Shen Buhai

E713395

Shen Buhai was an influential Warring States-era Chinese political theorist and statesman whose ideas on administrative control and bureaucratic governance became foundational to the Legalist tradition.

Jump to: Statements Referenced by

Statements (42)

Predicate Object
instanceOf Chinese philosopher
Legalist thinker
political theorist
statesman
associatedWith Chinese statecraft
state of Han (Warring States period) NERFINISHED
countryOfCitizenship Zhou dynasty NERFINISHED
culture Chinese
era pre-Qin philosophy
ethnicity Han Chinese NERFINISHED
fieldOfWork administrative theory
bureaucratic governance
political philosophy
floruit 4th century BCE
gender male
historicalReputation key precursor of Qin and Han administrative systems
impact helped shape later imperial Chinese bureaucracy
influenced Chinese bureaucratic theory
Han Fei NERFINISHED
Qin Legalism NERFINISHED
influencedBy Confucian administrative practice
inLegalism foundational figure of administrative strand of Legalism
knownFor doctrine of xing-ming (forms and names)
emphasis on method (shu) in government
ideas on impersonal bureaucratic management
theory of administrative control
languageOfWorkOrName Classical Chinese
movement Legalism (Chinese philosophy) NERFINISHED
notableIdea centralization of administrative control
separation of ruler and ministers in function
techniques of governance (shu)
use of objective standards in administration
xing-ming (matching of names and realities)
occupation chancellor of Han state
philosophicalSchool Legalist school NERFINISHED
positionHeld chief minister of Han (Warring States)
residence Han (Warring States period) NERFINISHED
Zheng NERFINISHED
roleInGovernment designer of bureaucratic control mechanisms
timePeriod Warring States period NERFINISHED
viewOnOfficials officials should be evaluated by performance against stated duties
viewOnRulership ruler should rely on methods rather than personal virtue

Referenced by (1)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

State of Han notableReformer Shen Buhai