Traditional Culture Encyclopedia - Traditional culture - Recommend several books on the influence of Confucianism on Tang law

Recommend several books on the influence of Confucianism on Tang law

China's traditional culture is extensive and profound, which has created China's 5,000-year great civilization, including the "rule of law" in China's traditional culture, while the rule of law in western traditional culture refers to the western classical legal theory in ancient Greece and Rome. The formation of "rule of law" in ancient Chinese legal civilization can be traced back to the legalist theory that appeared in the late slave society, which triggered the debate between legalist "rule of law" and Confucian "rule of courtesy" in governing the country. In Guan Zhong and Zi Chan's attempt to govern the country, Guan Zhong believes that a country "has laws to follow, laws to be followed, and laws to be followed." . The husband gives birth to the law, and the law-abiding person is also a minister, and the law is also for the people. This is called "rectification". "With the rule of law, this move. ..... is the rule of the first king, so that the law chooses people instead of bootstrapping; Measure your work by law, and don't be arrogant. " . Based on this concept of "rule of law", Guan Zi complied with the people's will through legislation and carried out a series of practical reforms in the economy, administration, personnel and society of Qi State. Zheng's children also transformed the society through Wu, Zuo Qiu Fu, Ren Xian's Selection of Sages, and Zhu Xing Shu. Since then, the Legalists have reformed Wei and founded the Classic of Law. The above reform attempts not only reflected the earliest thought of "rule of law" in China's traditional legal culture, but also opened the earliest era of written law in China's traditional legal culture. The great historical contribution of China's traditional theory of "rule of law" is not only a refreshing theory of legalism governing the country, but also the first unified feudal Qin Dynasty in China history. Due to the changes in the historical situation, the development of productive forces and the harsh laws in the legalist theory of governing the country at that time, it was difficult to be tolerated by the historical tradition of governing the country by courtesy, and it was also difficult to be fully recognized by the society at that time. Therefore, with the brief collapse of pro-Korea, the legalist theory of governing the country was subsequently adopted by the Confucian theory of "rule by courtesy". The rise of "ousting a hundred schools of thought and respecting Confucianism alone" in Han Dynasty led to the rise of Confucian culture, thus establishing the principle that "morality is the mainstay and punishment is the auxiliary" in the legislative guiding ideology, and at the same time absorbing the written law form since Qin Dynasty, creating a precedent of "combining etiquette with law". Since then, the thought of "rule by law" has gradually declined, while the prosperity of "rule by courtesy" has continued to modern times, which is undoubtedly closely related to China's historical and cultural traditions, feudal mode of production, unique political system and the realistic national conditions of closed doors. It can be seen that the legalists in the pre-Qin period and the later Confucianism are the main ideological forces to shape China's legal system. Therefore, some scholars have divided the legal civilization of China before the Tang Dynasty into the periods of "rule by courtesy", "rule by law" and "harmony of etiquette and law". Obviously, in contrast, Legalists pay more attention to the role of law in politics and society than Confucianism, and they have a greater influence on the legal system of China in the first two thousand years of China's modern history. In the long history of China's ideological history, people have different opinions and views on the pre-Qin legalist thought. From Han Dynasty to modern times, due to the dominant position of Confucianism, pre-Qin legalists have long been despised and criticized. Since modern times, there have been many voices to rehabilitate the Legalists, because under the oppression of western powers, China urgently needs to find a way to reform and strengthen itself. Confucianism was doubted and denied in the New Culture Movement of "Down with Kongjiadian", while the successful constitutionalism and rule of law in western countries reminded us to look for the analogy of "what existed in ancient times"-the legalist thought of "ruling the country according to law". Yan Fu said: "In today's life, only Shen Hanshu can be used." ⑤ Zhang Taiyan said: "Shang Yang has been greedy for two thousand years, especially in this life. Talking about descendants of the Han Dynasty, suppressing and seizing civil rights, and making people arrogant are all advocated by Shang Yang legalists. Oh! It is very confusing to say. " It can be seen that Zhang Taiyan rehabilitated Shang Yang and other legalists, affirmed their historical achievements, and thought that to govern the country well, we must criticize the rule of man and the "rule of law" like the legalists in the pre-Qin period. 6. Of course, we should look at the characteristics of legalists' legislative thoughts objectively. While emphasizing the law, the legalist view of law has serious limitations: first, in the legalist view, all state powers such as legislation, justice and administration are concentrated in the monarch, regardless of how the law constrains and restricts the monarch's power, reflecting and protecting the people's interests and wishes; Thus, the legalist law is ultimately only the ruling tool of the monarch; Secondly, legalists pay attention to almost all the laws of criminal law, and lack the necessary understanding of legal concepts such as civil law; Finally, while emphasizing severe punishment, legalists did not consider how to set up fair and reasonable procedural arrangements to ensure judicial justice and ensure that innocent people would not be killed indiscriminately. They only looked at the benefits brought by severe punishment from the perspective of rulers, but never tried to understand the possible suffering brought by severe punishment from the perspective of the people. The Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period is a crucial period for the germination of China's legal system. At that time, the legalists made in-depth and multifaceted research on the social phenomenon of law, resulting in their unique view of the rule of law, which has universal significance, can stand the test of the times, and even deserves the pride of future generations. To this day, we can't forget the efforts and painstaking efforts made by our ancestors in the road construction of China's modern civilization ruled by law, and get spiritual encouragement from them. At the same time, we can learn from it, treat its defects and limitations objectively and prevent similar tragedies from happening again. The connotation of China's legal civilization and the development of historical tradition need to be tested in practice from the perspective of historical materialism and world outlook. No matter which advanced method, we should constantly improve and innovate according to the situation, times, atmosphere and other factors, so as to improve the method day by day. China's legal civilization will leave more precious spiritual wealth for mankind in the future, and will be constantly innovated and improved with the progress of the times.

Tube. Ren Fa forty-fifth.

Qu Tongzu: China Law and China Society

Everything was done by Han Feizi.

Quoted from Yang Riran: Essays on Law

Edited by Yang Zhijun. Selected Works of Zhang Taiyan's Political Theory

Li Haisheng: The Dignity of Law ―― A Study of Modern Pre-Qin Legalists.