Agriculture and War

商鞅Nanhai Publication Company · ChinaJun 2024

4.4

Word count: 2K words
Chapters: 2

Summary

What induces the people to follow their ruler is rank and office; what makes a state flourish is agriculture and war. Yet today those who seek rank and office rely not on agriculture and war but on clever words and empty doctrines—this is what is called exhausting the people. Where the people are exhausted, the state must lack strength; where strength is lacking, the state must be weakened.

Editor's review

Nong Zhan is an important chapter in The Book of Lord Shang, centrally embodying Shang Yang's statecraft logic of using agriculture to support war and using war to encourage agriculture. This chapter states at the outset that the ruler encourages the people through official ranks and titles and that the state prospers through agriculture and war; it then criticizes the people's seeking office and rank through clever talk and empty doctrines as weakening national strength, layer by layer deducing the causal chain from burdening the people to weakening the state. The language is concise and steeply forceful, and the argumentation is sharp and exposed; it is an original textual passage that cannot be bypassed for understanding pre-Qin Legalist thought. This edition, published by Nanhai Publishing House in 2024, makes it easy for readers to encounter the original text directly and is suitable as first-hand material for an introduction to Legalist thought. When reading, one might place it back in the historical context of Warring States annexation and consider how the farming-war system served the goal of enriching the state and strengthening the army. For readers concerned with political philosophy, institutional history, or management thought, this short text can provide a high-density starting point for reflection, and it can also be read alongside other chapters of The Book of Lord Shang to appreciate the consistency of its internal logic.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in pre-Qin Legalist thought who wish to read the original texts
Students and teachers studying ancient Chinese political institutions and statecraft ideas
Readers of classical Chinese who enjoy short argumentative essays and appreciate a steeply forceful style
Management or history enthusiasts who need material on Legalist thought

Not a good fit for

Readers expecting light, story-driven reading and unwilling to engage with the classical Chinese original
Readers hoping to gain an experience of literary appreciation from the book
Those with strong aversion to the markedly authoritarian character of Legalist discourse

Reading tips

First read the original text once to grasp the general meaning, then go sentence by sentence with annotations to sort out the layers of argument
Extract key terms such as official rank, agriculture and war, and clever talk and empty doctrines, and draw a concept map
Read against the background of Warring States reforms and consider the connection between farming-war policy and enriching the state and strengthening the army
Read alongside other chapters of The Book of Lord Shang and compare the consistency and emphases of Shang Yang's argumentation

About the publisher

Nanhai Publication Company China · Founded in 1988

Nanhai Publication Company is a comprehensive publisher known for its literature and arts titles, covering fields such as classical poetry, martial arts fiction, and folk literature. Judging from the more than 1,600 books in the database, the company has released classical poetic works including the Nineteen Old Poems and the Nine Songs, as well as multiple volumes of Huanzhulouzhu's series The Swordsmen of Mount Shu, along with related writings by authors such as Guan Hanqing, Qu Yuan, Zuo Si, and Wang Zhihuan. Its publishing character lies in balancing the organization of classic texts with the dissemination of popular literature, placing poetry anthologies alongside long martial arts novels and presenting a relatively diverse literary profile. Public information is limited, and further details about its editorial practices and series planning remain to be supplemented.

版权信息
农战第三

FAQ

What is the relationship between Nong Zhan and The Book of Lord Shang?

Nong Zhan is a chapter in The Book of Lord Shang and a representative chapter in which Shang Yang and his school expound the thought of farming and war. It focuses on how the ruler uses official ranks and titles to guide the people toward agriculture and war, and criticizes the tendency to seek office and rank through clever talk and empty doctrines. Reading this chapter can grasp the core propositions of The Book of Lord Shang, but to understand the whole book, other chapters are also needed.

Can someone without a classical Chinese foundation understand this chapter?

The text is concise and forceful, but it still has the distance of pre-Qin classical Chinese. Readers with no classical Chinese foundation at all may find it difficult; it is advisable to use an annotated edition or read alongside a translation, first clarifying the meanings of key terms such as official rank, agriculture and war, burdening the people, and weakening the state, then returning to the original to appreciate the progression of the argument; this will be much smoother than forcing one's way through the original.

What is the core argument of this chapter?

The core argument is: the ruler encourages the people by relying on official ranks and titles, and the state prospers by relying on agriculture and war. If the people do not obtain office and rank through agriculture and war but through clever talk and empty doctrines, this will create a burdened people, and the state will thereby lack strength and ultimately move toward weakening. The whole chapter revolves around the guiding relationship between agriculture and war and official ranks and titles, emphasizing the decisive role of institutional orientation in the state's strength or weakness.

What background knowledge is needed to read this chapter?

Understanding the historical background of frequent annexation wars during the Warring States period and of various states' reforms to strengthen themselves will make it easier to understand the practical target of the farming-war propositions. Basic knowledge of classical Chinese vocabulary and syntax is also helpful. If one first knows the basic outline of Shang Yang's reforms in Qin, one's grasp of the relationship between official ranks and agriculture and war will be more accurate when reading.

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About the author

商鞅 Author

Shang Yang was a renowned political reformer and thinker in ancient China, though public sources provide limited information about the specific years of his life and his nationality. The collection contains thirteen of his works, with representative titles including The Book of Lord Shang, On Agriculture and War, and chapters such as "Ruler and Minister I," "Ruler and Minister II," and "Weakening the People." These writings concentrate on his political ideas of building the state through agriculture and war and governing the people by law. His style is plain and severe, his arguments direct, and his themes center on state governance, relations between ruler and minister, and the management of the populace. The works are commonly categorized under culture, Eastern philosophy, historical reading, and classics, showing that they are regarded both as philosophical texts and as reading material for understanding the Warring States period and Legalist thought. Because public information is limited, his personal experience and intellectual lineage cannot be described in detail, yet his surviving works have had a profound influence on later political thought and institutional debate.