Legalists
Legalism, known as fajia in Chinese, is a school of thought that emerged before the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BCE) and focuses on law and administrative governance. Unlike formal philosophies, it does not have a single foundational text but is represented in key writings such as the Guanzi, the Shangjun shu, and the Han Feizi, each attributed to notable figures in Legalist thought. Central to Legalism are three principles: shih (governmental power), shu (administrative techniques), and fa (law).
Legalism starkly contrasts with Confucianism, which emphasizes moral virtue in leadership; instead, Legalists argue that effective governance relies on strict laws and consistent enforcement to ensure societal welfare. They believed that human behavior is influenced more by rewards and punishments than innate goodness or badness. Consequently, Legalists sought to diminish the privileges of rulers and maintain uniform laws and standards across all social classes. Although Legalism faced criticism and decline under the Han Dynasty, particularly from Confucian advocates, its core ideas regarding law and standardization continued to shape Chinese governance. This historical ethos reflects a practical approach to governance in response to the complexities of managing a diverse population.
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Legalists
Related civilizations: Qin Dynasty, China.
Date: fourth century-second century b.c.e.
Locale: China
Legalists
The Legalists advocated an approach to law and administrative methods in government that was extremely influential during the era preceding the Qin Dynasty (221-206 b.c.e.). Legalism (fajia) is not a formal philosophy and lacks a chief text espousing it, but it is one of the six schools of Chinese philosophy in Sima Tan’s first century b.c.e. classification scheme. The primary texts expressing the ideals of Legalism are the Guanzi (fourth century b.c.e.; selections translated in Economic Dialogues in Ancient China, 1954; complete translation Guanzi, 1985), the Shangjun shu (also known as Shangzi; compiled 359-338 b.c.e.; The Book of Lord Shang, 1928), and the Han Feizi (latter half of third century b.c.e.; The Complete Works of Han Fei Tzu: A Classic of Chinese Legalism, 1939-1959, 2 volumes; commonly known as Han Feizi), all named after the individuals most associated with these texts’ authorship.
Legalism emphasizes the importance of three principles: shih, the position or power necessary to regulate government and enforce law; shu, administrative techniques; and fa, law. In contrast to Confucianism, which extols the virtues (such as benevolence) of a great leader, Legalism insists that good government, which is necessary to the welfare of the people, depends on consistent standards and laws, particularly exemplars and measurements. In the Qin Dynasty, measurements were standardized, laws were enforced consistently (and harshly) across classes, and the characters used to write Chinese were made uniform.
To counter the privileges and discretionary powers that Confucianism granted to rulers, Legalists insisted on publishing laws that regulated the behavior of individuals and the practices of agriculture and commerce and specified the punishments for misbehavior. The belief behind this was that people are neither naturally good (as Mencius had claimed) nor bad (Xunzi’s claim) but shaped by rewards and punishments, which would motivate individuals to be virtuous. Legalists regarded the failures of past governments as caused not so much by bad ideology as by the natural effects of an increasing population: As there were exponentially more individuals to rule and more diversity among them, what was needed was the unifying effect of strong law. Therefore, the authority of antiquity, another Confucian ideal, was no longer paramount, nor was the maintenance of a class of scholars. In accordance with the advice of Hanfeizi (d. 233 b.c.e.), the principal advocate of Legalism, intellectuals were distrusted and books from antiquity burned.
Legalism was denounced by Emperor Wudi (r. 140-87 b.c.e.) of the Han Dynasty as Confucianism regained popularity, but the ideas of the Legalists regarding law and standardization remained influential in Chinese government.
Bibliography
Creel, H. G. Chinese Thought from Confucius to Mao Tse-tung. New York: New American Library, 1960.
De Bary, Theodore, and Irene Bloom. From Earliest Times to 1600. Vol. 1 in Sources of Chinese Tradition. 2d ed. New York: Columbia University Press, 1999.
Graham, A. C. Disputers of the Tao: Philosophical Argument in Ancient China. La Salle, Ill.: Open Court, 1989.