Legalism is the most important school among the pre-Qin philosophers. They are famous for their outstanding contributions in the legal field and jurisprudence, and put forward a set of theories and methods of Han Feizi, which provided quite effective theoretical basis for the later centralized Qin Dynasty to formulate various policies. The later Han Dynasty inherited the centralized system and legal system of the Qin Dynasty, and was the political and legal subject of the ancient feudal society in China.
Legalists have made great contributions to jurisprudence, and made fruitful discussions on the origin, essence and function of law and the relationship between law and social economy, requirements of the times, state power, ethics, customs, natural environment, population and human nature.
The main representatives of Legalism are Shang Yang, Shen Buhai, Han Feizi and Li Si.
China was an important school with the rule of law as its core in the Warring States Period. Its ideological pioneer can be traced back to the Spring and Autumn Period. The actual founders are Li Kui (about 455 ~ 395 BC), Shang Yang, Shen Dao and Shen Buhai. At the end of the Warring States period, Han Feizi was a master of legalism, and he established a complete theory of rule of law and a philosophical system of simple materialism.
Legalism is related to the emergence and development of feudal land relations in China, which is the theoretical expression of the landlord class replacing the slave owner's aristocratic rule. In slave society, "courtesy" is the political system and moral standard ruled by slave owners and nobles. Since the Spring and Autumn Period, the original force of Zhou Li has gradually lost, and the old legal system of Legalists has declined. In order to meet the needs of the development of feudal land relations, a number of reformers appeared among the slave owners and nobles. For example, Guan Zhong of Qi State, Guo Yan of Jin State and Zi Chan of Zheng State. They promulgated laws and penalties, reformed the land tax system, promoted the process of feudalism, and became pioneers of legalism in the Warring States period. Guan Zhong and Zi Chan not only emphasize the legal system, but also attach importance to moral education. Philosophically, they expressed some materialistic views, and Guan Zhong and his successors put forward the view that "the sky remains unchanged and the earth is not easy".
In the early Warring States, feudalism was established in succession in various vassal states. In order to meet the needs of comprehensive reform of slavery in economic, political and ideological fields, the landlord class legalist school appeared. The thinkers of this school have their own characteristics and strategies in theory, but they all advocate "ruling the country according to law". The Qi legalists who gave lectures in Jixia Academy inherited and developed Guan Zhong's thought, learned from Huang Lao and advocated paying equal attention to law and propriety. Formed a relatively moderate theory of the rule of law. The legalist works in Guanzi and the silk books Fa Jing, Sixteen Classics, Weighing and Dao Yuan are their representative works. However, Qin Jin Legalists advocated severe punishment, opposed etiquette and preaching, emphasized law, skill and potential, and rewarded agriculture and war, making Qiang Bing rich and powerful. They are legalists.
One of the founders of Legalist School was appointed as Xiang, who advocated "teaching with all resources", vigorously developing agricultural production, adjusting grain rent, and creating a "flat" law, taking into account the interests of farmers and citizens. He also collected the criminal laws of various countries at that time and compiled six legal classics; Theft Law, Thief Law, Prisoner Law, Capture Law, Miscellaneous Law and Armed Law are the first relatively complete codes in ancient China. At first, Wu, a contemporary legalist, carried out military reform in Wei State, and then carried out political reform in Chu State, in order to "determine the statutes, damage the officials who are not in a hurry" and "make the seal". Admit private ownership of land and reward agricultural warfare. Diligent farming and weaving, with more money, can change the original identity. Those who have military merit can be awarded a title; Implement the county system; He advocates severe punishment to put an end to crime. However, he refused moral education and despised the role of knowledge and culture. He looked at history from the viewpoint of development, and put forward that "those who oppose the ancient times will oppose it, while those who follow the rites are insufficient" and "if the world is not governed together, the country will be illegal."
Shang Yang emphasized "Fa" and Shen Buhai emphasized "Shu". "The performer, who grants the official by post, is responsible from the name, exercises and kills the handle, teaches the able official, and is also held by the teacher" (Han Feizi Ding Fa). In order to prevent ministers from manipulating power and playing with the handle of the law, Shen Buhai suggested that the supreme ruler must use the art, and the monarch should mainly "watch alone". Therefore, he can be the master of the world. The monarch "rules the world with a square inch of machine, so the world is determined by one word, and the world is invincible by one word." The monarch's personal remarks and opinions can determine the rise and fall of the country, which shows the autocratic thought.
Shen Dao is a legalist school, emphasizing the rule of "potential" and advocating that the monarch can "grasp the potential of law" and "govern by doing nothing" Starting from the viewpoint of "abandoning knowledge and destroying oneself", he put forward that "the great monarch legalist should abide by the law, and then things will be broken by law" He regards the law as the highest criterion, and advocates that "officials don't care about intimacy, law doesn't leave feelings, and there is no distinction between upper and lower, and law is the only place." The so-called "sage is not enough to convince the public, and the position is enough to win the sage", but he believes that the survival of the country is not entirely determined by the power of the monarch. " The king who perishes the country is not the crime of one person, and the king who governs the country is not the power of one person. He admitted that "the law" is not immutable, and proposed that "obeying the law will lead to decline. "
At the end of the Warring States period, Han Fei, a master of Qin Jin legalist thought, combined "law", "technique" and "potential" into one, and absorbed Taoist thought to systematize the theory of rule of law. He advocated strengthening the centralization of monarchy, cutting off private forces, "teaching by law", strictly rewarding and punishing, and rewarding farming. In the view of history, he put forward that "it is impossible to repair the past, and it cannot be violated." The development of history is divided into ancient times, middle ages, modern times and contemporary times. Philosophically, Laozi reformed the theory of "Tao" from the perspective of materialism, pointing out that "Tao is the nature of all things, all things are well-founded, and reason is the text of all things". It is believed that Tao is the general law of the development of all things, while reason is the special law of individual things. Emphasize that people must follow objective laws to carry out activities. As a method to judge whether knowledge is true or false, "reference" is of great significance to the development of China's ancient materialist epistemology.
Legalists' theory of rule of law played an important role in the feudal reform during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. Even Qin Shihuang unified the six countries and established a centralized and autocratic feudal country, which became the ruling ideology of the Qin Dynasty. After the Western Han Dynasty, independent legalists gradually disappeared, and their thought of rule of law was absorbed into the Confucian system, which became a powerful tool to maintain the dictatorship of the landlord class. However, the pre-Qin legalists still had some influence on some later materialists and progressive thinkers.