China Lesson Plans

Part II

Dr. Terrae Fogarty

The heyday of Legalism was in Qin just before the creation of the Chinese Empire. The Legalist hammered Qin into a strong state with a strong military. That enabled its armies to defeat the other kingdoms and create the Chinese Empire. But the Qin dynasty survived only a few years after the death of the first emperor. The Han dynasty that took over control of the empire adopted the Qin innovation of a professional bureaucracy to run the empire.

Legalism went beyond the proposition of the need for a comprehensive set of laws. The three elements of proper

government according to Legalist theory were:

Shih: Power and position Shu: Administrative techniques and methods

Fa: A Comprehensive system of laws.

The Legalists not only asserted that humans were by nature evil but they expanded their notion of evil to include those activities which were not

deemed socially productive, such as reading and scholarship. The Legalists believed that the only productive occupations were farming and weaving. This meant that reading was simply a waste of the labor resources of the society. So

all books other than those on farming, weaving and divination were burned, and those scholars who refused to heed the administrators' edicts against

pursuing useless activities were punished and some were even buried alive.

As you look at the slides on Legalism, consider why this philosophy would be preferred by leaders of the day.

WU

Read this document on Taoism and the Arts

Make a list telling how the following Daoist pictures

demonstrate the characteristics or founding of Daoism.

Buddhist/Daoist Temple

Daoist Mountains

Chengdu Daoist Temple

Lao Tzu

Lao Tzu

Daoist Temple

Create a comparison chart that details the way in which the

problems of the day would be resolved by each of the three

philosophies?

Qin dynasty (221-206 B.C.E.)Shihuangdi (First Emperor)

Qin Shi Huang Di1st Emperor

Qin Contributions

• Read this document and create a bullet list of contributions

What is the significance of the following pictures of the Qin

Dynasty?

Han Feizi

Han FeiHan Fei was a Han prince and leading philosopher of legalist tradition in China during the

Warring States Period. Han Fei and Li Si developed the School of Law also known as "Legalism".

Fast Facts:Born: 280 BC

Also known as Han Fei Tzu "tzu" is a Chinese suffix meaning "master"

Greatest exponent of the political theory (philosophy) Legalism Studied with the philosopher Xun Kuang

Views and essays compiled into the book Han Feizi after death Li Si later became chancellor of the Qin Dynasty

Died: 233 BC

Qin StateHan Fei made his way to Qin State in 234 BC at the request of the First Emperor. Although Han

Fei impressed the Emperor with the advice he gave, the censure intervened, and told the Emperor that Han Fei was not to be fully trusted because his loyalty would always be to the Han royal family. The Emperor accepted the censure's advice and sent him to prison, whereupon Li Si sent him poison so that he could commit suicide. Later, the Emperor regretted sending Han

Fei to prison and pardoned him, however, at that point he was already dead.

Han dynasty (202 B.C.E.-220 C.E.)

Han Bureaucracy Readings:#1

#2

How did the examination system change the way government

positions were chosen?

Describe the term bureaucracy and explain how it was used under the

Han.

Han Bronze Horse

Han Jade Burial Suit

Han Coin

Han Ship

Create a jot list identifying at least four contributions of the Han

Write an essay describing the development of Chinese civilization

under the Zhou, Qin and Han Dynasties. Be sure to detail the

differences and the similarities of each.