A look at the origins of Chinese philosophies and the first two dynasties of the Classical Era, the Qin and Han Dynasties

1. China
What’s happening behind the Great Wall?

2. 4 corners
• Do you believe that people’s moral
character is pre-determined? People are
born either good or bad?

3. Do you think people
are born neutral?

4. Regardless of birth, can
a person’s moral
character be shaped or
changed?

5. Zhou Dynasty collapses
• A loss of centralized control
• the empire breaks up into several different
states, each at war with the others.
• Hence the name “Warring States Period.”
• Lots of turmoil, death and uncertainty

6. People start to quest
for stability and reasons
why?
• Why is life so difficult?
• Why must I suffer?
• How can this situation get better?

7. Three solutions emerge
• Confucianism
• Daoism
• Legalism

8. First is Confucianism
We’ll pause here to watch a little of his biography. He’s
an odd duck...

9. What’s he all about?
• Ethics and politics the key to “the Way”
• avoided both religion and metaphysics
• Become a junzi “superior man/gentleman”
• They are the best leaders of men
• Emphasis on Zhou Dynasty texts
• the Classics; the core of Chinese teaching

10. Confucianism has 5
virtues
• ren-humanity/benevolence all are born with this
• li-rituals/propriety imposed/external to bring out Ren
• yi-Honesty/righteousness instinctive, but needs teaching
• xin-faithfulness/trust ditto
• zhi-wisdom can be developed, but finite amounts in people
• some add a 6th: xiao-filial piety

11. Confucianism has 5
relationships
• father-son
• husband-wife
• elder brother-younger brother
• king-minister
• friend-friend
• All are dominant-subordinat, except the last

12. Confucius
• Itinerant scholar, scold, teacher, OCD-er
• Never wrote anything down
• Never held a “real” job advising a king
• Had many followers
• Died believing himself a failure

13. Mencius
• Follows Confucius, but not his actual
student
• Fleshes out the skeleton left by Confucius’
students
• Believes in the inherent goodness of
people--focus is on benevolence/ren.
• He is an optimist, and is ignored in his lifetime

14. Xun Zi
• The last of the Classical Confucians
• A pessimist: people need limits and
structure--warped lumber
• some are born good, but they are the
minority
• Regardless, all need education
• Focus is on Li (rituals) and discipline
• Was a government official

15. Daoism
• also written “Taoism”
• Founded by a man named Lao Zi/Tzu
• semi-mythical
• Is a response to Confucianism

16. The way to find the
Way
• I can’t tell you. It’s my Way, not your Way.
You have to find your own Way.

17. 1. The Way
The way that can be spoken of
Is not the constant way;
The name that can be named
Is not the constant name.
The nameless was the beginning of heaven and earth;
The named was the mother of the myriad creatures.
Hence always rid yourself of desires in order to observe its secrets;
But always allow yourself to have desires in order to observe its manifestations.
These two are the same
But diverge in name as they issue forth.
Being the same they are called mysteries,
Mystery upon mystery -
The gateway of the manifold secrets.

18. No, seriously, how?
• By being like the un-carved block of wood
• By acting without expending effort.

19. :)
let’s read a story...

20. Legalism
• More conservative than Xun Zi
• People are all bad, self-interested and need
to be controlled through punishment and
reward.
• Mostly strict punishment
• Collective responsibility

21. Legalism
• Shang Yang (390-338 BCE), The Book of the Lord Shang first
gets the ball rolling: his advice for his son.
• Then Han Feizi writes his book (named for him) that gives it a
more formal setting (what you read last night)
• Han Feizi is forced to commit suicide by his former partner Li
Si, the chief advisor to the first Qin Emperor

22. Legalism continued
• Mostly meant as a guide for rulers
• How to get and keep power.
• No thought to people’s self-improvement,
just about how to control them.
• They can’t be improved, only ruled.

23. Legalism selection

24. Theme 3
• Politically, China organized itself as
Dynasties of emperors.
• Xia, Shang and Zhou were the Dynasties of
the Foundational Era.
• In the classical era, we have the Qin and the
Han Dynasties.

26. Zhou Dynasty collapses into
the Warring States

27. Qin Dynasty
• Out of the chaos, the state of Qin rises to
power in 221 BCE
• Ruler takes the name Qin Shi Huang Di
(QSHD)
• imposes a bureaucracy to rule, and begins
massive public works projects

28. Qin Shi Huangdi

29. Qin lasts from
221-207BCE

30. Resistance is futile!
• Emperor orders execution of all critics
• Orders the burning of all books but those relating to
agriculture
• creatively kills Confucian scholars
• Other scholars exiled
• Results in massive cultural losses

31. Standardization is the name of
the game
• Emperor orders the following items be
standardized in the empire:
• axle length of carts
• coins
• written language
• weights and measures
• laws

32. Massive public works
projects
• Starting with his tomb.
• 700,000 conscripted peasant workers.
• slaves, concubines, horses all sacrificed
when he died and buried with him.
• unearthed in 1974 by a farmer.

33. 154,000 soldiers found

34. with more to come...

35. horses and weapons too

36. and one Great Wall

37. Qin dynasty collapses
• QSHD dies. His son rules for a brief period
of time before he is killed.
• Chaos ensues, and a general, Liu Bang, takes
power.
• He was a peasant by birth, so he takes the
name of the river in his town as his
Dynastic name: Han

38. Han Dynasty
• Early policies:
• “relax but not too much”
• created large landholdings (almost states)
• an early rebellion attempt makes them
build up the central administration.

39. Han Centralization
• Han Wudi, the martial emperor, comes to
power (141-87 BCE)
• increases taxes to fund more public works
• and the military
• huge demand for administrators, but there
aren’t any to be found

40. Time for school
• HWD establishes the imperial university in
124 BCE
• Confucianism adopted as the formal
teaching method/approach
• 3000 students, grows to 30,000 students by
the end of the Han Dynasty.

41. Clobberin’ time!
• Time to expand the empire to get a bigger
tax base
• Invades modern Vietnam and Korea
• Deals with Xiongnu, nomads to the west
• brutal leader Maodun
• skilled horsemen
• HWD takes a new approach and goes to war and is a beast.

42. Han Dynasty c. 87BCE

43. Theme 5
• China becomes more patriarchal. (yes, that is
possible...)
• Classic of Filial piety written and propagated
limiting the focus of filial piety to fathers.
• Admonitions of Virtue published, extolling female
virtues
• humility, obedience, subservience, loyalty
• but at least they were allowed to read...

44. Theme 1
• Technological innovations take root.
• Iron is widespread and plentiful
• no longer used only as a tip of a tool or
weapon, but whole implements made
• The compass is invented and comes into
wide use.

45. Silkworms cultivated

46. Paper is made from
wood pulp/textile.
Up until now, books made on bamboo strips tied
together with strips of cloth...

47. Population growth
• Population triples to 60 million over the
course of the Han Dynasty.
• Increased agricultural productivity
• Taxes small part of overall income
• Produce occasionally spoiling in state
granaries

48. Problems arise in
Themes 4 and 3
• those Xiongnu are expensive to fight
• taxes increase and peasants can’t pay
• Land confiscations increase
• slavery, tenant farming increase
• banditry and rebellion rise

49. Break point 9CE-23CE
• 2 year old emperor. Regent, Wang Mang
takes power--kills emperor and declares
himself Emperor.
• Instituted massive land reforms
• redistributes land to try and solve
inequities. Fails spectacularly
• Wang Mang killed and eaten by his troops

50. Post 23CE
• Later Han Dynasty: cousin comes to the
throne and begins to re-assert power
• Has problems: constant rebellions
• Yellow Turban uprising
• internal court intrigues
• 220CE Han Dynasty finally collapses
• 400 years of 3 large kingdoms