Shen Dao

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Shen Dao (Chinese: 慎到; pinyin: Shèn Dào; Wade–Giles: Shen Tao, ca. 395–315 BCE) was an itinerant Chinese philosopher from Zhao, who was a scholar at the Jixia Academy in Qi. He is usually referred to as Shenzi 慎子.

Overview

Shen Dao's own original 42 essays have been lost, and only 7 fragments are still extant, and he is known largely through short references and the writings of others, notably Han Fei and Zhuang Zi. A critical reconstruction of the lost book of Shenzi was made by Paul Thompson, and published in 1979 as The Shen Tzu Fragments.

In 2007, the Shanghai Museum published a collection of texts written on bamboo slips from the State of Chu dating to the Warring States period, including six bamboo slips with sayings of Shenzi.[1] These are the only known examples of the text of Shenzi that are contemporaneous with its composition.

The most noteworthy aspect of Shen Dao's philosophy is the fact that it was a precursor of both Taoist and Legalist thought. While these two schools may seem quite opposed to each other in some regards, they both share a view of nature as a fundamentally amoral force, and by extension, reality as an arena without set moral imperative – a stance that differentiates both schools from Confucianism.

In Confucianism, power is legitimized through superior moral character and wisdom. According to Shen Dao, there is no natural basis for moral judgment and authority arises and is sustained due to the nature of actual circumstances, rather than in accordance with human or linguistically formulated moral values. We should abandon such judgments and simply flow on the natural course of the Great Way (Great Tao). Through this idea, it is possible to see a bridge between the mystical simplicity of Taoism and the cynical realism of Legalism.

Notes

  1. ↑ 《上海博物馆藏战国楚竹书（六）》将出版

References

External links


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