WORLD RELIGIONS

Detailed explanation-1: -Legalism is based on the viewpoint that in order for a ruler to maintain order in society, people must obey a set of strict laws and those in authority (the rulers and government officials). Legalist philosophers thus created a system of punishment and reward for certain behaviors.

Detailed explanation-2: -Legalists believed that people were driven by self-interest. They believed that to be good members of society, people had to be controlled by a strong ruler, strict laws, and harsh punishments. The ruler should be all-powerful.

Detailed explanation-3: -Legalism became the official philosophy of the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BCE) when the first emperor of China, Shi Huangdi (r. 221-210 BCE), rose to power and banned all other philosophies as a corrupting influence.

Detailed explanation-4: -The three main precepts of these Legalist philosophers are the strict application of widely publicized laws (fa), the application of such management techniques (shu) as accountability (xingming) and “showing nothing” (wuxian), and the manipulation of political purchase (shi).