Book of Lord Shang and Elevation of Confucianism in the Han—Including the Discussion of the Conflict Between Shang Yang, His School, and the Confucians

Abstract

EDITOR’S ABSTRACT This article presents a counterintuitive view that the rise of Confucianism in the Han dynasty is indebted to the Book of Lord Shang. It analyzes chapter 7, “Opening the blocked,” and shows that the chapter can be read as promoting a combination of force and morality. The sophisticated historical view of this chapter solves apparent contradictions between societies based on family ties, meritocracy, and monarchic power by showing how new levels of social development inevitably open up when old paths are blocked. This dynamic view was abandoned by the followers of Shang Yang but was rediscovered by the Confucian scholar Lu Jia (ca. 2401–170 BCE) early in the Han dynasty. It is under the impact of this dynamic view that Lu Jia tried to convince the first Han emperor that one can attain the world from horseback but not rule it without an inspiring ideology. The dialectic historical approach presented in “Opening the blocked” chapter remains valid well into our days.