法家学说英文简介

On Realistic Significance of Classic Chinese Philosophy I. Introduction

Chinese philosophy has a history of several thousand years. Its origins are often traced back to the Yi Jing (the Book of Changes), an ancient compendium of divination, which introduced some of the most fundamental terms of Chinese philosophy. Chinese Philosophy refers to any of several schools of philosophical thought in the Chinese tradition, including Confucianism, Taoism, Legalism, Buddhism and Moism.And the Confucianism,Taoism and Buddhism are regarded as the three roots of Chinese culture. The influence of these philosophies not only came to be important in China but also was powerful in shaping the social and political life of other countries. The beginning of these awesome philosophies can trace back to the Zhou Dynasty because of the special history background. The Zhou period witnessed the “contention of one hundred schools of thought”. There are some great figures among them are Confucius, Mencius, Lao Zi, Zhuang Zi, Mo Zi and Han Fei Zi. These philosophers have an great influence on later Chinese thought. I would like to expound the legalism in this article.

II. Legalism and Its Practical Value

2.1 Introduction to legalism

Legalism is an approach to the analysis of legal questions characterized by abstract logical reasoning focusing on the applicable

legal text, such as a constitution, legislation, or case law, rather than on the social, economic, or political context. Most of the famous Legalists of ancient China were advisers to rulers who were organizing society on a rational basis and finding means to strengthen their states agriculturally and militarily. Instead of being devoted to conformity to the processes of nature, the Legalists were interested in the conformity which could be imposed through government institutions. They are interested in controlling people's lives and actions through laws and punishments. The advice these Legalists gave tended in the direction of regulating every aspect of people's lives so that they would have the discipline to work hard in the fields and fight hard on the battlefields. Many of the laws they recommended were extremely harsh.

In Chinese philosophy, the principles and practices of a school of political theorists advocating strict legal control over all activities, a system of rewards and punishments uniform for all classes, and an absolute monarchy.

2.2 Introduction to Han Fei

“Legalism” is a term that has long been used to categorize a group of early Chinese philosophers, including Han Fei (Han Feizi), Shen Dao, Shen Buhai, and Shang Yang. This essay has the goal of introducing the idea of ‘Legalism’ and laying out aspects of the political thought of Han Fei, the most prominent of these thinkers. At the end of Warring State,