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Thompson states that the Shenzi was available until the fall of the Tang dynasty, though not in its original edition. Shen Dao's own original 42 essays have been lost. With only 7 fragments still extant, he is known largely through short references and the writings of others, notably the Han Feizi and Zhuangzi. A critical reconstruction of the lost Shenzi was made by Paul Thompson, and published in 1979 as The Shen Tzu Fragments.

In 2007, the Shanghai Museum published a collection of texts written on bamboo slips from the state of Chu dating to the Warring States period, including six bamboo slips with sayings of Shenzi. These are the only known examples of the text of Shenzi that are contemporaneous with its composition.

Xun Kuang considered Shen's style grandiose.

Theoretical chronology

Usually referred to as "Shenzi" (慎子 'Master Shen') for his writings, very little is known of Shen Dao's life. Herrlee G. Creel believed he was a younger contemporary of Shen Buhai. An itinerant philosopher from the state of Zhao, Knechtges places him about 350 BC, travelling to the city of Linzi (modern Zibo in Shandong) in 300 BC to become a member of the Jixia Academy. He probably left Linzi after its capture by the state of Yan in 285 BC. Julia Ching speculated that he may have been familiar with Shen Buhai, as Xun Kuang was later.

Although Shen Dao would be younger than Shen Buhai by these datings, Ban Gu argued that Shen Dao influenced both Shen Buhai and Han Fei. Although this could just be an example of later Han dynasty glossing, it is not without theoretical merit. The Han Feizi also places Shen Dao before Shang Yang and Shen Buhai in the outer chapters, saying that Shen Dao is worth discussing at least "for mediocre rulers." On a technical level, Shen Dao's administrative ideas are arguably less complex than Shen Buhai's, and could be representative of an earlier strain of thought.

Although it is doubtful that his current goes back to the Spring and Autumn period, the possibility that his ideas predate him was at least reinforced by the discovery of the Mawangdui silk texts, with content from Shen Dao contained in the Huangdi Sijing.

Shen Dao and Laozi

Taking Shen Dao as a relevant background for the development of the Tao Te Ching (Laozi), Chad Hansen (of the Stanford Encyclopedia of Daoism) viewed Shen Dao's morally neutral naturalism as a development of the type of thinking seen in Mencius and early Mohists. Later Mohists moved away from an emphasis on heaven or nature. Shen Dao begins to emphasize a concept of Dao or Way over nature.

Less metaphysical in practice, and more concerned with the practical human world than the "inner workings of heaven and earth", translator Harris still takes his 'naturalism' as developing in the direction of that of the Tao te Ching and Huang-Lao typified texts. Not focusing on the idea of Dao in a cosmic sense in his fragments, Shen Dao nonetheless espouses a "Way (Dao) of Heaven."

Whichever came first, Shen Dao and Laozi are at least comparable, including concepts of rule by a wu wei semi-inactive ruler, as illustrated by translator Emerson. Xun Kuang also later "stresses the indifference of Heaven and Earth to human concerns."

Zhuangzi proto-Daoism

Although the Han Feizi would generally be considered authoritarian, figures like Shen Dao were not necessarily more authoritarian for their time. Advocating reliance on administrative machinery (fa) to impartially determine rewards and punishments, Shen Dao otherwise advocates that the realm be literally modeled off the natural world.

Making use of the term "Dao" without cosmological or metaphysical reference, the Shenzi serves as noteworthy precursor to both Daoism and Han Fei. Posthumously, he is also sometimes classified as Taoist. The Zhuangzi takes his "fundamental" principle as the "equality of all things", and Wang Fuzhi speculated that its chapter on "Seeing Things as Equal" was actually written by Shen Dao. As opposed to the egoist Yang Zhu, the Zhuangzi characterizes Shen Dao as impartial and lacking selfishness, his great way embracing all things.

Benjamin I. Schwartz characterized Shen Dao's convictions as Daoisticly indifferent, likening him to the 'inert passive clod' described in the last chapters of the Zhuangzi, seeing the impersonal structure of political authority and human society as expressions of the spontaneous Dao in human civilization. Shen Dao rejects individual judgment, moral agents, sages, and, like other figures of the fa school, the "subjective intentionality of noble men." By contrast, Han Fei does not completely disregard the role of great men.

Schwarz speculated that Shen Dao's philosophy similarly involves a ruler free from the turbulence of emotion or moral responsibility. However, Shen Dao has still modernly been argued to be at least "not fully untethered from a moral grounding." The concept of Dao itself typically implies a morally grounded Way, even if Shen Dao's fragments do not fill in all the blanks.

Relying on circumstances (Shi)

Shi is a not historically simply a Legalist or Totalitarian idea: before Han Fei, Mencius also discusses Shi. Arguably, it includes ideas that can traced back to philosophical founders like Confucius and Mozi. In particular, Léon Vandermeersch takes the idea of preeminence or sovereignty, as found in Chapter 40's discussion of Shi in relation to Shen Dao (Shenzi), as already present in Mohism, and indeed as one of the most characteristic Chinese conceptions of sovereignty, developing an idea of power as established by man.

In contrast to Han Fei and the Later Mohists however, Sinologist Hansen views the earlier Shen Dao as having only just begun to move away from an emphasis on heaven or nature towards a concept of Dao, or the Way. Although Han Fei discusses Shen Dao in relation to power, Shen Dao's earlier conception of shi was not a naked concept of power, but one still based in "relying on circumstances", which corresponds with the Zhuangzi's discussion of him. Both discussions of him use the same kind of imagery of being "tossed" or "driven" by the wind.

First quoted in Chapter 36, Chapter 40's discussion of Shen Dao also quotes a halberd-and-shield parable from the Zhuangzi.

Shen Dao's fragments also include illustrations of relying on water, which translator Harris takes as "reminding us" that the natural world has recognizable "qualities and patterns", whose actions can be predicted once understood.

Shen Dao might have influenced a later chapter of the Book of Lord Shang, though there is not enough evidence to demonstrate its discussion of shi came from him.

Relation with Confucianism

Although the Zhuangzi takes Shen Dao as rejecting sages and lacking in "standards of conduct", he was otherwise content to leave questions of li (rites) to custom. Mencius advocated that Emperor Shun would run away with his father if he had committed murder, rather than see him arrested. Like Mencius, Shen Dao still upheld filial piety even if the parents are bad, but instead suggests that parents can be reproached if it might save them from disaster. Not considering Confucian values like filial piety sufficient for governing the state, Shen Dao advocates the ruler encourage faith in rules by acting according to rules, and not abandon the throne to help murderous family members escape.

Taking his opponents as "beclouded" by particular aspects of the Way, Xun Kuang criticizes Shen Dao in particular as obsessed with the emulation of models (fa) rather than the employment of worthy men, and that he does not necessarily decide on one model as correct. Shen Dao was more concerned that there be laws than with their particulars. Xun Kuang is of the opinion that his laws (or models) lack 'proper foundations', and will not be successful in ordering the state. But Xun Kuang doesn't oppose him just for advocating fa models or laws. Xun Kuang also discusses fa. Rather than law itself, Xun Kuang opposes litigation and paradoxes, as found in the school of names.

Statecraft

A.C. Graham characterized Shen Dao as a theoretician of centralized power. He espouses an impersonal administration in much the same sense as Shen Buhai, and in contrast with Shang Yang emphasizes the use of talent and the promotion of ministers, saying that order and chaos are "not the product of one man's efforts." He also argued for Wu wei, or the non action of the ruler, along the same lines as Shen Buhai, saying

However he challenges the Confucian and Mohist esteem and appointment of worthies as a basis of order, pointing out that talented ministers existed in every age. Taking it upon himself to attempt a new, analytical solution, Shen advocated fairness as a new virtue. Scholar Sugamoto Hirotsugu attributes the concept of Fen, or social resources, later used by the Guanzi and Xunzi, to Shen, given a "dimensional" difference through Fa (measurement, standards, protocol, administrative method), social relationships ("yin") and division. Shen Dao eschews appointment by interview in favour of a mechanical distribution ("the basis of fairness") with the invariable Fa apportioning every person according to their achievement.

The greatest function of Fa ("the principle of objective judgement") is the prevention of selfish deeds and argument. However, doubting its long-term viability Shen did not exclude moral values and accepted (qualified) Confucian Li's supplementation of Fa and social relationships, though he frames Li in terms of (impersonal) rules.

For this reason he is said to "laugh at men of worth" and "reject sages", his order relying not on them but on the Fa.

Linking Fa to the notion of impartial objectivity associated with universal interest, and reframing the language of the old ritual order to fit a universal, imperial and highly bureaucratized state, Shen cautions the ruler against relying on his own personal judgment, contrasting personal opinions with the merit of the objective standard, or fa, as preventing personal judgements or opinions from being exercised. Personal opinions destroy Fa, and Shen Dao's ruler therefore "does not show favoritism toward a single person."

Creel believed that Shen had the same sort of administrative idea denoted by Shen Buhai's Xing-Ming, he notes that he does not use the term.

Doctrine of position (shi)

Shen Dao, as the Han Feizi's figure for shi, may be a later figure than Shang Yang and Shen Buhai. However, used in many areas of Chinese thought, shi (situational advantage) probably originated in the military field. Diplomats relied on concepts of situational advantage and opportunity, as well as secrecy (which is part Shen Buhai's doctrine) long before the ascendency of such concepts as sovereignty or law, and were used by kings wishing to free themselves from the aristocrats. Sun Tzu would go on to incorporate Taoist philosophy of inaction and impartiality, as well as punishment and rewards as systematic measures of organization, recalling Han Fei's concepts of power (shi) and tactics (shu).

On the shi of The Art of War, relatable to Shen Dao's, Henry Kissinger says: "Chinese statesmanship exhibits a tendency to view the entire strategic landscape as part of a single whole... Strategy and statecraft become means of 'combative coexistence' with opponents. The goal is to maneuver them into weakness while building up one's own shi, or strategic position." Kissinger considers the "maneuvering" approach an ideal, but one that ran in contrast to the conflicts of the Qin dynasty.

The older works of Jacques Gernet and A.C. Graham in particular took the Legalists as understanding that the power of the state resides in social and political institutions, innovative in their aim to subject the state to them. Like Shen Buhai, Shen Dao largely focused on statecraft (Fa), and Confucian Xun Kuang discusses him in this capacity, never referencing Shen Dao in relation to power. Shen Dao was early remembered for his theories on shi (lit. "situational advantage", but also "power" or "charisma") because Han Fei references him in this capacity.

Shen Dao

Searching out the causes of disorder, Shen Dao observed splits in the ruler's authority. Shen Dao's theory on power echoes Shen Buhai, referenced by Xun Kuang as its originator, who says "He who (can become) singular decision-maker can become the sovereign of All under Heaven". Shen Dao's theory may otherwise have been borrowed from the Book of Lord Shang.

For Shen Dao, "Power" (Shih) refers to the ability to compel compliance requiring no support from its subjects, though it does not preclude this. (Shih's) merit is that it prevents people from fighting each other; political authority is justified and essential on this basis. Shen Dao says: "When All under Heaven lacks the single esteemed [person], then there is no way to carry out the principles [of orderly government, li 理].... Hence the Son of Heaven is established for the sake of All under Heaven... All under Heaven is not established for the sake of the Son of Heaven..."

Talent cannot be displayed without power. Shen Dao says: "The flying dragon rides on the clouds and the rising serpent wanders in the mists. But when the clouds disperse and the mists clear up, the dragon and the serpent become the same as the earthworm and the large winged black ant because they have lost what they ride." Leadership is not a function of ability or merit, but is given by some a process, such as giving a leader to a group. "The ruler of a state is enthroned for the sake of the state; the state is not established for the sake of the prince. Officials are installed for the sake of their offices; offices are not established for the sake of officials...

Usually disregarded by the other figures, Shen Dao considers moral capability useful in terms of authority. If the ruler is inferior but his command is practised, it is because he is able to get support from people. But his ideas otherwise constitute a "direct challenge" to Confucian Virtue. Virtue is unreliable because people have different capacities. Both morality together with intellectual capability are insufficient to rule, while position of authority is enough to attain influence and subdue the worthy, making virtue "not worth going after."

生平

慎到是赵国人，在齐国的稷下讲学，为「稷下先生」之一、稷下学宫成员，立场超然，拒绝担任官职（一说他受封为上大夫），却常评论政事。慎到著有《十二论》，《汉书．艺文志》法家著录《慎子》42篇，现在只有残缺不全的5篇流传下来。

思想

道家

慎到秉持道家思想，被《庄子．天下》列入道家，强调内心的宁静与超脱，主张无为，顺从事物的本性，为人应泰然自若而没有偏好，平等对待所有事物，否定价值判断，不信任主观意见。他批判知识与圣人，不谈是非，放任性情，否定出自个人理智的观点，心境平静如镜，著重全生免祸的方法。真正之道是舍弃自己主观的是非与才智，而与外界客观的事物共同转变。慎到认为「道」是终极实在，包含世间所有事物，主张「齐万物」，要平等地对待万物，尊重万物的多样性和差异性，不要有分别和好恶；人要以「大道」的观点观察万物，一律平等，无所谓贵贱好坏之分， 没有取舍选择。对待事物最好听其自然，在古代「道」行于天下，但在后世人们有意识地加以干预，结果带来混乱。

慎到的道家思想延续到社会领域，认为社会政治秩序是自然的，制度与文明都是「道」的体现。但不同于老子《道德经》『唯易不易（只有变化的运动趋势永不改变）』的形而上学看法，慎道认为从客观自然角度来看、『腾蛇游雾、飞龙乘云；云罢雾霁、与蚯蚓同，则失其所乘也』，也即万物的能力都存在客观凭依，因此『法虽不善、犹愈于无法』，『法制礼籍，所以立公义也；凡立公，所以弃私也』 —— 慎道对于『法、礼』的看法都是实用性的，而其目的仍然在于『循天道、立公义』。慎道批评「国无常道，官无常法」的做法，

慎到主张君王要有绝对的权力，另一方面又认为天下国家并不是国君的私产，『故立天子以为天下。非立天下以为天子也』。统治者在社会中的地位，就像「道」在自然界中的地位。大道包融万物，君王也应包融百姓，使更多的人拥护自己，地位更加稳固；百姓各有不同的才能，贤明的君主尽量加以包融，来实现人尽其能，物尽其用。

法家

慎道在治术上提出「势」的原则，以解决『贤不足以服不肖，而势位足以屈贤矣』的实践问题；这种思想被韩非子吸纳为法家的重要理论基础之一，但去除了慎道原有的『法制礼籍，所以立公义也』主张，而是将其改造为单纯服务于君主的上下机制。按照韩非子解释，「势」即权力、政治权威。即使君王能力低下，「势」都能使人们服从于占据特定社会位置的君王：「桀为天子，能乱天下」。「势」并不奠基于圣人身上，而是奠基于体制之上。慎到认为君主应秉持法制，不信任圣人之心，否定贤人，也否定人的道德与智慧。政令的施行，并非仗仰君主的贤智，而是必须依靠君主的势位。

慎到指出人们都追求利益，趋利避害，统治者要利用人民，应建立客观的赏罚制度，使人们自动成为工具。君王用人，不靠道德，而是靠人都为自己打算、趋利避害的私心，用赏罚组织人民为他服务。慎到所构想的社会秩序，不是依赖容易出错的个人道德判断或感情，而是依赖法制，而「法」就是「道」的体现。国家必须有法制，君王立法以后，就可以一切依法而行。慎到主张君王无为而臣下有为，让臣下各自努力办事。统治者未必比别人聪明，不应亲自办理下边的事情，办事应是臣下的任务，而统治者的任务是叫人办事，自己无为而治。慎到并不完全否定「礼」的作用，认为礼仪有助确立社会等级，维系家庭关系。

影响

慎到「齐万物」、排除主观成见的观点，为庄子《齐物论》所承继。慎到乃法家先驱，是法家三派之一（另两派是重「法」的商鞅与重「术」的申不害），其重「势」的观点为韩非所采纳。韩非认为势和法、术都是君王治国的工具，综合法家三派，他又作有《难势》篇，阐述慎到重势的理论，反驳儒家对慎到的批评。荀子以法制治理百姓的观点，亦受慎到看法的影响。