But the story was cruel to legalists. The Qin dynasty (221-207 BC), which was to rule for “countless generations” (Shiji 6:236), collapsed shortly after the death of the founder, who was brought down by a popular rebellion of unprecedented scale and cruelty. This rapid collapse – which occurred just a few years after Li Si`s infamous biblioclasm – shaped Qin`s image for millennia to come. The dynasty was no longer a success, but a story of dismal failure; And the ideas that guided their policymakers have also been discredited. Already in the first generations after the Qin, a consensus was reached: their collapse was due to excessive activism, abnormal assertion of its administrative apparatus, excessive use of punishment, senseless expansionism and paralyzing distrust between the emperors and their entourage (Jia Yi 賈誼 [200-168 BC]. A.D.] cited in Shiji 6: 276-284; Xin yu 4:62). All this policy could usefully be attributed to the legalists, whose intellectual legacy has therefore been discredited. At best, it was reduced to Sima Tan`s assessment: “a one-off policy that could not be applied all the time”. Legalism was partially rehabilitated in the twentieth century by new generations of intellectuals. One of them, Mai Menghua (1874-1915), sparked interest in Shang Yang`s thought and compared Shang Yang`s view of history to the evolutionary ideas of Western theorists. Hu Shih (1891-1962) praised Han Fei and Li Si for their “courageous spirit of resistance to those who `do not make the present their master, but learn from the past`”.

Kuomintang chief Hu Hanmin (1879-1936) wrote the preface to a new edition of the book Lord Shang. [310] Confucianism was again openly expressed during the Han dynasty. The suppression of legalism and legalistic philosophers reduced the danger of reaffirmation of philosophy and made it possible to explore opposing points of view. However, this does not mean that legalism has disappeared or no longer has an impact on Chinese culture. Legalism has remained a popular philosophy throughout China`s history into modern times. Whenever a government felt it was losing control, it resorted to a certain degree of legalism. In today`s China, Marxism is the official philosophy. Marxist thought had developed in China since the mid-1920s, and by the time the People`s Republic was founded in 1949, it had shifted from Leninism to Maoism.

The official ideology does not prohibit the study of traditional Chinese philosophy, but has subjected it to critical evaluation and harsh criticism. From 1957, many debates took place and many books and journals were published. One of the topics of debate revolved around the nature of the history of Chinese philosophy. Although there was no unanimity, the “correct” position was that the history of Chinese philosophy is only one part of the world history of philosophy, and as such a history of struggle between materialism and idealism. The conflict between theories of the original good and evil character of human nature, the opposition between principle and material force, the contradiction between being and non-being, and the conflict between name and reality have been cited as evidence of this ongoing struggle. As such, the history of Chinese philosophy is only the development of Marxism-Leninism in Chinese history. The part of China`s philosophical heritage that is materialistic and class-oriented must be pursued and promoted. Legalism was the idea of the central government of the Qin Dynasty, culminating in the unification of China under the “first emperor” (Qin Shi Huang). He is the master in the 2002 film Hero and several other films.

Most Chinese philosophers and political thinkers had very negative views about legalism and blamed it for what would now be considered a totalitarian society. Many Chinese scholars believe it was a backlash against legalism that gave Chinese imperial policy its personalist and moralistic flavor instead of emphasizing the rule of law. However, this view of the Qin may be biased, as most Chinese historical documents were written by Confucian scholars who were persecuted among the Qin.