Hsing ming (chia)
Hsing ming (chia)
The school which advocated government by law (which includes punishment, hsing) and insisted on the correspondence of names (ming) to reality, as represented by Shen Tzu (fourth century B.C.), Han Fei Tzu (d. 233 B.C.), etc. Another name for the Legalist School (fa chia). When hsing is interpreted in the sense of shape to which names must correspond, the term is also applied to the Sophists (ming chia). — W.T.C.