The Theorization of Political Concepts during Mid-lateWarring States Period: With Main Focus on the Intellectual Impact of the Jixia Academy
Date Issued
2005-07-31
Date
2005-07-31
Author(s)
DOI
932414H002006
Abstract
This research aims to elucidate the process of theorization of main conceptual terms
which were essential for the discussion of socio-political issues from the mid-late
Warring States political discourse. The discussion mainly focuses on the conceptual
and theoretical impact of the intellectual discourse at the Jixia Academy on the
formation of the political theories in those three eminent works during the late
Warring States period (i.e. the Xunzi, the Mr. Lü’s Spring and Autumn Annals, and the
Hanfeizi)
The research begins with the three questions on how we trace the development of
the pre-Qin political thought. First, it would be fairly misleading to adopt Sima Tan’s
“definition” on the scholarly tradition during theWarring States period because even
until the eve of the Warring States period, many prominent thinkers who had been
later categorized as specific schools would have been no idea about their actual
“scholarly affiliation.” Second, it is very difficult to characterize convincingly those
“ideal types” of any school except for Confucianism and Mohism during middle
Warring States period. And third, the adoption of the term “Eclecticism” or
“miscellaneous thought” (zajia 雜家) is misleading when we discuss the thought of
the Mr. Lü’s Spring and Autumn Annalsbecause the aim of its compilation was not to
assort the previous thoughts hitherto, but integrate them under the higher theoretical
perspective. Ironically, Mr. Lü’s Spring and Autumn Annalswas no more eclectic
work than the Xunzi and the Hanfeizi in that all intended to the attainment of the
higher level integration of previous thought.
Bearing this in mind, the research will analyize the process of the
systematization and conceptualization of several important socio-political terms
which appear in the works of both Jixia thinkers and those of three aforementioned
books. These terms are “division and distribution” (fen 分), “fairness and publicity”
3
(gong 公), “principle” (li 理), “law and regulation” (fa 法), “authoritative
power/position” (shi 勢). This research presupposes that these terms are significant in
the sense that they were usually used in the context of the analysis of state structure
and social mechanisms (in their term “order and disorder”) by thoseWarring States
thinkers.
It is hoped that this research can shed some lights on the elucidation of a
developmental context during the mid-late Warring States socio-political discourse in
which those key socio-political terms have bypassed beyond the limit of different
“schools” and been finally integrated into as the parts of the essential arguments in
three prominent socio-political works.
Subjects
The Jixia Academy
Conceptual Terms
Early Chinese Political Thought
The Xunzi
The Hanfeizi
The Mr. Lü’s Spring and Autums Annals
Publisher
臺北市：國立臺灣大學哲學系暨研究所
Type
report
File(s)![Thumbnail Image]()
Loading...
Name
932414H002006.pdf
Size
494.65 KB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum
(MD5):382e814d05bffdfd3e18f7b2c2311369