Dao Companion to Chinas fa Tradition: The Philosophy of Governance by Impartial Standards (Dao Companions to Chinese Philosophy, 19)

This volume offers the most comprehensive introduction to the ideas of ancient Chinese thinkers who looked to perfect a political system thru the emphasis on impersonal standards, laws, and norms (fa). This book covers the works of these thinkers, misleadingly dubbed Legalists, as well as the controversies they aroused, the legacy they left behind, and their potential relevance. The fa thinkers contributed decisively to the formation of China’s first unified empire in 221 BCE, but this contribution was not widely acknowledged. Their derision of the moralizing discourse of their rivals, dismissal of independent intellectuals as self-serving hypocrites, and advocacy of a powerful centralized state did not endear them to most Chinese literati. To a certain extent, these reservations remain visible in modern research, which explains why a comprehensive study of the fa traditions is still lacking. This volume fills that gap. The first of four parts introduces major texts and thinkers of the fa tradition from the Warring States (453-221 BCE) to the Former Han (206/202 BCE-9 CE) periods. The second part analyzes the major ideas of the fa texts, including concepts of fa and their implementation in political and legal spheres, views of human nature, state-society relations, rulership, morality in politics, the evolutionary view of history, and philosophy of language. The third part focuses on the changing attitudes toward fa ideas in imperial and modern China. The fourth part explores the ideas of fa advocates from a comparative perspective—both against intellectual currents in early China and Western traditions such as Machiavellianism and totalitarianism. This book serves as a reference for students and researchers in ancient Chinese history and thought, and comparatists in the field of political philosophy. Preface Contents Introduction: The fa Tradition in Chinese Philosophy 1 Defining the fa Tradition 2 The fa Texts and Studies of Chinese Philosophy 3 The Structure of This Volume 4 Appendix: Major Critical Editions and European-Languages Translations of fa Texts 4.1 Shangjunshu 商君書 (The Book of Lord Shang) 4.2 Shēnzi 申子 (Shen Buhai’s 申不害) Fragments 4.3 Shènzi 慎子 (Shen Dao’s 慎到) Fragments 4.4 Han Feizi 韓非子 4.5 Guanzi 管子 References Part I: Major Texts and Thinkers Chapter 1 Shang Yang and The Book of Lord Shang 1 Shang Yang: The Reformer 2 The Text: Dating and Style 3 Beyond “Alienating Rhetoric”: The Goal of Self-Strengthening 4 Philosophical Foundations: History, the State, and Human Nature 5 Social Engineering: Rewards and Punishments 5.1 Punishments 5.2 Making the People Fight 5.3 Making the People Till 6 Safeguarding Impersonal Standards 7 Intellectuals and Elites in the Total State 8 The State and Its People: The Limits of Indoctrination 9 Epilogue: Immoral Means and Moral Ends? References Chapter 2 On Shen Buhai’s Legal Thought 1 “To Speak of shu” Is “to Speak of fa”: A New Explanation of “Shen Buhai Spoke of shu” 2 Rationalization, Systematization, and Legalization of the Ruler-Minister Relationship 2.1 Avoiding Favoritism 2.2 “Demonstrating Non-action” 2.3 Correct Names 3 Three Principles of Rule by fa: Clear fa, Relying on fa, and Implementing fa 3.1 Clear fa 3.2 Relying on fa 3.3 Implementing fa 4 Conclusion References Chapter 3 Morality vs. Impartial Standards in the Shenzi Fragments 1 Ruling the State by Following “Conventional Virtues” 2 Political Success Comes from According With the Way (道 Dao) 3 State Consequentialism as a Form of Moral Normativity? 4 Conclusion References Chapter 4 Han Feizi: The World Driven by Self-Interest 1 Han Fei and Han Feizi 1.1 Biography 1.2 The Text: Authorship and Dating 1.3 The Text’s Allure 2 Philosophical Foundations 2.1 The Way 2.2 Lessons from the Past 2.3 Human Nature 3 Political Recommendations 3.1 Rule by Impartial Standards 3.2 The Ruler and his Ministers 3.3 The Ruler 3.4 The People 4 A Class Traitor? Han Fei and the Intellectuals References Chapter 5 The Concept of fa in Guanzi and Its Evolution 1 Guanzi as a Repository of fa Thought 2 Usages of fa in Guanzi 2.1 Defining fa 2.2 Fa as “Law” or “Government Regulations” 2.3 Fa as Paired with Proper Demeanor (Yibiao 儀表) 2.4 Fa as Weights and Measures 2.5 Fa as the Guiding Principles of the Natural World 3 The fa Discourse in Guanzi 3.1 Fa and the Ideal Ethical Order (fa Versus “Ritual and Social Norms”) 3.2 Fa and Metaphysical Concepts 3.3 Fa within the Framework of “Impartiality-Selfishness” Discourse 3.4 The Evolution of the fa Discourse in Guanzi “Seven fa” “Conforming to fa” “Relying on fa” 4 Conclusion References Chapter 6 The Ideology of Chao Cuo 1 Was Chao Cuo a Philanthropist? 2 Shepherding the People 3 Suppressing Commerce and Promoting Farming 4 Conclusion: Economic Expertise versus Ideological Convictions References Part II: Major Ideas of the fa Traditions Chapter 7 Rule by Impersonal Standards in the Early Empires: Ideas and Realities 1 Introduction: Standardization and Governance in the Early Empires 1.1 Impersonal Standards and the Reorganization of Governance in the Warring States Period 1.2 Ideologies of Standardization in the Warring States Period 2 The Many Facets of Standardization in Early Empires: The cheng 程 Norms 2.1 Travel Speed Standards 2.2 Productivity and Material Expenditure Norms in State-Managed Manufacturing 2.3 Construction Projects 2.4 Military Training 2.5 Agricultural Production and Land Taxation 3 Impersonal Standards and Official Service 3.1 Appointment and Performance Evaluation 3.2 Quantifiable Criteria of Official Promotion 3.3 Standardization of Official Language and Writing 4 Re-discovering the Individual in Governance References Chapter 8 Fa and the Early Legal System 1 Fa, lü, and ling 2 Fa in Legal Texts 2.1 Fa Referring to Specific Rules 2.2 Fa in the Sense “Legal Rules” or “(The Legal Rules as a Whole:) The Law” 2.3 Feng fa “Upholding the Law” 2.4 Fa as Part of Official Designations 2.5 Fa as a Noun Modifier and as a Verb Modifier 2.6 Verbal Usage of fa 2.7 Discussion of Other Interpretations of fa 3 Etymology and Conceptual History of the Term fa 3.1 Xu Shen’s Explanation of the Character fa 灋 in the Shuowen jiezi 3.2 Actual Composition of the Character 灋 and Etymological Relationships of the Words for Which It Was Devised 3.3 The Appearance of the Legal Term fa in Zhanguo Sources and Other Zhanguo Uses of the Character 灋 4 Conclusions References Chapter 9 Two Perspectives on the Fa Tradition: Politics Versus the Rule of Impartial Standards 1 Introduction 2 Politics and “the Rule of fa” 3 The Rule of Fa Versus the Treachery of Politics 3.1 Fa, Techniques, and Positional Power: A Logical Contradiction? 3.2 Texts of the Fa Tradition: The Contradiction Ignored? 3.3 The Ruler and Laws (fa) 3.4 Safeguarding the Ruler’s Authority 3.5 Impartial Standards and Political Manipulations: A Synthesis? 4 The Predicament of the Fa Tradition: The Problem of the Ruler 5 Afterthought: The Fa Tradition’s Modern Value References Chapter 10 Human Motivation in the fa Tradition: Visions from the Shenzi Fragments, Shangjunshu, and Han Feizi 1 Human Motivation in the Shenzi Fragments 2 Human Motivation in the Shangjunshu 3 Human Motivation in the Han Feizi 4 Conclusion References Chapter 11 The Ruler in the Polity of Objective Standards 1 Introduction 2 Perfecting the Ruler’s Self in the Han Feizi 3 Perfecting the Self in Other Warring States Masters’ Texts 4 Epilogue References Chapter 12 The Historiography of Political Realism 1 Politics and Historical Change 2 Exemplary History and Its Discontents 3 Sequential History 4 The Limits of Sequential History References Chapter 13 The Ruler’s New Tools: Fa 法 and the Political Paradigm of Measure in Early China 1 Introduction: The Long Search for a Political Panacea 2 The Geometry of Politics 3 Two Ways of Transcending Humanity and Controlling the World (Techniques of the Mind 心術 vs. Techniques of fa 法術) 4 The End of Charisma? The Contingency of the Human Factor 5 The Redundancy of Social Virtues 6 The Coordination of Public and Private Interests through fa 7 When the Tool Takes its Toll: The Ambivalence of fa Analogies 8 Conclusion: Measure for Measure References Chapter 14 Philosophy of Language in the fǎ 法 Tradition 1 Philosophy of and About Language 1.1 Names and Actualities: The Rectification of Names 1.2 Punishments/Achievements, Deeds and Names 2 Language Philosophy 2.1 Language as Argument Technique 2.2 Language for Social Climbing 3 Concluding Remarks References Chapter 15 The Fa Tradition and Morality 1 Introduction 2 Morality as Strategy vs. Morality as End/Value 3 Xunzi’s Conception of Fa and the Fa Tradition Alternative 4 Morality in Han Feizi 5 Morality in Shangjunshu 6 Conclusion References Part III: Fa Traditions in History Chapter 16 The Historical Reputation of the Fa Tradition in Imperial China 1 Bad Reputation 2 Good Reputation 3 The Usages of the fa Tradition in Imperial China 4 Concluding Remarks References Chapter 17 The fa Tradition and Its Modern Fate: The Case of the Book of Lord Shang 1 Introduction: The fa Tradition’s Comeback? 2 The Background: Between Oblivion and Philological Interest 3 Late Qing Rediscovery of Shang Yang 4 Shang Yang and the Book of Lord Shang in the Republican Era 5 Shang Yang and the Book of Lord Shang Under Mao 6 Shang Yang Studies After Mao: A Global Perspective 7 Epilogue: Methodological Reflections and Future Perspectives References Part IV: Comparative Perspectives Chapter 18 The fa Tradition Versus Confucianism: Intellectuals, the State, and Meritocracy 1 Background: The Rise of the shi 2 Confucius and Mengzi: Elite’s Pride 3 The Inflation of Self-Esteem 4 Xunzi Between the Ruler and the Elite 5 Shang Yang: Top-Down Meritocracy 6 Han Fei: Combatting Subversive Discourse 7 Epilogue: Two Meritocratic Models Compared References Chapter 19 Fajia and the Mohists 1 Impartial Care and Objective Standards in Mohist Philosophy 1.1 Impartial Care 1.2 Objective Standards 2 Impartiality and Fa in Fajia Thought 2.1 Shang Yang and His Indebtedness to the Mohists Shang Yang’s Political Project Shang Yang’s Indebtedness to the Mohists 2.2 Han Fei and the Mohists Han Fei’s Political Project Han Fei’s Engagement with the Mohists 3 Conclusion References Chapter 20 Laozi, Huang-Lao and the fa Tradition: Thinking Through the Term xingming 刑名 1 Introduction 2 The Novelty of Dao and xingming 3 Xingming in Laozi and Huang-Lao School 4 Fa Texts and the Transformation of Huang-Lao’s xingming 5 Summary References Chapter 21 Machiavelli and the fa Tradition 1 Historical Settings: Warring States China and the Italian Renaissance 2 Machiavelli, Han Fei, and Shang Yang 3 The Role of History in the Philosophies of Machiavelli and the fa Tradition 4 Human Nature in Machiavelli and the fa Tradition 5 The Art of Ruling and the Science of Law 5.1 Virtù Verses fa 5.2 The Tallying of Names and the Two Handles of Government 5.3 Abuse of the System 6 Nothing Lasts Forever: Corruption and the Need for Renewal 7 The Failure of the fa Tradition: The Descent from Order to Tyranny References Chapter 22 The Book of Lord Shang and Totalitarianism’s Intellectual Precursors Compared 1 The Thorny Legacy of “Legalism” as Totalitarianism 2 Totalitarianism: A Label of Questionable Value 2.1 The Polemics of Totalitarianism 2.2 Interwar Anti-Fascist Concept 2.3 Core Fascist Creed 2.4 Cold War Catch-All Label 2.5 Towards a Conceptual Tool 3 Forged in the Crucible of War and Political Instability 3.1 From Total War ... 3.2 ... To Totalitarianism 4 Rational-Legal Authority and the Rise of the Modern State 5 Conclusion References Part V: Epilogue Chapter 23 The Han Feizi and Its Contemporary Relevance 1 The Unchanging: Han Feizi’s View of Human Nature 2 The Change: Antiquity vs. (Han Fei’s) Modernity 3 Focusing on the Truly Productive Sector: HFZ’s Political Economics 4 Between Natural Law and Legal Positivism: HFZ’s Thin Version of the Rule of Law 5 Han Fei’s shu: Open and Hidden Art of Bureaucratic Governance 6 HFZ’s Realpolitik Without Nationalism and Ideology 7 HFZ’s Philosophy: Its Problems, and the Historical and Philosophical Significance References Index, cumulative