Confucius opposed the mere application of harsh punishment

Although Confucius believed that it was better to govern the country by morality than by law, he did not reject punishment altogether.

In fact, he opposed the mere application of harsh punishment. He believed morality and punishment two vehicles to manage the country, should alternate with each other; since delinquency would occur in cases of loose administration and had to be addressed with severity, while extra severity of administration would in turn hurt the people and had to be amended by leniency. Only in this way would politics proceed smoothly.