Abstract:
The period of the Qin and Han Dynasties was the era when Chinese traditional unified empire laid the foundation of its own. On the one hand, the values accommodating the political and economic architecture of grand unification were advocated in the time. On the other, however, the values in the Warring Kingdoms when the lords wrangled with one another remained profoundly influential. In fact, the remaining customs differed significantly from the new conventions of the Qin and Han Dynasties, from state system to political system, from political administration to moral personality, from political organization to social forces, and from realistic life to academic ideas. In a word, the conflicts between the old and new values continued throughout the period of the Qin and Han Dynasties, as a result of which the three cardinal guides and the five constant virtues as specified in the feudal ethical code based on the family as the basis and autocratic imperial power were established to be the primary values of Chinese traditional society.
