The Legalists

Confucius believed that people are good, but a group of ancient Chinese scholars known as the Legalists had a different view. The Legalists believed that people look out for themselves first and therefore humankind is evil. Like Confucius, the Legalists wanted to unify China and end the Age of Warring States, but they believed in using force rather than persuasion. The Legalists believed that society functioned best through strong state control and absolute obedience to authority, so they created laws that provided rewards and strict punishments for behavior. Confucius believed in virtue and natural order, but the Legalists believed that all human activity should be directed toward increasing the power of the ruler and the government. The Legalists held power by suppressing anyone who disagreed with them.

The Legalists ruled China for about fifteen years, ending the Age of Warring States. The ruler of the Ch'in state embraced the Legalist philosophy and united all of China about 214BC. He took the title Shih Hwang-ti, which means August Lord or First Emperor. To stop any criticism, Shih Huang-ti and the Legalists banned all books on history and books that glorified past rulers. The First Emperor ordered all "non-essential" books collected and burned. He allowed only books on agriculture, medicine and pharmacy. Books written about Conf ucius and his philosophy were destroyed. During this period hundreds of scholars were put to death. Many scholars were buried alive.

The Legalists lost power shortly after the death of the First Emperor, and the succeeding rulers enacted laws against burning books. Confucius' teaching managed to survive the Burning of the Books because his philosophy was often handed down orally from master to student; thus it was possible to reconstruct the texts from memory and preserved manuscripts.

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