Confucianism And Legalism

The Influence of Confucianism, Legalism, and Buddhism on Chinese Empires and Society

The history of the ancient China is filled with explorations and reforms of the most suitable, effective, and adaptable state ideology for different empires and the society ruled. Up till Tang dynasty, since the early emperors themselves had little idea what would be ideal and what would not, different ideologies were endorsed in a much experimental way, among which three major ideologies played important roles in shaping the Chinese empires that advocated them and affecting the values and behaviors of the society under the rule of these empires. These three ideologies are Legalism, Confucianism, and Buddhism, and were adopted by Qin, Han, and Tang dynasty

Legalism had a central argument on the legitimacy of political relationships and held that the law was more important than ethical morality (Peng, 2011). Legalism also had a first premise on human nature that people are born evil or amoral, therefore could only be governed through law and force (Peng, 2011). Legalism was endorsed by the state Qin during the Zhanguo period, through Lord Shang 's Reform. In BC 356, the Prime Minister Shang Yang initiated a legal reform to eliminate the power of hereditary aristocracy by abolishing feudalism and freeing the land into the hands of the people to encourage the populace to attend to agriculture. Shang Yang achieved such political reform by establishing laws to legalize these political changes on land ownership. He produced equality and a tight control of economy by the government. Shang Yang also encouraged the people to conform to the law through censorship and a reward system for denunciation. Legalism helped the

While Legalism shaped the empires that endorsed it in becoming a powerful central state centered on law, and created a sense of fidelity to laws rather than to morals in the society through famous political reforms like Lord Shang 's Reform, and rejected the competing ideology of Rujia, Confucianism influenced the empire with an emphasis on humanism, morality, and societal order, leading the empire to become less centralized and the society to become centered on Confucianism-learning. Contrary to these two ideologies, Buddhism during the Tang Dynasty gained its popularity as a religion for the people to guide them on thoughts over the afterlife as well as guidance on filial