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From Historical Evolution to the End of History: Past, Present and Future from Shang Yang to the First Emperor

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Dao Companion to the Philosophy of Han Fei

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Abstract

This article explores historical views in the Book of Lord Shang 商君書 and Han Feizi 韓非子. I argue that in distinction from the predominant concept of “changing with the times,” Shang Yang (商鞅, d. 338 B.C.E.), Han Fei (韓非 d. 233 B.C.E.), and other contributors to “their” books proposed a complex view of sociopolitical development, which resembles to a certain extent evolutionary ideas of modern Western thinkers: namely, that demographic pressure and resultant socioeconomic changes may require fundamental modification of political and social structures and even of moral values. This dynamic view allowed both thinkers to advocate radical departure from the past models; and it could have led them to further speculations about major sociopolitical modifications in the future, after the realization of their declared goal—the establishment of the unified empire. However, both pragmatic thinkers largely eschewed future-oriented recommendations, leaving the founder of the Qin 秦 Empire, the First Emperor (r. 221-210 B.C.E.), in an odd situation. Having appropriated the discourse of radical break from the past, the First Emperor remained short on practical advice as to which type of novel institutions and practices should be adopted in the aftermath of his success. Eventually, despite its declared novelty, the Qin regime remained very much committed to the continuation of the Warring States model. After the collapse of Qin, the discourse of radical change was discredited and largely abandoned until its rediscovery by modernizing Chinese intellectuals in the last years of the imperial regime.

This research was supported by the Israel Science Foundation (grant No. 1217/07) and by the Michael William Lipson Chair in Chinese Studies. It was first presented at the EACS conference, Riga, July 16, 2010. I am indebted to the panel participants and to Paul R. Goldin and Charles Sanft for their insightful remarks and suggestions.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The problématique of dividing Chinese thinkers into putative “schools of thought” had been raised several times in the past (e.g. Csikszentmihalyi and Nylan 2003; cf. Pines 2009: 4–5); specifically, the fallacy of the “Legalist” label was recently demonstrated in Goldin 2011. Inasmuch as I employ this label, I do it exclusively for heuristic reasons and not as an analytical tool. In this article, by “Legalists” I refer primarily to Shang Yang, Han Fei and to other contributors to “their” books, leaving aside many thinkers (such as Shen Buhai, Shen Dao or the authors of the Guanzi) who are labeled as “Legalists” in other studies.

  2. 2.

    See details in Li Yu-ning 1977: l-cv; cf. Liu Zehua, unpublished.

  3. 3.

    See, e.g., Puett 2001; Plaks 2005; Pines and Shelach 2005; Goldin 2008; see also several articles in Huang and Zürcher 1995 and Huang and Henderson 2006.

  4. 4.

    The authors of the Mozi clarify elsewhere that the right to invent and innovate was exclusively that of the ancient sage kings; once those created the civilization, one should not deviate from their perfect model. See “Rejecting the Excesses” (“Ci guo”辭過) chapter (Wu Yujiang 1993: 1.6.45–48). For an analysis of this chapter and its possible dating to the 4th century B.C.E., see Puett 2001: 54–55 and 234n51.

  5. 5.

    For similar ideas in the Zhuangzi, see “Horses’ Hoofs” (“Ma ti” 馬蹄) and “Opening Satchels” (“Qu qie” 胠篋) chapters.

  6. 6.

    For studies of Xunzi, see, e.g., Goldin 1999; Sato 2003; cf. Pines 2009: 82–97 et passim.

  7. 7.

    Following Wang Niansun, I read 端拜 as 端拱.

  8. 8.

    See, e.g., Springs and Autumns of Mr. Lü (Lüshi chunqiu 呂氏春秋), Chen Qiyou 2002: 20.1.1321–22; Guanzi 管子, Li Xiangfeng 2004: 11.31.568–69; Mencius 3B.9 (Yang Bojun 1992b 6.9: 154); the “Minute Rites” (“Qu li” 曲禮) chapter of the Records of Rites (Liji 禮記) (Sun Xidan 1995, 1.1–6.1–162).

  9. 9.

    The question of the authenticity of the Book of Lord Shang and of its individual chapters is too complex to be dealt with adequately here; for detailed discussions, see Zheng Liangshu 1989; Yoshinami 1992; Zhang Jue 1993; Tong Weimin 2007; Zhang Linxiang 2008; cf. Pines 2002: 703–704. There is no doubt that the book is multi-layered; thus, some of its chapters refer to the ruler as “lord” (jun 君), while other employ the term “king” (wang 王), adopted by the Qin rulers after 325 B.C.E.; these and other chapters that refer to the events which occurred long after Shang Yang’s death, were obviously produced by Shang Yang’s followers. Among the three chapters that discuss the origin of the state, two (“Huace” 畫策 and “Junchen” 君臣) are likely to belong to the later layers of the text, although probably both were produced in the first generation(s) of the text’s accretion; i.e. both predate Han Fei.

  10. 10.

    For debates on the dating of this chapter, see Zhang Linxiang 2008: 250–262.

  11. 11.

    For emending Huangdi 黃帝 to Rendi 人帝, see Jiang Lihong’s gloss, Shang jun shu, 106–7.

  12. 12.

    The word “benefit” (li 利) is absent from some versions.

  13. 13.

    The precise meaning of xiang chu 相出 in the text is disputed. Some suggest that the term refers to “mutual support” or “mutual promotion” by the worthies (e.g. Zhang Yan 2009: 322); but this reading would contradict the text’s clear rejection of the worthies behavior. I follow Gao Heng’s gloss (Gao Heng 1974: 74).

  14. 14.

    In reading ying 贏 as neng 能, I follow Jiang Lihong’s gloss, Shang jun shu pp. 52–53.

  15. 15.

    The last sentence appears to be corrupt, and so is possibly the end of the previous one. I accept Jiang Lihong’s punctuation and his substitution of yi fu 壹輔 with fu yi 輔壹 (Jiang suggests adding the word jiao 教, as in Chapter 3 of the Book of Lord Shang, but I am not convinced; yi 壹 is frequently employed by Shang Yang as noun and not as an adjective; the One as the synonym of proper policy). For renzhe, xin zhi xu ye 仁者,心之續也, I accept Gao Heng’s substitute of xu 續 with yu 裕 (Gao Heng 1974: 109); but I also strongly suspect that this sentence is an old gloss that was inadvertently incorporated into the main text.

  16. 16.

    I investigate the modification of the rhetoric in the Book of Lord Shang from an alienating into an accommodative one in Pines, forthcoming B.

  17. 17.

    Referring to the replacement of the Xia and the Shang by the Shang and Zhou dynasties, respectively.

  18. 18.

    No population statistics exist from the Warring States period, but anecdotal data testify overwhelmingly to the significant increase of the population in the aftermath of the “iron revolution” (for which see Wagner 1993). This observation is supported by the recently published census data from Qianling 遷陵 county in the Qin dynasty (Zhang Chunlong 2009: 188). I intend to explore this topic in a future study.

  19. 19.

    Following the gloss by Wang Xianshen, I emend shi tuo 土橐 to shi tuo 仕托 (Wang Xianshen 1998: 444).

  20. 20.

    For Qin’s innovations in the aftermath of the unification, see Sima Qian 1959: 235–51; for the inscriptions on weights and measures, see Wang and Cheng 1999: 63–69; and Sanft, forthcoming.

  21. 21.

    The idea of periodic renovations is present in many texts of the Warring States period; it might have crystallized in the theory of the “five phases” (wu xing 五行) associated with Zou Yan 鄒衍 (ca. 305–240) and his followers. This theory, as presented in the “Responding to the Similar” (“Ying tong” 應同) chapter of the Lüshi chunqiu stipulates that every unifying dynasty rules under a certain cosmic element, and that the choice of the element should be reflected appropriate in ritual, administrative and symbolic alterations. Interestingly, “Responding to similar” chapter allows both cyclical and linear interpretation of the elements’ change; it is constructed so as to present the water (Qin’s cosmic element) as the fifth, and possibly the final stage of the elements’ cycle. See more in Puett 2001: 143–44.

  22. 22.

    Cited with minor modifications from Kern 2000: 13–14.

  23. 23.

    The fear of the potential loss of the Mandate is evident in many supposedly early Western Zhou texts, such as “Kang gao” 康誥 and “Duo fang” 多方 documents or the “Wen wang” 文王 ode.

  24. 24.

    See such terms as “for long time” (chang 長, 5 times); “forever” (yong 永, 3 times); similar references to longevity for “myriad generations” (wanshi 萬世) are scattered in the speeches cited in the “Basic Annals of the First Emperor.” For the quest for the lineage longevity in the Zhou bronze inscriptions, see Xu Zhongshu 1988.

  25. 25.

    The Liye 里耶 documents, coming from the Chu area that was occupied by the Qin armies just on the eve of the unification provide us with valuable insights with regard to the scope and profoundness of Qin’s intervention into the lives of the conquered population. From the household registration data we learn of the immediate imposition of the Qin ranks system on the occupied (Hsing, forthcoming); other documents testify to the deep penetration of Qin administration into the local society down to the hamlet level (Bu Xianqun 2009), and even to the imposition of Qin’s vocabulary on the local administrators (Hu Pingsheng 2009). For the decapitation of local elites and their forceful removal to the vicinity of Qin capital, Xianyang 咸陽, see Sima Qian 1959: 6.234.

  26. 26.

    For the opinion that “the gentlemen of All under Heaven docilely bowed before [the First Emperor’s] wind” in the aftermath of unification, see Jia Yi’s 賈誼 words in Sima Qian 1959: 6.283.

  27. 27.

    As I argue elsewhere (Pines 2009), thinkers of the Warring States period bequeathed to their descendants a set of ideas and ideals associated with the unified imperial rule, but not a definite model of this rule. While some of the thinkers sought inspiration from the Western Zhou model (as imagined or reinterpreted by ritual specialists of the Warring States age), this model was considered inadequate by many, especially because of the limited territorial expansion and limited centralization of the early Zhou rule; and it was duly rejected by the First Emperor (Sima Qian 1959: 6.238–39; see more in Pines 2008).

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  1. Department of East Asian Studies, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel

    Yuri Pines

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  1. Dept. East Asian Languages &, Civilizations, University of Pennsylvania, Williams Hall 847, Philadelphia, 19104, Pennsylvania, USA

    Paul R. Goldin

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Pines, Y. (2013). From Historical Evolution to the End of History: Past, Present and Future from Shang Yang to the First Emperor. In: Goldin, P. (eds) Dao Companion to the Philosophy of Han Fei. Dao Companions to Chinese Philosophy. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4318-2_2

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