Legalist School Culture and the Rise and Fall of Qin Dynasty

Legalist school culture is closely related to the rise and fall of Qin Dynasty,its role in the history of Qin Dynasty can be considered from two phases: the ruling period of King Xiao Gong of Qin State and the ruling period of the first emperor of Qin Dynasty.In the ruling period of King Xiao Gong of Qin State,Shang Yang,guided by Legalist school culture,carried out political reforms and achieved the rapid growth of Qin State,which laid the foundation for annexing the other six States and unifying the Central Plains area,meanwhile,the dominant position of Legalist school culture was established.In the ruling period of the first emperor of Qin Dynasty,the emperor had a superstitious belief in Legalists culture and applied it one-sidedly,implementing absolute monarchy,advocating trickery,employing draconian,cruelly ruling the country,which intensified class contradictions,leading to the death of his successor,the second emperor of Qin Dynasty;moreover,the first emperor of Qin Dynasty destroyed the advantages of Legalist school culture and extremely expanded its deficiency.It is sad to say that it was Legalist school culture that contributed to both the rise and the fall of Qin Dynasty!