China & East Asia · c. 350–200 BCE
Legalism
Order comes not from virtue but from clear public laws, impartial rewards and punishments, and the ruler’s command of power and technique.
How can a state become rich, strong and orderly?
The Warring States were fighting for survival, and reforming ministers such as Shang Yang in Qin reorganised whole states around farming, war and law. Han Feizi, a student of Xunzi, drew these ideas together shortly before Qin unified China in 221 BCE.
People reliably seek benefit and avoid harm, while truly virtuous people are rare. So a ruler should not wait for sages but steer ordinary people with fixed laws (fa), rewards and punishments, backed by his position of power (shi) and techniques for controlling ministers (shu).
- Publish laws and apply them equally to all below the ruler.
- Rewards and punishments steer self-interest.
- The ruler must hold on to power and technique.
It guided Qin’s unification and was officially discredited after Qin’s fall, yet its administrative methods lived on inside the imperial state, often summed up as “Confucian outside, Legalist inside”.
Thinkers
c. 390–338 BCEShang YangQin minister whose reforms built Qin’s powerc. 280–233 BCEHan FeiziPrince of Han who synthesised Legalist thoughtKey texts
Where it came from
Reacted againstConfucianismHan Feizi kept his teacher Xunzi’s view that human nature is selfish but rejected rule by virtue in favour of rule by law.Borrowed from
DaoismHan Feizi wrote chapters explaining the Laozi and borrowed its image of a still, empty ruler who acts through non-action.