The Consciousness And Behavior Of Revenge In Han And Tang Dynasties

The human instinct of revenge can be traced back to the primitive society. Generally speaking, less revenge could take place since the formation of nation because of the restriction and prohibition by the law, than come to ancient times when the Confucianism and family-orientation on its way as well as the incomplete law. This paper is going to analyze the revenge behavior in Han and Tany Dynasty. After an analysis of the revenge cases in these two dynasties, we concluded that the popularity of revenge was mainly caused by the firm belief in the Confucianism, especially in Biography of Ram in Spring and Autumn. The governors in Han restricted revenge act by law with little effect because that their fundamental law of running the nation is "putting the virtue before punishment". In addition, the governor depended more on the Confucianism than on the law at the first beginning. The Confucianism was applied into the field of justice where the scholars decided the case if there was no suitable law they based on their mind. These all leaded to the popularity of revenge and the instability of the society. While in Tang Dynasty, the governor who learned from the history based on combined the law with the etiquette, also reasonably developed both of them. Using the law to stabilize the society and the Confucianism to cultivate and rule their people.