法家的历史名声以及帝制中国的“法家议题”

The Historical Reputation of the Legalist School and the Legalist Topic in Imperial China

法家是先秦时期的一个重要思想流派。这个学派具有鲜明的政治色彩,强调功利与实用,反对空洞的道德说教,崇尚实力,主张加强中央集权,厉行严刑峻法,打击贵族阶层,驱民以农战,以强有力的国家干预来实现富国强兵。法家在中国历史上既有好名声,也有坏名声,且坏名声远远多于好名声。法家人物残忍与刻薄之性格,形成了残忍与刻薄之思想,此种思想之实践导致了秦朝二世而亡。纵观帝制中国两千余年的历史,明确赞赏法家的声音虽然微弱,但始终存在。法家人物公正诚信的法治精神、法家学说的务实品格以及法家学派的历史功绩,成为后世法家历史好名声的主要内容。法家以君权或国家权力为核心、以稳定的社会秩序为前提来谋划国家的生存和发展,在中国历史上成功塑造了一个“强国家”传统。法家有关人类政治的深刻思考,使得帝制中国每一时代的统治者都不得不认真对待。

The Legalist school was an important school of thought in the pre-Qin period of China.This school has a distinct political orientation.It emphasizes utility and practicality,and opposes empty moral preaching.It esteems strength,advocates the strengthening of centralized power,upholds severe punishments and strict laws,cracks down on the aristocracy,directs the people toward agriculture and warfare,and promotes the powerful intervention of state so as to realize the ideal of“aprosperous country with a powerful army”(fuguo qiangbing,富国强兵).The Legalist school has enjoyed both good and bad reputations in Chinese history,and generally speaking,its bad reputation has far outweighed its good reputation.Cruel and harsh personalities brought forth cruel and harsh ideas,and the practical effects of these ideas led to Qin’s swift collapse.Throughout the more than two thousand years’history of imperial China,voices approving the Legalists were weak,but they never ceased to exist.The Legalist school’s advocacy of impartiality,its pragmatic character,and its historical achievements were the major reasons for its good reputation in history.The Legalists’profound thinking on human politics was treated seriously by every ruler of imperial China.It pursues the survival and development of the country by putting monarchical power or state power in the core position and taking the stabilization of social order as the premise.It has succeeded in shaping the tradition of establishing a powerful state in Chinese history.