A Brief Discussion on Morality and Law in Chinese History and about Buddhism

 

Author: Tao Qing Hsu  (Hsu, Tao-qing) 

I remember I chose a law course at university because I wanted to explore whether I was capable or interested in studying law. One of the chapters talks about ethics and law. This chapter really impressed me. Why?

 

As we know, some people violate the law because they do not know the law. However, what makes us surprise is that those understand the law but violate the law, especially the lawyer or the Judge, or those who have graduated from the law school, such as president or the officer.

 

In traditional China and in the history of China, the morality is more stressed than the law. However, in the modern time, the law is more stressed than the morality. Law is the last line of defense to the morality. But, in my opinion, the law might be misused today. In some country, the law might be not corresponding to the morality or the human right.

 

The religion is concern about the morality. Buddhism is also concern about it. But, Buddhism is not the law, and is also not used to restrain the human behavior. So, Buddhism is never used to be the country law in the history of China. However, the emperor and the officer are deeply influenced by the Buddhism, Taoism and Confucius theory, because the concept of that the heaven and the human beings are combined to be the one is the supreme realm in rule.

 

In other words, the emperor and the officer request themselves to be mercy, compassion, like the Buddha, Bodhisattva, or the god, so to love the people in the country.

 

They also expect that the people in the country could be enlightened and have the mercy and compassionate like the Buddha, Bodhisattva, or the god, so the emperor or the officer support and promote the Buddhism, Taoism and Confucius theory in the country.

 

In other words, there is the concept that if everyone from the emperor to the ordinary people could be mercy and compassionate, and could control and correct their self-behavior automatically, such as no greedy heart, no hatred heart, no stealing and no killing, then the world and the society are naturally peaceful.

 

In Buddhism, there is the concept that if everyone does the evils, they themselves would be retributive back by their own evils. It may be not necessary to use the law to punish the evil persons.

 

In a word, that is the concept of no-doing but governing. That is also why the concept of law is not general in China of history. But, I think that the ancient people, the founder of the country, such as the emperor and the officer, are very wise.

 

The concept of law is to regulate others. The concept of law is quite different from the concept of Buddhism, Taoism and Confucius theory, because the concept of Buddhism, Taoism and Confucius theory is self-discipline, self-regulatory. Such concept is also different from the other religion. That is why other country might use the Christian or Islam as their country law, but not Buddhism. And that is also why the law is developed well in western country, but not in China of history.

 

Extending the concept, we might have another view why the foreign countries invade China. From my research on the history of China, I have found that the China is rarely to invade foreign countries, except for the civil war and resisting the foreign invasion.

 

You might find that the culture of traditional China is focus on the morality and self-regulatory. Even today, it is not easy to do so. The early law of Taiwan is in reference from the law of German and Japan. But, do you have found that these two countries had ever invaded China and the other countries? Why they want to invade other countries? Think about it. The dispute of law in Taiwan is always exist and changing all the time. Honestly, it is really not perfect.