The Book of Lord Shang

"The Book of Lord Shang" ("Shang chün shu", "Shangjunshu" [ [http://www.chinaknowledge.de/Literature/Diverse/shangjunshu.html Chinese Literature: Shangjunshu 商君書 "The Book of Lord Shang"] ] , or colloquially "Shangzi"; 商君書 [ [http://www.worldfuturefund.org/wffmaster/Reading/China/lordshangTradwebplan.htm http://www.worldfuturefund.org/wffmaster/Reading/China/lordshangTradwebplan.htm] ] ) was an early Legalist work generally [" The work Shang Chün shu (“Book of the Lord of Shang”) probably contains writings and ideas of Shang Yang, although the exact authorship of the book is in doubt.""Shang Yang." "Encyclopædia Britannica". 2006. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 19 Sept. 2006 [http://search.eb.com/eb/article-9067124] .
See also "Other figures associated with an early form of legalism are Shang Yang (d. 338 BCE), the putative author of The Book of Lord Shang, and Shen Pu-hai (d. 337 BCE)." [http://philtar.ucsm.ac.uk/encyclopedia/china/legal.html] ] attributed to the eponymous Lord Shang. It is a foundational"It is one of the major works of the highly pragmatic and authoritarian Legalist school of Chinese philosophy." "Shang Yang." "Encyclopædia Britannica". 2006. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 19 Sept. 2006 [http://search.eb.com/eb/article-9067124] .] work of that harsh tradition: ""The Book of Lord Shang" teaches that laws are designed to maintain the stability of the state from the people, who are innately selfish and ignorant. There is no such thing as objective goodness or virtue; it is obedience that is of paramount importance." [http://philtar.ucsm.ac.uk/encyclopedia/china/legal.html] The philosophy espoused in this work is quite explicitly anti-Confucian:

Contents

#The Reform of the Law
#An Order to cultivate Waste Lands
#Agriculture and War
#The Elimination of Strength
#Discussion about the People
#The Calculation of Land
#Opening and Debarring
#The Unification of Words
#Establishing Laws
#The Method of Warfare
#The Establishment of Fundamentals
#Military Defense
#Making Orders Strict
#The Cultivation of Right Standard
#The Encouragement of Immigration
#Compendium of Penalties (missing)
#Rewards and Punishment
#Policies Planning
#Within the Borders
#Weakening the People
#(missing)
#External and Internal Affairs
#Rulers and Ministers
#Interdicts and Encouragements
#Attention to Law
#The Fixing of Rights and Duties

References

External links

Text of the work

* [http://chinese.dsturgeon.net/text.pl?node=47107&if=en "The Book of Lord Shang"] Chinese-English parallel text, Chinese Text Project
* [http://www.worldfuturefund.org/wffmaster/Reading/China/lordshangTradwebplan.htm "The Book of Lord Shang"] -(in Chinese)
* [http://classiques.uqac.ca/classiques/duyvendak_jjl/B25_book_of_lord_shang/duyvlord.rtf Text of "The Book of Lord Shang"] -(translated by J.J.-L. Duyvendak (1889-1954) into English in 1928)
* [http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/7383 "Shangzi" by Lord Shang] -(Chinese; from Project Gutenberg)

Articles and essays

* [http://search.eb.com/eb/article-9067124 The entry] for Lord Yang in the "Encyclopædia Britannica"
* [http://www.anu.edu.au/HRC/first_and_last/chapter_2/unity_dominion.htm]
* [http://www.hku.hk/philodep/ch/Lord%20Shang.htm]
* [http://everything2.com/index.pl?node=The%20Book%20of%20Lord%20Shang Entry] on Everything2