Message from rpompilio

[Anonymous]

Confucianism and legalism are attempting to unify society and the state. This was an important goal for Confucians during the Zhou dynasty and then later during the Han. Virtue for Confucius is based on harmony with other people and appears to be more important than human life for Confucius. One of the problems in early China is unifying the state. There are different ways to accomplish this. For Confucius, the best government is one that is based on natural morality; not force. Confucius ideology includes reciprocal relationships. They also appear to place some limits on the government. In contrast to Confucian teachings, legalists focus on the idea that human nature is evil and require strict laws in order to govern and to unify the state. I can see why Meg mentioned the The Prince as it has the "It is better to be feared than loved quality about it."The Prince For Han Feizi, effective institutional structures are more important than moral qualities of rulers. This becomes apparent during the Qin dynasty :} D