When a warring state is in chaos the only way to control it is to rule by striking fear in the hearts of your people through the distribution of harsh punishments. After your people are afraid, you can then gain their cooperation by giving generous rewards to those who follow your rule. By treating your people with this disregard, you are maintaining the main objective of legalism, looking out for the welfare of the state.

I am a philosopher and advisor to the King of Zhao. He is worried that his country will rebel against him due to years of economic hardship. He has come to me because he would like to know how to stop this rebellion before it begins. I explained to the king that in harsh times, one must first use tyrannical power to force people into submission and cooperation. After cooperation is obtained, giving generous rewards for righteousness will ensure further cooperation. The result of this legalist approach is that, "Severe punishments would restrain violations, while generous rewards would encourage what was beneficial to the strength and well-being of the state(Sources,191)."

I explained to his greatness that the legalist approach to maintaining

Once the country is back on track and a major military power, the people in your kingdom will be cooperative as long as you maintain the laws of the state. It is best that rewards and punishments are to be treated equally by the ruler. There are many ways that crimes and disobedience can arise but the best way to stop crime is at the root of the matter. The way to do this is centered in the selection of punishments and rewards. "In applying punishments, light offenses should be punished heavily; if light offenses do not appear heavy offenses will not come.(Lord Shang, Sources,196)" If light offenses were punished lightly then light offenses would continue. Also, when serious offenses come about they will in turn be punished seriously. If the light offenses were punished heavily then serious crimes would never be committed. Adversely, rewards should be treated equally as punishments as a means of reinforcing law. The same rules and concepts apply to distributing rewards as to distributing punishments. If an incident happens where a light reward is deserved and the person is rewarded lightly, then there will be many people encouraged to strive to be worthy of a serious reward. If a light reward is deserved and a serious reward is given then no one will be motivated to do anything worthwhile of a serious reward or maybe even a reward at all. By understanding the legalist system of rewards and punishments, you are noting the core element of legalist theory, law. In turn, it is essential that these concepts of rewards and punishments be understood in order to run a state in a true legalist fashion.

In order r

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Approximate Word count = 1090
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)