65 The belief that authority arises from moral excellence is a foundation of Confucianism. This idea was at the forefront of “The Great Learning,” a piece from the Book of Rites that was later modified by revered songwriters. “In ancient times, he who intended to perpetuate all the virtues inherent in the world and free it from material desires must first govern his state well. In order to govern his state well, he first had to raise his family. In order to raise his family, he first had to cultivate himself. To cultivate, he first had to put his heart in order. See HE Zuokang [何祚康] trans., The Great Learning & The Doctrine of the Mean (Sinolingua, 1996), 6. Since its formulation in 2001, R2P has remained controversial, in part because of its perception as a “liberal Western construct.” Footnote 4 The literature on R2P has done little to refute this hypothesis, particularly because the study of the conceptual components of R2P rarely informs its counterparts in non-Western societies. Footnote 5 International lawyers, including Simon Chesterman and Peter Hilpold, have extensively studied the genealogy of R2P from humanitarian interventions and its origins in just war, both of which have their roots in Europe.
Footnote 6 In contrast, the ancient Chinese heritage reflecting R2P was barely mentioned. But why didn`t the frequent atrocities in the midst of divisive turf wars provoke mutual humanitarian expeditions between warlords, and why didn`t the Empire consider humanitarian expeditions against its neighbors? In response to this question, this article postulates some normative factors that were also responsible for ancient China`s growing deviation from the principles that form the basis of modern anti-atrocity laws. In contrast to local humanitarian concerns in ancient China, humanitarian sentiments in Europe began to develop after the Enlightenment, culminating in various humanitarian interventions on behalf of distant foreigners in the nineteenth century. Footnote 181 A striking example is the abolitionist movement, which aimed to ban the slave trade. In particular, activist British citizens and Christians worked through Parliament to get the slave trade Act of 1807 abolished, which allowed the British navy to seize ships involved in the slave trade. Footnote 182 In Chinese, the word dao means “way” and indicates a way of thinking or living. In China`s long history, there have been several such paths, including Confucianism and Buddhism. Taoism (also spelled Taoism) is a philosophical and religious tradition that developed in China in ancient times under the influence of ideas attributed to a man named Laozi. Like Confucianism, it greatly influenced Chinese culture. Taoism began as a complex system of philosophical thought. In the following centuries, it also emerged as a communal religion and was also integrated into folk religion.
In the fourth century B.C. The ancient Chinese had developed a theory of just war. Described as a humanitarian expedition, the removal of unworthy leaders was one of its legitimate causes. The Just War argument was reinforced by the political proposition that heaven delegate the earthly mandate to the king to take care of his subjects. Manifest non-compliance with this mandate would justify his expulsion. What was the name of the oldest surviving written law in ancient China? Under the supervision of Confucian minister Tang Fang Xuanling, 500 sections of ancient laws were compiled into 12 volumes in the Tang Code, entitled: In Short, although some articles have identified commonalities between Chinese intellectual traditions and R2P as well as their normative predecessors, this literature is fragmented and truncated. The science highlighted above often focuses on a few specific aspects: either the concept of responsible sovereignty as an innovative component of R2P, or violent intervention as an essential means of implementing R2P or HI. Since most authors limit their investigations to the period prior to Qin, footnote 24 leaves a fundamental question unanswered: why did humanitarian expeditions disappear at the end of the Warring States period? What has happened over these two millennia remains a blind spot in research, but is crucial to understanding how modern China can be associated with its ancient traditions.
However, the term “people” as the basis of the mandate was plural. As a result, individual equality was not part of an important political or moral theory. In fact, ancient Chinese society was built on an essentially anti-egalitarian foundation, shaped by an authoritarian ideology that proclaimed its origins in Confucianism. 130 Xun yu: Wu wei [新语⋅无为] quotes WANG Zhantong [王占通], Qinchao miewang fei fajia sixiang zhi zui 秦朝灭亡非法家思想之罪 [The fall of the Qin dynasty was not the fault of legalism], Guji zhengli yanjiu xuekan (2012) 5 [古籍整理研究学刊Journal of ancient books collation and studies, at n.5. In this context, the war before Qin was regulated by a series of standards. Footnote 172 For example, war between states with the same surname was prohibited. Countries cannot be attacked during national mourning. Soldiers who have been seriously injured should not be attacked, and older warriors should not be taken hostage. Footnote 173 The ethical call to “revive fallen states and restore the endangered lineage” also circulated among those of the same lineage.
Such a practice shows that morality among nations in ancient times was in fact a code of conduct between families. Footnote 174 In addition to unpacking the similarities between ancient Chinese ideas and R2P, this article will trace the decline of “humanitarian expedition” to China, which corresponds to the interventionist aspect of R2P. Based on this descriptive study, I will continue to discuss possible reasons for the change in practice.