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Li Kui (Chinese:李悝;pinyin:Lǐ Kuī;Wade–Giles:Li K'uei; 455–395 BC) was a Chinesehydraulic engineer, philosopher, and politician. He served as minister and court advisor toMarquess Wen of Wei (r. 403–387 BC). In 407 BC, he wrote theCanon of Laws. Said to have been a main influence onShang Yang,[1] it served the basis for the codified laws of theQin andHan dynasties.
His political agendas, as well as theBook of Law, had a deep influence on later thinkers such as and Shang Yang andHan Fei, who would later develop the philosophy ofLegalism based on Li Kui's reforms.
Li Kui was in the service of theMarquis Wen of Wei even before the state of Wei was officially recognized, though little else is known of his early life. He was appointed as Chancellor of the Wei-controlled lands in 422 BC, in order to begin administrative and political reforms; Wei would therefore be the first of theSeven Warring States to embark on the creation of a bureaucratic, rather than a noble-dominated, form of government.
The main agendas of Li Kui's reforms included:
The direct result of these pioneering reform measures was the dominance of Wei in the early decades of the Warring States era. Leveraging its improved economy, Wei achieved considerable military successes under Marquis Wen, including victories against the states ofQin between 413 and 409 BC,Qi in 404 BC, and joint expeditions againstChu withZhao andHan as its allies.
At the same time, the main tenets of Li Kui's reforms - supporting law over ritual, agrarian production, meritocratic and bureaucratic government and an active role of the state in economic and social affairs - proved an inspiration for later generations of reform-minded thinkers. When Shang Yang sought service in Qin, three decades after Li Kui's death, he brought with him a copy of the Book of Law, which was eventually adapted and became the legal code of Qin.
Along with his contemporaryXimen Bao, he was given oversight in construction ofcanal andirrigation projects in the State of Wei.[2]
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