content_73488.htm http://chinese.dsturgeon.net/ text.pl?node=47087&if=en http://www.ibiblio.org/ chinesehistory/contents/02cul/ c04s06.html [] [] http://www.worldfuturefund. org/wffmaster/Reading/China/ China%20Legalism.htm