Law Commons^™

Confucianization Of Qing Law Ii, Kam C. Wong

Kam C. Wong

In traditional China, the Confucians proposed to govern people with li (rites) and by means of ren (benevolence). The legalists wanted to govern the people with fa (law) and with the use of xing (punishment). Confucianization of the law integrated these two schools of contending philosophical thoughts, i.e., Confucian (“ru jia”) vs. legalist (“fa jia”), in search of a better way to govern China. Confucianization of the law in merging these two schools of thought proposed that: firstly, law should adopt Confucian ethical values and principles, and, secondly, Confucian ethical rules should be enforced by law. Though the Confucianization of …