The other admirable quality expected of a Han ruler is ‘integrity’. A Han ruler would dispense justice to all his subjects irrespective of their station or rank. In fact, the standard of judgment is more stringent for the king’s ministers and consuls than common citizens. By imposing such measures, the Han kings discouraged their subjects from the greedy pursuit of wealth and encouraged them to live a balanced life with a focus on more meaningful aspects to life. In other words, “a true King promotes the basic and discourages the secondary. He restrains the people’s desires through the principles of ritual and duty and arranges to have grain exchanged for other goods. In his markets merchants do not circulate worthless goods nor do artisans make worthless implements”. Such wisdom of the ancient Chinese is as applicable today as it was for their time.
[1] The four primary castes being Brahmans, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and Shudras. The rest being regarded as out-castes or untouchables.
[2] Arjuna’s own Bow is called the Gandiva, which is referred to in the Hagawad Gita.
[3] Dhronacharya was the teacher for both Kauravas and Pandavas, but was impelled to fight for the former due to the constraints of royal hierarchy.
[4] Dhritirashtra’s eldest son Duryodhana was the chief instigator of the Kurushetra war, ably supported by his friend Karna.
[5] Such notions about the cycle of life were to find expression much later in the texts of Upanishads.
[6] To get a sense of how advanced this system was for its age, an equivalent conception in the Western economic thought was first recorded as late as the eighteenth century A.D. by such pioneers as Adam Smith.
[7] Such notions partly derive from the widespread belief in Buddhist philosophy in the Han Chinese. At the time of Emperor Wu’s reign Buddhism had made forays to places as far as northeastAsia, from its humble origins inNorthern India.
[8] The origins of Han Dynasty can be traced back to more than two millennia.