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The Han can be discussed as a completely Confucian state where the philosophy of Confucianism was proclaimed as the state ideology. Confucianism not only provided the basic principles for regulating the daily life of the Chinese people during the rule of the Han dynasty, but this philosophy also contributed to presenting the main rules for governing and administering all the spheres of life in China.
The significant power of the Han rulers was proclaimed according to the main ideas of Confucianism. Thus, Dong Zhongshu, the famous philosopher of that period, claimed: “Who else but a king could take the central place among Heaven, earth, and man and connect them all?” (Heaven, Earth, and Man 58). From this point, Confucianism served effectively to demonstrate the significance of the king in the society.
All the candidates for the official positions were selected according to such basic a principle of Confucianism as the focus on the filial piety. From this perspective, “filial piety is the root of virtue and the source of civilization” (The Classic of Filial Piety 64). As a result, the leaders working during the rule of the Han dynasty were oriented to demonstrating their paternal care for the Chinese people to address their interests.
Rulers tried to follow the ideals of Confucianism strictly, and they were “learning lessons” of the past to predict the weaknesses in the future (Hansen 123). Such an approach contributed to consolidating control over the wide Chinese territories. Therefore, it is possible to state that the Han was a Confucian state where the power of the king was associated with an even dependent on the rules and norms of Confucianism.
The Role of Confucianism in the Han
Confucianism is the philosophy that brought prosperity to China during the rule of the Han dynasty. The Chinese civilization became “advanced” and “diverse” during the discussed period because Confucianism was based on the idea of attracting people of talents to the highest positions in the state (Hansen 128).
The period is associated with the era of the effective expansion for the Chinese state; the era of efficient political decisions; and the era of the social progress. Confucianism became associated with the Han tradition in Chinese society because all the citizens of the prosperous Chinese state discussed the principles of Confucianism as their main virtues.
The rulers of the Han dynasty chose to use the principles of Confucianism in order to strengthen the social fundament and to emphasize the supreme role of the king. The ruler became to be discussed as a king whose main task was to “bring peace and happiness to his age” (Heaven, Earth, and Man 58-59).
Furthermore, the king could bring “peace and harmony” to the Chinese world while supporting the idea of the filial piety not only in the society but also in the governing bodies to make relations between superiors and citizens “cordial” (The Classic of Filial Piety 66, 68).
In order to avoid chaos and disorder in the society, the rulers of the Han dynasty referred to Confucianism as the effective philosophy associated with stability and peace because of the focus on tradition and intelligence. During the rule of the Han dynasty, people started to pay much attention to the norms of Confucianism and to the successes of the past in order to accentuate the role of the experience and tradition for the progress in the Chinese state.
Works Cited
Ebrey, Patricia Buckley. “Heaven, Earth, and Man”. Chinese Civilization: A Sourcebook. Ed. Patricia Buckley Ebrey. New York, NY: Simon and Schuster, 2009. 57-59. Print.
—. “The Classic of Filial Piety”. Chinese Civilization: A Sourcebook. Ed. Patricia Buckley Ebrey. New York, NY: Simon and Schuster, 2009. 64-68. Print.
Hansen, Valerie. The Open Empire: A History of China to 1600. New York, NY: W. W. Norton, 2000. Print.
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