In the book "Life and Death of Qin Shi Huang", Xin Deyong, a professor of history at Peking University, believes that pure Confucianism does not exist. Mencius in the early Warring States period was revered as the authentic Confucian sect, highlighting the rituals in Confucian doctrine; the Xunzi in the late Warring States period highlighted the "law" in Confucian doctrine, which was due to different choices in different historical environments.
According to the Biography of Li Silie, Li Si "learned the art of the emperor from Xun Qing". Since Xun Zi advocated the Fa Hou Wang, according to Xin Deyong's analysis, the essence of the "Fa Hou Wang" was to directly face various specific social problems and put forward the concept of governance and system construction for the current emperor. This also means that this practice is not like Confucius advocating the restoration of the Zhou system, "The First King of the Fa". In terms of the assumption of human nature, Xunzi changed from Mencius's "theory of sexual goodness" to "theory of sexual evil" (that is, human nature is inherently evil). Since human nature is inherently evil, didactic morality and ethics are not enough to regulate the behavior of the people in reality, so it is necessary to control the people with severe punishment, so that they are afraid of the monarch, afraid of the law, and dare not commit adultery.
Statue of Liz
Although Xun Zi served three times as a priest to the Qi state's Jixia Xuegong and later served as the commander of Chu Lanling (chu lanling county in present-day Lanling County, Shandong), he was not an important position, and his time was not long, so he did not have the opportunity to implement his own governing philosophy. However, Li Si carried forward the ideas of Xunzi 'King Of the Law Queen' in the Qin Kingdom, and he was particularly evident in the thirty-four years of Qin Shi Huang's first sonata. According to the "History of the First Emperor of Qin":
Li Siyue, the minister of the five emperors, said: "The five emperors do not return to each other, the three generations do not inherit each other, each ruled by itself, not the opposite, the time also changes." His Majesty's great cause and the achievements of building all the worlds are not known to fools. And the yue is a matter of three generations, what is the law? At different times, the princes fought together and recruited to study. Today, it has been decided that the law will be issued, the people will work the peasants, and the soldiers will study the law to break the prohibition. The present generations do not learn from the present but learn from the past, and confuse the head of the people in the non-current world. The ancient world is scattered, Mo Zhi can be one, it is a combination of princes, the language is the way of the past to harm the present, the false words are chaotic, the people are good for their private learning, and they are established by the non-superior. The present emperor also has the world, don't make a black and white statue. Private learning and illegal teaching, under the orders of people, each of them will discuss it according to his learning, enter the wrongdoing, go out of the alley, praise the name of the lord, take the difference and think high, and lead the group to create slander. In this way, the main force will fall to the top, and the party will be subordinate. Forbidden convenience. The minister asked the historian to burn all the non-Qin records. Those who are not doctoral officials, those who dare to have poems, books, and hundreds of languages in the world, are kept by the yi and the lieutenants. There are those who dare to even write poetry and books abandon the city. The ancient and non-modern people. The official who sees that he who does not do so is guilty of the same sin. Order the next thirty days not to burn, the tuo for the city. If you don't go, the book of medicine and planting trees. If you want to learn the law, take the official as your teacher. "Yes." ”
Chen Yinke once said: "In ancient times, Confucians were originally experts in the scholarship of canon law. Li Si was taught by Xun Qing and became a Qin system. The legal system of Qin is attached to the Confucian school of doctrine. The middle of the 'car on the same track, the book is the same text, the line is the same. (i.e., the "Lun" of taishi gong's so-called 'to the first emperor is the lun that can be crowned with the crown'.) It is the system of confucian ideals, and it is also realized in the body of Qin Shi Huang. According to this, Xin Deyong believes that "this is a clear verification of Li Si's Confucian identity." "Li Sina was originally a Confucian person."
Xunzi statue
However, Xunzi himself paid more attention to the "law" in Confucian doctrine, and advocated the king of the Law Queen, plus he used the "theory of sexual evil" as a presupposition of human nature, and on this basis proposed a set of measures to govern the country and arrange social order. Li Si carried forward the idea of Xunzi's "Law" and went further. For example, "Xunzi Huibing":
Li Si asked Sun Qingzi: Qin IV has won, the army is strong, and the princes are mighty, not with benevolence and righteousness, so as to engage in it.
Sun Qingzi: Non-Ru knows also! The so-called convenience of the ru is also the convenience of inconvenience; the so-called benevolent and righteous, the convenience of the stool. He who is benevolent and righteous, so are the cultivators of government; and the people of the government are close to him, happy with their kings, and die lightly. Therefore, it is said that whoever lies in the army will lead the last thing. Qin IV has won, and he is often afraid of the unity of the world and rolls himself up, and this so-called soldier of the last days has not yet been unified. Therefore, the release of the soup is not the time of its expulsion of the ming, and the wu king's curse, not the dynasty of the koshi and then the victory, are all in the front of the Su Xiuye, the so-called benevolent soldiers. This woman does not seek the original, but the end, the reason why this life is chaotic.
In terms of the requirements for the monarch, the gentleman basically follows the traditional concept of Confucianism: "Xunzi: the monarch, the original of the people; the original qing is clear, and the original turbid is turbid." "The old king loves the people and is safe, and the good soldier is proud, and neither of them dies." However, Li Si, in the Book of The Governor, openly advocated that the monarchy exercised his own power and made decisions: "He who is a wise master will be able to perform the art of supervision and responsibility in the whole way." If he is to be reprimanded, then the subject does not dare to exhaust his ability to take care of his master. The division of this subject and lord, the righteousness of the upper and lower levels, then the world's wise people do not dare not do their best to do their best to make their kings. It is the Lord who is solely in the world and has nothing to do with it. The Lord of the Wise can be extremely happy, and the Lord of Wisdom can not be observed! "It is the Ming Emperor who decides alone, so the power is not in the subjects." Then it can destroy the acts of benevolence and righteousness, the mouth of the hidden words, the deeds of the trapped martyrs, the wisdom of the scepters, and the independent sight and the sight of the inside, so that the deeds of the benevolent martyrs cannot be poured out externally, and the arguments of the indignant arguments cannot be seized from the inside. Therefore, he can walk alone and dare not rebel. ”
Advocates that the monarch "rules alone under the heavens and has no control over anything." Can be extremely happy", and cut off benevolence... Obviously, such ideas will not come from Confucianism, and only legalists will advocate such ideas. When discussing the ideological phenomena of the Qin and Han dynasties, Xiao Gongquan once said: "According to the existing literature, Han Fei was the last force behind the development of the legalist theory, and Li Si was the temple army for the implementation of the legal and political techniques. This judgment seems to be more realistic. Li Si's administration in the Qin state consisted of about four parts: first, respecting the king; second, centralizing power; third, prohibiting private learning; and fourth, practicing the governor. None of these do not conform to the claims of the Legalists.
Han Feizi
If Xunzi paid more attention to the law than Mencius, then Li Si further publicized the aspect of severe punishment and harsh law, and his thinking is already difficult to call Confucianism. Xin Deyong believed that in the situation at that time, the needs of the emperor were mainly to defeat the enemy in the disputes of the masses, which was the basic desire of the emperor, and such a theory should be the "art of the emperor". However, such a definition may not be comprehensive, in addition to the method of defeating the enemy with a strong army, the "art of the emperor" must also include the power of the monarch to control, manipulate the people and officials, and consolidate the basis of his power and maintain the monarch's rule. And this is undoubtedly what the Fa jia is best at, and this is true of Shang Martin and Han Feizi.
In addition, Han Feizi, who is recognized as a representative figure of the Legalists, is also from Xunzi's disciples, like Li Si. Of course, more of Xunzi's disciples may belong to Confucianism, but if they can produce a Dharma master like Han Feizi, then they cannot be called Confucian because Li Si followed Xunzi as a Confucian to learn imperial techniques.
In my opinion, even if Xunzi is a Confucian, it may be more accurate to call him a Fa Confucian. Both Han Feizi and Li Si inherited and carried forward his emphasis on harsh punishment. In Li Si, the color of the Fa is undoubtedly stronger than that of Confucianism.