#1 - World History: China, Anarchy and Philosophers
1. The Mandate of Heaven and the Dynastic Cycle
a. Eleven hundred years before the birth of Christ the Zhou (Chou) Dynasty rose to power in China. It would endure in some form or other for eight centuries.
b. The Zhou ruler claimed to represent Heaven. Gods showed their pleasure and approval with Zhou rulers by blessing the Chinese with peace, prosperity and plenty. This good fortune resulted from the ruler enjoying the “Mandate of Heaven.”
c. Rulers who had lost the “Mandate of Heaven” (the approval of the Gods) found their time in power marked by misfortune, famine, war and calamity.
d. When the Mandate was lost and misery spread, challenges to the ruling family appeared as revolts began. When a rebel was strong enough to drive the ruler from power and assume the throne a new emperor was anointed, his victory ordained by the Gods.
e. The rise of energetic rulers, their eventual complacency, decline and removal was a process called “the Dynastic Cycle.” These two ideas are enduring ones for China’s history.
2. The Period of the Warring States
a. The Zhou Dynasty collapsed over a period of 500 years, between the eighth century BC and the third. Rebellions sputtered and flared across Zhou territories and warlords, seeking advantage, employed armies of mercenaries to advance their interests.
b. Mercenary armies roamed China and collected the severed heads of their victims. Their employers paid them a negotiated sum for each grisly trophy. War between competing states extended for hundreds of years until the rise of the short-lived Qin Dynasty (221-206 BCE).
c. During the years of warfare competing schools of thought proposed solutions to reestablish a good society. One of the proposed ideas was Legalism.
3. Legalism
a. A Legalist spokesman, Han Fei Tzu wrote, “idealists are always telling us punishments should be light. This is the way to bring about confusion and ruin. The object of rewards is to encourage, the object of punishments to prevent. If rewards are high that that which the ruler wants will be quickly carried out; if punishments are heavy, what he does not want will be swiftly prevented.”
b. Legalists believed people were basically evil. The only way they could overcome their nature and live a law abiding life was through fear of horrible punishments. Legalists believed in torture. They believed in burying criminals alive. The deterrent effect of these harsh punishments would restore civility.
c. Legalism continues to find expression today in modified forms. Singapore employs harsh punishments for crimes. New York City will confiscate the cars of impaired drivers. Iran amputates the hand of a thief.
4. Taoism
a. The founder of Taoism, Lao Tzu, or “Old Fellow” is little known. Historians are unsure if he existed. Failing in his attempts to encourage people to cultivate their natural goodness Lao Tzu rode away on a water buffalo.
b. Reaching a passage through the mountains into Tibet a gatekeeper encouraged him to turn back. Lao Tzu refused, but consented to write a book summarizing his philosophy. Writing the book, the Tao Te Ching (The Way And Its Power) took three days. He then continued on his way and was never heard from again.
c. Taoists were fascinated by water which they saw as the closest resemblance to Tao (the Way). Water supports objects and carries them effortlessly on its tide.
Those who flow as life flows knowThey need no other force
They feel no wear, they feel no tear
They need no mending, no repair / Man at his best, like water,
Serves as he goes along;
Like water he seeks his own level,
The common level of life / What is more fluid, more yielding than water?
Yet back it comes again, wearing down the tough strength
Which cannot withstand it
So it is that the strong yield to the weak,
The haughty to the humble.
This we know
But never learn.
d. The Yin-Yang symbol is another feature of Taoism. It represents the polarity of all life’s basic oppositions: light and dark, summer and winter, male and female, good and evil active and passive.
e. They complement and counterbalance one another. Each invades the other’s hemisphere and establishes itself in the very center of its opposite’s circle, symbol of the final unity of Tao.
f. Taoists saw the basic quality of life in tune with the universe as wu wei or inaction. The best way to act in harmony with the universal order is to act spontaneously and let nature take its course.
g. To emphasize this point and make people understand how hard it is to judge the goodness or badness of an event:
h. A farmer had a single horse in a fenced corral. The horse drew his cart to market, pulled a plow to turn the earth and carried the farmer to his destinations. One night a thunderstorm struck. The horse leaped the fence and raced away. A neighbor came the next morning and seeing the horse had fled remarked on how terrible an event this was. The farmer was unbothered. “Who knows what is good and what is bad” he said. The neighbor was surprised, this was obviously a heavy blow. The horse returned three days later. It had encountered two wild horses and all three were inside the repaired corral eating hay. The farmer’s son shut the gate and secured it. The neighbor returned and rejoiced at the farmer’s good fortune. The farmer was unmoved and said “Who knows what is good and what is bad.” The neighbor was amazed. The son threw a blanket over a wild horse and then swung himself astride the animal which panicked and threw the boy. The boy hit the ground hard and broke his leg. Hearing his cries the neighbor came running. “What a catastrophe!” he said, “your son is injured he will not help with the farm, he will not help with the harvest.” The farmer replied, “Who knows what is good and what is bad.” The following week an army arrived and the commander ordered all the young men of the village to bid their parents goodbye but the son with the broken leg was left behind, unfit for military service.
5. Confucius (551-479 BC)
a. He held a number of minor political posts until establishing a private school where he taught his philosophical views. He wanted his students to become advisors to rulers, applying his ideas and bringing peace, order and prosperity to their subjects.
b. Confucianism is not a religion. It is a system of ethics, a guide to right behavior. Confucius wanted to create a gentleman of good character. Righteousness, loyalty, reciprocity and humanity were qualities that made a Confucian gentleman. The Confucian Golden Rule: What you do not want done to yourself, do not do to others.
c. During Confucius’ life, however, the savagery of the Period of Warring States reached its zenith. Soldiers were paid for presenting heads and histories recount mass slaughters of 60,000 and 80,000 people at a time. With society immersed in horror the essential question was: How can we learn to live together?
d. Confucius believed improvement begins with the individual submitting himself to keen introspection:
1. The nobler man first practices what he preaches and afterwards preaches according to his practice.
2. If, when you look into your own heart, you find nothing wrong there, what is there to worry about, what is there to fear?
3. When you see a man of worth think of how you may emulate him. When you see one who is unworthy, examine your own character.
e. As people embrace virtue and develop strong character they become foundation stones upon which a good society is built. Confucius recognized man is a social being not a hermit. Individuals have responsibilities to one another, our actions impact on others, we model behaviors for one another. Good behaviors should be reinforced, bad behaviors discouraged. You are never alone when you act. Every action affects someone else.
f. Confucius wrote: If there be righteousness in the heart, there will be beauty in the character. If there be beauty in the character, there will be harmony in the home. If there be harmony in the home, there will be order in the nation. If there be order in the nation, there will be peace in the world.
g. Confucius emphasized Five Relationships: Husband and Wife, Older Brother and Younger Brother, Father and Son Friend and Friend, Prince and Subject. These relationships were the basis of social life.
h. Three of the five pertain to the family which Confucius said was the basic unit of society. A father should be loving, a son reverential; an elder brother gentle, a younger brother respectful, a husband good, a wife “listening”; an elder friend considerate, a younger friend deferential a ruler benevolent, a subject loyal. The key to the success of a family is the concept of filial piety – the respect and high regard of children for their parents.
i. How influential was Confucius? During the Han Dynasty (206 B.C – A.D 220) Confucianism became widely embraced. In 130 B.C it became the basic discipline for the training of government officials and remained so until the end of the dynastic system in 1912 – the year the Titanic sunk and President Wilson succeeded Taft.
j. The reasons for which the Chinese leadership turned away from Confucian teachings after 2,000 years has much to do with the challenges presented by the imperial nations of Europe between 1839 and 1900.
NAME: ______PERIOD:______DATE:_____
#1 - World History: China, Anarchy and Philosophers
1. When did the Zhou dynasty come to power?
2. Who did the Zhou rulers claim to represent?
3. What shows a ruler has lost the mandate of heaven?
4. How do the Ancient Chinese explain the process of the rise and fall of their leaders?
5. How long did it take for Zhou Dynasty to collapse?
6. What were some examples of violence that occurred during the Zhou Dynasty?
7. What do the legalists believe about people?
8. Give an example of a legalist style punishment:
9. Who was the founder of Taoism?
10. Are historians sure he existed?
11. What fascinated the Taoists?
12. What is the symbol of Taoism?
13. During which dynasty, was Confucianism embraced?
14. What is the golden rule in Confucianism?
15. Identify the five critical relationships in Confucianism.