legalism han feizi

Key Takeaway: A school of Chinese political philosophy that flourished during the Warring States period (5th–3rd centuries BCE), emphasizing strict laws, clear rewards and punishments, and centralized state control as the foundation of social order.

A school of Chinese political philosophy that flourished during the Warring States period (5th–3rd centuries BCE), emphasizing strict laws, clear rewards and punishments, and centralized state control as the foundation of social order. Unlike Confucianism, which relied on moral cultivation and ritual, Legalism argued that human nature is inherently self-interested and must be governed through a comprehensive system of law (法 fa).

Within the Chinese philosophical tradition, as recorded in the classical texts that have shaped East Asian thought for millennia, A school of Chinese political philosophy that flourished during the Warring States period (5th–3rd centuries BCE), emphasizing strict laws, clear rewards and punishments, and centralized state control as the foundation of social order.

— Oriens

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