Abstract
One point which differentiates the Legalists very markedly from all the other schools of their time, is their concept of history. In China, as in few other countries, tradition has played an enormous role, and already in the Chou dynasty the force of this tradition was strongly felt. Thus among all the philosophic schools of this period, with the exception of the Legalists, the belief was strong that during some period of remote antiquity there had existed a golden age of peace and happiness for all men. The exact time and character of this golden age varied, to be sure, according to the school. For the Confucians and Mohists it was particularly associated with the Sage rulers, Yao, Shun and Yü, whereas by the Taoists it was pushed back to an earlier indeterminate period, before organized human society and government had yet been instituted, and when man still lived in a state of nature.
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