2014/10/01 by William T. Rowe · 1 citation
Social Sciences · #Chinese history and philosophy #China's Socioeconomic Reforms and Governance #Japanese History and Culture #Elite #China #Population #Law #Sociology #Criminology #Political science #History #Politics
paper · pdf · doi:10.4000/chs.1490
openalex publication_date 2014/10/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/02
L et us begin with a basic fact : the level of violence in late imperial China was probably as high as that in any historical society in the world. 1 Obvious as this may sound, it is easy to miss it. The entire central message of the package of literati values that we refer to as 'Confucianism', and especially after its elaboration into the so-called 'school of principle' or 'neo-Confucianism' (lixue) after the eleventh century CE, was certainly more energetic than most elite cultures in esteeming civil (wen) over military (wu) values, in condemning violent behavior, and establishing peaceful, ordered, harmonious social behavior as a moral imperative. The monotony of this message has led many historians (including me) to see this constructed norm as reflective of reality, whereas in fact it was a coping mechanism for dealing with a world which, as its inhabitants well knew, was violent and disorderly.