Legalist Philosophy
This book systematically examines the theoretical construction and practical applications of Legalist thought in state governance of ancient China. Centered on the three core theoretical pillars of “Law (Fa), Statecraft/Tactics (Shu), and Authority/Power (Shi),” it conducts an in-depth analysis of the unique insights of Legalist doctrine on legal systems, governance methods, and the operation of power through interpretations of classical works such as The Book of Lord Shang and Han Feizi.
In exploring governance practices, this book focuses on the political reforms implemented by various states during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods. It elaborates on the establishment of a centralized state structure and evaluates the effectiveness of specific governance mechanisms, including the prefecture-county system, household registration, and collective responsibility system. These institutional innovations not only laid the groundwork for the Qin dynasty’s unification of the six states but also provided the foundational framework for China’s state governance model over the following two millennia.
Xiaobo Dong is a Distinguished Professor of Anyang University and a Professor at School of Foreign Languages and Cultures of Nanjing Normal University, Deputy Director of the Belt and Road Rule of Law Research Center at Academy of China’s Modernization of Rule of Law and Researcher at Jiangsu Academy of Talent Development Strategy. He is a renowned contemporary Chinese jurist and legal linguist in China. He is also the Director and Chief Expert of Jiangsu International Rule of Law Research Center, as well as the Chief Expert on major projects of the National Social Science Fund of China. His research interests include history of Sino-west civilization exchanges, legal linguistics, legal translation, language strategy and planning, cross-cultural communication. In recent years, he has published over 250 interdisciplinary academic papers in prominent journals and more than 80 books, including academic monographs, edited volumes, and translations. He has authored multiple English academic monographs published by internationally leading publishing groups and has dozens of research papers published in high-level journals such as Nature. He enjoys a distinguished academic reputation internationally.
Zhifen Ren is Ph.D. candidate at the School of Foreign Languages and Cultures at Nanjing Normal University, and an associate professor at the Faculty of English and Education at Anyang University. Her research interests include legal linguistics, legal translation, and language policy and planning. In recent years, she has published over 10 articles in core journals, with four monographs (one from Springer) and three think tank reports. She leads or participates in more than 20 research projects including one National Social Science Fund projects.