Shen Dao
| Shen Dao | |
|---|---|
| Born | c. 350 BC |
| Died | c. 275 BC |
| Era | Ancient philosophy |
| Region | Chinese philosophy |
| School | Legalism or Huang-Lao |
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Main interests
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Fa (concept) |
| Shen Dao | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chinese | 慎到 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Alternative Chinese name | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chinese | 慎子 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Literal meaning | "Master Shen" | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Transcriptions | |
|---|---|
| Standard Mandarin | |
| Hanyu Pinyin | Shèn Dào |
| Gwoyeu Romatzyh | Shenn Daw |
| Wade–Giles | Shen4 Tao4 |
| Yue: Cantonese | |
| Yale Romanization | Sahn dou |
| Jyutping | San6 Dou3 |
| Southern Min | |
| Tâi-lô | Sīn Tàu |
| Middle Chinese | |
| Middle Chinese | dʑìn tàw |
| Old Chinese | |
| Baxter-Sagart | *[d]i[n]-s tˤaw[k]-s |
| Transcriptions | |
|---|---|
| Standard Mandarin | |
| Hanyu Pinyin | Shènzǐ |
| Gwoyeu Romatzyh | Shenndzyy |
| Wade–Giles | Shen4-tzu3 |
| Yue: Cantonese | |
| Yale Romanization | Sahn-jí |
| Jyutping | San6-zi2 |
| Southern Min | |
| Tâi-lô | Sīn-tsú |
| Middle Chinese | |
| Middle Chinese | dʑìn-tsí |
| Old Chinese | |
| Baxter-Sagart | *[d]i[n]-s tsəʔ |
Shen Dao (Chinese: 慎到; c. 350 – c. 275 BC) was a "Chinese Legalist" political philosopher most remembered for his influence on Han Fei with regards to the concept of shi 勢 (circumstantial advantage, power, or authority), though most of his book concerns the concept of fa 法 (methods, standards) more commonly shared among "Legalists". Posthumously, he is also sometimes classified as Taoist. Usually referred to as "Master Shen" ("Shenzi" 慎子) for his writings, very little is known of Shen Dao's life. An itinerant Chinese philosopher from Zhao, he was probably born about 350 BC, travelling to the city of Linzi (modern Zibo, Shandong) in 300 BC to become a member of the Jixia Academy. Shen probably left Linzi after its capture by the state of Yan in 285 BC, and died roughly 10 years later.
Shen Dao's own original 42 essays have been lost. With only 7 fragments still extant, 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. Thompson states that the Shenzi was available until the fall of the Tang dynasty, though not in its original edition.
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. These are the only known examples of the text of Shenzi that are contemporaneous with its composition.
Making use of the term dao without cosmological or metaphysical reference, the Shenzi serves as noteworthy precursor to 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.
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Wikipedia