#202 The Legalists: Shang Yang and Han Feizi

Context:

You can see from the Axial Age in Chinese History timeline (PDF) that Shang Yang was born before Zhuangzi and died during his lifetime. Han Feizi was born six years after Zhuangzi’s death.

• Generationally, they would be approximately the same age as Confucius’s grandchild and great-grandchild.

• Together, foundations of what would become Legalist (Fajia 法家).

This was the latter half of the Warring States period (475-221 BCE):

• Peripheral states generally had advantage; aggressively consolidated power on the North China plain
• States headed increasingly by “kings” who renounced their allegiance to the Zhou

In this conflict it was the northwestern state of Qin that rose to dominate the North China Plain:

One other note and question: This is the first (but not last) time we will encounter lurid details amid a highly-personal account of how power works. To what extent does this framing of history make sense to you? To what extent does it seem to fall short of giving us the full picture?

Legalist reforms:

• Start individually; discuss collectively.
• Use the chart below to loosely categorize your thinking so you can support your claims.
  

​Questions	​Answers	Textual evidence
Key reforms. Based on your reading of Wills, which of the reforms initiated by Shang Yang (referred to in Ebrey as Lord Shang) do you think were most significant? Why? (Hint: consider the broad categories of central control, standardization, meritocracy, and extraction).
Key tenets of Legalism. Based on your readings from Shang Yang and Han Feizi, what do you think are the key tenets of Legalism

The Hotchkiss Law Code

Examples from Qin law code:

• “Suppose A stole an ox when he was only 1.4 meters tall, but after being in detention for a year, he was measured at 1.57 meters [i.e. adult height]. How is A to be sentenced? He should be left intact and made a convict laborer [the lower penalty].” (Ebrey, 52)

 

• “Suppose A ran away from her husband and married B, who had also run away, without telling him [that she had a husband]. Two years later, after she had borne children, she told him, but he did not repudiate her. After they are caught, what should the sentence be? They should be tattooed and made convict laborers.” (Ebrey, 52)

Activity:

• In groups of 2-3, identify 3 rules you would make at Hotchkiss to better align to legalist principles.
• Justify your changes in relation to specific textual support from Ebrey (32-37). Be sure to explain how that textual evidence supports your proposed rules.