Legalism

During the Qin dynasty, the belief system was Legalism. Legalism was started in the Qin dynasty by Han Fei Zi. Han Fei was a philosopher born in the Warring States period, during 280 BC. Legalism is a philosophy in which the ruler is strict and gives severe punishments and rewards. Legalism is considered to be the harshest punishment of all philosophies or belief systems.

Han Fei created the Basic Writings, which showed rulers how to use Legalism to govern China. In Legalism the people must try to avoid being punished, while at the same time trying to gain rewards. One quote of Han Fei that comes from the Basic Writing says, “It is dangerous for a ruler to trust others. He who trusts others can be manipulated by others.” The rulers of Legalism never trust anyone, because that can always be a distraction for attacks. Rulers did not even trust their own families! Han Fei believed that to rule successfully you must rule using fear as your main asset.

In China, during times with a Legalist government, people were in constant fear of being tortured or killed in various ways. They also, could be rewarded in many different ways for doing something helpful such as, winning a battle. In one case, the Emperor set up a marriage for the general of his army. Han Fei died in 233 BC and Legalism was not a very popular philosophy in China’s later history.