Ang Pamahalaang Awtokratiko ni Shih Huang-ti

Noong panahon ni Shih Huang-ti, daan-daang Iibong magbubukid ang nagtulong-tulong sa paghakot ng milyong toneladang bato at panambak upang mabuo ang 20 hanggang 25 talampakang taas na pader na ito ng Great Wall. Ang Great Wall of China ay kinikilala hanggang sa kasalukuyan bilang isa sa "Seven Wonders of the World."

Sa kabila ng mga pagbabagong ito, si Shih Huang-ti ay hindi naging malapit sa puso ng mga Tsino. Ang pagtatakda ng mabigat na buwis at mapanupil niyang pamamahala ay kinamuhian ng kanyang nasasakupan.

Ikinagalit din ng mga iskolar na Confucian ang pagpapasunog niya sa mga aklat na mahalaga para sa kanila. Higit sa lahat, kinasuklaman siya ng mahihirap na magbubukid bunga ng sapilitan niyang pagpapagawa sa mga ito ng mga lansangan at ng Great Wall. Sa daan-daang Iibong Tsino na gumawa ng Great Wall, daang libo rin ang nangamatay sanhi ng marahas na klima at hirap sa paggawa nito.

Nang mamatay si Shih Huang-ti, siya ay pinalitan ng kanyang anak na higit na malupit, ngunit mahina namang emperador. Sa loob lamang ng tatlong taon na panunungkulan nito, ang imperyong pinag-isa ng kanyang ama ay muling nagambala sanhi ng pag-aalsang pinamunuan ng mga dating katunggali ni Shih Huang-ti. Ang anak ni Shih Huang-ti ay pinatalsik ng isang pinunong nagmula sa lupain ng Han.

Excerpt from "Legalism":

Selections from "The Writings of Han Fei (c. 230 BCE)" — a legalist writer

1     Having Regulations

No country is permanently strong. Nor is any country permanently weak. If conformers to law are strong, the country is strong; if conformers to law are weak, the country is weak...

Any ruler able to expel private crookedness and uphold public law, finds the people safe and the state in order; and any ruler able to expunge private action and act on public law, finds his army strong and his enemy weak. So, find out men following the discipline of laws and regulations, and place them above the body of officials. Then the sovereign cannot be deceived by anybody with fraud and falsehood...

2    Therefore, the intelligent sovereign makes the law select men and makes no arbitrary promotion himself. He makes the law measure merits and makes no arbitrary regulation himself. In consequence, able men cannot be obscured, bad characters cannot be disguised; falsely praised fellows cannot be advanced, wrongly defamed people cannot be degraded. To govern the state by law is to praise the right and blame the wrong.

3     The law does not fawn on the noble... Whatever the law applies to, the wise cannot reject nor can the brave defy. Punishment for fault never skips ministers, reward for good never misses commoners. Therefore, to correct the faults of the high, co rebuke the vices of the low, to suppress disorders, to decide against mistakes, to subdue the arrogant, to straighten the crooked, and to unify the folkways of the masses, nothing could match the law. To warn the offciafs and overawe the people, to rebuke obscenity and danger, and to forbid falsehood and deceit, nothing could match penalty. If penalty is severe, the noble cannot discriminate against the humble. If law is definite, the superiors are esteemed and not violated. If the superiors are not violated, the sovereign will become strong and able to maintain the proper course of government. Such was the reason why the early kings esteemed Legalism and handed it down to posterity. Should the lord of men discard law and practice selfishness, high and law would have no distinction.

Pinagmulan: Primary Sources: Chinese Philosophical Traditions Confucianism, Daoism, Legalism (+Buddhism m China). http://www.apsva.us/cms/.../0708.PrimarySourceonChinesePhilosophies.do