Lacquer Screen Essay
Confucianism was one of the most influential of the four Great Traditions in ancient China. However, it did not become such a big way of life until after Confucius’ death, as he only had a small number of disciples following him during his lifetime. Confucianism stressed the importance of some of the greatest virtues of life, including filial piety, Jen, Chi, Yung, and Li, as these represented devotion to the parents, benevolence, wisdom, moral courage, and ritual, and were the keys to achieving moral goodness. With Confucianism being such a popular way of life, the government was obviously influenced by it, and it was a working way to govern society. All of these aspects of Confucianism are seen in Robert Van Gulik’s novel, The Lacquer Screen. The Confucian ideal end of government would be governing by moral force, rather than harsh laws and restrictions. Confucius believed that governing by moral force would be much more effective than scaring the society with the consequences of breaking the laws. This ideal is shown throughout The Lacquer Screen, as the reader follows Judge Dee throughout the Wei-ping district. Judge Dee is visiting Wei-ping from the Peng-lai, where he is a magistrate. During his visit, he finds that
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Some common words found in the essay are:
Yung Li, Prefect Legalist, Chi Wisdom, Magistrate Teng, Confucianism Filial, Judge Dee, Screen Confucian, Ancient China, Teng Kan, Lacquer Screen, filial piety, judge dee, lacquer screen, moral force, ancient china, chi yung li, yung li, piety jen, chi yung, moral goodness, governing moral, governing moral force, filial piety jen, jen chi yung, throughout lacquer screen,
Approximate Word count = 1035
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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