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Ancient China Legalism - Shang Yang, Shen Buhai, Han Feizi, Later Legalism,

Bibliography

Legalism (fa jia) is a label applied since the second century B.C.E. to a group

of Chinese thinkers of the Warring States period (453221 B.C.E.). The label is

doubly misleading: first, because the thinkers concerned did not necessarilyconsider themselves members of a unified intellectual current, much less a

common school of thought; and second, because the notion of law (fa), albeit

important, is by no means central in the thought of all these thinkers.

Legalism is thus not a scientific category but rather a scholarly convention.

Major sources for Legalist thought are the works attributed to the leading

Legalist thinkers, Shang Yang (d. 338 B.C.E.), Shen Buhai (d. 337 B.C.E.),

Shen Dao (fl. late fourth century B.C.E.), and Han Feizi (d. 233 B.C.E.), as well

as portions of the Warring States collectanea, the Guanzi and Lshi chunqiu.Of these only the first has undisputed Legalist credentials, while the

intellectual affiliation of the others is constantly questioned. These disputes

notwithstanding, we may discern several major approaches that characterize

these thinkers and texts and distinguish them from contemporary intellectual

currents. First, all of them sought to strengthen the state versus society

through the perfection of a centralized bureaucratic mechanism. Second,

Legalists adopted a ruler-centered perspective, which held that reinforcing

the ruler's authority was crucial for social stability and that this authority

should be absolute and limitless. Third, the Legalists rejected the authority of

the past and favored institutional and intellectual innovations to match rapid

changes in the sociopolitical situation. Fourth, they rejected the priority ofmoral values over practical considerations advocated by most of their rivals

and adopted a pragmatic and often cynical stand toward political issues.

Finally, since major Legalist thinkers had rich experience as administrators,

military advisers, and diplomats, their writings are often dominated by

practical issues to the extent that some modern critics question their

philosophical credentials altogether. Paraphrasing Marx, it may be said that

while other philosophers often sought to explain the world, the Legalists did

their best to change itand indeed achieved remarkable results.

Read more: Ancient China Legalism - Shang Yang, Shen Buhai, Han Feizi,

Later Legalism, Bibliography - Thinkers, Legalist, Intellectual, and Major -

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