LEGALISM IN CHINA

Basic Tenets and Practical Applications of Legalism in China

Basic Tenets and Practical Applications of Legalism in China

Introduction

Legalism is a label applied since the second century BC a group of Chinese thinkers of the Warring States Period (453-221 BC). The label is doubly misleading: first, because the thinkers in question does not necessarily themselves members of a unified intellectual current, much less a school of thought, and secondly, because the concept of law (fa) while important, is not central to the thinking of all these thinkers. Legalism is not a scientific category but rather an academic convention.

What are some of ...