Was Ancient China Really Outer Confucianism and Inner Law

Yes.

Exterior Confucianism and internal law is a kind of internal guiding ideology of a series of state policies practiced by the state power in China for a long period of time from the Han Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty. That is, while ostensibly promoting Confucianism, it also relied on Legalism in practice, often combining Confucianism and Law, and Confucianism and Law complementing each other.

Political deeds and ethical persuasion are the two core means by which successive rulers have stabilized their rule, and they are also an important cause of the Chinese culture of Confucianism and Legalism.

Generally speaking, Confucianism emphasizes benevolence and ethical persuasion in ruling, while Legalism focuses on the rule of law and political merits. However, the two schools of thought were blended together during the Han Dynasty to form complementary ruling techniques.

In a sense, the structure of the feudal patriarchal society is the inevitable product of the external Confucianism and internal legal rule. Feudal law was clothed in a layer of "external Confucian" benevolence and virtue, so that all laws found an ethical basis.

Turning to the successive dynasties of the law, can be found, the beginning of the crown with a benevolent ethical style hat. The result of this, on the one hand, can be for the ruler's harboring connivance of crime to leave the back way, but also for the law to each social cell extension provides a convenient door.

As long as the ruler is unwilling to punish the people, the emperor or local officials can easily "forgive" it, give a chance to reform, do so, not only will not have the "law" responsibility, but also show the ruler's generosity and benevolence, sympathetic to the situation. The first is to make sure that you have a good idea of what you're doing.

And when a criminal appears in a family as a social cell, the ruler can magnify the crime of a family member into the crime of the whole family: the family failed to implement the rituals well, which led to the emergence of this kind of scum.

Baidu Encyclopedia - Outer Confucianism, Inner Law