Good Confucianism book (pdf) - Department of Physics

84 OpponentsShang Yang or Lord Shang (d.338 BCE) was a senior advisor to the rulerof the state of Qin and is said to have written a text called the Book ofLord Shang . To centralize power, he advocated a taxation system where alltaxes are paid directly to the ruler. Military service should be required fromall men and the military should use extreme penalties as punishments sothat soldiers will find it less frightening to face the enemy than to face thepunishments for running away. Like military service, the law should applyto all, no matter what their rank in society. Rank should be a reward eitherfor military service or for service to the state. Erroneous learning and uselessoccupations should be banned. Whether in the military or in civil society,the ruler should use rewards and penalties because, as Shang Yang says,human beings will naturally tend to pursue self - interest. In short, the rulershould be in control of a society where people are anxious to serve him. 30Shen Buhai (d.337 BCE), an approximate contemporary of Aristotle(384 – 322), was a chancellor in the state of Han and interested in how governmentbureaucracy should work. 31 He discussed techniques of statecraft,bureaucracy, and government organization. He focused on how a rulercould control his officials. This was a problem, given that the ruler wasrelated to many of his government officials, many rulers were easily flattered,and many were often not well educated. Shen Buhai says that one wayto limit the power of officials is to encourage them to spy on one another.As well, if there are job descriptions, we can know if a job is being doneor not, and promotion can be objectively decided. Shen Buhai was trying tosolve practical problems in governing. His ideas and those of Shang Yangwere picked up by later thinkers and woven into a new approach.Han Feizi ( c .280 – 233 BCE) studied with the Confucian teacher Xunzi(see chapter 7 ) and read both Shang Yang and Shen Buhai. He understoodthem as talking about the same sorts of things: government and law shouldapply to all, government and law should be impersonal, and governmentcan control human behavior through rewards and punishments.Han Feizi built on these ideas. He argued that power and authoritymust be centered in the hands of the ruler. Not only should the ruler runeverything, but he should do so, ideally, in an automatic, unfeeling way sothat not even the ruler ’ s personality should be involved. From Daoist texts,Han Feizi borrowed the idea that the ruler should be hidden and mysterious.People should not know his likes or dislikes, so that they will obey hisorders exactly and not try to do other things to curry favor.Using fierce punishments, the ruler should ensure that people obey, notout of love or duty, but because they fear the ruler. Doting mothers producespoiled sons; so, too, merciful rulers produce rebellious subjects. Eventhough there are good men in every state who do not need to be controlled,a ruler must control everyone and not base his rule on these exceptions.Everyone must come to fear the ruler. 32