Amidst the chaos of the Warring States period, Yangzhou advocated Yuanism, emphasizing individual autonomy and self-preservation, while Han Bijia sought to establish order through a strong rule of law and absolute monarchy. Each explored the relationship between the state and the individual in different ways, offering solutions to the chaotic times.
The Warring States Period in China was a time of chaos and division, when the feudal system of the Zhou royal family collapsed, and nations fought endless wars for supremacy over China. The philosophy of the Qi Jia Baekga emerged out of the social needs and intense thinking about humanity to overcome the turbulence of the Warring States Period and build a better world. Thinkers of the Warring States Period developed various philosophical ideas to overcome this social turmoil and seek a harmonious relationship between the individual and the state.
How did thinkers of the time explore the relationship between the restoration of order in the state or community and the lives of individuals? There were many different approaches to this question, but two prominent representative thinkers were Yang Zhu and Han Bijia.
Yang Zhu, who dominated the discourse as the mainstream thinker of the Warring States Period, argued for Yuanism, the idea that humans are basically self-interested. This is the idea that all of society’s institutions and culture are artificial pretenses, and that the most important thing in life is to live in complete defense of one’s own life. At first glance, Yangzhou’s ideas may seem like extreme egoism, but they are significant in that they rejected the state system with the monarch as the pinnacle and emphasized the importance of the individual. Whereas the lack of a state or state-oriented ideology is usually seen as the cause of a disorganized society, Yangju’s problem was the state-oriented ideology of “sacrificing one’s life for a desirable society. He realized that individual lives could be reduced to a means to an end by the state, which monopolized powerful public power, and emphasized that individuals should recognize the absolute value of their lives and not sacrifice them to social norms or state-oriented ideologies.
Yangist philosophy particularly emphasizes the importance of individual autonomy and self-preservation, and believes that true social harmony is achieved when people protect their own lives and interests. It envisioned a society where autonomous individuals respect each other’s rights, rather than the coercive system of the state and society. His ideas have since become the foundation of individualist and libertarian thought, and remain an important debate in modern society.
On the other hand, Han Bijia emphasized the importance of a state armed with a strong rule of law and advocated absolute monarchy. Han believed that the monarch should be the embodiment of the law and rule with strict laws to heal the chaos of the state. In addition, for the law to be effective, it should be written in a written form and widely known among the people, and the law should be enforced fairly, regardless of the ups and downs. Since Han Fei regarded humans as selfish beings who pursue their own interests, he was convinced that if a reward system is established with strong public power, people will abide by the law in order to obtain rewards. In this way, the state will be powerful through the rule of law, and at the same time, the people can secure their own interests by obtaining protection from the state. In the end, the true meaning of the rule of law, in Han’s view, was to protect and benefit the people.
Han Bijia also emphasized that laws and institutions are essential for the stability and prosperity of a country. He believed that chaos in a country stemmed from the absence of law, so maintaining order through strong law enforcement was the path to prosperity. Han Bijia’s ideas later became the foundation of Chinese legalistic thought, and heavily influenced the modern concept of the rule of law.
Thus, while Yangzhou rejected the idea of an external entity such as the state intervening in the lives of individuals, Han Fei saw monarchy as the best way to address the suffering of the people by establishing order in a spirit of equity and justice. By emphasizing individual autonomy for Yang Zhu and state order and the rule of law for Han Bi, the two thinkers offered different solutions to the chaotic Warring States period. These opposing philosophical approaches still have important implications for the relationship between the state and the individual today.
