Machiavelli (1469 ~ 1527) was a famous thinker during the Italian cultural renaissance. Historian. The so-called machiavellianism, in short, is the utilitarianism with Western European characteristics. He believes that human nature is private, and people must use others if they want to survive in the world. In order to achieve their goals, they can play politics and use various schemes (or plots) by hook or by crook, and the results can prove the correctness of the goals and means. Machiavellianism can be divided into "high machiavellianism" and "low machiavellianism". The former controls others without being controlled by others, while the latter is influenced or even manipulated by others.

The main difference between Machiavellianism in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period and China's Legalist Thought is that their "goals" are completely opposite. Machiavelli advocated republicanism and opposed the autocratic monarchy after national reunification. China legalists, such as Shang Yang, Shen Dao, Shen Buhai and Han Fei, advocated strengthening the centralization of monarchy, with the ultimate goal of concentrating power in the hands of the monarch.

Previously influenced by Machiavelli's masterpiece The Prince (? The Prince), people often mistakenly think that Machiavelli advocates absolute monarchy, especially when he publicly declares that "it is safer for a monarch to be feared than loved". He advocated that Jun was mainly "cunning as a fox and fierce as a lion" and "not afraid of leaving a bad name", which deepened people's misunderstanding of him. In fact, this is only a small part of Machiavelli's thought, far from the whole of his thought. Machiavelli expressed his appreciation of The Republic in another masterpiece, On Titus Levi's First Decade. Obviously, he believes that monarchy is only a means, not an end, and the purpose is to establish a unified and powerful republic, because in Machiavelli's political ideas, only republicanism can guarantee the country's strength and prosperity. What he envisioned was the establishment of absolute monarchy in a city-state republic, and the gradual strengthening of monarchical power, relying on monarchical power to build a powerful army, gradually pacifying the people and realizing the reunification of Italy. Immediately after risorgimento, the autocratic monarchy was abolished, and the monarch himself was deposed. Then a parliament was established on a fair and reasonable basis, a republic ruled by nobles was established, and a head of state and a consul were elected. Obviously, Machiavelli really yearns for an aristocratic Republic like the Roman Republic, not a monarchy, which is a means to realize the ideal of the Republic but not the ultimate destination of national political development. This is completely consistent with machiavellianism's thought of "the right purpose and the right means", that is, in order to achieve the lofty goal of rejuvenation and establish a Republic, such despicable means as absolute monarchy can be adopted. It can be seen that the so-called strengthening of absolute monarchy, military dictatorship and taking the road of reunification by force are just a shady trick and conspiracy used by Machiavelli to establish a unified, powerful and indivisible Italian Republic and become a modern national sovereign state. Father of western political science,

During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period in China, the means and purposes of legalists were completely integrated, that is, strengthening absolute monarchy was both a means and an end. They advocate strengthening laws and regulations, weakening the title of monarch, playing politics, suppressing ministers, engaging in political conspiracy, and suppressing the "five poisons" in order to turn subjects who originally had independent social status and free will into slaves tamed by the king. In Shang Jun, Shang Yang publicly declared: "If the people are weak and the country is strong, and the country is strong and the people are weak, then the country is weak. Park Qiang, weak; Weakness is the track, lewdness is ambition; Weak and useful, the more ambitious, the stronger. " In addition, the book "Shang Jun" also advocates the use of traitors to rule good people, because "to rule traitors with good people, the country will be chaotic and will be cut; If the country governs the kind people by raping them, then it will be governed and strong. "Obviously, the Legalists regard the world as the private property of the monarch, regard the subjects of the world as the slaves of the monarch, and do not allow them to have independent personality and free will. The ultimate goal of legalists is to realize absolute monarchy in the full sense and turn all people in the world into slaves without personal dignity. They agree with the absolute monarchy, which does not allow even a little decentralization, which is completely different from the Republic advocated by Machiavelli.

There is another obvious difference: Machiavelli believes that law is a social contract and a reflection of public will, and law should be independent of any monarch and higher than monarchical power; Legalists in China believe that "law" is the will of the ruler and a way to carry out the will of the monarch. The people can only passively obey, and the monarch can promulgate and amend laws at will. Therefore, the rule of law advocated by Machiavelli is the real rule of law, and the "rule of law" advocated by Legalists is closer to the rule of man than Confucianism, which is the most thorough thought of rule of man in China's ideological and cultural history.

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References:

Machiavelli (Italy): Monarch

Machiavelli (Italy): On Li Wei.

Shang Yang (Warring States): The Book of Shang Jun.

(Warring States) Han Fei: Han Feizi

Bao Pengshan: Bao Pengshan's Interpretation of Shang Jun Shu

Li: An Analysis of Machiavelli's Republican Thought (Journal of Zaozhuang University, Volume 28, Issue 3, 20 1 1).