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Chapter 323: Legalist Master Han Feizi

Among the hundreds of philosophers in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, Han Fei may not be the most dazzling one.

First of all, he did not establish any school of thought, and his fame is not as great as that of Lao Tzu, Confucius, and Mozi.

Secondly, he was not valued by any ruler, and his political influence was not as great as that of Zhang Yi and Li Si.

Although he wrote well, almost all of the philosophers had ideas, literary talent and eloquence.

Because he was born with a stutter, he lost a lot of points.

In fact, Han Fei is a pivotal figure in history, connecting the past and the future.

On the one hand, he inherited the past and provided a theoretical plan for Qin Shihuang to unify the country.

On the other hand, after the Qin and Han Dynasties, Han Fei's theory was used by ancient emperors for a long time.

Through Han Fei's move, the Legalists not only won the competition among the various schools of thought, but also occupied the core position in the political ruling thought of ancient China for a long time.

Han Fei was a very contradictory person. On the one hand, his fate was very pitiful as he was poisoned to death at a young age.

Throughout his life, he had almost no moment of pride, and he watched his country perish powerlessly.

But on the other hand, he designed various ways to strengthen power in the world and can be said to be a great conspirator and accomplice of power.

When people in later generations mention him, they often say that he is a hateful and negative character.

"He was regarded as an idol by Qin Shi Huang, but he ended up with a tragic end."

"He was born with a stutter and had difficulty speaking, but he eventually became a master of legalism."

"Han Fei, also known as Han Feizi, was a Korean in the late Warring States period."

"Han Fei is the master of Legalist thought. He wrote articles such as "Lonely Anger", "Five Vermin" and "Difficulties in Talking About It", which were collected and compiled into the book "Han Feizi" by later generations."

"Some people here can't help but wonder why Han Fei is called Han Feizi instead of Han Zi."

"Han Fei was indeed honored as Han Zi before the Tang Dynasty. In the Records of the Grand Historian, Sima Qian called Han Fei Han Zi."

"In the middle of the Tang Dynasty, there emerged a cultural giant with the same surname, Han, who was Han Yu, the first of the Eight Great Masters of Tang and Song Dynasties."

"In the Tang Dynasty, when Confucianism was dominant, mainstream intellectuals naturally respected Han Yu more than Han Fei."

"That's why it started in the middle of the Tang Dynasty."

"Hanzi became Han Yu's exclusive honorific title, while Han Fei's honorific title was generally changed to Han Feizi."

"Han Fei was a nobleman of the Kingdom of Han. He and Li Si were both students of Xunzi and were devoted to the teachings of the Legalists."

"He wrote many letters to advise Han Wangan, but his advice was not accepted."

"He was born with a stutter and had difficulty speaking, but he was good at writing books."

"Li Si also lamented that he was inferior to others. When Qin Shihuang read his works such as "Lonely Anger" and "Five Vermin", he was very impressed."

"In 234 BC, Han Feizi was sent as an envoy to Qin on behalf of Han, and he wrote a letter to the Emperor Qin Shi Huang, urging him to attack Zhao first and delay the attack on Han."

"He was framed by Li Si and was forced to commit suicide by taking poison the following year."

"But his political theory was basically adopted by Qin Shihuang and Li Si."

“Although Han Fei was a student of Xunzi, his ideas were very different from Xunzi’s. He did not inherit Confucian thought.”

"According to Sima Qian's records in the Records of the Grand Historian, Han Fei liked to study the academic thoughts of the Legalists, and his thoughts were rooted in the Huang-Lao school of Huangdi and Laozi."

Ying Zheng: I highly respect Han Fei's theories. The harsh laws and burning of books and burying of scholars of the Qin State were largely influenced by Han Fei.

As a representative of the Legalists, Han Fei's theories were of great help to the strength of the Qin State.

To be honest, it was not unfair that Han Fei was killed by him.

There are two reasons why it is unfair.

One reason was that his theories were not accepted by the King of Han, but because of his theories he was forced to go on a diplomatic mission to the State of Qin, and thus died in the state of Qin.

Second, because of his outstanding talent, he was envied by his fellow apprentice Li Si, and eventually persecuted to death.

There are two reasons why it is not unfair.

One reason is that according to Han Fei's theory, logically speaking, he should be killed.

The second reason is that Han Fei’s doctrine was too cruel and indirectly killed many innocent people.

While Han Fei's governing strategies helped the Qin State become stronger, he himself could not escape death.

Han Fei had many propositions, but there are several main ones that are distinctive.

Proposition 1: How to prevent ministers from causing chaos.

Given that many kings in history died at the hands of their favorite ministers, a monarch must always be on guard against rebellion by his ministers.

The specific measures were to keep a close eye on the words and deeds of the ministers, and impose the death penalty if any signs were found, and there would be no pardon.

Furthermore, if necessary, the minister’s wife, children and daughters can be taken as hostages to prevent rebellion. This is called taking precautions before they occur.

The second proposition is to strongly advocate monarchical dictatorship.

The monarch must keep the power of reward and punishment firmly in his own hands and never delegate it to his ministers.

Otherwise, there is a danger of being sidelined by ministers and ultimately suffering greatly from them.

In accordance with Han Fei's proposal, ministers' speeches on state governance should be strictly evaluated.

If it takes three days to capture the city, then there will be punishment if it takes four days or one day.

Of course, there should be punishment for bragging within four days of the deadline, and punishment for one day is because it is because of exaggerating the difficulties and misleading the decision.

An officer escorting grain discovered an urgent enemy situation on the way and led his subordinates to destroy the enemy's conspiracy, thus saving the situation from defeat.

Not only will there be no reward, but there will also be punishment.

Because it exceeds one's authority, it is like meddling in other people's business.

Of course, the generals who led the troops must also be punished for their command errors and improper use of troops.

The third proposition is that the monarch should keep a low profile and personally manage state affairs.

As a monarch, you must remain mysterious and not let others know your preferences, so as to avoid being caught in your weaknesses.

To put it simply, it means playing mysterious and making people feel that you are not playing by the rules.

He executed this very well, and even his ministers didn't know where he usually stayed.

Proposition four: The monarch cannot trust anyone.

Even your wife, children and daughters cannot be trusted, because they are most likely hoping that you will die soon so that they can take power sooner.

You should know that less than half of the monarchs died of illness, the rest died of various unnatural causes.

This can be seen from Han Fei's works such as "Eight Traitors", "Ten Mistakes", "Three Guards", "Preparation for Internal Affairs", "Six Rebellions", and "Beloved Ministers".

Han Fei was proficient in all kinds of conspiracies and tricks, good at guessing the monarch's mind, and summarizing various positive and negative cases. He was indeed a capable minister in governing the country.

After reading Han Fei's book for the first time, he couldn't help but sigh.

If I could meet this person and interact with him, I would have no regrets even if I died.

Han Fei was very powerful, but also very ruthless.

They kill without mercy, take hostages, impose harsh punishments, and punish entire clans.

There was a reason why he wanted to kill Han Fei.

First, Han Fei was not a Qin citizen, but a Han aristocrat. He was not of our race, so his heart must be different.

Second, Han Fei came alone on the mission and had no hostages. How could he control them and use them for his own purposes?

Third, Han Fei was too smart. He learned many of these strategies from Han Fei and Han Fei could see through them at a glance.

Fourth, according to Han Fei’s theory, the monarch cannot trust anyone and must be on guard against everyone, but the person he is most worried about is Han Fei.

"The core of Han Fei's thought can be simply summarized into two points."

“First, the idea of ​​legal reform.”

"Second, feudal monarchy and autocratic ideology."

"First of all, what is rule of law reform? The rule of law and reform need to be understood separately."

“Here, the rule of law can be understood as governing the country according to law, but not as ruling the country according to law.”

"In Han Fei's view, only by implementing the rule of law can the country be governed and the army be strong."

"First, Han Fei first clearly proposed the idea that the law should not favor the rich, and advocated that punishment for wrongdoing should not spare ministers, and rewards for good deeds should not exclude ordinary people."

"Compared to the Confucian emphasis on not extending courtesy to common people and not imposing punishment on officials."

"The Legalists represented by Han Fei further developed it into the idea that everyone is equal before the law, which is a major contribution to China's rule of law thought."

“It has had a positive impact on eliminating aristocratic privileges and maintaining the dignity of the law.”

"Secondly, Han Fei talked about the law."

"It seems to be a well-established written law, everyone is equal and cannot be changed arbitrarily."

"It is also a law promulgated to the people, advocating the use of law as a teaching."

"In addition to making laws, we must also publicize the laws and popularize legal knowledge so that the general public can abide by and apply the laws."

“It can be seen that it is a code of conduct for subjects and a proactive preventive measure, which are all manifestations of the progress of the rule of law.”

"However, the rule of law advocated by Han Fei is completely different from the rule of law in modern society."

"The rule of law in modern society is based on democracy and the people, while Han Fei's rule of law is based on human nature, likes and dislikes, and interests."

"Han Fei expanded the theory of human nature being evil. He believed that human nature is selfish and has no morality."

"So we have to use benefits and honor to induce people to do things."

"And to use punishment to eliminate punishment, and to control the people through harsh laws and strict punishments."

"In the eyes of the Legalists, enriching the country and enriching the people, strengthening the country and strengthening the people are contradictory."

"Shang Yang once said that a country is strong when its people are weak, and a country is weak when its people are strong. Therefore, a country with a good government should make its people weak."

"It means that when the people are weak, the country will be strong."

“So, governing a country starts with making the people tired.”

“From this we can see that the purpose of Han Fei’s rule of law is to respect the emperor and suppress the people.”

Liu Che: Han Fei was a representative figure of the Legalist School during the Warring States Period. His ideas on the rule of law had a profound impact on the legal system of the Han Dynasty.

Han Fei's thoughts on the rule of law have several important viewpoints, which have also been used in the laws of the Han Dynasty.

First, law is the root of governance. Han Fei believed that law is the fundamental way to govern a country.

He advocated a legal basis, maintaining social order and ruling stability by enacting clear and strict laws.

In Han Fei's view, the authority of the law should be higher than that of the monarch and officials, so that the state can regulate and manage the behavior of the people.

Second, punishment must be severe. Han Fei advocated that punishment must be severe in order to maintain social order and fairness and justice.

Han Feizi believed that severe punishment measures must be taken against criminals to deter others and prevent ordinary people from breaking the law. Third, encourage good and discourage evil. In addition to severely punishing crimes, Han Feizi also advocated encouraging good and discouraging evil.

He believed in encouraging good behavior by rewarding good deeds and well-behaved people, while deterring evil and lawlessness through severe punishment.

Fourth, attach importance to social management. Han Fei Zi emphasized the importance of social management.

He advocated the establishment of officials at all levels to carefully manage all areas to ensure social stability and governance.

Fifth, Han Feizi emphasized that the monarch must rule the country according to the law, rather than relying on personal will and power.

He advocated that monarchs should abide by the law and exercise their power to avoid abusing power and causing social unrest.

In general, Han Fei's rule of law thought emphasizes the maintenance of social order and state rule through strict social management based on law, using punishment and rewards as means.

"There is not even a trace of democracy in Han Fei's thought."

"As for human rights and personality, only the monarch has them, and everyone else has the obligation to serve the monarch."

“So there is also a saying that people learn literary and martial arts and sell them to the imperial family.”

"From Han Fei's perspective, the so-called rule of law is just a tool for the monarch to rule his subjects."

"So this kind of rule of law is actually the rule of man in the final analysis. This is the true essence of Han Fei's law."

"His real purpose was to maintain absolute monarchy, but this was in line with historical requirements at the time."

"Of course, if we look at the general trend of the development of political systems in later generations, democracy is progressive."

"This kind of monarchical and dictatorial imperial politics is obviously backward and even reactionary."

"But from the perspective of historical materialism, it is obviously not appropriate to use today's standards to judge the past and criticize Han Fei harshly."

"And the reform here is actually to keep pace with the times and reform continuously."

"Reform and governance, and reform and strengthening are important contents of Han Fei's thought."

"Han Fei inherited Shang Yang's tradition of thinking that governing the country is not the same as following the old ways and that serving the country is not based on the old ways."

"Han Fei held the view of historical evolution and proposed that as long as policies conducive to feudal unification were implemented, they would be in line with the historical trend."

"Han Fei's historical perspective of development and evolution is of practical significance and, to a certain extent, is similar to the continuous reform and deepening of reform advocated today."

"Rule of law and reform, these two points constitute Han Fei's thought on rule of law reform."

"Secondly, what is feudal monarchy?"

"Han Fei's political ideal is to establish a unified feudal state with a centralized monarchy."

"It is more clearly pointed out in the history books that this kind of unified monarchical centralization must replace division with unity and replace separatism with centralization."

“Strengthen the central authority centered on the monarch and crack down on any forces that threaten the monarch’s rule.”

"Secondly, we must use the law as a guide, officials as teachers, and prohibit thinking and learning."

"The original intention was to prohibit any thought that threatened the monarch's rule and to implement ideological despotism."

“This was also an important reason for the later burning of books and burying of scholars and the elimination of all schools of thought.”

"Routinely reward and distribute rewards, reward farming and fighting, and seek national prosperity."

"The original intention was to use private interests to mobilize the enthusiasm of the people and quickly achieve national prosperity."

"The above three points are exactly what Qin Shihuang later tried to implement in the process of establishing a unified country."

Li Shimin: After Qin Shihuang unified China, successive dynasties basically adopted Han Fei's ideas in various political measures to consolidate the unified country.

Han Fei summarized the theories of various Legalist schools such as Shang Yang, absorbed the ideas of Confucianism and Taoism on the rule of law, and finally completed the Legalist theoretical system.

Han Fei proposed a complete centralized political theory, believing that the rule of law was the only necessary requirement suitable for the political situation at that time.

He agrees with this point.

Although the Tang Dynasty still uses Confucianism, it also draws on some of Han Fei's Legalist ideas.

First, the state should publish the laws in clear text so that the people can understand and follow them.

Not only the common people, but even the nobles and officials should abide by the laws of the country, thereby consolidating the monarch's ruling position.

Second, the monarch should have dignity and power so that he can exercise supreme ruling power over the country.

Officials and generals were appointed and dismissed by the emperor. As long as one had the ability, one could become an official even if he or she came from a humble background.

Third, he attached importance to reclaiming wasteland and developing agriculture, believing that this was the fundamental way to make the country prosperous.

He advocated rewarding farmers who worked hard in the fields and soldiers who fought bravely, and demanded the abolition of the privileges of the old aristocracy who became rich without farming and enjoyed titles without military merit.

Fourth, he advocated banning the activities of various other schools of thought and using national laws to restrain the thoughts of the people.

The state should exercise strict control over the speech and thoughts of the people.

Fifth, political reforms should be based on actual needs and do not have to follow ancient traditions.

Because history is evolutionary, a country's legal system should also change accordingly and should not be confined to ancient times.

Han Fei's theories provided a theoretical basis for emperors like him in all dynasties to strengthen their feudal autocratic rule.

"Han Fei summarized the experience of the early Legalists and formed a political thought system that combined law, tactics and power with law as the center."

"The Legalists are divided into three factions: Shang Yang, Shen Dao, and Shen Buhai."

"The three schools advocate emphasis on method, emphasis on momentum, and emphasis on technique respectively, and each has its own characteristics."

"Law means to improve the legal system and use the law as a tool for the monarch's absolute rule."

"Shu refers to the strategies and means to control the ministers, seize power, and implement laws."

"The key is to detect, prevent rebellion and maintain the status of the monarch."

"Han Fei integrated the three into one as his thought to maintain the monarchy."

"In the final analysis, it is actually the art of emperorship that Han Fei tailored for the emperor."

"So the book Han Feizi, which records Han Fei's thoughts, also became a private book for emperors of later dynasties and was banned from reading by the public."

"Looking at Chinese history, we will find that the ideas of Legalism have been influential to this day."

"Although Confucianism was believed by Chinese rulers of all dynasties, Han Fei's entire set of political strategies for monarchical despotism has always been the theoretical basis for monarchical dictatorship of all dynasties."

"The Han Dynasty inherited the Qin system. Although Emperor Wu of Han established the dominant position of Confucianism, the rulers of the Han Dynasty still adopted the Legalist thought in their bones."

“The more we try to scheme, the more we should promote the teachings of Confucius and Mencius and use morality and courtesy to decorate our appearance.”

"Legalist thought and Legalist tactics are the techniques of governing a country and controlling its people that the emperors of all dynasties understood but could not express clearly."

"Therefore, Han Feizi has always played the role of the imperial tutor of successive emperors."

"Confucianism on the outside and legalism on the inside were fully utilized by the rulers of the autocratic dynasties for two thousand years."

"Legalists attack the interests of their subjects. The law is above everything else. If necessary, everyone must die for the emperor."

"And they use all kinds of high-sounding reasons, such as the king wants his subjects to die, the subjects have to die, etc., to confuse the subjects and make everyone willing to die generously."

"From this perspective, the rule of law in Legalist thought is actually the rule of man."

“Legalist theory is people-oriented, and its fundamental purpose is to utilize the people.”

Zhu Yuanzhang: The law of the Legalists is not the rule of law in the ordinary sense, but rather severe laws and punishments, and is a big stick in the hands of imperial power.

The Legalists, one of the pre-Qin philosophers, are a far-reaching school of thought.

Throughout the two thousand years of history, Legalism was the main way emperors used to govern the country.

The Legalist school of thought has two famous representatives: Shang Yang is an early representative of the Legalists, and Han Fei is the culmination of the Legalists.

By the time of Han Fei, the Legalists were further enriched and improved.

Not only did it have a single punishment, but it also enriched the ideas of the Legalists.

The Legalists eventually became a school of thought with systematic theories, and these ideas are concentrated in Han Feizi, the representative work of the Legalists.

To sum up, the core ideas of the Legalists are concentrated in three aspects: law, technique, and power.

Law refers to harsh and severe punishment.

Using almost cruel punishments to punish crimes created a deterrent effect, making the common people obey the imperial rule and not dare to overstep the boundaries.

Shang Yang's laws were harsh and unkind; this was how the common people at that time evaluated the criminal laws formulated by Shang Yang.

Art refers to political tactics.

To put it nicely, it is the means of monarchical management; to put it bluntly, it is about how to control the subjects, how to manage the people, and how to make the people obedient.

To put it bluntly, it is a conspiracy and the science of how to deal with people.

Those who are obedient and supportive will be promoted and reused, while those who are disobedient and dishonest will be suppressed, excluded, exiled and not used. Those who follow me will prosper, and those who oppose me will perish.

Han Fei believed that a monarch should keep his thoughts secret and not let his subjects know what he is thinking.

Sometimes you need to pretend to be deaf and dumb to observe whether the people around you are loyal.

You should guard against ministers as you would guard against tigers. When dealing with people you don't trust, you should catch them by the hair at the right time and settle the score later. This is the art.

Han Fei even believed that the monarch should sometimes deliberately say the wrong things and do the wrong things to test the loyalty of his subjects.

When necessary, secret agents should be deployed to carry out assassinations.

He agreed with this deeply, and the establishment of the Jinyiwei was an application of the Legalist thought.

When the Jinyiwei investigated a case, they could execute first and report later, and a large part of their cases were targeted at ministers.

The Jinyiwei were special secret agents. Since he was worried about his ministers, he asked the Jinyiwei to keep an eye on them at all times.

Han Fei served the imperial family, so he believed that the world belonged to the emperor alone.

Everything in the world is not the king's land, and the shores of the land are not the king's ministers.

All people serve the emperor alone, and the ministers are just tools for the emperor to rule the world.

Since you are a tool, you must be completely obedient.

Tools are double-edged swords. They must be closely monitored and thrown away if they are no longer convenient to use.

"Power" refers to power and authority, which means to ensure the authority and majesty of the imperial power.

If you want to maintain authority and majesty, you need to be autocratic.

He holds great power and is above everyone else.

There are no checks and balances, no supervision of power, and no public criticism.

This way you will have dignity and authority.

This is the power of the Legalists. All institutional mechanisms and the operation of the state apparatus are designed to maintain the authority of the emperor.

Once you understand the power of Legalism, you will realize that Legalism’s methods are the methods of emperors.

Such laws are cold and merciless, without warmth, care or justice.

(End of this chapter)