University of Virginia Library

APPENDIX II

THE VICTORY OF HAN CONFUCIANISM

Since the victory of Confucianism as the official government teaching
was completed in the reign of Emperor Yüan, it may be worth while
here to summarize that development, although this matter has been
discussed in detail in the introductions to various preceding chapters.

During the Former Han period, Confucianism developed from being
the teaching of a few pedants in semi-retirement, as it was at the end
of the Chou period, to become the official philosophy of the government,
which had to be adopted by anyone who hoped to enter public life.
This victory set Confucianism on its way to be the dominating feature of
Chinese culture and to affect profoundly a large portion of humanity.
It is consequently interesting to determine just how and why this victory
came about.

It is sometimes supposed that this victory came about at the beginning
of Emperor Wu's reign. HS 56: 20b, 21a says, "When Emperor Wu had
newly ascended [the throne], the Marquises of Wei-ch'i [Tou Ying]
and of Wu-an [T'ien Fen] became his [Lieutenant] Chancellors, and
made Confucianism flourish. When moreover [Tung] Chung-shu wrote
[his famous] replies to the [examination] questions [set by Emperor Wu,
he advocated] promoting and making glorious [the teaching of] Confucius
and of repressing and degrading [the advocates of] the hundred [other
schools of] philosophy. The establishment of offices for a [government]
university and schools and the recommendation of [persons with] Abundant
Talents and of Filially Pious and Incorrupt [persons to the imperial
government] by the provinces and commanderies all arose from
the proposal of [Tung] Chung-shu." The Confucian victory cannot
however be fixed at any one particular date, nor did it occur in the reign
of Emperor Wu. Rather it was a slow process of increasing completeness,
which began with Emperor Kao and was not complete until the
time of Emperor Yüan, more than a century and a half later. The
History of the Former Han Dynasty, with its detailed reports concerning
the intellectual and political life of the period, gives us a fairly complete
account of the way this victory was achieved.

Emperor Kao began with a violent prejudice against Confucians. Yet
he had an intimate younger half-brother who had had a thorough Confucian
education. The Confucians had opposed and critized the First
Emperor of the Ch'in dynasty, and the latter had repressed them violently,
burning the Books of Odes and of History and driving outstanding

Confucians into flight or retirement. Because of the Ch'in dynasty's
attitude, Confucians naturally assisted Emperor Kao. The Ch'in
dynasty maintained seventy learned men at court, giving them the title
of Erudits. One of them, Shu-sun T'ung, was captured and surrendered
in turn to Hsiang Yü and to Emperor Kao. He later arranged Emperor
Kao's court ceremonies. In his conflict with Hsiang Yü, Emperor
Kao received valuable advice from Confucians, who pointed out to him
the great advantage of employing the Confucian doctrine of Heaven's
Mandate against the tyranny of the Ch'in ruler. Emperor Kao, at the
instance of his Chancellor of State, Hsiao Ho, seems to have been the first
to ask his Administrators in the provinces to recommend persons with excellent
reputations and manifest virtue to the imperial government for
positions in the bureaucracy, which procedure initiated the examination
system, so influential in promoting Confucianism.

Li Yi-chi and Lu Chia, two of Emperor Kao's paladins, were sincere
Confucians. The latter wrote a thoroughly Confucian book at the
Emperor's request, and was highly praised and rewarded for it. Thus
Emperor Kao, beginning with an antipathy to Confucians, ended by
giving them high position and favoring them.

Under the next two rulers, Emperor Kao's son and wife, Emperor
Hui and the Empress Dowager nee Lü, Confucianism suffered a set-back.
Ts'ao Ts'an, the outstanding Lieutenant Chancellor during this period,
was a Taoist; the Confucians opposed the Empress Dowager's usurpation
of the imperial power and went into retirement.

With the Empress Dowager's death and the accession of Emperor Wen,
Confucians again became influential. Lu Chia played an important
part in enthroning this Emperor. The new Emperor encouraged learning
and continued many Confucian practises. But he felt that he must be
impartial towards all the various philosophies current at the time, hence
he established Erudits to be specialists upon these various philosophies,
until he is said to have had seventy Erudits. Yet Emperor Wen was
probably more influenced by Confucianism than by any other single
teaching. Later Confucians have considered him a saint. Chia Yi,
who was more a Confucian than a Taoist, influenced Emperor Wen
greatly. Emperor Wen moreover extended the examination system by
having the commanderies send capable persons to the imperial court,
among whom the Emperor selected officials by setting examinations for
them at the capital. In his questions, the Emperor invited the candidates
to give him advice upon governmental policies. Thus Confucianism
was nerely one of the most influential of the many tendencies in
Emperor Wen's government.

In the imperial examination of 165 B.C., Ch'ao Ts'o, a favorite of
the Heir-apparent, the future Emperor Ching, took the first place.
Ch'ao Ts'o had become his Household Steward, and was known as the
"bag of wisdom." In his youth he had studied the legalist philosophy
and that of names and circumstances; when someone was needed to
receive from the aged Master Fu the Confucian tradition concerning
the Book of History, Ch'ao Ts'o was sent. Like Chia Yi, he was thus
conversant with several philosophies, in this respect perhaps typical of
the age. The future Emperor Ching favored Ch'ao Ts'o greatly, and,
when he came to the throne, gave Ch'ao Ts'o high office. As a whole,
Emperor Ching, however, was not as favorable to Confucianism as his
father had been.

In 141 B.C., the youthful Emperor Wu came to the throne. He was
only in his sixteenth year, and had been given a good classical education,
which had naturally included a study of Chinese literature, the Confucian
classics. His Junior Tutor had been Wang Tsang, a disciple of Shen
P'ei, the famous Confucian authority on the Book of Odes. The Emperor
was greatly interested in learning, literature, and poetry; he himself later
wrote some very creditable poetry. He was somewhat imperious and
very ambitious. After having been given such an education, he was
naturally much impressed by Confucianism, so much so that at first,
at the suggestion of Tung Chung-shu, he seems to have wanted to make
Confucianism the sole philosophy of the government. In this resolve,
he was probably swayed very largely by his advisors, especially by
Wang Tsang, for in later years the Emperor altered his attitude to
Confucianism greatly. The most serious obstacle to this plan was the
fact that the Emperor's grandmother, the Grand Empress Dowager nee
Tou, was a devotee of Lao-tzu. Because of the current exaltation of
filial piety, her influence at the court was quite as strong as that of the
Emperor. The Confucian party hence compromised by attacking
only the philosophy they considered most dangerous and most opposed
to the Confucian tradition, namely the Legalist school, which had been
that espoused by the Ch'in dynasty, from whose institutions the Han
dynasty had taken its governmental organization. Hence they induced
the aged and faithful but incompetent Lieutenant Chancellor, Wei
Wan, to memorialize the throne that all those officials and candidates
should be dismissed who had specialized in the lore of Shen Pu-hai,
Shang Yang, Han Fei, Su Ch'in, and Chang Yi, who were mostly Legalists.
Emperor Wu naturally ratified and enacted this proposal.[1] Pan

Ku says that the intention of this edict was to eliminate all non-Confucians
from the government service.[2]

Half a year later, Emperor Wu dismissed Wei Wan for incompetence
and appointed in his place Tou Ying, a son of a first cousin of the Grand
Empress Dowager, who had distinguished himself by putting down a
serious rebellion in the preceding reign, but had not previously been
given high civil office because of his outspokenness and pride. The
Emperor's maternal half-uncle, T'ien Fen, was made Grand Commandant,
a position only inferior in power to that of the Lieutenant Chancellor.
The Grand Empress Dowager was induced to suggest this arrangement.[3]

Tou Ying favored Confucianism highly; T'ien Fen had in his youth
studied the works of a certain P'an Yü, an eclectic philosopher who
combined the doctrines of the Confucians, the Mohists, Legalists, and
the school of names. The greatest ministers thus all favored Confucianism.
They made a clean sweep of the previous officials, and selected for
the third most influential court position, that of Grandee Secretary,
Chao Wan, another disciple of the Confucian authority Shen P'ei.
Wang Tsang was a Chief of the Gentlemen-at-the-Palace, a position
that enabled him to come into intimate contact with Emperor Wu.
Thus Confucians controlled the government.

They proceeded to introduce Confucian practises, and proposed the
establishment of a Ming-t'ang, a ceremonial building said to have been
used in Chou times for sacrifices and court receptions. Emperor Wu
liked ceremonies and pomp; Confucianism emphasized such ceremonials.
Chao Wan and Wang Tsang needed expert aid in this project, so they
persuaded Emperor Wu to send for their teacher, Shen P'ei. A messenger
was sent with presents of silk and jade circlets (pi), and with a
comfortable carriage with seats, with its wheels bound with rushes,
and a quadriga of horses, to invite the eighty-odd year old Confucian
authority to court. His two outstanding disciples followed him in
one-horse carriages. When he arrived at court, Emperor Wu asked him
to state the source of good and bad government. The old man replied,
"The person who governs well should not speak much, and should merely
pay attention and strive hard at what he does." The young emperor
thought highly of his own literary ability, so that he was much displeased
by the old man's reproof. The Emperor had however summoned
Shen P'ei, so made him a Grand Palace Grandee, a high honorary

position, and installed him in the Lodge at the capital for the King of
Lu, then ordered the discussion of a Ming-t'ang.

Meanwhile the Confucian clique at the court had found itself hampered
by the influence of the nobles at the capital. The Confucians
accordingly revived a law enacted by Emperor Wen under Confucian
influence to the effect that nobles, especially marquises, should reside at
their estates in order to guide and care for their people. Most of the
nobles had however established themselves at the center of civilization
and luxury in the imperial capital, did not wish to leave it, and concerned
themselves only with receiving the taxes from their estates. On account
of fear of rebellion, the administrators of noble estates were all appointed
by the imperial government, so that nobles could have little
contact with their people. Emperor Ching had consequently rescinded
Emperor Wen's law. Many of the marquises had moreover married
imperial princesses, hence they took their cause to their relative, the
Grand Empress Dowager nee Tou, and slandered Tou Ying to her. Tou
Ying also offended his own clan by discriminating among its members,
erasing from the family record the names of those who were not upright.

In order to check the influence of the Grand Empress Dowager, the
Confucians now asked for the enactment of a law to the effect that
government affairs should not be brought to the attention of an Empress
Dowager, i.e., that female influence should be excluded from the government.
Thus the issue was joined. Tou Ying and his party were
trying to exalt Confucianism and suppress Taoism as well as Legalism;
the Grand Empress Dowager was an ardent Taoist. When the Grand
Empress Dowager heard of the Confucians' request, she was furious;
Emperor Wu, who had probably become somewhat tired of the Confucians,
sent Wang Tsang and Chao Wan to jail, where they were compelled
to commit suicide; Tou Ying and T'ien Fen were dismissed. The
Confucians would not withstand the Emperor's grandmother.[4]

A few months after her death in 135 B.C., Emperor Wu, possibly at the
suggestion of T'ien Fen, who had again become influential, established
Erudits who specialized in each of the five Confucian classics. The same
year, T'ien Fen became Lieutenant Chancellor. He appointed several
hundred Confucians to office and degraded Taoists.[5] Yet there continued
to be Taoists in the court, for there had been no ban put upon
them—Chi Yen, a Taoist, was promoted by Emperor Wu to the position
of Chief Commandant in Charge of Noble Ranks, one of the high ministers

(50: 9b), and continued by his frank criticism to inspire the Emperor with
respect and even with fear. Szu-ma T'an and his son, the historian
Szu-ma Ch'ien, were both Taoists and kept their post as the successive
Grand Astrologers. The Mohist school seems to have exercised little
influence, if it still existed, which is doubtful, for no adherent of this
school is mentioned among Emperor Wu's officials, although it is mentioned
by Szu-ma T'an in his survey and comparison of the six
philosophical schools.[6]

Through his liking for scholarship and literary men, Emperor Wu came
into touch with the Confucian Kung-sun Hung1. The latter was a poor
boy who had studied the various commentaries on the Spring and
Autumn, and was recommended to the imperial court by his native state.
His examination paper was placed in the lowest class by the Grand
Master of Ceremonies; when Emperor Wu reread the papers, he was much
struck by the literary quality of Kung-sun Hung's paper, promoted it to
the first paper of the first class, and summoned him to an audience. He
proved to be a Confucian who knew how to clothe displeasing speech
in tactful language, hence secured Emperor Wu's favor. Tung Chung-shu
called him a flatterer. He was gradually advanced until Emperor
Wu made him a marquis and Lieutenant Chancellor.

Tung Chung-shu had previously suggested to Emperor Wu the establishment
of a government university; in the summer of 124 B.C.,
while Kung-sun Hung1 was Lieutenant Chancellor (6: 11b), the latter
renewed the suggestion and drafted the memorial which was approved
by the Emperor and became the charter of the Imperial University
(HS 88: 3b-6a). This institution was located seven li northwest of
the capital. The masters were the Erudits; they or their Disciples did
the teaching.[7] The Grand Master of Ceremonies was ordered to select
fifty persons who were in their eighteenth year or over, in good health
and upright in character. They were entitled the Disciples of the
Erudits and were exempted from taxes and service. The Administrators

of Commanderies and Chancellors of Kingdoms were ordered to
select suitable students who showed a love of learning and good character
and to send them to the Grand Master of Ceremonies at the imperial
capital with the persons who brought the yearly accounts to the capital;
these students were to study at the Imperial University for one year with
the Disciples, whereupon they were to be examined. Those who thereupon
showed themselves expert in one classic or more were entitled
Literary Scholars or Authorities upon Ancient Matters. Those who did
not attain such a high rank might be made Gentlemen-of-the-Palace,
who were imperial attendants and might be selected for office. The name
of a person who was graded as an Accomplished Talent of Unusual Degree
might be reported to the throne for a substantial office. Those who had
not applied themselves to studying or had shown themselves of such
small ability that they could not even become expert in one Classic were
immediately dismissed. Literary Scholars or Authorities upon Ancient
Matters might be given minor positions in the official bureaucracy.[8]

There was thus established in the capital an institution for the training
of officials, capable graduates of which automatically entered the government
service. The curriculum and teachers of this institution were all
Confucians, so that, as Szu-ma Ch'ien says, "From this time on, most of
the minor officials in the offices of the ministers and officials at the capital
were Literary Scholars." Confucian learning thus became the means
whereby most of the lower positions in the bureaucracy were filled, and
so in time permeated the government.

Emperor Wu was far from being a thoroughgoing Confucian. Indeed,
in many respects he acted contrary to Confucian ideals. His widespread
military expeditions were un-Confucian. His heavy taxes and legal
oppression of the people were un-Confucian. His establishment of the
salt and iron government monopolies, the monopoly on fermented liquors,
and the Bureau of Equalization and Standards, whereby the government
speculated in goods, were specifically Legalist measures. His cultivation
of magicians, his seeking for supernatural beings, his erection of buildings
for magical purposes, such as Fei-lien Lodge, Yi-yen-shou Lodge, and
T'ung-t'ien T'ai (the Terrace that Communicates with Heaven) and
his indulgence in superstitious sacrifices were Taoist measures.[9] His

elaborate development of laws was a measure stressed by the school of
names and circumstances. In many ways, in his conquest, in his tours
of the empire, in his ascent of Mt. T'ai, and in his severe government,
he seems deliberately to have imitated the First Emperor of the Ch'in
dynasty, who was a legalist. In 110 B.C., when the fifty-odd Confucians
he had summoned could not agree on what should be the ceremonies and
utensils for the sacrifices feng and shan, chiefly because these Confucians
restrained themselves by historical principles and were unwilling to go
beyond what ancient texts declared, Emperor Wu dismissed them all
and himself fixed the rites for these sacrifices.[10] Thus Emperor Wu was
in reality influenced by all the current doctrines, and did not hesitate
to depart from Confucian principles. While his reign marks the beginning
of strong Confucian influence in the government, that influence
was far from being victorious at this time.

The next step towards the Confucian victory occurred in the reign of
Emperor Hsüan, who came to the throne almost by accident in 74 B.C.,
thirteen years after Emperor Wu died. This boy had been disinherited
because of his grandfather's rebellion against Emperor Wu, and had
been brought up by some faithful officials. He had been given a good
education, which naturally included a study of Chinese literature, so that
he had studied the Analects, the Classic of Filial Piety, and the Book of
Odes. Thus he had been indoctrinated with Confucianism, because
Confucians had taken to themselves the exposition of the best Chinese
literary treasures and had made those treasures into Confucian books.
After he began to rule, he chose Confucians for his officials and advisors.
Each of his Lieutenant Chancellors had made a special study of some
Classic, although they were not primarily scholars. When calamities,
such as earthquakes, occurred, he did the typically Confucian thing of
sending for those Confucians who professed to be able to interpret
such visitations as indicating the will of Heaven. Because his grandfather
had been interested in the Ku-liang Commentary on the Spring
and Autumn, Emperor Hsüan revived its study and summoned its
teachers to the Imperial Palace, where he ordered ten of his gentlemen
to study it, which they did consecutively for more than ten years. Comparison
of it with the then authoritative Kung-yang Commentary (the
Tso-chuan had not yet become popular), led to a realization of the discrepancies
between different interpretations of the various classics.
Emperor Hsüan accordingly summoned to the capital all the outstanding
authorities upon the Confucian classics to discuss the meaning of these

classics in the imperial presence. The discussions began in the Palace
Hall and were transferred to the Shih-ch'ü Pavillion, under the presidency
of the Grand Tutor to the Heir-Apparent, Hsiao Wang-chih, who
was famous for his scholarship in all five classics. The discussions lasted
three years; twenty-two persons are mentioned in various places as having
participated as authorities in this famous discussion. In cases of otherwise
irreconcilable disputes, Emperor Hsüan seems himself to have
decided upon the correct interpretation. The decisions of this Confucian
council were memorialized to the Emperor and were ratified by him in
51 B.C. They are listed among the books in Imperial Private Library.
In this way an official interpretation for the classics was reached. Other
interpretations were not proscribed, but the official interpretation was
doubtless taught in the Imperial University and learned by all candidates
for official position, for use in the examinations. Consequently it monopolized
men's minds in the same way that Chu Hsi's interpretation became
dominant in the medieval period. At the same time, the number of
Erudits and Disciples, i.e. the teachers in the Imperial University,
was doubled and Erudits were established for special interpretations of
certain classics.[11]

Thus at the end of Emperor Hsüan's reign, the occupants of the
high government posts had all had a Confucian training, the Imperial
University was continuing to fill the bureaucracy with Confucian scholars,
and a Confucian council had fixed the official interpretation of the Classics
which became authoritative for the government. Yet Emperor Hsüan
was not a thoroughgoing Confucian and did not wholeheartedly approve
of this doctrine. He was primarily a practical man who had
lived among the common people before he came to the throne, and
knew the danger of idealistic impracticality inherent in Confucian
teaching. Hence he took as his own ideal of government, not merely
Confucian principles, but also the conduct of the very un-Confucian
practical statesmen during Spring and Autumn times. He was interested
in the penological terminology discussed by the legalist school of
names and circumstances, and most of his high officials used these
legalist principles as well as Confucian principles in their government.
Pan Ku represents him as telling his Heir-apparent that the institutes
and laws of the Han dynasty had been taken from both non-Confucian
and Confucian teachings and that the Confucian principle of using
merely moral suasion to bring about conformity to right principles is
utterly impracticable; the Confucian love of the ancient and disapproval

of the present results in confusion.[12] This drastic criticism of Confucianism,
found today in the writings of a Confucian historian, indicates
well the attitude practical men then took towards Confucianism.

Yet Emperor Hsüan had so well prepared the way for the victory of
of Confucianism that this victory could hardly have been avoided. He
had given his son and Heir Confucian tutors. This Emperor Yüan
had been brought up in the Palace and had had little contact with the
outer world, so that Confucianism did not appear impractical to him.
When he came to the throne, he proposed immediately to make Confucian
reforms. The influence of the Emperor's maternal relatives,
who were in control of the army, and of the Emperor's favorite eunuch
was able to check the Confucian influence for a time. Emperor Yüan
knew little of government, so depended upon this eunuch to decide
government matters, and spent most of his time enjoying himself in the
imperial harem. This eunuch was even able to trick the Emperor into
sending the outstanding Confucian, Hsiao Wang-chih, to his death.
The criticism that resulted however led this eunuch to favor other
famous Confucians, and so, during most of Emperor Yüan's reign,
Confucian influence was allowed to make important reforms in the
government. In this period it became the practise for the Superintendant
of the Imperial Household yearly to rank the various members
of the imperial retinue according to a set of four Confucian virtues.
Since the commonest way of entering government service was by spending
a period as a member of the large imperial retinue, in order that the
emperor might have a personal acquaintance with his officials, it was
natural, when the bureaucracy and consequently the imperial retinue
became so large that an emperor could not know individually all the
prospective candidates (it included as many as a thousand persons)
that a second and moral test should have been added after the first
and literary examination.[13] In the next reign, that of Emperor Ch'eng,
Confucian influence was equally important. His cousin, Wang Mang,
who sought to usurp the throne, found it advisable to adopt all sorts of
Confucian practises. He indeed endeavored to secure public approval
by being more Confucian than even the Han emperors had been, and
kept reforming the imperial administration to give it more and more
Confucian features. His outstanding reforms were merely Confucian
ideals translated into governmental practises. In thus attracting the
approval of educated men, Wang Mang was so successful that the

leaders of the Later Han dynasty largely followed his example. The
rulers of that dynasty were even more Confucian than the last emperors
of the Former Han dynasty and Confucian influence dominated the whole
Later Han period.

Thus the victory of Confucianism was a gradual process. It began
when Emperor Kao found Confucians assisting him in overthrowing the
anti-Confucian Ch'in dynasty. The early Han emperors encouraged
all the various philosophies of the time. Emperor Wu had a Confucian
education, and, in a fit of youthful enthusiasm, endeavored to make
Confucianism the philosophy of the government. This attempt was
however frustrated by the Emperor's grandmother, while the Emperor
himself lost his first enthusiasm for Confucianism and became influenced
by various other doctrines. His love for literature and literary men
however continued to attract him to Confucians, and Kung-sun Hung
induced the Emperor to establish a Confucian Imperial University,
which gradually distributed Confucian literati among the minor offices
in the government. Emperor Hsüan likewise had a Confucian education;
he favored Confucianism highly, enlarged the Imperial University, and
fixed upon an official interpretation to the Confucian Classics. But he
considered Confucian principles as impractical for government, so checked
their influence by legalist principles. The final victory of Confucianism
did not come until the reign of his son, Emperor Yüan. Thereafter
Confucian doctrines became the sole guide for princes, except during
the brief reign of Emperor Ai. The usurper Wang Mang and the
revived Later Han Dynasty both honored these doctrines, and they continued
to dominate the government until the end of that dynasty.

We can now see the causes that brought about the victory of Confucianism.
In the first place, Confucianism was admirably adapted
to be the official philosophy of an imperial government. Confucius was
himself a government official and his pupils were people whose future lay
mostly in official life. Consequently he stressed and taught ideals of
good government. His ethics were aristocratic, that of the ruler who
should be kind (jen) to his people, and of the subject who should be filial
(hsiao), loyal (chung), and decorous (li) to his ruler.

In the second place, Confucius, as a good teacher, was himself a
learned man, and those of his disciples who did not enter political life
became the teachers of China. Confucius taught the literature of his
people; the Confucians made themselves the scholarly authorities and
teachers of that literature. Thus ancient Chinese literature, especially
the best of it, became the literature of Confucianism, and was interpreted
to teach Confucian lessons. Hence anyone who became interested in

literature or scholarship naturally gravitated to the Confucians, for they
possessed the scholarly traditions of the country, and anyone who acquired
a scholarly education was inevitably given a Confucian indoctrination.
In times of warfare, such as that towards the end of the period
of Contending States, scholarship was unimportant, and Confucianism
declined; but when peace was restored, so that scholarship became useful,
Confucianism revived. Because Confucians inevitably became the
tutors of the Heirs to the throne, rulers became indoctrinated in Confucian
ideals. Even though a particular ruler might not be altogether
Confucian, his son, who was affected by both his father's example and
the influence of his Confucian tutor, was likely to be more Confucian,
until the dynasty became wholly Confucian.

In the third place, certain governmental institutions put a premium
upon Confucianism. In the time of Emperor Wen, it became the practise
for the Emperor periodically to invite the provinces to send to him
able persons; he selected among them by requiring to write essays on
various subjects connected with government. The examination system,
even in this early form, thus put a high premium upon literary ability,
and hence upon a Confucian training. It was thus natural that the
government should have been led to establish schools, in particular the
Imperial University, graduates from which filled the bureaucracy with
learned Confucians. Since Confucians were learned men, they naturally
graded the examinations, hence kept non-Confucians out of the bureaucracy,
not by any proscription, but by the simple device of ploughing
non-Confucians.

In the fourth place, after its advantages were recognized, the advantage
of unifying the country intellectually by making one system
of thought current among all educated men led to the elevation of
Confucianism. Shortly after Emperor Wu ascended the throne, in 141
B.C., Tung Chung-shu, in his reply to the imperial examination, presented
his famous memorials concerning statecraft. One of the principles
he therein advocated was that there should be an intellectual
unification of the country by destroying all the non-Confucian philosophies.[14]
These memorials seem to have made a deep impression upon
Emperor Wu, for he immediately acted upon them, proscribing Legalism
and elevating Confucians to be his highest officials. An intellectual
unification had been previously attempted by Li Szu, the famous minister
of the First Emperor, when in 213 B.C. he recommended the burning

of the books and punishment of any one who criticized the Ch'in regime.
The Confucians had roundly condemned this procedure. Emperor Wu
was ambitious to equal the First Emperor in greatness; he was probably
not loath similarly to unify the thought of his own time. While
Emperor Wu later became lukewarm towards Confucianism, Emperor
Hsüan was undoubtedly reminded of Tung Chung-shu's proposal and
certainly recognized the advantages of this policy.

These four factors first demonstrated their effectiveness in Former Han
times. They have undoubtedly continued to operate throughout
Chinese history. At the end of the Later Han period, there seems to
have been a collapse of Confucianism because sincere and long-continued
attempts to put it into practise had failed to prevent the collapse of the
dynasty; the ensuing long period of disorder naturally also brought about
decay of Confucianism. When peace was restored in the T'ang period,
these four factors again brought Confucianism to the front, although
the dynasty's supposed descent from Lao-tzu kept it from becoming
Confucian. In the next great dynasty, the Sung, there was naturally
another peak of Confucian influence. That ascendency continued as
long as peace enabled scholarship to be prized. Only in the modern
period, when literature and learning have ceased to be synonymous with
Confucian teaching and China has ceased to be an empire, has there been
a marked break in the influence of Confucianism. In China, as in Europe,
not until the advent of modern science put into man's hands another tool
for reaching truth, has the power of the ancient authoritarian world-view
been broken. (Reproduced, with permission and with modifications,
from JOAS, Sept. 1938, vol. 58, no. 3, pp. 435-449.)