The Exploration of Confucianism and Legalism in Ancient China
Cultivated in a nation with a rich, five-thousand-year history, ancient Chinese philosophy has long been debated by humanity, especially with regards to the noble myth – human nature. As Chan declared in his book, A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy, “It can be readily seen that Legalism is entirely incompatible with other schools, especially Confucianism, which is bitterly attacked” (Chan, p.251). It is generally accepted that the theory of “human nature is originally good” stems from Confucianism, which opposes the Legalist theory of “human nature is evil.” What are the causes that drive sages from Legalism and Confucianism to hold seemingly antipodal opinions on the issue of human …show more content…
Mencius concluded many of Confucius’ thoughts, and the most characteristic declaration he issued was when he indicated that “human nature is originally good,” which was merely implicated by Confucius (Chan, p.49). Unlike Xunzi, who pointed out that “human nature is evil” even while he, like Mencius, was under the tutelage of Confucianism, Mencius followed most of the avocations of Confucius, since both Confucius’ and Mencius’ life experiences were similar. As Chan mentioned in his book, Mencius and Confucius were born in the Shandong province, revered the same legendary sage-emperor and lived through the same harrowing historical background. Furthermore, the most significant factor is that they were both filial sons and they believed that it was essential that one began with the practice of love from their family (Chan, p.49). Therefore, Mencius thought humanity and righteousness were not only guidelines for human nature, but were also applicable to governmental issues. To be specific, Mencius believed that each person was naturally born with high spiritual qualities and he claimed that “human government” was the best way for the dominators to rule his country, because he proclaimed that moral power was the most powerful force over …show more content…
I mostly agree with the opinion that, “it is dangerous to have so many people claim they know the way of the sage-kings” that was expressed in our lecture, as people were born at widely varied moral levels and different people could cause chaos in ancient Chinese society, even though their moralities were originally good. Therefore, the only way to avoid chaos (Luan) was through the utilization of power to, “force people to do what they are supposed to do” in order to regulate and dominate everyone’s thoughts and behaviors, which is exactly reflected in the thoughts of the legalists. Han Fei Tzu, one of the typical legalists who was influenced by and studied Xunzi, believed human nature is evil. In addition, he asserted that, “the government should establish a system to punish the wrong doing and encourage the good, because punishments were much more important than rewards, since fear is powerful.” As Chan cited from The Han Fei Tzu in his book, A Source Book in the Chinese Philosophy, “on the higher level, if the ruler has not statecraft, he will be ruined. On the lower level, if ministers are without laws, they will become rebellious. Neither of these can be dispensed with” (Chan, p 257). Obviously, Han Fei Tzu did not believe in human nature since he affirmed that ruling people by law
Cultivated in a nation with a rich, five-thousand-year history, ancient Chinese philosophy has long been debated by humanity, especially with regards to the noble myth – human nature. As Chan declared in his book, A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy, “It can be readily seen that Legalism is entirely incompatible with other schools, especially Confucianism, which is bitterly attacked” (Chan, p.251). It is generally accepted that the theory of “human nature is originally good” stems from Confucianism, which opposes the Legalist theory of “human nature is evil.” What are the causes that drive sages from Legalism and Confucianism to hold seemingly antipodal opinions on the issue of human …show more content…
Mencius concluded many of Confucius’ thoughts, and the most characteristic declaration he issued was when he indicated that “human nature is originally good,” which was merely implicated by Confucius (Chan, p.49). Unlike Xunzi, who pointed out that “human nature is evil” even while he, like Mencius, was under the tutelage of Confucianism, Mencius followed most of the avocations of Confucius, since both Confucius’ and Mencius’ life experiences were similar. As Chan mentioned in his book, Mencius and Confucius were born in the Shandong province, revered the same legendary sage-emperor and lived through the same harrowing historical background. Furthermore, the most significant factor is that they were both filial sons and they believed that it was essential that one began with the practice of love from their family (Chan, p.49). Therefore, Mencius thought humanity and righteousness were not only guidelines for human nature, but were also applicable to governmental issues. To be specific, Mencius believed that each person was naturally born with high spiritual qualities and he claimed that “human government” was the best way for the dominators to rule his country, because he proclaimed that moral power was the most powerful force over …show more content…
I mostly agree with the opinion that, “it is dangerous to have so many people claim they know the way of the sage-kings” that was expressed in our lecture, as people were born at widely varied moral levels and different people could cause chaos in ancient Chinese society, even though their moralities were originally good. Therefore, the only way to avoid chaos (Luan) was through the utilization of power to, “force people to do what they are supposed to do” in order to regulate and dominate everyone’s thoughts and behaviors, which is exactly reflected in the thoughts of the legalists. Han Fei Tzu, one of the typical legalists who was influenced by and studied Xunzi, believed human nature is evil. In addition, he asserted that, “the government should establish a system to punish the wrong doing and encourage the good, because punishments were much more important than rewards, since fear is powerful.” As Chan cited from The Han Fei Tzu in his book, A Source Book in the Chinese Philosophy, “on the higher level, if the ruler has not statecraft, he will be ruined. On the lower level, if ministers are without laws, they will become rebellious. Neither of these can be dispensed with” (Chan, p 257). Obviously, Han Fei Tzu did not believe in human nature since he affirmed that ruling people by law