In 2006, a brand of watered-down neo-Confucianism took root in China, popularized especially by Beijing Normal University Professor Yu Dan. Liu took particular exception to this “sales pitch that combines tall tales about the ancients with insights that are about as sophisticated as the lyrics of pop songs.”
Legalism, or fajia (法家), the philosophical school that animated Wei Yuan’s Statecraft Anthology, rejected Confucian personal and political ethics. Traditional Confucian thought stressed loyalty, family, rituals, and harmony as the foundations of a virtuous ruler and a well-governed state. Legalists, by contrast, believe a ruler should be guided by two simple principles, “a wealthy country and a… Read more »