The Book of Lord Shang by Yang Shang

Author:Yang Shang
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Philosophy/Eastern/General, HIS008000, PHI003000, History/Asia/China
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Published: 2017-03-07T00:00:00+00:00

13

MAKING ORDERS STRICT (靳令)

Chapter 13 closely echoes and at times reproduces verbatim sections of chapter 4. It is also very close to chapter 53, “Chi ling” 飭令, of the Han Feizi. Zheng Liangshu has thoroughly discussed the relations between the three (1989, 82–103), and I largely accept his analysis, according to which chapter 4 is anterior to chapter 13, which, in turn, is anterior to the Han Feizi version. Chapter 13 may well be an alternative version of chapter 4, but it is briefer than the latter, especially insofar as administrative and economic issues are concerned. The organization of chapter 13 is somewhat haphazard. For instance, it employs the term six parasites several times in sections 13.2 and 13.3, but the term is not explained until section 13.4. Another odd feature is the last section (13.6), which hails the sage ruler’s ability “to implement benevolence and righteousness in All-under-Heaven.” How is this statement related to the derisive view of “benevolence and righteousness” as one of the “six parasites” in section 13.4? It is possible that the final section was added or modified at a later stage of the chapter’s transmission. Alternatively, it is possible that the distinction being made in the two appearances of the same term in both passages (13.4 versus 13.6) is between fraudulent and real “benevolence and righteousness”: the former is mere moralizing discourse, which the Book of Lord Shang consistently views as detrimental to the state’s prowess; the latter is the reality of perfect order and peace that will be attained after merciless punishments and resolute warfare eliminate domestic and external foes. In any case, this final passage moderates the harshness of chapter 13 and turns it into an example of a more accommodative rhetoric in the Book of Lord Shang (Pines 2012a).

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