Legalism

Legalism advocated a strict interpretation of the law in every respect. 
Morality was not important; adherence to the letter of the law was 
paramount. Officials who exceeded expectations were as liable for punishment 
as were those who underperformed their duties, since both were not adhering 
exactly to their duties. Legalism was the principal philosophic basis of 
the Qin Dynasty in China. Confucian scholars were persecuted under Legalist 
rule.

In Chinese History, Legalism (??; pinyin Fajia) was one of the four main 
philosophic schools at the end of the Zhou Dynasty. Legalists believed that 
a ruler should govern his subjects by the following three ideas:

1. Fa (?; p. fa), the law. The law code must be clearly written and made public. 
All people under the ruler were equal before the law. Under the Zhou Dynasty, 
law was loosely written and was based on social classes. Laws should reward 
those who obey them and punish severely those who dare to break them, even if 
the result of this would on the face of it appear to be undesirable. As an 
example from Han Feizi, if a gate guard go fetches a blanket for the king who 
has just dozed off, he is being irresponsible to his official duty and 
deserves punishment. Thus it is guaranteed that every action taken is 
predictable. In addition, the system of law ran the state, not the ruler. 
If the law is successfully enforced, even a weak ruler will be strong.

2. Shu(?), the method and control. Unlike other Chinese systems of thought, 
morality is not important in Legalism. Special methods and "secrets" are to 
be employed by the ruler to make sure the ministers don't take over control 
of the state. Especially important is that no one can fathom the rulers 
motivations, and thus no one can know which behaviour might help them 
getting ahead; except for following the "fa"/laws.

3. Shi (?), the legitimacy, power and charisma. It is the position of the 
ruler, not the ruler himself, that holds the power.

Legalism was the central governing idea of the Qin Dynasty, however most 
Chinese philosophers and political thinkers have had very negative views 
toward Legalism blaming it for what today would be considered a totalitarian
society. Many Chinese scholars believe that it was a reaction against 
legalism that gave Chinese Imperial politics its personalistic and 
moralistic flavor. However, this view of the Qin may be biased, as 
most of the Chinese historical records were written by Confucian scholars, 
who were persecuted under the Qin.