 One aspect of Xu Gan’s thought which have led some to declare him (and some similar Han thinkers) as a “Legalist” (fajia 法家) philosopher is his endorsement of the view that timely and consistent reward and punishment are essential tools for governing, shared by Warring States legalist thinkers such as Han Feizi, Shang Yang, and Shen Buhai (Makeham 1994: 264, Zhonglun 19). While, as I mention above, school categories are of limited use in categorizing Eastern Han thinkers, Xu certainly has much more in common with early Confucians than with Warring States Legalists, even though it becomes more popular in the Eastern Han to adopt the Legalist position concerning reward and punishment.