Fa is a concept in Chinese philosophy that concerns aspects of ethics, logic, and law. Although it can be accurately translated as 'law' in some contexts, especially modern Chinese, it refers to a 'model' or 'standard' for the performance of behavior in most ancient texts, namely the Mozi, with a prominent example including the performance of carpentry. Although theoretically earlier, Fa comes to prominence in the Mohist school of thought. An administrative use of fa standards is prominently elaborated in Legalism, but the school of names also used fa (models) for litigation. Given its broadness, the term fa even included medical models (theories).
Fa was still considered important by Warring States period Confucians. Xunzi, whose work would ultimately be foundational to Confucian philosophy during the Han dynasty, took up fa, suggesting that standards could only be properly assessed by the Confucian sage (聖; shèng), and that the most important fa were the very rituals that Mozi had ridiculed for their ostentatious waste and lack of benefit for the people at large.
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