Malposition of Writing:Discussions About Legalists Written by Sima Qian
Sima Qian's understanding of the"Legalists"is an important stage in the history of the understanding of the"Legalists",and should be defined in relation to his father Sima Tan's definition(connotation)and the writing of the Shij i itself(extension).Treating the members of the Legalists as biographees,the Shij i presents three types:sole biographiees,joint biographiees,and family biographiees.In the sole type,the writing of Shang Yang shows the typical characteristics of the Legalists,while Li Si's is slightly less obvious.In the combined type,the writing of Han Fei and Wu Qi have more legalist colors,while the writing of Shen Buhai,Li Kui,and Shen Dao do not seem to be included in Sima Qian's list of legalists.In the family biographies,Zi Chan is also not included.Sima Qian's writing on the Legalists completes Sima Tan's definition of the Legalists to a certain extent,and has an inclination to biographees,but it shows a mismatch between the writing of history and the history of ideas,which is of great significance in academic history.
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