This paper challenges the consensus that Confucianism is the foundation of Chinese governance. It advances four propositions. First, Legalist institutions created by Shang Yang and Qin unification provided the infrastructure for later Confucian discourse; the Confucian canon was canonized only after this institutional foundation was secured. Second, core Confucian concepts---Xiao (filial piety), Ren (benevolence), Li (ritual propriety)---were pre-Confucian Zhou norms, not Confucian inventions. Third, Dong Zhongshu's synthesis compensated for Legalist legitimation deficits by adding a cultural ``interface,'' without replacing the Legalist operating system. Fourth, the Wang Mang interregnum, the only attempt to govern purely by Confucian classics, ended in collapse, proving Confucianism's lack of independent governance capacity. All stable dynasties retained Legalist infrastructure. The Confucian-Legalist relationship is thus a functional coupling of Legalist operating system and Confucian user interface.
Jiacheng Yang (Sun,) studied this question.