“An Article with the Discourse on Governing” and “A Discourse on the Warring States [Period]”: Political and Philosophical Essays by Li Zhi

Abstract

The article comprises the continuation of research on the chapter called «The Diverse Writings» (Za shu 雜述) from the famous «A Book to Burn» (Fen shu 焚書), the opus magnum of the thinker Li Zhi (李贄, 1527–1602) from the late Ming. It presents the first translations into Russian of essays by Li Zhi, which deal with such issues as politics and governing. They are «An Article with the Discourse on Governing» ( 論 政 篇 Lun zheng pian) and «A Discourse on the Warring States [Period]» (戰國論 Zhan guo lun). The main idea of these texts could be described as follows: the methods of governing are never cast in iron and remain without an alter- native. They should vary depending on the object of governing and the current situ- ation, which always changes.