Legalism
Text
The Qin Dynasty: Political Unification Under Imperial Rule
In 221 B.C.E. China was unified under the Qin dynasty. The basic but considerable difference between the state of Qin and the states that had been conquered was that privileges of the nobility were abandoned and officials who were assigned for government positions were selected according to merits. The nobility of the states that had been overcome by Qin had to move to the capital Xianyang, where they lived under immediate control of the imperial administration. The ancient feudal past came to an end and was followed by the imperial period of Chinese history. The state of Qin The question of the best philosophy for ruling as it had been asked many times by rulers in the Warring States period of contending powers was not asked by the first emperor, nor was the morality of the ruler discussed. The ideology of Legalism was based on the assumption that the nature of man is evil (first declared by the Confucian philosopher Xunzi). Legalist philosophy considered the strict control over the observation of laws by the people as necessary. This ideology formed the basis of the first emperor’s rule. More than questions of the quality of a rule, a matter of concern discussed in the elite circles, were how to deal with opposition and - on the other side- how to express it, as well as how to solve economic problems and how to recruit capable officials. Legalist ideas had been taken up by the Qin minister Shang Yang (his Book of Lord Shang is dated 359 B.C.E.). Shang Yang had strengthened the state of Qin by pragmatical tax reforms and by dividing the people into units of tens and fives who were supposed to supervise one another. The group members were held responsible for each others' action in civil life just as on the battlefield. With all households being registered, tax income and recruitment for military service could easily be controlled by the authorities. The population was divided into 20 ranks, all instantly recognizable by the color of their clothing. The amount of land and slaves an individual could own and the style of housing was also regulated. The land was taxed with a share of the crop. Less pragmatic but also inspired by legalism were the writings by Han Feizi (280-233 B.C.E.) – the first among the famous philosophers of ancient China whose teaching was recorded by himself instead by his disciples. Shang Yang’s measures and Han Feizi’s ideology prepared the basis for the rule of the first emperor. According to the teachings of Han Feizi strict laws and punishments were the essential basis for the state to keep law and order. Education was not a major concern of the Qin government though a certain level of qualification was required for state positions since merit was more important than birth in order to obtain a position in the administration. More important were agriculture as the basis of the economy and the military to expand the territory of the state. In order to consolidate his power the Qin emperor standardized - the script, - weights and measures, - the currency, and - the length of the cart axles. - He standardized a law code which everybody had to obey to and which prohibited the private possession of arms, and he - installed a state police and a secret service as government agencies. - Roads and canals were built to link all areas of the territory and move soldiers and supply fast. For the defence of his northern border he linked the walls that had been built by the northern states into a coherent defense system - the Great Wall. The Great Wall near Beijing The realm was divided into 42 commanderies which then were divided into counties. Each commandery resembled the structure of the central government: A chancellor headed the bureaucracy, an imperial secretary drafted the emperor’s edicts, a grand commandant headed the military. The commanderies had three leading officials: the official in charge of tax collection, population registers, and law and order. Another official controlled the application of imperial edicts, and a commandant recruited and trained the military. In order to prevent nepotism and cliques officials were not allowed to serve in their home town or district. Office clerks could be recruited locally. Five times the emperor toured his empire in the first ten years of his rule. On these tours, he showed himself to the people and made sacrificial offerings at the sacred mountains. Under the influence of Daoist advisors he tried to find the means to gain immortality. Since the Eastern Sea was said to harbour the island of the immortals he sent out ships staffed with young men and women to search for this paradise. None of the ships returned. When he sensed that his search for physical immortality could be in vain he increased efforts to equip his mausoleum as a perfect mirror image of his mundane residence as son of heaven. Mausoleum of Qin Shihuang Map of the mausoleum's surroundings Another costly project which required advanced engineering techniques was the irrigation system and the system of canals distributing the water of the Min River to prevent Chengdu from flooding and draught. It was built by Li Bing, the governor of Shu, and his son in the vicinity of the capital of Chengdu in Sichuan. The division of the Min River to control flooding and draught The founding of the Han Dynasty The cruelty of Qin Shihuangdi’s rule and the costly building projects as well as the succession to the throne by his second instead of his first son after the first emperor's death in 210 B.C.E. provoked new uprisings which resulted in the founding of the Han dynasty by the victorious rebel, Liu Bang (r. 206-195 B.C.E.). Liu Bang, who had a peasant background, had been a supervisor of 1000 households during the Qin and was well acquainted with Qin law. Though attacking the Qin for its brutality, he retained most of the laws because these laws allowed for a concentration of power in the hands of the emperor. To ensure his popularity with the people he lowered taxes and reduced labor services to one month per year. One of the measures he used to stabilize his power was to replace the leaders of the feudal states that had re-appeared after the end of the Qin-Dynasty by members of his own clan. In this compromise between the centralized state of the Qin and the feudal states of Zhou-times a new arictocracy without traditional background secured the emperor's rule over the fourteen districts which were directly supervised by the imperial administration. In addition there were about 150 counties or earldoms which the emperor had assigned to meritorious officials. The beginning of the Han was not only threatened by interior warfare but by attacks from the northern neighbors, the tribal confederation of the Xiongnu. Ultimately a peace treaty was negotiated that left the Han with the promise to send silk, food and wine to the Xiongnu as well as a princess for the Xiongnu leader in order to keep them from raiding Han territory. Liu Bang was followed by empress Lü (r. 188-180) who reigned instead of the designated successor who then was still a child. Described as being cruel and jealous, she had four potential successors killed in order to remain in her powerful position until her death. During her rule she received the offer of getting married by a Xiongnu leader. Being a widower himself he declared his intention to get married to her, because she was widowed as well. His clever attempt to obtain power without war was declined by Empress Lü. But she realized that her position was challenged not only by contenders but by the despised 'barbarian' neighbors as well. Significant Features of 'Han' Culture - Writing History - Introduction of 'university' exams: Confucianism is institutionalized - Walled cities as symbols of imperial power - Local control through an imperial magistrate who functioned as mayor, judge, supervisor of tax collection, and supervisor of the conscription for labor service and military service - crop rotation - paper making - production of porcelain - production of lacquer - building ships with watertight compartments, multiple masts, and sternpost rudders - water-powered mills - magnetic compass - wheelbarrow - horse collar and breast strap Regional Rulers: Marquis Li Cang (d. 186 B.C.E.) and his wife, Lady Dai (d. after 168 B.C.) In 1972 a sensational discovery of a tomb was made in Changsha, Hunan province. It was the tomb of Lady Dai. Her corpse was found perfectly preserved in a set of four interlocking coffins and twenty layers of shrouds. A house for the afterlife her tomb contained any luxury articles considered desirable in life – from embroidered colorful silk gowns to 154 lacquer dishes, 51 ceramics, 48 bamboo suitcases of clothing and household goods, baskets of gold pieces and bronze coins. Lady Dai was also given an inventory that listed all objects as well as the food and beverages provided for her. Rice, wheat, barley, millet, soybeans, red lentils, thirteen different meat dishes made from a variety of seven kinds of meat. From the excavation report we learn that Lady Dai was 1.54 m [5 feet] tall and weighed 34.3 kg [75 lbs]. The T-shaped silk banner that covered the coffin of Lady Dai gives insight into Han ideas about the afterlife. The lower section of the banner shows the offerings and ceremonies devoted to her body soul (po). Sacrificial vessels are provided for her and attendants are standing next to her, ready to serve her soul which resides in the tomb. Beneath the tomb we get a glimpse of the creatures living in the underworld: A deity of the earth carries the foundation of the tomb, her netherworld dwelling. The central part of the banner shows Lady Dai in a standing position. She leans on a cane, while two persons crouch or kneel in front of her and three women, presumably female attendants, stand behind her. The upper part of the banner is said to show the realm of the immortals. The entrance is guarded by two deities holding the records of the life span of Lady Dai. They are identified as deities of destiny. In the top section we can see a standing woman. She is surrounded by a creature with a snake-like body and flanked by the depictions of the moon with a toad and a rabbit (which is said to pound the elixir of immortality) and the sun with a raven. Five birds seem to keep her company which may represent the figures of the lower parts of the banner. The scenes are interpreted as showing the modes of existence of the soul after death. The corpse is placed in the tomb where it is served by underworld attendants. The body soul enjoys and consumes the burial objects and offerings. At the same time the spirit soul (hun) ascends to the realm of the immortals and seems to rejuvenate during this process. The tomb of Lady Dai's son, who died in the same year, contained more revealing material. While alive he most likely served as a military official and therefore was given three maps. One of them shows the area of the tomb, another one shows the area between the territory of the King of Changsha and the territory of the people of the Southern Yue. The Southern Yue had been attacked by the Han in 181 B.C.E. when the Han successfully attempted to expand their territory to the south and southwest. In addition to the maps text manuscripts were found in the tomb. A copy of the Yijing, a copy of the Daodejing in two halves, texts on law, fortune-telling, as well as writings on sexual techniques accompanied Lady Dai's son to the underworld. The text on law is of particular interest because it describes obligations of the ruler: Punishments have to be balanced with rewards, the ruler may not indulge in consumption, and wars may only be started for a just cause. The expansion of the Han Empire under Han Wudi (141-87 B.C.E.) Under the reign of Emperor Wu the empire reached a vast territorial extension which would only be surpassed by the Manchurian Qing dynasty. The first campaigns were directed to the southwest: The territory of modern North Vietnam was brought under Han control. Then campaigns led the armies to the northwest and southern Manchuria as well as northern Korea were subjugated (108-109 C.E.). Yet the control was not permanent: When the Han collapsed both territories became independent, though Korea remained in close contact with China through tributary missions. International trade via the silk route began to establish, silk being one of the most important goods that was traded. Han settlements of soldier-peasants were installed along the border to prevent raids of caravans by non-Chinese neighboring peoples. Grapes and alfalfa sprouts found their way to China through Zhang Qian, a general who had been sent out to establish friendly ties with nomads against the powerful Turk Xiongnu. He was captured and held as a prisoner until he successfully escaped after 10 years. Although trade connected the empires of Rome and Han China, a direct exchange could not be established. All trade was conducted through Parthian middlemen. The Han state was based on Confucian and Legalist principles: Households had to pay taxes, provide workers for the corvée service, and soldiers for the army. The officials were recruited from the Confucian scholars who had to study the Five Classics and were tested before they were appointed to an office. Like the Zhou, the Han began to suffer from internal instability about 200 years after their dynasty was first established . They moved their capital further west, to the former Zhou capital Luoyang and managed to retain power until 220 C.E. During the Han urbanization of local administrative centers developed: The centers were walled cities with city gates and housed the seat of institutions of the bureaucracy. Markets in the cities were supervised by the government, which included the control of prices. Major technological achievements were the invention of the water-powered mill, the wheelbarrow, the watertight compartment in ships, the sternpost rudder, and the magnetc compass. Intellctual monuments were the historiographical writings by the Grand Historian Sima Qian (d. 68 B.C.E.), and the historians Ban Gu (d. 92 C.E.) and his sister, Ban Zhao. Ban Zhao completed the History of the Han Dynasty, which had been begun by her brother, and wrote her own book which served for the education of women in a Confucian mode for centuries and was titled The Seven Feminine Virtues.
Daoism and the scholastic art of staying healthy forever
Introduction Introduction of the topic and my personal involvement with the topic. The dilemma (maodun) between remaining mysterious and attractive or being clear, open and plain but easily overlooked The lecture ?1 why is health important? - every person finds some interest during life in how to stay healthy and happy, it is the foundation of science, politics, medicine and religion. It shows that all human activities are one way or the other related to human survival and do not relate to differences in culture specific or race or nationality - Human right to receive support in ones health and can determine ones right to be happy and healthy - if people are healthy they worry less and are usually much faster in? solving problems and being more cooperative 2 Why is there a worldwide rising interest in daojiao? - we see in all countries of the world where Chinese come small communities rise with students of kongzi, fojiao and daojiao - in daojiao there is a strong movement that aims to unite the three inside its own worldview called sanjiao movement. This movement originated in the song dynasty and continues strongly up to this day, and especially in the wudang mountain region - foreigners are usually not aware of this movement but mix up the three because of not knowing much about either one of the three - daojiao practitioners were often also educated in medicine to support their neigong and neidan practice. Many of the famous medicine masters of the past were daojiao ren or daoshi - the foregoing all cause that medicine and daojiao are naturally associated with each other 3 What is daojiao about? -?the teachings of dao is about how dao teaches about itself through its manifestations or absence of manifestations. In the famous yijing it is stated that if one resists dao the outcome will be known in a short time in the form of disaster. -?Zhuangzi stated that dao is in everything and thus everything is related to each other one way or another, with as a result that reality can be understood and being lived in -?Laozi stated that heaven understands dao the best and only serves dao and not humanity. Like kongzi he believes that things organize themselves and that trying to force one’s will on things usually causes conflict. Also making one’s life complicated does not serve to understand dao or be able to follow it. Kongzi suggested that acting ceremoniously will solve that problem, Laozi suggested simplifying one’s life will solve that problem 4 What is the difference between daojiao and daojia? Daojia is the family of followers of dao. Their commitment to do so might remain vague or specific. Mostly their learning is individual, intellectual, feelings-based and so on. Many Confucians entertained the idea of following dao to complement the harsh practice of the Ru in a society as fully regulated as can. Western scientist and popular writers long time considered that daojiao was an aberration and that daojia was the actual Daoism. This theory is still mainstream, and is also sometimes propagated by Chinese writers that I’ve met. History caused the opportunity to think like that for a very long time because both in the west and east strong anti-religious movements took control of politics and education. All over the world people are now more lenient towards religion and thus many religions shoot new roots, partly by means of reinventing themselves with additions from science and other religions. In a way we can say that modern daojiao therefore embraces certain elements of daojia. Daojiao is in effect the merging of ru statehood with huanglao daoist thought. A lot of the life of people bonded with dao in religiousness spend much of that life doing service to kueishen, shangdi, huangdi and yudi as well as to sanqing, the three clarities, which are the three founding forces on which reality is build according to daojiao theory. Eventually the mythical Laozi became deified as well in the god Laojun. Other gods who became prominent were directional gods, of whom Xuanwu, later renamed as Zhenwu in Wudang shan became most famous. Xuanwu is seen as the son of Yudi and will eventually replace yudi as head of the heavenly bureaucracy. Further there is Xiwangmu, a former goddess of the afterworld, who gave birth to many gods and goddesses and who guards immortality and health. There is also tasiji, the deified first principle of things that is also a god of compassion. Next to the gods there are scores of immortals, people who have attained a divine state of existence and live on as cultural hero’s or as actual immortals supporting life from behind the scenes. Famous are Lu Dongbin and the eight immortals and Zang Sanfeng, who is immortalized in wudang culture specifically as the inventor of Taiji Gongfu and the struggle to make the emperor serve the people in the form of letting them get involved in the study of Dao and Yangsheng health practices. ? 5 The briefest history of daojiao -The first stage we call huanglao time period. It combines the thought of Laozi with the ideology of legalism and Confucianism but finds rectification in historical myths about Huangdi, the great teacher of culture and medicine as praxis. It roots back in late Stone Age beliefs and keeps developing all the way into classical times ending with the advent of the Han dynasty. In this time religiousness and science were fully identical and thus we cannot speak of a particular Daojiao but a general assertion that dao exists -Second stage we call true daojiao and starts in the Han dynasty where Zang Daoling organizes a heavenly bureaucracy in emulation of the Han state bureaucracy. His grandson helps organizing the Zhengyi movement also known as Tianshi pai or heavenly masters religion. Their idea was that through divine legal practice people could be given salvation from suffering. The religion was based on small communities but was also successful in the cities. Practitioners were living normal lives and had families. The zhengy pai still exists and is china’s oldest formal religion. An important part of the religion is its belief in immortals and gods that either help or bother mankind. Later under the influence of Buddhism, Quanzhen pai came into being which incorporated many aspects of Buddhist monk life and other austerities. Abstention from meat and marriage became common. People lived in hermitages in the mountains far from city life’s temptations. masters such as Wang Chongyang came into the lime light, but especially so their way of teaching which was rather harsh. - Nowadays we see the third stage of daojiao which we can call Restoration Stage. It is also a time for daojiao’s exodus which makes it possible for people like me to learn about dajiao, live a daoist life and teach about it. Daosim is quite self-oriented and tight on maintaining its internal structure and cultural identity. Being a foreigner not everything is accessible, such as legitimately calling yourself a daoist because that requires state administration. ? ? Health science is the applied science dealing with health, and it includes many sub disciplines. One way of subdividing it is: -?clinical medicine in which curative therapies are being discussed -?supportive medicine where maintenance of diseased people is being discussed -?preventive medicine is where prevention of disease as policy and method is being discussed -?health science which partly overlaps preventive medicine but deals more concretely with developing health as core of understanding disease and which is the prime engine in International oriental college BA studies -?exercise bionomics which discusses how the individual can manage body, emotions, mind, behavior and so on as to support the process of self empowerment of the individual which will lead to health. Health Science within Chinese culture is called yangsheng 养生, the cultivation of life. The concept of Sheng is akin to the agricultural process of growing food, and denotes the slowness of the process of all major transformations. It stands in contrast with the concept of the character Yang2杨 ‘to raise’ which is based on the idea of raising lifestock. The word Yang3养 refers to agriculture too, but it is the active component of providing: ‘making sure cultivation happens’. Sometimes it is translated as health or life cultivation, but in essence this translation is only partly correct, even though at the International oriental College we use this wording also frequently because in many cases the meanings are partnered significantly enough to do so. The principles of yangsheng are simple but successful approaches to provide ground rules in developing health over time by means of watching out over oneself continuously and not slacking in stimulating and restraining oneself wherever practical when it would lead to better or worse health and longer or shorter lifespan. In both cases the first is set as a goal. Yangshen is practices by means of moral practice as well as the way of ingestation of foodstuffs. The moral practice is considered superior in effect over the material practice of eating? and drinking what is appropriate and supporting oneself with herbal medicines. Some immortals in Chinese legend offer immortality medicines, but they do not provide them freely, the receiving end should firstly show proper moral rectitude and ability to manage life and health. Basic ground rules of yangsheng can be summarized as such: ? - Practice yangheng by means of constant presence of awareness of all ones actions and movements both awake and asleep thus a person can conserve jing, qi and shen. - Develop the five Confucian qualities of ren yi zhong shu li, humanness, honesty, loyalty, altruism, ceremonialism - In life be open, well informed, prudent and discreet - be calm inside and active outside to lead a long, full and enjoyable life - be broad minded and generous - diminish the twelve overabundances: 1 Too many pondering thoughts?Ruins shen-awareness 2 Too many lingering and wishful thinking?Dissipates power of will 3 Too many desires?Ruins wisdom 4 Too much involvement with affairs?Wears out the body 5 Too much talking?Generates conflict between qi and shenjing and body Gui 6 Too much giggling?Hurts the wuzangliufu 7 Too much worrying?Startles and freezes the heart mirror 8 Too much merriment?Makes the shenjing flighty 9 Too much joy?Causes forgetfulness, confusion and mistakes 10 Too much anger?Causes shaking of the jingluomai and destabilizes yingqi 11 Too much liking?Infatuates the person beyond cure 12 Too much disliking?Makes life tough and unpleasant -?avoid causing damage to the body by loosing relationship with the environment and enjoy life in all its manifestations as to concentrate the willpower on one single objective -?do not seek entertainment and comfort but take things as they come to you -?have a morally acceptable job ? The idea of Yangsheng is that the span of life that one has is not predestined by nature. The length of life depends only on the care one gives to oneself and one’s fellow beings. In that sense we see that traditional health study concentrates on how to be a good human being. The first note for this we find in the Huangdi Neijing, a seminal classic of Chinese medicine, a founding? theory if you will. It starts with describing how people of olden times were able to live almost forever just by means of following and emulating heaven and earth and staying in touch with the processes inside themselves as well as the processes outside themselves, observing similarities and patterns which can be used like farmers use them, to choose what time is best to perform what action as to gain what result. The idea of being so much in control of the length of ones life stands in stark contrast with the determinist theories of modern biology and genetics in specific. On the other hand it harmonizes perfectly with the United Nations charter on Human Rights that every person should be able to live a life in control of his or her own destiny. As such the Chinese health science or Yangsheng has not lost any value for modern beings, and therefore alone it deserves the right to be studied in its own set of meanings and ideas, and not necessarily through the looking glass of western science prejudices about what reality is or should be. 7 Other practices From the practices above, two practices specifically need to be explained. The first is the morally acceptable job. What is that? This points specifically to jobs that do support life or work against it. A car manufacturer is for instance debatable. However practical a car is, the way a car is made or how a car will perform its morally acceptable task might be is cause for concern. Laozi suggested that good can be found in evil and evil can be found in good, so balancing the quality of what one does as a task to sustains one’s life is not always easy. The fact that one introspects and investigates where one stands in these matters is what makes the process valuable. The second is practicing the body. Daoism as a whole does not believe in medicines. It doesn’t say medicines are bad, but it says medicines cannot cure anything. Although herbal or chemical medicines are good for business, Daoist medicine suggests that all things we ingest are potentially poisonous and therefore do harm the body if they get the chance. We should therefore never rely on medicines, except in very serious clinical cases, where the benefits seriously outweigh the risks. Acupuncture and massage on the other hand are more acceptable, because they leave more responsibility for the health and disease processes to the person affected by disease. We see in modern Chinese New Age literature many books offering health advice in the form of drinking teas, herbal and food preparation, but essential to the taking care of the body part of Yangsheng is cultivating ones body through exercise. The current trend of Taiji practice in its simplified forms such as the 24 form and simplified Chen and Yang forms are typical for Yangsheng practice modern style. The exercises help retain memory and agility to a degree, but they are though not actual Taiji practices. Taiji practices in Yangsheng are also a way to study Dao at work. Following Kongzi, daoist say that one should never practice anything uninformed. Practice of the body is also practice of the mind and therefore one should study the background theories that belong to the study of Taiji, such as Yinyang xue, wuxing xue, bagua xue, and so on. Wisdom practice is therefore learning to wield theory in relationship to physical practice Qigong, neigong, tuna, daoyin and so on are all descriptive terms for approaches inside practice. In particular situations one might need a particular method to solve a problem. So although it is good to study one, such as Daoyin (Chinese style Yoga) it is better to gradually develop oneself in a variety of methods sufficiently fitting to each other in a system as to make them effective. Just mindlessly practicing can be as risky for one’s health as ingesting ginseng every day. After all we also do not every day throw tons of fertilizer on our gradually growing food as to prevent it from dying. We measure how much we feed it with what as to produce healthy crops and have the soil ready for other plants. Last Updated ( Saturday, 31 October 2009 13:06 )
Arts & Events
The Shanxi merchants depicted in Christina Yao’s epic film, Empire of Silver, were powerful players in Chinese history. By the end of the 19ths century, their wealth and influence rivaled that of the ruling Ming and Qing dynasties. Shanxi province, the setting for Empire of Silver, has been called “the Wall Street of China.” Like the “too big to fail” tenants of modern Wall Street, Shanxi’s bankers quietly dominated elements of the national economy by offering loans to bolster government spending and helping to finance wars. Shanxi’s merchants also reaped revenue by offering to bail out local towns and cities by covering their imperial taxes — for a price. The term for these merchant-run enterprises was “piaohao.” In addition to managing funds through deposits and loans, they derived much of their power from the invention of a system of codes that allowed for the transfer of wealth “on paper.” Previously, when it became necessary to move gold and silver from one city to another, a “wire transfer” would require a costly convoy of horse-drawn carts guarded by scores of well-armed soldiers. (There is a scene in Empire of Silver where such a delivery ends with a parade through city streets to reassure worried investors. It is only when the carts are securely inside the walls of the recipient bank that it is revealed the silver-boxes are actually filled with nothing but stones. That could be the filmmaker’s wry metaphor for our contemporary economic system.) The Shanxi merchants also came up with the concept of profit sharing, which helped to promote cohesion and loyalty. Unlike modern banks, the piaohao were guided by Confucian principles that stressed fair treatment and high standards of morality. The meant that investors and families were kept at a distance and banned from interfering with the operations of the piaohao. The Confucian edicts were so rigorous that piaohao managers were only allowed to see their families for six months after each three years of service. Making the commitment even more like a monastery than a Wall Street enterprise, Shanxi’s “masters of the universe” were forbidden to take concubines or visit brothels. One of the themes of Empire of Silver is the conflict between two competing philosophies, the traditional moral code of Confucius and the manipulative ideology of Legalism. Ironically, the film presents the son as the embodiment of traditional Confucian values while the father is the master of manipulation. It is Lord Kang who looks at the spreading misery of disease striking down the population and realizes he can make a killing by monopolizing the salt trade — and hoarding the salt to derive maximum profit. By contrast, the younger Kang, motivated by compassion and honor, makes the decision to pay back holders of worthless certificates of credit by digging up a patch of his family’s buried gold and silver. The Boxer Rebellion, the rise of the Nationalists and the Allied invasion all combined to undermine the authority and power of the piaohao, which either transformed into Western-style banks or closed their doors forever. Still, the legacy of “moral banking” has managed to persist as director Christina Yao attests with this remarkable story: “There was an Englishman in the 1960s who got a large sum of money deposited into his account in Hong Kong,” Yao recounts. “He wasn’t sure what that was about so he looked into it and found out that his grandfather was in business with a merchant from this same Shanxi school and the business failed. “That merchant, on his deathbed, said to his family that if ever the family is able to resurrect its glory, they have to return the money. So, two generations later, they return the money. “What’s important is that it’s not just that the grandfather was loyal to his code, but two generations after him also were loyal to that code. That is something that we don’t have anymore.”
Knowledge Graph
Examples
1 The Qin Dynasty enforced a state ideology of Legalism, which gave the emperor absolute power and applied inflexible interpretations of the law.
2 The ideology of legalism as an operative ideal serves as a license for legal professionals to speak with a special authority and intrusiveness.
3 we should fight against an ideology of legalism that wishes to make the law out.