Although Han Fei advocated that his model state would improve quality of life, he did not see this as a legitimizing factor (rather as a side effect of good order). It focused on the functioning of the state, the role of the ruler as its guarantor, and aimed in particular at making the state strong and the leader the strongest person within it. [74] To this end, Shen Buhai and his successor Han Fei are particularly concerned about “the role of the ruler and the means by which he can control a bureaucracy.” In the following years, the first emperor and Li Si made many changes in China. They standardized writing, coins, weights and measures. They created a network of tree-lined highways covering more miles than the Roman road system a few hundred years later. They built palaces, canals, irrigation systems, and Shi Huangdi`s own funerary complex. The first emperor also ordered the expansion and construction of earthen walls in the north to prevent barbarian invaders. This Great Wall of China has traveled 2,600 miles through northern China to the sea. (Nearly 1,500 years later, it was rebuilt with stone during the Ming Dynasty.) When an enlightened ruler establishes [gong] (“duke” or “public interest”), [private] desires do not conflict with the right time, favoritism does not violate the law, nobility does not prevail over rules, salary does not exceed his own position, a [single] officer does not hold several functions, and an [individual] craftsman does not assume several areas of work.
[Such a leader] neither overloaded his mind with knowledge nor exhausted self-interest (if), but rather relied on laws and methods to deal with matters of order and disorder, rewards and punishments to decide good and bad deals, and weights and checks and balances to solve difficult or easy questions. [105] In the absence of any metaphysical connotation, Shen used the term Wu wei to imply that the ruler, though vigilant, should not interfere with the duties of his ministers,[6]62–63 [13]:92 by administrative method. Shen said: When Cheng turned 21 in 238 BC. He assumed full powers as king. But his mother and lover conspired (possibly with Lu Buwei) to overthrow his reign. King Cheng acted quickly to crush the conspiracy. He temporarily banished his mother from the capital Qin, beheaded her lover, and removed Lu Buwei from high office. Two decades of reform, the collapse of Russia and a financial crisis in the 1990s have only increased its importance, and the 1999 constitution was amended to “provide for the establishment of a socialist rule of law” to increase the professionalism of the judiciary. Placards and leaflets called on citizens to respect the rule of law. In the years since, figures such as Pan Wei, a prominent Beijing political scientist, have advocated for a consultative constitutional state with a redefined role for the party and limited freedom of expression, press, assembly and association. [316] Based on his study of the Five Classics, Confucius believed that the people would naturally follow and support the righteous ruler without the need for severe laws and punishments. Such a ruler would behave like the Duke of Zhou and the other “wise kings” who were the first to create the harmonious moral society that Confucius sought to restore.
Shen Buhai`s personnel control, or correction of names (such as titles), worked for a “strict performance review” (Hansen) that correlated rights, benefits, and contributions. [14]:359 He will become a central tenant of both the legalistic art of governing[196] and its Huang-Laotian derivatives. Instead of having to look for “good” men, Ming-Shih or Xing-Ming may look for the right man for a particular position, although this requires complete organizational knowledge of the regime. [31]: 57 What is simpler, however, is that it can allow ministers to “appoint” themselves by reporting on certain costs and timelines, leaving their definition to competing ministers. Claims or statements “bind the speaker to the performance of a job (makeham)”. This was the doctrine, with subtle differences, favored by Han Fei. It promotes precision and combats the tendency to promise too much. [130] [198] [199] Ming`s correct articulation is considered crucial to the realization of projects.
[130] [196] Confucius believed that the abandonment of virtue among rulers since that time had led to the lack of morality that he saw all around him. In spring and autumn (771-476 BC). A.D.) Leaders began directly appointing state officials to provide advice and management, which led to the decline of inherited privileges and led to fundamental structural changes as a result of what might be called “social engineering from above.” [3]: 59 [56] Most Warring States thinkers have tried to adapt to a paradigm of the “change with time” paradigm, and each of the schools of thought has tried to provide an answer to the achievement of socio-political stability. [35] However, the book Lord Shang speaks of “teaching” or “indoctrination” (jiao 教). Normally, however, this term does not refer to the imposition of a new value system, but to the internalization of state regulations that would allow the people to meet the demands of government without coercion (cf. Sanft 2014). In a major discussion of Jiao, the text says: It has become customary to adapt legalistic theories to the Han state by justifying them with the classics or combining them with the notion of “way” or “model of the cosmos” (“The way produced the law” Huangdi Sijing). Some scholars “mourn” the lack of pure examples of Taoism, Confucianism, and legalism in the Han Dynasty in general.
[292] Han sources would nevertheless treat legalism as an alternative to the methods of the classics.” [293] During the decline of the Han Dynasty, many scholars again became interested in legalism, Taoism, and even Mohism,[294] and a number of Confucians turned to “legalistic” methods to combat growing disregard for the law. [143] Why is the singularity of leadership so important? This is because, by the mere fact of his exclusive authority, the ruler is able to settle conflicts between his ministers and maintain the chain of command in his state, without which the state can collapse. This also explains the emphasis on the absolute obedience of legalists to the leader`s orders, embodied in the dictum of punishing a minister who disobeys orders, even if the results of his actions have been successful (Guanzi 45:913; Rickett, 1998: 150). Similarly, the aforementioned saying in Han Feizi to punish an excessive minister can be understood in this context: fear of a minister`s grand ambitions and potential disobedience outweighs other considerations. The exclusivity and omnipotence of the sovereign are the sine qua non condition for good political order. Maintaining and strengthening its authority is the declared political commitment of legalists. The leader of Shen does not play an active role in government functions. He shouldn`t use his talent, even if he has it. Without its own expertise, it is better able to secure the services of competent officials. Sinologist Herrlee G. Creel also argues that this allowed Shen`s leaders to “truly govern” because it gives him the freedom to oversee the government without interfering and keeping his point of view. [6]: 65–66 [200],[130] Although the current of Shen Buhai and Shen Dao may not be hostile to Confucius,[6]:64 Shang Yang and Han Fei emphasize their rejection of past models as unverifiable, even useless (“What was appropriate for early kings is not appropriate for modern rulers”).
[154] [136] [77] [155] In the West, earlier scholars have argued that Shang Yang sought to establish the supremacy of what some have called positive law at the expense of customary or “natural” law. [146] Han Fei argued that the Li era had given way to the Fa era, with the natural order giving way to social order and eventually to political order. Along with Xun Kuang`s, his sense of human progress and reason guided the Qin dynasty. [156] The reason I am discussing positional power is because of the . Mediocre leaders. These mediocre rulers at best don`t reach the level of Yao or Shun [sages], and at worst, they don`t behave like [arch-tyrants] Jie or Zhou. If they respect the law and rely on the power of their position, there will be order; But if they give up the power of their position and turn their backs on the law, there will be disorder. Now, if you give up the power of position, turn your back on the law and wait for a Yao or a Shun, then when a Yao or Shun comes, there will indeed be order, but it will only be a generation of order in a thousand generations of disorder. Nevertheless, if anyone devotes his entire discourse to the sufficiency of the doctrine of position to govern all that is under heaven, the limits of his wisdom must be very narrow. [154] Shen Buhai insisted that the ruler must be fully informed about the state of his empire, but cannot afford to get bogged down in details and not have to listen to anyone in an ideal situation. Listening to his courtiers could interfere with promotions, and he doesn`t, like sinologist Herrlee G.
