Listen to this articlefǎ zhě tiān zǐ suǒ yǔ tiān xià gōng gòng yě 法者天子所与天下公共也
The Law Must Be Respected Equally by the Son of Heaven and All the People.
法律是天子和全国人民都要共同遵守的。亦即说，法律一经确定，任何人，无论其身份高低贵贱，都必须遵照施行；即便是国家最高统治者，也和天下所有人一样，不能对既定的法律随意改变。这一思想可以被认为是对于古代法家“法不阿贵”思想的进一步弘扬。它不仅强调了法律的刚性和平等性，而且强调了法律对于权力、政治的超越性。
Laws should be respected by the sovereign ruler and people equally. This means that once a law is promulgated, everyone, regardless of status or wealth, has to abide by it; even the supreme ruler of the state cannot make changes at will. This notion can be seen as an extension of the ancient Legalist idea that “the law does not favor those of high rank.” It emphasizes not just the inflexibility and equality of the law; the law supersedes power and politics.
引例 Citations：
◎释之曰：“法者天子所与天下公共也。今法如此而更重之，是法不信于民也。……廷尉，天下之平也。一倾而天下用法皆为轻重，民安所错其手足？”（《史记·张释之冯唐列传》）
（张释之说：“法律是天子和天下人共同遵守的。现在法律这样规定，却要再加重处罚，结果是法律不能取信于民了。……廷尉是掌管天下法律公平的人。稍有偏失，天下其他执法者都会随意减轻或加重处罚，百姓不就无所适从了吗？）
Zhang Shizhi said, “The law must be respected equally by the Son of Heaven and all the people. This is what the law prescribes today, and if I imposed a heavier punishment, the people would have no faith in the law. …The commandant of justice dispenses impartial justice to the whole country. If he shows the least bias, all other law enforcers would reduce or increase penalties, and how would the people know how to behave? (Records of the Historian)
