The book of Lord Shang : apologetics of state power in early China / Shang Yang ; translated and edited by Yuri Pines.

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

In this new translation, The Book of Lord Shang's intellectual boldness and surprisingly modern-looking ideas shine through, underscoring the text's vibrant contribution to global political thought.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

CHOICE Review

This is a gem of a book! Pines (Asian studies, Hebrew Univ. of Jerusalem) casts new light on one of the most important works in Chinese political thought and transforms the ancient, somewhat obscure text into a surprisingly accessible and refreshing work of political philosophy. Compiled in the fourth and third centuries BCE, the Book of Lord Shang is a foundational work of so-called Chinese legalism. It advocates a powerful central government that does not model itself on antiquity or morality but rather operates pragmatically on the basis of law, the military, and punishment. The first complete English edition since J. Duyvendak's 1928 translation, Pines's annotated translation maintains a balance between readability and accuracy. However, this book is much more than a new translation; Pines's superbly researched and written introduction places the text in its historical and intellectual contexts, incorporates the latest research in multiple languages, and presents Shang as a theorist of a total state rather than a proponent of the "rule of law." Pines's careful rendition, which turns this ancient text into a classic philosophical work with relevance to today's political landscape, is a great service for not only sinologists but also those in the general fields of political theory and philosophy. Summing Up: Essential. Upper-division undergraduates and above. --Junpeng Li, Harvard University