Han Feizi (approximately 280 BC - 233 BC), a Han nationality, was born in South Korea (now Xinzheng, Henan Province, which belongs to Zhengzhou; the ancient country of Zhenghan is in today's Xinzheng, Henan Province) in the late Warring States Period. He was a famous philosopher in ancient China. Thinker and essayist, the master of Legalist thought, known as "Han Feizi" in the world. Han Fei was originally a Korean aristocrat and studied under Gou Qing with Li Si. Han Fei stuttered, but he was good at writing, and inherited and developed Xunzi's magical thoughts. At the same time, he absorbed his previous Legalist theories, compared the gains and losses of various countries' reforms, and proposed a "law-based" approach that combines law, magic, and momentum. Theory, a culmination of legalist thought. Han Fei wrote many times to the King of Han to reform and strengthen himself, but to no avail, so he worked hard to write books and establish theories in order to gain popularity. The King of Qin admired his name and left a letter to the King of Han to force him to be an envoy to Qin. Han Fei's ideas were reused by Qin Shihuang. The Legalist theory he founded provided the theoretical basis for the birth of China's first unified and authoritarian centralized state. Han Fei was framed by Li Si and Yao Jia in Qin and died in prison. Fifty-five chapters of "Han Feizi" are preserved today.

[Edit this paragraph] Brief biography

Born in the 35th year of King Nan of Zhou Dynasty and died in the 14th year of Qin Shihuang. He was a Korean during the Warring States Period. He was born in a noble family and was a Korean. Wang Xie's son. He stutters and is not good at talking, but good at writing. Han Fei and Li Si were both students of Xun Qing. He was erudite, versatile and talented, but Li Si thought he was inferior. He is also a representative of Legalism

Although Han Fei studied under Xun Qing, his ideas were very different from Xun Qing. He did not inherit Confucian ideas. Under the new situation at the end of the Warring States Period, he adapted to the times. In order to meet the needs of development, he "liked the science of punishment and magic" and "returned to Huang and Lao". He inherited and developed Legalist thought and became the master of Legalism in the late Warring States period.

Han Fei was born in the age of disputes between the Seven Heroes of the Warring States Period. Among the Seven Heroes of the Warring States Period, South Korea was the weakest country. He saw South Korea becoming increasingly weak and wrote letters to the King of Han many times to advise him, hoping that the King of Han would work hard to govern and reform. He tried to strengthen his position, but the King of Han turned a deaf ear to it and never adopted it. This made him lonely, pessimistic and disappointed. He explored the path of becoming stronger from the "changes of gains and losses by observing the past", and wrote more than 100,000 words of works such as "Lonely Anger", "Five Beetles", "Inner and Outer Storage", "Shuo Lin", "Shuo Nan", etc. This book comprehensively and systematically expounds his thoughts on the rule of law and expresses his anger, loneliness and resentment. These works spread to the Qin State. After reading "Gu Anger" and "Five Worms", Qin Shihuang praised them greatly and sighed, "Wow! I will hate this person to the death if I see him hanging out with me." It can be said that he is highly respected and admired to the fullest. But Qin Shihuang didn't know who wrote these two articles, so he asked Li Si, who told him that they were written by Han Fei. In order to see Han Fei, Qin Shihuang urgently ordered an attack on South Korea. King An of Han originally did not appoint Han Fei, but when the situation became urgent, he sent Han Fei as envoy to Qin. Qin Shihuang was very happy to see Han Fei, but he was not trusted or reused. Han Fei once wrote to Qin Shihuang to persuade Qin Shihuang to attack Zhao first and then attack Han. As a result, he was slandered by Li Si and Yao Jia. They slandered him and said: "Han Fei is the son of Han. Now the king wants to unite the princes, but he will eventually become Han." It's not for Qin, it's his love. If the king doesn't use it now, if he stays for a long time and returns, he will bring trouble to himself. It's better to punish him through law." Qin Shihuang believed this and handed Han Fei over to the judge for trial. Li Si sent someone to send poison to Han Fei and asked him to commit suicide. Han Fei wanted to tell Qin Shihuang his feelings, but he couldn't come in. Queen Qin Shihuang came to feel remorseful and asked people to pardon him. Han Fei was already dead. (See "Historical Records: Biography of Laozi and Han Fei") This ended his unfair life. ?

Han Fei’s works were compiled by his descendants after his death. According to "Han Shu·Yi Wen Zhi", fifty-five chapters of "Han Zi" are recorded, "Sui Shu·Jing Ji Zhi" records twenty volumes, Zhang Shoujie's "Historical Records Zhengyi" quotes Ruan Xiaoxu's "Qi Lu" (or Liu Xiang's "Qi Lu" ) also says that "Han Zi" has twenty volumes." The number of chapters and volumes are consistent with the current version, which shows that the current version is not incomplete. Since the Han Dynasty, there have been more and more editions of "Han Feizi". Among them, Chen Qiyou's "Collected Commentary of Han Feizi" is particularly detailed and annotated, accurate in textual research, and rigorous in selection; Liang Qixiong's "A Brief Interpretation of Han Feizi" is particularly concise, easy to understand, and profound.

[Edit this paragraph]Legalism

Legalism is the school that attaches the most importance to law among the pre-Qin scholars. They are famous for advocating the "rule of law" of "ruling the country by law" and have put forward a whole set of theories and methods. This provided an effective theoretical basis for the centralized Qin Dynasty that was later established. The later Han Dynasty inherited the Qin Dynasty's centralized system and legal system, which were the political and legal subjects of ancient my country's feudal society.

Legalists have made contributions to jurisprudence, including the origin, essence, and role of law, as well as the relationship between law and social economy, the requirements of the times, state power, ethics, customs, natural environment, population, and human nature. Basic issues such as the relationship between the two have been discussed with great results.

But Legalism also has its shortcomings. For example, they strongly exaggerate the role of the law, emphasize the use of heavy punishment to govern the country, "use punishment to eliminate punishment", and implement heavy punishment for misdemeanors, superstitiously believing in the role of the law. They believe that human nature is to pursue interests, and there are no moral standards at all. Therefore, interests and honor must be used to induce people to do things. For example, in war, high rewards, including official positions, will be given to those who have achieved military exploits, thus motivating soldiers and generals to fight bravely. This may be one of the reasons for the strong combat effectiveness of the Qin army. To destroy the six countries and unify China, the role of Legalism should be affirmed, although it has some shortcomings.

A brief introduction to the thoughts of Legalism is as follows:

Opposition to etiquette

Legalism attaches great importance to law and opposes Confucian "rituals". They believed that the emerging landowning class at that time opposed the hereditary privileges of the aristocracy to monopolize economic and political interests, and demanded private ownership of land and the granting of official positions based on merit and talent. This was a fair and correct proposition. The etiquette system that maintained the privileges of the nobility was backward and unfair.

The role of law

The first role is to "determine the division and end disputes", that is, to clarify the ownership of things. One of the Legalists carefully made a very simple metaphor: "When a rabbit runs away, a hundred people chase it. Accumulate rabbits in the market and ignore them. Unless you don't want the rabbit, you can't fight over it." It means that a rabbit can't be fought over. Many people chase the rabbits, but they don't even look at the many rabbits in the market. This does not mean that you don’t want the rabbit, but that the ownership has been determined and can no longer be fought for. Otherwise, it will be against the law and will be punished.

The second function is to "encourage people to perform military exploits and fear violence", that is, to encourage people to perform military exploits and make those lawless people feel fear. The ultimate goal of success is to enrich the country and strengthen the army and win the annexation war.

The theory of human nature of "loving benefits and hating harms"

Legalists believe that people have the nature of "loving benefits and hating harms" or "taking advantage and avoiding harm". As Guanzi once said, a businessman travels day and night, even if he travels thousands of miles, he does not feel it is far, because the interests are attracting him ahead. Fishermen are not afraid of danger and sail against the current, not caring about hundreds of miles away. They are also pursuing the benefits of fishing. With this same idea, Shang Yang came to the conclusion: "There are likes and dislikes in life, so the people can be governed."

The historical view of "not following the past, not following the present"

< p>Legalism opposed conservative retro-retrospective thinking and advocated vigorous reform. They believe that history develops forward, and all laws and systems must develop with the development of history. They cannot retrogress or follow the old ways. Shang Yang clearly put forward the proposition of "not following the past and not following the present". Han Fei further developed Shang Yang's ideas and proposed that "time changes and governance is difficult, chaos will occur." He caricatured the conservative Confucianism as stupid people who wait and wait.

The strategy of governing the country by combining "law", "technique" and "power"

Shang Yang, Shen Dao and Shen Buhai respectively advocated emphasizing law, power and technique, each with their own unique characteristics. Features. When it came to Han Fei, the master of Legalist thought, Han Fei put forward the idea of ??closely integrating the three. Law refers to the sound legal system, power refers to the power of the monarch, who must control military and political power alone, and technique refers to the strategies and means to control ministers, control political power, and implement laws. The main purpose is to detect and prevent rebellion and maintain the status of the monarch.

There are fundamental differences between Legalist thought and the democratic form of rule of law we advocate now. The biggest difference is that Legalists strongly advocate centralization of monarchy, and it is absolute. This should be noted. We can selectively learn from and use other ideas of Legalism.

Governance

In order to adapt to the new political situation, the Legalists put forward a new way of governing the country. As mentioned above, they thought they were invincible. According to them, the first necessary step is legislation. Han Fei wrote: "The law is the one who compiles pictures and books, sets them up in the government, and distributes them to the people." ("Han Feizi·Difficulty Three") Through these laws, the people are told what should be done and what should not be done. , once the law is promulgated, the monarch must clearly observe the behavior of the people. Because he has power, he can punish those who break the law and reward those who obey the law. If you do this, you can successfully rule the people, no matter how many people there are.

Concerning this point, Han Fei wrote: "When a sage governs a country, he does not rely on others doing good for us, but uses them to avoid doing anything wrong. He relies on others doing good for us, and there are not many in the territory; You must not do wrong in employing people, and a country can be unified. If you want to govern, you should use the masses and sacrifice the few, so you should not follow morality but follow the law." ("Han Feizi. Xian Xue")

This is how the monarch governs with law and power. civil. He does not need to have special talents or high morals, nor does he need to set an example himself or rule through personal influence, as Confucianism advocates.

[Edit this paragraph] Han Feizi and "Han Feizi"

There are two interpretations of Han Feizi, one refers to the character Han Fei, a Korean philosopher and legalist at the end of the Warring States Period; This book was compiled by descendants of Han Fei after his death, who collected his writings and added other people's articles discussing Han Fei's theory.

Han Fei (approximately 280 BC - 233 BC) was an aristocrat from Korea [today's Xinzheng, Henan Province] at the end of the Warring States Period. He was a "study of happy punishments and magic". Later generations called him Han Feizi. Some say he stutters.

He and Li Si were both disciples of Xunzi. At that time, South Korea was very weak and was often bullied by its neighboring countries. He repeatedly proposed strategies to become rich and powerful to the King of Han, but was not adopted by the King of Han. Han Fei wrote a series of articles such as "Gu Anger" and "Five Worms", which were later collected into the book "Han Feizi". King Yingzheng of Qin read Han Fei's article and admired it very much. In 234 BC, Han Fei came to Qin as an envoy from South Korea and wrote to the King of Qin, urging him to attack Zhao first and delay the attack on Han. Li Si was jealous of Han Fei's talent, and worked with Yao Jia to frame him, and Han Fei was forced to commit suicide by taking poison.

Han Feizi paid attention to the study of history and believed that history is constantly developing and progressing. He believed that if today's people still praise "the ways of Yao, Shun, Tang, and Wu", "the new sages will surely laugh." Therefore, he advocated "do not revise the ancients, and it is always possible to break the law", "when the world changes, things will change" and "when things change, prepare for changes" ("Han Feizi·Wu Zhu"), and policies should be formulated based on today's reality.

His view of history provided a theoretical basis for the reform of the landlord class at that time.

Han Fei inherited and summarized the thoughts and practices of Legalism during the Warring States Period, and put forward the theory of centralized monarchy. He advocated that "things in the four directions must be in the center; when the saints insist, the four directions will follow suit" ("Han Feizi: Property Rights"), the power of the country must be concentrated in the hands of the monarch ("sage"), and the monarch must have the right to have Only with power can one govern the world. "The lord of thousands of chariots is the king of thousands of chariots. Therefore, those who control the world and conquer the princes use their power and power" ("Han Feizi: Renzhu"). To this end, the monarch should use various means to eliminate the hereditary slave-owning nobles, "disperse their parties" and "seize their assistants" ("Han Feizi·Zhudao"); at the same time, select a group of feudal officials who have been trained in practice to replace them, "The prime minister must be from the state department, and the fierce general must be from the army" ("Han Feizi Xian Xue"). Han Fei also advocated reform and the implementation of the rule of law, calling for "abolition of the teachings of the previous kings" ("Han Feizi·Wen Tian") and "taking the law as teaching" ("Han Feizi·Wuzhe"). He emphasized that the "law" must be strictly implemented without exception to anyone, so that "the law is not noble", "the ministers are not spared from punishment, and the good deeds are rewarded" ("Han Feizi·Youdu"). He also believed that only by implementing severe punishments could the people obey, society be stable, and feudal rule be consolidated. These ideas of Han Fei reflected the interests and demands of the emerging feudal landlord class, and provided a theoretical basis for ending the feudal separatism and establishing a unified centralized feudal state. Many of the political measures taken by Qin Shi Huang after he unified China were the application and development of Han Fei's theory.

"Han Feizi" is the work of Han Fei, the master of Korean Legalism at the end of the Warring States Period.

The book "Han Feizi" focuses on promoting Han's rule of law theory that combines law, technique, and power. Han Fei's theory of combining "law", "shu" and "power" reached the highest peak of pre-Qin legalist theory, providing theoretical weapons for Qin to unify the six countries, and at the same time, it also provided a theoretical weapon for the future feudal autocratic system. Theoretical basis.

Han Fei’s simple dialectic thinking is also quite prominent. He first proposed the theory of contradiction, using the fable of a spear and a shield to illustrate the principle that "the irreversible shield and the irreversible spear cannot exist in the same world." . It is worth mentioning that the book "Han Feizi" records a large number of popular fables, the most famous of which are "self-contradiction", "waiting for rabbits", "concealing diseases and avoiding medical treatment", "using the Yu Yu to make up for the numbers", "the old horse knows the way" and so on. These vivid fables contain profound philosophy. With their perfect combination of ideological and artistic qualities, they inspire people with wisdom and have high literary value.

Han Feizi lived in the 3rd century BC and was a royal family member of Korea in the late Warring States Period. He stuttered and was not good at speaking but was good at writing books.

Han Feizi lived in an era when South Korea's national power was weakening day by day. Out of patriotism, he repeatedly wrote to the King of South Korea, suggesting reforms and advocating that the rulers should make enriching the country and strengthening the army an important task; but the King did not adopt it. Therefore, based on the experience and lessons of governing the country in history and the current social conditions, he wrote more than 100,000 words of political treatises such as "Five Mosquitoes", "Lonely Anger", "Shuo Shuo Lin", "Shuo Nan", etc. , compiled into the book "Han Feizi". These papers of his were not taken seriously in Korea, but they spread to Qin, a powerful country at that time, and were very popular with Qin Shihuang. Qin Shihuang raised troops to attack South Korea, and the Korean king sent Han Fei to Qin to seek peace. Qin Shihuang kept him and prepared to reuse him. Li Si, who was the prime minister of Qin at that time, was Han Feizi's classmate. He knew that Han Feizi was more talented than him, so out of jealousy, he approached Qin Shihuang. He was framed by slander. Qin Shihuang believed the slander and threw Han Feizi into prison and poisoned him.

Han Feizi's main work "Han Feizi" is a masterpiece of Pre-Qin Legalist theory. There are fifty-five chapters in this book, about more than 100,000 words, most of which are Han Fei's own works. At that time, in the Chinese ideological circles, represented by Confucianism and Mohism, they advocated "the law before the king" and "restoration". Han Feizi's legalism firmly opposed restoration and advocated adapting measures to the times. Han Feizi attacked the Confucian theory that advocated "benevolence", advocated the rule of law, and proposed four policies of heavy rewards, heavy punishments, heavy agriculture, and heavy wars. Han Feizi advocated the divine right of kings. Since the Qin Dynasty, Han Feizi's teachings have been quite influential in the establishment of feudal absolutist totalitarian rule in China.

Han Feizi's articles are precise in reasoning, sharp in writing, thorough in argumentation, reasoning and reasoning, and hit the mark. For example, the article "The Death March" analyzes as many as 47 ways in which a country can perish, which is really rare. The two chapters, "It's Hard to Say" and "It's Hard to Say", meticulously figure out the psychology of the speaker and how to approach, avoid and accommodate him. They are so thorough and meticulous that they cannot be repeated.

Han Feizi's articles are well-conceived, bold in description, humorous in language, and find wonder in the ordinary. They have the artistic effect of being thought-provoking and warning the world. Han Feizi was also good at using a large number of simple fables and rich historical knowledge as argumentative materials to explain abstract principles and vividly reflect his Legalist thoughts and his profound understanding of social life. Many fables that appear in his articles have become popular idioms and allusions due to their rich connotations and vivid stories, and are still widely used by people today.

He is a "practical" writer.

Selected Works

Han Feizi

There was a wine seller in the Song Dynasty. His reputation was very modest, he was very respectful when meeting guests, because the wine was very beautiful, and the county flag was very high. However, if you don’t sell it, the wine will be sour. Weird, he asked Yang Qian, the elder of Lu, whom he knew. Qian said: "Your dog is fierce?" She said: "If the dog is fierce, why don't you sell the wine?" She said: "How can people be afraid of you?

Or a boy might be asked to carry a pot and an urn with money in his hand and go to sell it, but the dog would run away from him. This is why the wine is sour and not sold. "

There are also dogs in my husband's country. The Taoist people have their own skills and want to know the master of ten thousand vehicles. The ministers are ferocious dogs and rush to meet them. The reason why the master conceals the threat is because Taoist people do not use it.

There was a wine seller in the Song Dynasty. The wine utensils he sold were very fair, his attitude in receiving guests was very respectful, the wine he brewed was very fragrant, and the wine flag was hung well (in front of the shop). It was very high. He had accumulated a lot of wine but no one came to buy it. (Over time,) the wine became sour. The wine seller felt strange and wondered why. He asked Yang Qian, an old man who lived in the same lane and knew about it. Inquire. Yang Qian said: "Is your dog vicious? The wine seller said, "The dog is vicious, so why can't the wine be sold?" Yang Qian said: "People are afraid of your dog! Some people send their children, put money in their pockets, and go to drink with a pot." But your dog comes out and bites people, (who dares to buy wine?) This is why your wine cannot be sold and eventually turns sour. "

The country also has such evil dogs. Talented people with the ability to govern the country want to report it to the king of the big country so that the king of the big country can understand the strategy of running the country. Those ministers are like Like evil dogs, they spring out to bite people, which deceives and hijacks the monarch, so those talented people cannot be reused.

Han Feizi's thoughts

Han Feizi learned from Xunzi, but he was unable to do so. He proposed many new views that transcended Confucianism and wrote many great works. He was a representative of Legalism during the Warring States Period.

Han Feizi systematically expounded his legal theory of law, technique, and momentum through many fables. The works summarize the gains and losses of the ancient kings and express their own ambitions and opinions, such as "Gu Anger", "Five Beetles", "Chu Shuo" inside and outside, etc. Among them, "Self-Contradiction" and "Waiting for the Rabbit" are interesting fables. Story.

Legalist Thoughts:

1. God cannot determine the good or bad of human affairs, but man can determine the outcome of nature.

2. Man should not violate the laws of nature, but should control nature. Use it as crops.

3. To be prosperous and strong, a country must rely on farming and fighting. Farming is to improve agricultural production and strengthen war preparedness.

4. The rule of law is more suitable than the rule of virtue. In the society at that time, because of the changes in social development, everything also changed, so the specific measures should also change.

5. The rule of law requires everyone to know and resolutely implement it. The way a king controls his ministers is the supreme power and might of the king.

Chapter of "Han Feizi"

First meeting Qin first

Cun Han second

Unspeakable third

Ai Chen is fourth

Zhudao is fifth

Youdu is sixth

Two handles is seventh

Yangquan is fourth Eight

The ninth of the eight traitors

The tenth out of ten

The eleventh of loneliness and anger

The hard-to-say twelfth

The Thirteenth of the He Family

The Fourteenth of the Rape and Regicide

The Fifteenth of the Exodus

The Sixteenth of the Three Guards

Binai No. 17

Southern No. 18

Shixie No. 19

Jie Lao No. 20

Yu Lao No. 21

Speaking of the No. 22 in the Forest

Speaking of the No. 23 in the Forest

Guan Xing No. 24

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Safety No. 25

Keeping the Way No. 26

Employing Personnel No. 27

Fame No. 28

Roughly the twenty-ninth one

The thirty-first chapter of the seven techniques of internal storage

The thirty-first chapter of the six subtle arts of internal storage

The external storage Said the thirty-second from the upper left

The foreign reserve said the thirty-third from the lower left

The foreign reserve said the thirty-fourth from the upper right

The foreign reserve said the third from the lower right Fifteen

Difficult one and thirty-sixth

Difficult two and thirty-seven

Difficult three and thirty-eighth

Difficult four Thirty-nine

Difficulty No. 40

Question No. 41

Question No. 42

Decision Chapter 43

Suspicion 44

Deception 45

Six Rebellions 46

The Forty-Seventh of the Eight Essays

The Forty-Eighth of the Eight Classics

The Forty-ninth of the Five Essays

The Fiftyth of the Explicit Learning

Loyalty and Filial Piety No. 51

Rule No. 52

Order No. 53

Consideration No. 54

Score 55