Early China Thinkers
Philosophical Concepts
Chinese Government
19th century
20th century
100
He tried to have a political career and wanted to reinstitute the ideas of the past by leading through virtue and the li
Who is Confucius?
100
Rituals, customs and lifestyles led by virtue instead of written law
What is li?
100
This is the lowest official representative of the emperor.
What is a magistrate?
100
This is the name given to the agreement to grant imbalanced concessions after the Opium War
What is an unequal treaty?
100
A radical reformer, he helped found the Republic of China
Who is Sun Yatsen?
200
This Confucian thinker believed that people were born virtuous, and advocated the well-field system
Who is Mencius?
200
The Chinese word for law
What is fa?
200
The physical building of a local court and staff.
What is a yamen?
200
A 14-year rebellion that was ideally to be a classless and sexless society, which would incorporate Christian elements
What is the Taiping Rebellion?
200
A transitional figure, he was a Qing general before serving as the first president of the Republic of China
Who is Yuan Shi Kai?
300
This legal theorist believed simple rules of right and wrong were needed
Who is Han Fei Zi?
300
This philosophy incorporates the universal principle, or 'the way'
What is Daoism
300
He was the first emperor of China.
Who is Qin Shi Huang Di?
300
This system of restrictive trade regulations confined commerce to a single port.
What is the Canton System?
300
A moderate reformer, he advocated modernizing the imperial system through reforms promulgated and known as 'the 100 Days' Reform'
Who is Kang Youwei?
400
This Confucian thinker believed that people are born evil.
Who is Xunzi?
400
A Han dynasty blend of Confucian and Legalist principles
What is the Confucianization of the law?
400
A regulation that prevented officials from serving in their home districts
What is the rule of avoidance?
400
This official was sent to Canton to stop opium trade
Who is Commissioner Lin Zexu?
400
An 8000 mile journey through China that concluded in Yan'an.
What is the Long March?
500
This legalist scholar advocated a meritocracy over a nobility and advocated expanding state power.
Who is Shang Yang?
500
This is an analogy for the emperor whose example inspires others to act in accordance with good virtue.
What is the pole star theory?
500
This is the belief that the emperor's legitimacy could be reflected by cosmic harmony.
What is the Mandate of Heaven?
500
The legal construct that allowed non-Chinese to be tried according to the laws of their own respective countries, while still in China
What is extraterritoriality?
500
These were Mao Zedong's enclaves with a countryside peasantry base
What are the rural soviets?
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