Editor’s Note: This is the third essay by the author of the “Chinese classics” series on philosophy, economics, political thought and ethics. Classical Chinese political thought based on the Daoist (Taoist)-Legalist tradition has not only deeply impacted Chinese politics for thousands of years, in spite of the negative interferences from the later dominating Confucianism, but is still bearing on today’s problems in Chinese and world political practice. 

1. A civil service employment mechanism based on the unity of political commitment and professional competency – the social merit system;
2. A mechanism for all-society mutual supervision apart from those inside and between government departments;
3. A huge civilized community coherently knitted together by the unity of land and kinship relations through equal work arrangements and free marriages between different ethnic groups.

Just have a look at the half-baked imitation of China’s merit system in the United States Code! At how the Western governments, though with separation of power between the three branches, are hijacked by corporatocracies, i.e., large companies, banks, and government officials banding together! And at the US standard for human rights and democracy which cannot get across her borders (her troops in Iraq can only practice them gingerly within their barracks while the Iraqi people are still far behind the goal of democracy and freedom)! Then, how can we afford to turn a blind eye to the Chinese civilization, which has lasted for thousands of years and stayed in the center of world politics for a long time?

The theoretical basis of classical Chinese political thought can be summarized in the following one sentence: The Dao (Tao) generates the law and the law generates virtue.

The two mainstays of classical Chinese political institution were: the social merit system and the all-society mutual supervision mechanism.

The objective of classical Chinese political endeavor was to develop a coherently integrated human community based on the unity of land and kinship relations achieved by implementing policies of cross-ethnic equality of work right and freedom of marriage.

The exposition of classical Chinese political thought as a self-contained system will be based on the following three classics: Anecdotes of Zhou Dynasty (《逸周书》), Yellow Emperor’s Four Canons (《黄帝四经》), and Rites of Zhou (《周礼》).

The Chinese world outlook has been naturalistic. Our ancestors held that social law is derived from the order of Nature and that the law is the foundation of morality. They advocated conformance with the Heavenly way, i.e., the way of Nature and worked to build up social morality by force of the law and bolster the law with heightened moral awareness so as to develop the society in a harmonious and balanced way.

Yellow Emperor’s Four Canons explains at the very beginning that it is the Dao that the law should be derived from: “From the Dao comes the law. The law is the yardstick by which to judge whatever is achieved and not achieved to see if it is in the right or in the wrong. Those who have grasped the Dao develop the law without violating the Dao. Once the law is formed, they do not dare to ignore it. Using it as the yardstick, they can understand and judge everything in the world without being confused.”

Then, the law generates virtue, which means that the law is intended “to educate everybody to stop doing evil things, to give up bad customs and to do good” (Bamboo Scripts from Shui-Hu-Di Qin Tomb • Public Notice, 《睡虎地秦墓竹简•语书》). The Book of Lord Shang • Discussion about the People (§ 5)  (《商君书•说民第五》) says: “Punishment produces force, force produces strength, strength produces awe, awe produces virtue. Virtue has its origin in punishments.”

 The author of Yellow Emperor’s Four Canons held that only by the rule of law in administering state affairs instead of imposing one’s subjective will on the people can virtue be realized between heaven and earth so that the ruler cherished the people and the people felt close to the ruler. In the chapter entitled “The Upright King”, the book says: “Of all political institutions, law is the most important. Therefore, the rule of law should not be arbitrary. The installment of legal institutions should be kept out of the hands of irresponsible people. The law-makers’ and law-executors’ selfless impartiality and consistency in administering rewards and punishments are essential for bringing about a good social order. Reducing red tape, mitigating taxes and not encroaching upon people’s time for farming are fundamentals for social stability. If not treating the people as a father does to his children, a king would not be able to secure their services as from devoted sons and daughters. Without motherly virtue, he cannot bring people’s potential to full play. Cherishing the people is a manifestation of Heavenly virtue and the guarantee for the accomplishment of anything.”

On the policy level, early Zhou ethic rules were each supported by a law-stipulated punishment on violators. Rites of Zhou •  Diguan Situ (Chap. 2) •  Senior Situ (周礼•地官司徒第二•大司徒) lists eight kinds if punishments as administered over the country: The first one used for failing to perform filial duties, the second for violating harmonious relationships in the extended family, the third for violating in-law relationships, the fourth for failing to cherish one’s brothers, the fifth for breaking faith with friends, the sixth for not helping the poor, the seventh for spreading rumors, and the eighth for rioting.

Legal codes for cultivating good morality were quite complete during the Qin dynasty. In 1975, a large collection of legal texts  written on bamboo-strips were excavated from Qin Tombs in Shui-hu-ti area (睡虎地) of Yun-meng Prefecture，central Hu-pei Province. Shui-hu-ti Qin Tomb Bamboo Scripts•Questions and Answers on Legal Matters (《睡虎地秦墓竹简•法律答问》) says categorically that everybody is legally obliged to help others when needed. For instance, those who reject calls for help from a neighbor being burglarized should be punished by law. Whoever fails to lend a hand on seeing somebody being marauded by bandits within one hundred steps on a high way will be fined the value of two coats of mail.

From Tang through Qing dynasties, as Chinese legal codes and political culture became more and more Confucianized, the state management principle of “cultivating morality through law enforcement” lapsed into the one-sided approach of commending moral acts only, losing much of the biting teeth of the law. The memory of the effective principle was lost in useless speculative talks about whether to rule by law or by virtue.

To cultivate morality through law enforcement calls for a legal policy of heavy punishment for light crimes and getting rid of punishment through punishment. As early as over two thousand years ago, the Shang Yang school of thought already proved in theory the ineffectiveness of light punishment for light crimes and heavy punishments for felonies only, as has been the practice in the West. The Book of Lord Shang • Discussion about the People (§ 5) (《商君书•说民第五》) says: “If in the application of punishments, serious offences are regarded as serious, and light offences as light, light offences will not cease and in consequence, there will be no means of stopping the serious ones. This is said to be ‘ruling the people while in a state of lawlessness’. So, if light offences are regarded as serious, punishments will be abolished, affairs will succeed and the country will be strong; but if serious offences are regarded as serious and light ones as light, then punishments will appear; moreover, trouble will arise and the country will be dismembered.”