一斷于法

yī duàn yú fǎ

一斷于法

Judging All by Law

不論親疏貴賤，一律按照法律裁判。“一斷于法”系古代學者概括的法家思想特點。法家認為，法應當是評價所有人行為的客觀標準，所有人都應當守法，無論身份地位高低貴賤。“一斷于法”原有貶低法家之意，后世則拓展了其使用范圍，將之用于描述中國人追求公平正義的法律觀。

Regardless of affinity or social status， all adjudication shall be made in accordance with thelaw. The concept encapsulates the feature of Legalist ideas summarized by ancient scholars.According to Legalists， the law， as an objective standard for evaluating the behavior of allpeople， shall be followed by all， regardless of social status. Although the concept wasoriginally meant to disparage the Legalists， later generations expanded its application todescribe the Chinese view of law highlighting the pursuit of fairness and justice.

引例 Citation：

◎ 法家不別親疏，不殊貴賤，一斷于法，則親親尊尊之恩絕矣。（《史記·太史公自序》）

（法家不區別親疏遠近，不區分貴賤尊卑，一律依據法令來決斷，那么親親屬、尊長上的恩愛關系就斷絕了。）

Legalism does not take affinity or social status into consideration， but makes judgment onthe basis of decrees. Therefore， the relationship between the law breaker and the lawenforcer or the respect for elders and people of higher positions are made inconsequential.（Records of the Historian）

（本欄目文章摘自教育部、國家語委重大文化工程“中華思想文化術語傳播工程”項目。）