Who is Shen Dao 慎到？

Shen Dao (approximately 395 BC - 315 BC) was a scholar of Huang-Lao Thought during the Warring States Period.

He was also known as Shen Zi and was from the State of Zhao.

He went to study at Jixia Academy. He studied the techniques of Huang-Lao (the Yellow Emperor and Laozi) and the principles of morality. His thoughts had the characteristics of both Taoism and Legalism.

He advocated taking "equalizing all things" as the primary principle, that is, placing "equalizing all things" in the most important position, which was similar to the thought in Zhuangzi's "On the Equality of Things".

He advocated indulging in things (being indifferent to things), "being unrestrained and having no moral constraints", and "putting aside right and wrong", which was similar to Zhuangzi's thought of discarding both right and wrong and being carefree and unrestrained.

In addition, he also advocated "abandoning knowledge and getting rid of one's self", "not being the greatest sage in the world", and "ridiculing the world's emphasis on respecting the worthy" (all the above can be found in "The Chapter of the World" in Zhuangzi), which were also similar to Laozi's viewpoints such as "abolishing sages and discarding wisdom", "considering great troubles as important as one's own body", and "not emphasizing respecting the worthy".

However, he did not emphasize that all things were equal to each other as Zhuangzi did, nor did he advocate that "the Tao makes all things unified" and deny the qualitative determination of things. Instead, he emphasized that all things without exception had both strengths and weaknesses, and he did not exclude the qualitative determination of things.

He said, "Heaven can cover all things but cannot carry them; Earth can carry all things but cannot cover them; the Great Tao can embrace all things but cannot distinguish them. One should know that all things have their own possibilities and impossibilities" ("The Chapter of the World" in Zhuangzi).

He believed that Heaven, Earth, the Great Tao, and all things had both strengths and weaknesses, "all having their own possibilities and impossibilities". His thoughts also had the tendency of Legalism. The "Book of Han: Treatise on Arts and Letters" classified Shen Dao as a Legalist.

Shen Dao was one of the representative figures of the theory of "law, tactics, and power" during the Warring States Period. Although he emphasized the law, he placed more emphasis on the role of power and authority (as seen in "The Chapter of Difficulties of Power" in Han Feizi). The Legalist category in the "Book of Han: Treatise on Arts and Letters" recorded 42 chapters of "Shen Zi", the "Treatise on Arts and Letters" of the Tang Dynasty recorded 10 volumes of "Shen Zi", and the "Chongwen Zongmu" of the Northern Song Dynasty recorded 37 chapters of "Shen Zi". The current version of "Shen Zi" has 5 chapters, and some scholars doubt that it is not the original work of Shen Dao. His deeds can be found in Volume 74 of "Records of the Grand Historian".