Essay on the celebrated cases of judge dee

Confucius is figured out as one of the most prominent theorists of the Chinese history. He established his own school of idea, Rujia which did not only affect almost every aspect of Chinese life but also influenced several other thoughts substantially that emerged in the Chinese territory. Rujia school of thought or the Confucianism witnessed several reigns and passed through different phases and different treatments from the kings. In the Qin dynasty rulers tried to suppress Confucianism on the other hand, it was given the status of official philosophy during the Han dynasty in china. This paper discusses the Confucianism and also talks how this school of thought affected different aspects of Chinese society along with an introduction of contemporary Chinese society during the Han and Tang dynasty. Further paper talks about a fictional character Judge Dee, his role in the society of china and how this character affected the legal system of contemporary Chinese society.
Han dynasty is considered one of the most famous dynasties of China. The Han dynasty was established in circa 206 BC on Chinese land after a civil war in china which claimed the life of Qin Shihuangdi of the Qin dynasty. Liu pang is believed to be the first emperor of the Han dynasty. The Han dynasty is very reputed in china and its period is known as the golden period of the Chinese history. By a number of revolts, the empire was shattered into a number of states and later succumbed to attack of surrounding states. The empire and this period are known for administrative and educationist reforms in society of china. The empire witnessed development in almost every aspect of the Chinese society.
In the period between the Han and Tang dynasties, several empires came and gone. The Chinese territory was still under a huge turbulent state of affairs. A stable and strong rule was demand of time which was provided by the tang dynasty in china. Tang dynasty was established in the china on the ruins of Sui dynasty by Li. The period of Tang dynasty is considered as 618 to the end of the tenth century. Tang dynasty is one of the most powerful dynasties of china that also provided good and effective administration to the Chinese people. Tang dynasty is considered equal to the Han dynasty in reputation and for reformatory steps which gave the china some very renowned and powerful rulers. The method of ruling of two dynasties was also based on almost similar principles and Confucius had substantially affected both the dynasties with his teachings and principles. The Tang dynasty was succumbed to a number of revolts and external attacks but the model of administration that was implemented during Tang dynasty continued for centuries afterwards. The Tang dynasty introduced a number of technologies, reforms, modifications in education, and tools for effective and transparent administration which kept this dynasty ruling for a long time in china.
Confucius was an ardent believer of humanism and because of this reason humanism is the central part of the Confucianism. He always thought that humans are trainable; they can be trained and turned into a perfect human being by the process of proper training and self cultivation. Confucius endorses ideas of etiquettes, loyalty, honesty, knowledge and righteousness and suggests people to adopt these ideas in their life for being a good human being. Confucius was a visionary scholar who advocated the process of reformation by adopting positive qualities in his life.
This ideology was required for administrative improvements in the Han dynasty which was established in 206BCE. Recognizing the importance of Confucianism, it was made the official ideology of the newly established Han dynasty by Emperor Liu Pang. The education system was changed and new ideas were introduced for betterment of the dynasty. The philosophy changed system of working, thinking and also the way of controlling empire during the Han dynasty. After adopting Confucianism, selection process of employees was changed and now they were put under a number of examinations and tests before getting appointed in the administration of Han dynasty. This process enabled the emperor to select competent and deserving people to look after administration of the empire. The Emperor also ordered to establish an imperial university to produce good, mannered and skilled people. Such kinds of things were not available in the earlier dynasties and employees were appointed on administrative posts without considering their competence. This process affected administration of the dynasty in a substantial way and emperor was inspired to introduce further reformative steps in empire. Taxes were made reasonable for people and several tools to bring transparency were also introduced by the emperor.
The concept was so powerful and its results were so impressive that it remained official ideology of various dynasties for centuries. It was more empowered and effective during the Tang dynasty. The dynasty heavily relied upon the principles of Confucianism for administrative improvements and the effects were visible on ground. The concept of civil services was result of Confucianism which affected the dynasty in a significant way. Several administrative, penal codes were made for effective control and operation of the state. Military service for every adult male was made compulsory. Taxes were well structured; distribution of land was also based upon caliber. The Tang dynasty flourished in an exemplary way and Confucianism had contributed substantially in development of the dynasty.
Confucius was in favor of good, sophisticated and mild officials whom he addresses as Junzi. Confucius addresses Junzi as somebody who behaves himself like a noble. Junzi basically meant noble person or a gentle man but Confucius altered its meaning from political to a moral context. Instead of enjoying the noble position, duty of a junzi was to maintain ethical and moral standards of society. Confucius suggested them to lead a respectful life and to attain respect not because of their birth but because of their merits. Confucius always dreamt of an administration where officials work and perform for betterment of common man serving as their servants and not masters. A Junzi was expected to follow high moral standards and work to achieve big tasks. He was not like common persons yet mild enough while dealing with common people. The concept of Junzi was introduced for this reason only and improvements suggest that the aim was achieved. Several criterions were made to produce high numbers of Junzi in the Tang dynasty. This class became the back bone of tang dynasty and also affected the society substantially in later period.
Judge Dee is a mysterious and fictional character that gives us a glimpse of law and order situation of Tang dynasty. Further it also suggests about human rights, variety and the rate of crime of contemporary Chinese society. Judge Dee is a very famous detective and a magistrate of Chang ping city. In contemporary period Judges used to look after the detective’s work also in the Chinese territory. He is a well known detective and magistrate who solved several crimes with his detective approach. He had a good nose to probe crime and catch criminals. A huge number of stories are famous about Judge Dee in Chinese hinterlands. Judge Dee was the representative of Chinese emperor in his jurisdictional area and accountable for control over crime rate. Judge Dee used to go undercover, took assistance of his associates and local intelligence units to know the actual culprits. Several examples suggest that even forensic science was used by Judge Dee along with interrogating the accused persons. Judge Dee also used to rely on Chinese traditional methods like dreams, ghosts and some other religious omens. Judge Dee was very strict and he used to punish criminals in a very strict way. Judge Dee, his way of justice and punishment also reflects the authoritarian penalizing system during the Tang dynasty in china.
After having observed the abovementioned analysis of the subject, it is good to conclude that Confucius and his school of thought has affected the Chinese society since very beginning in a very substantial way. His thoughts had changed system of administration and education in period of Han and Tang dynasty. Other rulers also followed the footsteps to rule in their territory effectively. The philosopher has not only affected the every aspect of the Chinese society but also affected the thoughts of several other thinkers who born in the china in the later times.