"
CHAPTER XX
LAW
Let us now consider the notions of law as they existed in the
primitive Chinese mind. As all government was supposed to be based
on the natural laws of the universe, of which universal law or
order of things, the Emperor, as "Son of Heaven," was (subject to
his own obedience to it) the supreme mouthpiece or expression,
there lay upon him no duty to define that manifest law; when it
was broken, it was for him to say that it was broken, and to
punish the breach. Nature's bounty is the spring, and therefore
rewards are conferred in spring; nature's fall is in the autumn,
which is the time for decreeing punishments; these are carried out
in winter, when death steals over nature. A generous table
accompanies the dispensing of rewards, a frugal table and no music
accompanies the allotment of punishments; hence the imperial
feasts and fasts. Thus punishment rather than command is what was
first understood by Law, and it is interesting to observe that
"making war" and "putting to death" head the list of imperial
chastisements, war being thus regarded as the Emperor's rod in the
shape of a posse of punitory police, rather than as an expression
of statecraft, ambitious greed, or vainglorious self-assertion.
Pages:
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213