Introduction

The power of Chinese civilization rests mainly in continuity and accumulation of refinements of institutions begun in the past. Search for order in government, the family and the society in China has resulted in a nation characterized by dynasties, well-defined roles between young and old, male and female, rich and poor and clearly defined behavior, based on strong philosophical underpinnings. The people of China have tended to turn within to look for answers to their major questions about these issues, all the time shaping and molding the essence of Chinese strength and integrity. The Chinese struggled to find the right formulae that would assure power and prosperity to what would become the largest population in the world-in ancient times just as today. In achieving a mighty empire by 220 C.E. they provide us with a wonderful example of how philosophies translated into government and social order.

The Confucian philosophy of China addressed the problems of human society so simply and directly that it was applied not only in government and education but also in family matters in households throughout China and later in the Chinese-influenced societies of Korea, Japan, and Indochina. To this day, Confucianism inspires a typically tight-knit family group, which reveres its aged members. Mencius' right of rebellion against evil rulers, Confucius' "Golden Rule," and the common sense ideal of a government based on virtue were all admired outside China and gave inspiration to the eighteenth century European Enlightenment philosophers.

Man does not live by morality alone. If China had remained a simple agrarian family-like state Confucianism in its original form might have sufficed. However, to assure broader and more diverse economic control and adequate military power for an empire, Legalist principles were selectively added to the Chinese governing philosophical orthodoxy. These Legalist elements brought pragmatic realism, practical methods of regulating the population and a blueprint for a working bureaucratic structure. Elements of Taoism introduced into Confucianism brought mystical and individualistic aspects into Chinese civilization. All these were synthesized in the Han dynasty into a system which offered a single comprehensive answer to the full range of human problems and needs.