Lord Shang’s views reputedly influenced Duke Xiao, who adopted many of his adviser’s suggestions to strengthen Qin. However, Lord Shang did not benefit from the Qin state’s success. When his patron died, the new ruler turned out to be one of his earlier antagonists, which compelled him to flee in order to survive. The army he quickly organized was routed, and he was captured and torn apart by chariots, a grisly end for a man who, ironically, advocated harsh punishments.
In the following century, Han Fei Zi (?280–233 BCE) emerged as the leading Legalist philosopher. Born to a noble family in the small state of Han, as a young adult he studied with the renowned Confucian Xun Zi in Chu. Returning to his own state, he continually offered advice to the rulers, but they repeatedly rejected his suggestions. Thus, he disseminated his ideas by writing a work that attracted the attention of the Qin king, who eventually subjugated and united China and became the first emperor in the Chinese tradition. Qin attacked Han Fei Zi’s native land in 234 BCE, and the panicked rulers called upon the philosopher whom they had earlier rebuffed to serve as an envoy to their attackers. The Qin king was, at first, hospitable to Han Fei Zi, but his chief minister, Li Si, who had also studied with the Confucian Xun Zi, persuaded the king that Han Fei Zi was duplicitous and treacherous. Han Fei Zi was imprisoned and subsequently committed suicide with poison provided by Li Si.
Han Fei Zi’s death serves an ironic counterpoint to his realistic, tough-minded political philosophy. He appealed to the rulers of the “feudal” states, counseling them to tighten control over the economy and government and to crush dissenting and troublesome individuals. Like the Lord of Shang, he emphasized law and governing policies rather than morality and family as the principal means of social control. Harsh laws were required in turbulent times, such as the late Zhou period, and proper administrative regulations were essential in controlling the aristocracy as well as the bureaucracy that the ruler recruited to govern the state. The ruler had to be all-powerful yet he ought to refrain from day-to-day decision making, turning that responsibility over to his administrators. Han Fei Zi had an extremely harsh view of human motivations, advising the ruler to be wary of his closest associates. The ruler also ought not to show much compassion because mercy would undermine state stability. Only by severe laws would the ruler manage to dominate the five vermin – the scholars who question the laws, the speechmakers who champion deceitful policies, the wealthy who seek to evade military service, the soldiers who transgress upon the laws, and the merchants and craftsmen who produce wasteful, luxury goods. Han Fei Zi argued that the ruler should encourage agriculture, develop a powerful military, and enforce harsh laws. Only then would China achieve stability and order.
Legalism thus offered a severe though initially effective philosophy. The emphasis on harsh punishments, centralized government, promotion of agriculture, growth of the military, and authoritarianism and curbs on the aristocracy enabled Qin to expand its power and to enlarge the territory under its control. Initially situated in the Wei river valley in the modern province of Shaanxi, Qin had a splendid base from which to annex neighboring lands. The “feudal” states on the eastern coast of China were hemmed in whereas Qin was not surrounded. It faced no states to the west since non-Chinese nomadic peoples roamed the region. Encounters with these foreigners exposed the Qin to cavalry warfare and refined their military skills. The Qin thus had definite advantages when it began to move eastward, seeking to centralize and unify China.
Although this golden age of Chinese philosophy played a vital role in the definition of Chinese civilization, social changes (including the eventual centralization of the country and the rise of the shi, or merit-based class) and also military and technological developments (such as the use of cavalry, more sophisticated irrigation works, and bronze and jade ornaments, weapons, and coinage) were also significant in the rise of a great empire.
BOOK OF ODES AND BOOK OF DOCUMENTS
The Chinese literary tradition, especially poetry, also developed during the Zhou. The Chinese have traditionally excelled in the writing of poetry, yet very few pre-Han dynasty works are extant. Many more poems were written, but most have not survived. The most renowned early anthology of poetry was the Book of Odes (Shijing), which consists of about three hundred poems. The poems were designed to be sung and were edited to incorporate rhymes within a specific dialect. Over the centuries, Chinese commentators interpreted these poems to fit the specific social and political values their society wished to inculcate. The poems assumed a didactic and moralistic tone. In the commentators’ hands, love poems were transformed into paeans advocating filial piety and proper performance of rituals. Similarly, songs lamenting the absence of a loved one became critiques of student truants. Such far-fetched and moralistic interpretations persisted for a long time. Because the Book of Odes was accepted as one of the Five Confucian Classics, these interpretations, even if outlandish, need to be considered because of their pervasive influence.
The poems derive from diverse origins. The largest number, the so-called “airs” section, is composed of folk songs that were probably revised and refined at court. These short poems yield insights into the daily lives, aspirations, and activities of ordinary people. They deal with love and marriage, festivals, work, and rituals. The songs give voice to soldiers lamenting separation from their loved ones and to wives or husbands betrayed or ignored by their spouses. Some clearly express discontent with the inequities in Chinese society. They criticize oppressive officials, avaricious kings, and constant turbulence and warfare. Commentators naturally read political judgments and criticism into other seemingly bland poems. They did so often by reinterpreting the nature symbolism found in the songs. Because the contemporary meaning of various animals, birds, and natural phenomena was unknown, later commentators could assert that they represented criticisms of political and social conditions of the time. Despite the numerous over-interpretations, however, this section of the Odes reveals the common people’s dissatisfactions with the chaos, misrule, and exploitation that enveloped them.
Other sections in the Book of Odes have distinctly different themes, reflecting, in particular, the interests and activities of the nobility. The xiaoya and daya (“lesser odes” and “greater odes”) describe festivals, hunts, music and dancing, and sacrifices and provide details about clothing, meals, and transport. Surprisingly, a few poems offer social critiques, consisting of denunciations of officials who do not perform their assigned tasks, of oppressive governments, and of scandalously opulent lifestyles for some in the nobility in the face of poverty and starvation for many commoners.
These complaints attest to the unsettled times and to exploitation and misgovernment. The hymns (song), the final section of the Odes, differ from the rest because they do not include a litany of complaints, laments, and accusations. Instead they offer praise for the kings’ military victories and proper performance of rituals and for the dynasty’s accomplishments. They glow with optimism about the deeds of the nobility, and few rumblings of discontent emerge.
Although some of the poems offer trenchant or, on occasion, covert critiques of Zhou society, many appear to be straightforward evocations of hopes, wishes, and reality. Some are exactly what they purport to be, with no symbolic or hidden messages. They include courtship poems, songs of lovesick or neglected young men or women, and verses reflecting the woes of disillusioned and abused wives. These poems are direct and unencumbered with larger political or social meanings.
However, because the compilation of the Book of Odes was often attributed to Confucius, individual poems have been accorded a moral or didactic interpretation. One traditional view was that Confucius selected the three hundred poems from a larger anthology while another was that he simply gave his imprimatur to an existing collection. Whatever the true origin of the poems, Confucius emphasized their significance in the education of a gentleman. According to the Analects, he urged his disciples to study the Odes in order to broaden their sensibilities, refine their language, and enlarge their knowledge of nature. He insisted that officials needed to