51. Standard Bearers: What is “Legalism"?
<span>51. Standard Bearers: What is “Legalism"?</span>
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<span><span>Peter Adamson</span></span>
<span><time datetime="2026-04-12T04:00:00+02:00" title="Sunday, April 12, 2026 - 04:00">12 April 2026</time>
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<div>51. What is Legalism?</div>
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<div>Podcast series</div>
<div><a href="/series/warring-states-period" hreflang="en">Warring States Period</a></div>
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<div class="postedby"><span>DukeOfEthereal</span> on 12 April 2026</div>
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<strong>New Chinese Theme + In Our Time on Legalism</strong>
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<div><p>Professor since we’re approaching towards the End of the Warring State Period and entering a new dynastic era (Qin-Han) are we getting a new theme to go with it ?</p>
<p><br>Also here’s an episode from In Our Time on Chinese Legalism (2015)</p>
<p><br><a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06r84qy">https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06r84qy</a></p>
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<p class="visually-hidden">In reply to <a href="/comment/18186#comment-18186" class="permalink" rel="bookmark" hreflang="en">New Chinese Theme + In Our Time on Legalism</a> by <span>DukeOfEthereal</span></p>
<div data-comment-user-id="4" id="comment-18189" class="author-not-zero my-commenty">
<div class="postedby"><span>Peter Adamson</span> on 12 April 2026</div>
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<strong>In Our Time links</strong>
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<div><p>Thanks for these and the IOT links for the China historical context and Hippocrates, I added those.</p><p>And yes, we'll be doing a new sub-series when we get to the Han. With new music! </p></div>
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<div>51. What is Legalism?</div>
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<div>Further Reading</div>
<div><p style="text-autospace:none;"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;font-size:12.5pt;" lang="EN-US">• W. K. Liao (trans.), </span><em><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;font-size:12.5pt;" lang="EN-US">The Complete Works of Han Fei Tzu</span></em><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;font-size:12.5pt;" lang="EN-US">, 2 vols (London: 1936–59).</span></p><p><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;font-size:12.5pt;" lang="EN-US">• Y. Pines, (trans.), </span><em><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;font-size:12.5pt;" lang="EN-US">The Book of Lord Shang:</span></em><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;font-size:12.5pt;" lang="EN-US"> </span><em><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;font-size:12.5pt;" lang="EN-US">Apologetics of State Power in Early China</span></em><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;font-size:12.5pt;" lang="EN-US"> (New York: 2017).</span></p><p><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;font-size:12.5pt;" lang="EN-US">• P.M. Thompson, </span><em><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;font-size:12.5pt;" lang="EN-US">The Shen-Tzu Fragments</span></em><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;font-size:12.5pt;" lang="EN-US"> (Oxford: 1979).</span></p><p><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;font-size:12.5pt;" lang="EN-US">• B. Watson (trans.), </span><em><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;font-size:12.5pt;" lang="EN-US">Han Feizi: Basic Writings</span></em><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;font-size:12.5pt;" lang="EN-US"> (New York: 2003).</span></p><p><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;font-size:12.5pt;" lang="EN-US">---</span></p><p><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;font-size:12.5pt;" lang="EN-US">• R. Ames, </span><em><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;font-size:12.5pt;" lang="EN-US">The Art of Rulership: A Study of Ancient Chinese Political Thought</span></em><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;font-size:12.5pt;" lang="EN-US"> (Albany: 1994).</span></p><p><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;font-size:12.5pt;" lang="EN-US">• P. Moody, “Han Fei in His Context: Legalism on the Eve of the Qin Conquest,” </span><em><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;font-size:12.5pt;" lang="EN-US">Journal of Chinese Philosophy</span></em><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;font-size:12.5pt;" lang="EN-US"> 38 (2011), 14-30.</span></p><p class="v1msolistparagraph" style="margin:0cm;"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;font-size:12.5pt;" lang="EN-US">• Y. Pines (ed.), </span><em><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;font-size:12.5pt;" lang="EN-US">The Dao Companion to China’s Fa Tradition: the Philosophy of Governance by Impartial Standards</span></em><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;font-size:12.5pt;" lang="EN-US"> (Dordrecht: 2024). </span></p><p class="v1msolistparagraph" style="margin:0cm;"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;font-size:12.5pt;" lang="EN-US">• P.R. Goldin, “Persistent Misconceptions about Chinese ‘Legalism’,” </span><em><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;font-size:12.5pt;" lang="EN-US">Journal of Chinese Philosophy</span></em><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;font-size:12.5pt;" lang="EN-US"> 38 (2011) 88-104.</span></p><p class="v1msolistparagraph" style="margin:0cm;"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;font-size:12.5pt;" lang="EN-US">• P.R. Goldin (ed.), </span><em><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;font-size:12.5pt;" lang="EN-US">Dao Companion to the Philosophy of Han Fei</span></em><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;font-size:12.5pt;" lang="EN-US"> (Dordrecht: 2013).</span></p><p style="text-autospace:none;"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;font-size:12.5pt;" lang="EN-US">• H.-P. Wang and L.S. Chang, </span><em><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;font-size:12.5pt;" lang="EN-US">The Philosophical Foundations of Han Fei’s Political Theory</span></em><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;font-size:12.5pt;" lang="EN-US"> (Honolulu: 1986).</span></p><p><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;font-size:12.5pt;" lang="EN-US">• Li Yu-Ning, (ed.), </span><em><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;font-size:12.5pt;" lang="EN-US">Shang Yang’s Reforms and State Control in China</span></em><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;font-size:12.5pt;" lang="EN-US"> (White Plains NY: 1977).</span></p><p style="text-autospace:none;"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;font-size:12.5pt;" lang="EN-US">• F. Zhengyuan, </span><em><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;font-size:12.5pt;" lang="EN-US">China’s Legalists: The Earliest Totalitarians and their Art of Ruling</span></em><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;font-size:12.5pt;" lang="EN-US"> (Armonk: 1994).</span></p><p style="text-autospace:none;">In Our Time: <a href=" https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06r84qy">Chinese Legalism</a></p></div>
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<div><a href="/themes/law" hreflang="en">Law</a></div>
<div><a href="/themes/political-philosophy" hreflang="en">Political Philosophy</a></div>
<div><a href="/themes/war-violence" hreflang="en">War and Violence</a></div>
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<div><div class="episode-description"><p>The “<em>fa</em>-thinkers” Shang Yang and Han Feizi encourage the rigorous application of “standards,” including law, reward, and punishment.</p></div></div>
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