Tolerance and Rule of Law: Lessons from Imperial Governance

SEONGJO AN, Sun Moon University, Korea

Abstract

Tolerance and Rule of Law : - Lessons from Imperial Governance - What is the condition that can make an empire socially and politically integrated and thus prosper for a long time? It is not easy to answer quickly for this question. This paper analyzes the book “Day of Empire” written by Amy Chua three years ago which submitted an answer for this question. The core thesis of “Day of Empire” is that every world-dominant empire was by the standards of its time, extraordinarily pluralistic and tolerant during its rise to preeminence for all their enormous differences. According to Amy Chua, “indeed, in every case tolerance was indispensable to the achievement of global hegemony and the decline of hyperpower has repeatedly coincided with intolerance, xenophobia, and calls for racial, religious, or ethnic purity”. Here is another core thesis: “It was also tolerance that sowed the seeds of decline. In every case, tolerance without a common political identity which she calls strong ideological “Glue” that bound the empire together eventually hit a tipping point, triggering conflict, hatred, and violence.” This paper is designed to examine a thesis of that book, and thus ultimately refute partly and complement the thesis comparing with the East Asian history and legal culture. In this paper, I shall examine her thesis that “Tolerance is a key condition of hyperpower” and, “Tolerance without overarching political identity sowed the seeds of decline.” However, I do not agree with her view that the strong ideological “Glue” that binds a whole empire together is the common political identity created by citizenship. Instead, I believe it is the “rule of law” and will argue this point by examining historical case studies of East Asian imperial rule of law, specifically during the governance of Tang China and Imperial Japan. Moreover, I argue such lessons can be extended to nation-states, or even a relatively small community such as a local government, a corporation, a government department, or even a university because if a society’s members are diverse, the size of the community, whether it be an empire or university does not matter. If a society aspires to integrate its disparate people, citizens, members, it must provide the “tolerance and rule of law.”