Chinese Legalism - a podcast by BBC Radio 4

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the origins and rise of Legalism in China, from the start of the Warring States Period (c475 - 221 BC) to the time of The First Emperor Qin Shi Huang (pictured), down to Chairman Mao and the present day. Advanced by the Qin statesman Shang Yang and later blended together by Han Fei, the three main aspects of Legalism were the firm implementation of laws, use of techniques such as responsibility and inscrutability, and taking advantage of the ruler's position. The Han dynasty that replaced the Qin discredited this philosophy for its apparent authoritarianism, but its influence continued, re-emerging throughout Chinese history.

WithFrances Wood
Former Curator of the Chinese Collections at the British LibraryHilde de Weerdt
Professor of Chinese History at Leiden UniversityAnd

Roel SterckxJoseph Needham Professor of Chinese History at the University of Cambridge.

Producer: Simon Tillotson.

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