Legalism's way of governing the country

Making laws

"The law is the one who compiles the books, sets them up in the government, and distributes them to the people." The function of law is to constrain people's behavior. The king has the power to punish those who break the law and to reward those who obey the king's laws. The theoretical basis for urging people through rewards and punishments is that human nature seeks advantages and avoids disadvantages. At the same time, Han Feizi also added: "When a sage governs a country, he does not rely on people doing good for us, but uses them without doing anything wrong. It relies on people doing good for me, and there are not many in the territory; when using people, he does not do anything wrong, and a country can make the whole country harmonious. "The way to govern is not to rely on everyone to do good, but to prevent everyone from doing evil." There are countless good people in a country; if the few who do evil are prevented from doing evil, the country will be peaceful. When a king governs a country, he relies on the strength of the people to eliminate evil (the small number of people who do evil). Therefore, (governing a country) should not always focus on promoting good morals, but should be committed to establishing regulations (that governs a small number of evildoers). It can be deduced from this that as long as the king masters the law and governs the people with the law, the society will be peaceful, but it is futile to govern the country only by preaching good moral education.

Follow the name and take responsibility for the reality

This is the Legalist explanation of "correcting the name". The king needs to have a set of power skills to control his ministers. Officials who hold certain positions have the responsibility to complete various tasks required by their positions. The king's duty is to confer a certain nominal position to someone. The work required by this position has been clearly stipulated in the relevant laws. The king only cares about whether an official fulfills his duties. As for how to complete the job requirements, it is the minister's own business. , no need for kingly guidance. All the king has to do is: get rewards for completing tasks, and be punished for failing to complete tasks. The key is how the king chooses the right person to fill a certain position. "If you are a minister, Chen Jie, you will be responsible for the things you do according to your words. If the merits are worthy of your actions and the words are worthy of your words, you will be rewarded; if the merits are not worthy of your actions and your words are not worthy of your words, you will be punished." , those who are capable will be at the top, and those who are incompetent will be eliminated.

Love benefits and hate harm

Legalists believe that people have the nature of "loving benefits and hating harm" or "taking advantage and avoiding harm". As Guanzi once said, a businessman travels day and night, even if he travels thousands of miles, he does not feel it is far, because the interests are attracting him ahead. Fishermen are not afraid of danger and sail against the current, not caring about hundreds of miles away. They are also pursuing the benefits of fishing. With this same thought, Shang Yang came to the conclusion: "There are likes and dislikes in life, so the people can be governed." Therefore, the Legalists combined the "likes of benefit and evil" of human nature with the prosperity of the country, and used rewards and punishments Inducing and driving people to "farm", "war", and "report traitors". Anyone who produces a lot of food, kills enemies with meritorious service, or exposes illegal crimes can get an official title or a house. Anyone, regardless of their origin, can get If you strive to follow the laws of the country, you will gain wealth and glory, and the country will become rich and strong.

Government is illegal and ancient

Legalists opposed conservative retro ideas and advocated reform. They believe that history develops forward, and all laws and systems must develop with the development of history. They cannot retrogress or follow the old ways. Shang Yang clearly put forward the proposition of "not following the past and not following the present". Han Fei further developed Shang Yang's ideas and proposed that "time changes and governance is difficult, chaos will occur." He caricatured the conservative Confucianism as stupid people who wait and see.

The combination of magic and potential

Shang Yang, Shen Dao and Shen Buhai respectively advocate emphasis on law, emphasis on potential and emphasis on technique, each with its own characteristics. When it came to Han Fei, the master of Legalist thought, Han Fei put forward the idea of ??closely integrating the three. Law refers to the sound legal system, power refers to the power of the monarch, who must control military and political power alone, and technique refers to the strategies and means to control ministers, control political power, and implement laws. The main purpose is to detect and prevent rebellion and maintain the status of the monarch. Contemporary scholar Liu Muyu (Liu Duo) mentioned in "Unlawful and Inhumane Governance": "The defense of the law depends on the monarchy, and the actions of the government depend on the unity."

In the early Warring States period, feudalism was established in various vassal states one after another. In response to the need for a comprehensive reform of slavery in the economic, political, and ideological fields, the Legalist school of the emerging landlord class emerged. The thinkers of this school have their own characteristics in theory and different strategies, but they all advocate the use of "law" to govern the country. The legalists of Qi who gave lectures at Jixia Academy inherited and developed Guan Zhong's thoughts, absorbed the learning of Huang and Lao, and advocated paying equal attention to law and etiquette, putting morality first and then punishment, and developing law from Tao, forming a relatively moderate theory of the rule of law. The Legalist works in "Guanzi" and the silk books "Jingfa", "Sixteen Classics", "Cheng", "Daoyuan", etc. are their representative works.

The Legalists of the Qin and Jin Dynasties advocated harsh punishments and opposed preaching about etiquette and justice. They focused on laws, techniques, and power, and rewarded farming and warfare, so as to enrich the country and strengthen the army, and unite the world. They are a fierce and thoroughgoing faction in Legalism with remarkable political achievements. Historically, Qin and Jin legalists are usually regarded as the main representatives of the pre-Qin legal school.

Li Kui, one of the founders of legalism in the Qin and Jin Dynasties, served as the Prime Minister of Wei Wen. He advocated the "teaching of making the best use of the land", advocated vigorously developing agricultural production, adjusting grain rent, creating a "flat buying" method, and taking into account farmers. and the interests of the public. He also collected the criminal laws of various countries at that time and compiled them into six chapters of the "Book of Laws": "The Law of Stealing", "The Law of Thieves", "The Law of Prisoners", "The Law of Catching", "Miscellaneous Laws" and "The Law of Judgments". The Dharma Scripture is the first relatively complete legal code in ancient China. Wu Qi, who was at the same time as Li Kui, first carried out military reform in the Wei State, and then carried out political reforms in the Chu State. He "cleared the legal review and harmed officials who were not in a hurry", "enabled the descendants of the emperor to receive titles and salaries for three generations", breaking the The old aristocracy’s Shiqingshilu system forced the old aristocrats to move to the frontier to reclaim wasteland, and rewarded “fighting men”. Later, Shang Yang implemented two reforms in the Qin Dynasty, the main contents of which were: opening the border areas and abolishing the well field system; recognizing the private ownership of land, rewarding agricultural warfare, and those who were diligent in farming and weaving and paid more grain and silk could change their original status; those with military merit could Grant titles of nobility; implement the system of counties and counties; advocate the use of severe punishments to eliminate crime. But he rejected moral education and despised the role of knowledge and culture. He looked at history from the perspective of development and proposed that "those who oppose the ancients are indispensable, but those who follow the rituals are not enough" and "if the world is not governed in the same way, the country will not follow the ancients."

Shang Yang emphasized "law", while Shen Buhai emphasized "technique". "A practitioner is one who is given an official position because of his appointment, who is responsible for his duties according to his name, who practices the power of killing, and who teaches the officials about their abilities. This is what the master does" ("Han Feizi Dingfa"). In order to prevent ministers from manipulating power and playing with the law, Shen Buye suggested that the supreme ruler must use magic, and the monarch should rule by means of "only seeing", "only listening" and "arbitrary". He believes that "the one who sees alone is wise, and the one who listens alone is wise. He who can make decisions can be the master of the world." extravagant". The monarch's personal words and opinions can determine the rise or fall of the country, which shows the idea of ??authoritarianism.

Shen Dao is a school of Legalism that emphasizes "power" governance, advocating that the monarch can "grasp the law and handle the situation" and "ruling the world by doing nothing." From the point of view of "abandoning knowledge and abandoning oneself", he proposed that "if the great king obeys the law but fails to obey the law, then the matter will end with the law." He regarded the law as the highest criterion and advocated that "officials do not have personal relationships, the law does not leave behind love, there is nothing up and down, only the law lies" ("Monarchs and Ministers"), emphasizing that "law" must be combined with "power", and regard the power of the monarch as As for the power of law, it is said that "virtue and wisdom are not enough to convince the public, but power is enough to silence the wise." However, he also believes that the survival of a country is not entirely determined by the power of the monarch alone. "The king who subjugates the country is not the fault of one person, and the king who governs the country is not the fault of one person." He admitted that "law" is not static and proposed that "obeying the law but not changing it will lead to decline."

At the end of the Warring States Period, Han Fei gathered the culmination of Qin and Jin Legalist thought, blending "law", "shu" and "power" into one, and absorbed Taoist thought to systematize the theory of rule of law. He advocated strengthening the centralization of monarchy, cutting off private influence, "taking the law as teaching", strictly implementing rewards and punishments, and rewarding farming and war. In terms of the view of history, he put forward the viewpoints of "not repairing the past, always breaking the law" and "be prepared for changes when things change", and divided the development of history into the ancient world, the medieval world, the modern world and the present world. In philosophy, the materialist perspective is used to transform Laozi's theory on "Tao", pointing out that "Tao is the way everything is and the basis for all principles. Reason is the text that makes things happen." It is believed that Tao is the general law for the development of all things, and Li is the special law for individual things. It emphasizes that people must follow objective laws to carry out activities. In terms of epistemology, he proposed the method of "experimentation" to test people's words and deeds based on the actual effect of "function". He believed that "those who rely on it without examination are foolish; those who fail to rely on it are false accusations." This idea of ??using "experimentation" as a way to determine the authenticity of knowledge is of great significance to the development of ancient Chinese materialist epistemology.

The legal theory of the Legalist School played a major role in the feudal reforms during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, leading to the unification of the six countries by Qin Shihuang and the establishment of a centralized and autocratic feudal state, and became the ruling ideology of the Qin Dynasty. . After the Western Han Dynasty, the independent Legalist school gradually disappeared, and its legal thoughts were absorbed into the Confucian system, using both morality and punishment, and became a powerful tool to maintain the dictatorship of the landlord class. However, Pre-Qin Legalism still had a certain influence on some later materialists and progressive thinkers.

Laws should be made known to the public

The law must be made known to the public. Since the law is the basis for the monarch to govern the country and the behavioral norms that the people should abide by, the law should be in written form. Appear, publish it to the public, and strive to become "a household name". Han Fei emphasized: "The law is the one who compiles pictures and books, sets them up in the government and distributes them to the people." The reason why the law is promulgated has two purposes: first, to "make all people know what to avoid" and to be able to discipline themselves by the law; second, to supervise officials' public judgment of cases and prevent criminals from asking for mercy outside the law.

Act in accordance with the law

We must strictly act in accordance with the law and maintain its authority. Legalists resolutely opposed talking about benevolence and morality outside of "laws". Han Feizi clearly pointed out: "Know the laws and prohibitions, and observe the plans. If the laws are clear, there will be no danger of chaos inside; if the plans are good, there will be no danger of death or captives outside. "Therefore, it is not benevolence and righteousness to preserve the country." He believes that "governing by law" must eliminate all human factors, so as to avoid "people survive and the government ceases." As the saying goes, "Abandoning the virtuous will lead to chaos, abandoning the law and appointing wisdom will be dangerous. Therefore, it is said: follow the law but not the virtuous."

There is no hierarchy in punishment

Legalists believe that law Once it is promulgated and comes into effect, "officials must not have personal relationships, and the law must not abandon love", and monarchs and ministers must "submit personal relationships according to the law." It emphasizes that "law" as a unified standard for regulating society is "dimensions, rope ink, rules, weighing stones, douhu, and angle measurement, which are called laws." The image illustrates the objectivity and stability of "law" Sexuality does not change due to different subjective factors in the application process, and everyone should be treated equally. The so-called "monarchs and ministers, high and low, all obey the law", "the law is not noble and the rope is not bent", "the ministers will not be spared from punishment, and the good deeds will not be spared", all reflect the determination of the Legalists to enforce the law fairly.

Legal stability

"One law" and "one respect" emphasize the unification of the content and legislative power of the law, and maintain the stability of the law, that is: "one law" and "one respect" . "The law is as solid as one." "One" refers to the content of the "law". It cannot be "contradictory to the old and the new, or inconsistent with the past and the past." "Solid" refers to maintaining the stability of the law. "Changing orders day by day" will only be the way to the destruction of the country. , which also reflects the change in the legalist stance from "reform" to "definition of law" at the end of the Warring States Period. Only by "controlling politics and law independently of the master" can we ensure "non-division of politics" and achieve the purpose of unifying legislative power.