EAST 211 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Qin Dynasty, Political Philosophy, Han Feizi
15 May 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Qin Dynasty and the Making of an Empire
Zhou dynasty: feudal system; no emperor with direct control over the entire
realm. King gives family members power and family members have obligation to
the king
-
Qin Shi Huangdi 秦始皇帝
First Emperor of Qin
-
7 states fighting for power
-
Qin state led by Qin Shi Huangdi conquered the other states and gained
centralized power
Lots of military power
○
-
Within the Qin dynasty you start to see the Great Wall fortified
-
Q: What do you think might be some reasons that the First Emperor would be vilified
in traditional Chinese history rather than be seen as a national hero?
Mandate of heaven - heaven must have given him this mandate to rule?
-
Problem with mandate of heaven: Qin dynasty doesn't last very long (had the
mandate of heaven and lost it)
Han Dynasty needs to explain why their family should have the mandate
of heaven and what went wrong with the Qin Dynasty
○
Han Dynasty: first to adopt Confucianism as a political philosophy. They
were virtuous and the Qin were legalist and evil
○
-
Qin Dynasty and the Making of an Empire
Centralization and Standardization
Set out to centralize and unify culture
○
Didn’t want regionalism that existed in the warring states period
○
-
Great Wall, highway system, canals
-
Standard weights and measures, coinage, script, axle widths, etc.
-
Pre-Qin Coins Qin Coins
Qin Dynasty “Seal Script”
-
Legalism and the Qin Dynasty
Legalism Founder: Han Feizi (
韓非子
280-233 BCE)
-disciple of Confucian philosopher Xunzi 荀子 (4th-3rd C. BCE)
Punishments and rewards (vs. Confucian ritual and music)
○In order to organize society and keep people loyal and devoted to the
state
○Disciple of Xunzi (Confucian philosopher): shows how people weren't
divided strictly into schools of thought; there was debate and they were
adapting the same kinds of ideas in the same intellectual environment
○People's nature is evil and selfish. Xunzi thought people could be
redeemed and become virtuous and good; Han Feizi didn't think this, he
thought you needed a strict system of punishment and rewards to make
people behave properly in society (very pragmatic)
-
Essays on statecraft
-
State should continuously be organized for war
○Qin state adopted this philosophy and this led to their dominance over
the other states
-
Han Feizi as advisor to the Qin state
○Actually killed before the Qin came to power
-
Qin military success and political failure
universal military requirement and rewards
-
-Every male in society was required to serve in the military. All promotions were
based in the success in warfare. Led to conquest of other states, but also the
demise of the state. They didn't change their philosophy after conquest, but had
no enemies and all of these men trained militarily
Mythology and History of the Qin Dynasty
-“Burn the books and bury the Confucians”
-Story that the Qin ordered this, but it is not historically accurate; it is
perpetuated by the Han dynasty to vilify the Qin
-Qin dynasty did however limit access to books and texts; part of attempts to
unify cultural and Chinese text/thought. Wanted to unify regional diversity,
schools of thought, philosophy, etc to create orthodox philosophy
Tomb of Qin Shi Huangdi
-Estimated over 8,000 soldiers, 130 chariots with 520 horses and 150 cavalry
horses
Wanted power in the after-life
-
-Filled tomb with precious metals (extravagant and wasteful)
-Required huge amounts of forced labour
-River of mercury in the tomb: related to the emperor's obsession with
immortality
○Mercury moves on it own so it seems to have life-giving properties;
people interested in immortality thought that it would give them
immortality. Some later emperors even started drinking it because of this
History and modern mythmaking
Hero (2002), Zhang Yimou
-Shows Chinese values in artistic wat
-First emperor was put into a positive light in this film; unlike how he is
portrayed in most of Chinese history
Why would the First Emperor be seen in a positive light in 21st century China?
○Interest in emperor in building the Chinese nation; unifying people who
live in the central state
-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_USDk5jaG
7: Qin Dynasty
Monday, January 29, 2018
8:33 AM
Qin Dynasty and the Making of an Empire
Zhou dynasty: feudal system; no emperor with direct control over the entire
realm. King gives family members power and family members have obligation to
the king
-
Qin Shi Huangdi 秦始皇帝
First Emperor of Qin
-
7 states fighting for power
-
Qin state led by Qin Shi Huangdi conquered the other states and gained
centralized power
Lots of military power
○
-
Within the Qin dynasty you start to see the Great Wall fortified
-
Q: What do you think might be some reasons that the First Emperor would be vilified
in traditional Chinese history rather than be seen as a national hero?
Mandate of heaven - heaven must have given him this mandate to rule?
-
Problem with mandate of heaven: Qin dynasty doesn't last very long (had the
mandate of heaven and lost it)
Han Dynasty needs to explain why their family should have the mandate
of heaven and what went wrong with the Qin Dynasty
○
Han Dynasty: first to adopt Confucianism as a political philosophy. They
were virtuous and the Qin were legalist and evil
○
-
Qin Dynasty and the Making of an Empire
Centralization and Standardization
Set out to centralize and unify culture
○
Didn’t want regionalism that existed in the warring states period
○
-
Great Wall, highway system, canals
-
Standard weights and measures, coinage, script, axle widths, etc.
-
Pre-Qin Coins Qin Coins
Qin Dynasty “Seal Script”
-
Legalism and the Qin Dynasty
Legalism Founder: Han Feizi (
韓非子
280-233 BCE)
-disciple of Confucian philosopher Xunzi 荀子 (4th-3rd C. BCE)
Punishments and rewards (vs. Confucian ritual and music)
○In order to organize society and keep people loyal and devoted to the
state
○Disciple of Xunzi (Confucian philosopher): shows how people weren't
divided strictly into schools of thought; there was debate and they were
adapting the same kinds of ideas in the same intellectual environment
○People's nature is evil and selfish. Xunzi thought people could be
redeemed and become virtuous and good; Han Feizi didn't think this, he
thought you needed a strict system of punishment and rewards to make
people behave properly in society (very pragmatic)
-
Essays on statecraft
-
State should continuously be organized for war
○Qin state adopted this philosophy and this led to their dominance over
the other states
-
Han Feizi as advisor to the Qin state
○Actually killed before the Qin came to power
-
Qin military success and political failure
universal military requirement and rewards
-
-Every male in society was required to serve in the military. All promotions were
based in the success in warfare. Led to conquest of other states, but also the
demise of the state. They didn't change their philosophy after conquest, but had
no enemies and all of these men trained militarily
Mythology and History of the Qin Dynasty
-“Burn the books and bury the Confucians”
-Story that the Qin ordered this, but it is not historically accurate; it is
perpetuated by the Han dynasty to vilify the Qin
-Qin dynasty did however limit access to books and texts; part of attempts to
unify cultural and Chinese text/thought. Wanted to unify regional diversity,
schools of thought, philosophy, etc to create orthodox philosophy
Tomb of Qin Shi Huangdi
-Estimated over 8,000 soldiers, 130 chariots with 520 horses and 150 cavalry
horses
Wanted power in the after-life
-
-Filled tomb with precious metals (extravagant and wasteful)
-Required huge amounts of forced labour
-River of mercury in the tomb: related to the emperor's obsession with
immortality
○Mercury moves on it own so it seems to have life-giving properties;
people interested in immortality thought that it would give them
immortality. Some later emperors even started drinking it because of this
History and modern mythmaking
Hero (2002), Zhang Yimou
-Shows Chinese values in artistic wat
-First emperor was put into a positive light in this film; unlike how he is
portrayed in most of Chinese history
Why would the First Emperor be seen in a positive light in 21st century China?
○Interest in emperor in building the Chinese nation; unifying people who
live in the central state
-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_USDk5jaG
7: Qin Dynasty
Monday, January 29, 2018 8:33 AM
Document Summary
Zhou dynasty: feudal system; no emperor with direct control over the entire realm. King gives family members power and family members have obligation to the king. Qin state led by qin shi huangdi conquered the other states and gained centralized power. Within the qin dynasty you start to see the great wall fortified. Problem with mandate of heaven: qin dynasty doesn"t last very long (had the mandate of heaven and lost it) Han dynasty needs to explain why their family should have the mandate of heaven and what went wrong with the qin dynasty. Han dynasty: first to adopt confucianism as a political philosophy. They were virtuous and the qin were legalist and evil. Qin dynasty and the making of an empire. Didn"t want regionalism that existed in the warring states period. Standard weights and measures, coinage, script, axle widths, etc. Disciple of confucian philosopher xunzi (4th-3rd c. bce) Punishments and rewards (vs. confucian ritual and music)
