ABSTRACT
The silk manuscript Yellow Emperor’s Four Canons contains a concise exposition of “fa” (法, law). In the extant text of the Four Canons, there are two usages of the term “fa”: as a noun, it means laws, regulations, methods, and so on. The noun “fa” mainly refers to the system of laws and decrees that govern a state. In other cases, the term “fa” (法) is used as a verb that means “to follow,” “to follow the example of,” or “to imitate.” For example, in using the army, it is impossible to maneuver them without following Heaven (法天); it is difficult to put them in the battlefield without following the example of the Earth (法地) (“Bing Rong,” 兵容). This chapter focuses on the legal philosophy implicit in the concept of fa (法) in the Four Canons that means “the system of laws and decrees that govern a state.”
