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Necessity East and West: The Book of Lord Shang Compared to Machiavelli
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ruler to pretend to be virtuous, in order to garner support from people who expect to receive the
related benefits: “by appearing to have [the virtues], they are useful, as it is to appear merciful,
faithful, humane, honest and religious” (P XVIII, 70). While Shang lacks the insight that
feigning the virtues can be useful, he agrees that practicing them is deleterious to good
government. He captures this thought as a whole by referring to the Confucian virtues as so
many “parasites,” or, more precisely, “lice.” According to the longest enumeration, they consist
of “rites and music, odes, and history, moral culture and virtue, filial piety and brotherly love,
sincerity and faith, chastity and integrity, benevolence and righteousness, criticism of the army
and being ashamed of fighting” (Sh III 13, 256).
19
With "sophistry and intelligence" being
mentioned in addition in several other lists, Shang's condemnation of the Confucian virtues thus
leaves out only two: courage and reverence for society and ruler, for, properly reinterpreted,
these attributes can be made to serve the legalist state—as we shall see shortly.
Shang gives a number of related reasons for his rejection of all the other virtues. First, their
practice leads human beings to disregard the strict discipline required by a properly ordered state.
If benevolence is practiced, officials will have compassion with offenders and the laws will lose
their teeth: "If men of merit [in agriculture and war] are appointed to office, people will have
little to say, but if men of virtue are appointed to office, people will have much to say" (Sh III 13,
252);
20
and since people are selfish pursuers of desire, "kindness and benevolence” will become
the “foster-mother of transgressions" (Sh II 5, 206). Similarly, if familial piety is practiced,
people will hide the transgressions of their relatives, as Confucius had famously demanded,
19
“Odes, and history" refers to the study of two ancient texts, the Book of Odes and the Book of History, which the
Confucians revered as repositories of Chou wisdom, and about which Shang said moreover: "Though there may be a bundle of the Odes and the History in every hamlet and a copy in every family, yet it is useless for good government" (Sh I 3, 191; cf. Sh II 6, 220). For the other enumerations of the “lice,” see Sh I 3, 190; Sh I 4, 197, 199, 200; Sh II 5, 206; Sh IV 17, 282; Sh V 20, 306.
20
Cf. Sh II 5, 206-07.
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| | Authors: Fischer, Markus. |
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19
ruler to pretend to be virtuous, in order to garner support from people who expect to receive the
related benefits: “by appearing to have [the virtues], they are useful, as it is to appear merciful,
faithful, humane, honest and religious” (P XVIII, 70). While Shang lacks the insight that
feigning the virtues can be useful, he agrees that practicing them is deleterious to good
government. He captures this thought as a whole by referring to the Confucian virtues as so
many “parasites,” or, more precisely, “lice.” According to the longest enumeration, they consist
of “rites and music, odes, and history, moral culture and virtue, filial piety and brotherly love,
sincerity and faith, chastity and integrity, benevolence and righteousness, criticism of the army
and being ashamed of fighting” (Sh III 13, 256).
19
With "sophistry and intelligence" being
mentioned in addition in several other lists, Shang's condemnation of the Confucian virtues thus
leaves out only two: courage and reverence for society and ruler, for, properly reinterpreted,
these attributes can be made to serve the legalist state—as we shall see shortly.
Shang gives a number of related reasons for his rejection of all the other virtues. First, their
practice leads human beings to disregard the strict discipline required by a properly ordered state.
If benevolence is practiced, officials will have compassion with offenders and the laws will lose
their teeth: "If men of merit [in agriculture and war] are appointed to office, people will have
little to say, but if men of virtue are appointed to office, people will have much to say" (Sh III 13,
252);
20
and since people are selfish pursuers of desire, "kindness and benevolence” will become
the “foster-mother of transgressions" (Sh II 5, 206). Similarly, if familial piety is practiced,
people will hide the transgressions of their relatives, as Confucius had famously demanded,
19
“Odes, and history" refers to the study of two ancient texts, the Book of Odes and the Book of History, which the
Confucians revered as repositories of Chou wisdom, and about which Shang said moreover: "Though there may be a
bundle of the Odes and the History in every hamlet and a copy in every family, yet it is useless for good
government" (Sh I 3, 191; cf. Sh II 6, 220). For the other enumerations of the “lice,” see Sh I 3, 190; Sh I 4, 197,
199, 200; Sh II 5, 206; Sh IV 17, 282; Sh V 20, 306.
20
Cf. Sh II 5, 206-07.
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