Military Ideology in the Book of Lord Shang

What is it about?

The Book of Lord Shang (4th century BCE), which is commonly identified as a major work of the so-called Legalist school, is also an important—and much neglected—treatise in the history of Chinese military thought. Beyond specific recommendations concerning both defensive and offensive warfare, the book presents a coherent vision of the state that should restructure its socioeconomic and cultural policies so as to turn every man into a valiant soldier. The book epitomizes an ideology of “total war,” in which the differences between civilian and military affairs are blurred. The society is profoundly militarized; the army, in turn, is profoundly bureaucratized. In my paper I explore military thought of the Book of Lord Shang, focusing on its views of mobilization, of indoctrination of the soldiers, and of the military discipline; the proposed rules of military engagement; and views of military command. I furthermore deal with the question of why the military ideology of the Book of Lord Shang was all but neglected after the end of the Han dynasty. I argue that this neglect reflects a fundamental shift away from mass armies, which made much of the ideology of war in the Book of Lord Shang irrelevant to the imperial strategists and military thinkers.

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Why is it important?

Explores long neglected military thought of one of the foundational texts from the Warring States period China (453-221). Adds a new dimension of understanding how the concept of "total war" came into existence in early China and why it was subsequently abandoned.