Before we investigate Mencius' art, should we not first define the term "art" [i-shu] and identify the essentials in Mencius' art?

Throughout Chinese history, the Legalists and the Confucians have always been antagonistic schools of thought. The idea that the Legalists have their origins in the Confucians, that they are the successors of the Confucians, is nonsense. Explaining the problem and clarifying the class nature of the Confucian-Legalist struggle has important and real significance for deepening the Campaign to Criticize Lin Piao and Confucius, for criticizing the reactionary thought of honoring Confucius and opposing Legalism, and for grasping class struggle in the (...) realm of ideology. (shrink)

Han Fei was a famous Legalist in the late Warring States period. During the struggle to criticize the Confucian school, he developed the theory of the "rule of law," which laid a theoretical groundwork on which the newly emerging landlord class could build a centralized feudal state. His works had been appreciated by Ch'in Shih-huang. When Ch'in Shih-huang read the book Han Fei Tzu, he sighed and said, "I would feel no regret about dying if I could meet this person (...) and become his friend." Later Ch'in Shih-huang applied this progressive theory of Han Fei in practice and developed it through practice. (shrink)

Hsiin Yiieh's Shen-chien is one of the four major philosophical works that have survived from the later Han dynasty. Presented here for Western readers is an English translation by Ch'i-ytin Ch'en of the entire work, supplemented with selections of Hsiin Yiieh's other essays. Originally published in 1980. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books (...) while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905. (shrink)