What in your view can Confucianism contribute toour understanding of the rule of law？

Jing+Zhou

Introduction

The Confucianism system is great and profound. It almost affects all aspects of the Chinese daily life. The law is also affected by it. Up to now， the behavior norm of Confucianism worship is still the moral standard for our daily behavior. Now， this paper talks about how Confucianism contributes to our understanding of the rule of law. This papers goal is to discuss the core value of Confucianism and the relationship between it and the rule of law， through which get to the conclusion that Confucianism can help people to better understanding of the rule of law of human right.

To achieve this goal， I have organized my paper into five main sections， one of which has sub-sections. In the first section， I discuss the core value of Confucianism. In the second section， I provide the definition and value of the rule of law. Then， in the third section， I analyze the relationship between Confucianism and the rule of law of human right. I end my paper with a forth section that talks about the rule of law in china and conclude with a fifth section that Confucianism is very important for us to understand of the rule of law of human right.

1. The value of Confucianism

Confucianism is a Chinese ethical and philosophical system developed from the teachings of the Chinese philosopher Confucius （551-478BC）. “Confucianism originated as an ‘ethical-sociopolitical teaching during the spring and Autumn Period， and later developed metaphysics and cosmological elements in the Han Dynasty.” （Gao， 2014， p. 2）. Following the development of this ideology， Confucianism became the official state ideology of china until it was replaced by the “ Three Principle of the People” ideology when the Republic of China established.

Those rules encourage citizens to pursue perfect virtue and to become contributing members of society. Therefore， Confucianism has contributed to maintain social stability， improve peoples living standard and prevent crime since it come into being.

2. The rule of law

“The rule of law means that the law is king” （Paine， 1994， p. 279）. He thought that nobody is above the law. Imagine a country with no laws at all. The state cannot remain stable because everyone has extreme freedom to do what he or she wants to do. As a result， people would live without security and protection. For this reason， the rule of law is absolutely central to the self-image of a modern state today.

Lord Bingham （2011）was noted for his advocacy of human rights and the Rule of Law. In his lecture on ‘the Rule of Law， he identified eight ‘sub-rules. Among those rules， he mentioned that the law must afford adequate protection of human rights. Now， this paper illustrates how Confucianism contributes to peoples understanding of the rule of law of human rights.

3. The relationship between the Rule of Law and Confucianism

3.1 The positive relationship

There are many ways that people have thought about law： Natural Law， Positivism， Realism and Critical Legal Studies. Since the paper talks about the relationship between law and Confucianism， it should use Natural Law to analyze the legal theory. “Natural Law means that objective natural ‘moral laws give human laws their force” （Slorach， Embley， Goodchild， & Shephard， 2013）. Nature Lawyers also think that the rule of Law must depend for its legitimacy on minimum standards of morality and predictability （Slorach， et al.， 2013）. By the way， the core of Confucianism is humanism that human beings should respect each other. The belief mainly depends on the most basic three ideas-“Ren”， “Li” and “Dao”， which illustrate the central value of Confucianism.

“Ren”means not only “to love all man” （James， 1966， p. 171）， but also “to subdue oneself and return to propriety （Li）” （James， 1996， p. 33）. “To love all man” tells us that we need to have perfect virtue and try our best to establish a harmonic society， which shows the basic meaning of “Ren”. Similarly， “to subdue one and return to Li， ” ask us to restrain ourselves and follow the Li. Both of those thought aim to improve citizens spirit and encourage them pursue perfect virtue， which is similar with that of laws.

“Li” represents rules of propriety and harmony. In Confucianism， there are lots of rules that regulate peoples behavior， which are good for them making more friends and have more jobs opportunities. What is more， “Li” contributes to stimulate the virtue of people and build a harmonic society. For example， Confucius once emphasized：“A prince should employ his minister according to Li； ministers should serve their prince with faithfulness” （James， 1966， p. 171）. During that period of time， Li was the minimum standards of morality and predictability， which was just like laws. In modern times， however， Li is defined by philosophers on a new important attribution- the spiritual values.

“Dao” refers to natural rules and the regulation of instruction， which advocates people should follow rules and become law-abiding citizens. Doctrine of the mean is the core value of “Dao”. “The so-called ‘mean by Confucius does not mean ‘mediation but a ‘moderate and ‘just-right way when understanding and handling objective thing” （Gao， 2014， p. 2）. More than 2300 years after Confucius established this moral disciplines， this thought has been not only treated as a way to understand and deal with laws， but also integrated into everyones daily life through self-cultivation and training. Doctrine of the mean is not only the core of Confucianism， but also the basis value of Chinese traditional culture.

Confucianism is an ethical system， which is comprised of Ren， Li， and Dao. It helps people to develop good traits of personality and character； finds out sets of suitable fundamental obligation in society； and appraises people behavior. Consequently， Confucianism has played an invaluable role in the construction of national spirit， the transmission of national wisdom， and the development of national culture.

Unfortunately， it has been said that everything has two sides. In the light of this statement， Confucianism also provides drawbacks that are not legally enforceable. To understand that of Confucianism， we could understand the rule of law better.

3.2 The negative relationship

The one of Confucianisms shortages is that Confucianism reduces the fair and balance of law. Confucianism emphasizes that governors should use moral standards to manage the country， which is totally different from our jurisprudence today. Confucianism focuses on improving somebodys personality， mood， thoughts and soul to make them intelligent， kind and so on. Then， those people， who are known as “Jun Zi” in china， influence and educate people around them to make “ordinary” people understanding and following laws and rules. For instance， when governors punish criminals， they tend to use moral standards to persuade criminals to give up evil and obey the law rather than use laws to punish them， since those statesmen are regarded as a sort of “Jun Zi”. This way could not address the root causes of crime and deter criminals. Finally， such way may lead to increase the re-offending rate， because it cannot deter criminals. If state just used morality and virtue to regulate some serious offenses， criminals may not reflect on their actions and even lead to resentment of other citizens. Therefore， just using “Ren” to manage country is not a sufficient punishment.

What is more， some thoughts of Confucianism are not rational and legal. Examples can be easily found to prove this point. “Xiao”， which is a very important thought of Confucianism， keeps on asking us not to hurt our bodies to show our respect for parents. Like abortion， this sort of situation is completely prohibitive in Confucianism， because abortion would be bad for the health of the mother and the life of the fetus. However， there are still large number of females for many reasons really need to abortion. In the light of this statement， those females would live in censure. Fortunately， we are living in a legal society that gives citizens enough freedom and rights to do what we really want to do， allowing this situation is legal.

What is more， there is a set of guarded hierarchy in Confucianism. People who are divided into different classes cannot communicate and marry. The government uses this ideology to consolidate their rights and slave citizens.

The reason why Confucianism has some shortages is that this ideology does not find a good balance between law and morality. Confucianism puts emphasis on the role of ethics and does not pay attention to the impartiality and fairness of the law. Similarly， why moral duties are not equal to legal duties in some points？ The main reason is that legal duties are created by law， rather than by ethic system. The relationship between Confucianism and the rule of law is overlapping.

In spite of its shortages， its benefits make a great contribution on helping us to understand the very important concept of jurisprudence-the Rule of Law， which cannot be ignored in any time. Therefore， based on the two functions of law and ethics， we need to coordinate the relationship between them.

4. The rule of law in china

An organization called the Word Justice Project has attempted to rank notable states by conformity with indicators of the Rule of Law. “They found that： China scored highly in criminal justice and security， but low in fundamental rights and judicial in dependence”（as quoted by Slorach， 2013） Therefore， our jurisprudence has a long way to go to achieve the best. Confucianism， from oil in the gears to sand in the wheels， has become a kind of routine in our daily life. Maybe， it can help governors to promote Chinese jurisprudence development， since Confucianism teaches us good manners and etiquette， and encourages us to think about the consequences of our actions and to distinguish the difference between right and worry.

Conclusion

Confucianism is the base of human right laws and these laws are the standard of Confucianism. Though laws could compel force and punish crimes， it is extremely difficult to educate and teach citizens the difference between right and wrong. By contrast， Confucianism could do those jobs to lead people to reflect on why law is the king in the real word. As a result， that is the main social value of Confucianism in modern society. The conditions of society are such that Confucianism and law need to get together to enforce social development. Confucianism can help people to better understanding of the rule of law of human right.

References：

[1]BinghamTom.The Rule of Law：The 2006 Sir David Williams Lecture.Retrieved June 2，2016，frome http：//www.cpl.law.cam.ac.uk/.

[2]GaoQuanxi.The new challenge of confucianism.Retrieved June 2，2016，frome http：//history.sina.com.cn/his/zl/2014-11-07/1515107150.shtml.

[3]JamesLegge.（1966）.The Four Books.New York：Paragon Book Reprint.

[4]PaineThomas.（1994）.Common Sense.London：Everymans Libray.

[5]Slorachscott，EmbleyJudith，GoodchildPeter，&Shephard Catherine.（2013）.Legal Systerms&Skills.British：Oxford University Press.