Han Fei (233 BC), also known as Han Feizi, was a

Chinese Legalist ''Fajia'' ( zh, s=法家, p=fǎjiā), or the School of ''fa'' (laws, methods), early translated ''Legalism'' for Shang Yang, is a school of thought representing a broader collection of primarily Warring States period classical Chinese philos ...

philosopher and statesman during the

Warring States period The Warring States period in history of China, Chinese history (221 BC) comprises the final two and a half centuries of the Zhou dynasty (256 BC), which were characterized by frequent warfare, bureaucratic and military reforms, and ...

. He was a prince of the

state of Han Han was an ancient Chinese state during the Warring States period. Scholars frequently render the name as Hann to clearly distinguish it from China's later Han dynasty. It was located in central China (modern-day Shanxi and Henan) in a region ...

. Han Fei is often considered the greatest representative of Legalism for the ''

Han Feizi The ''Han Feizi'' () is an ancient Chinese text attributed to the Chinese Legalism, Legalist political philosopher Han Fei. It comprises a selection of essays in the Legalist tradition, elucidating theories of state power, and synthesizing the m ...

'', a later anthology of writings traditionally attributed to him, which synthesized the methods of his predecessors. Han Fei's ideas are sometimes compared with those of

Niccolò Machiavelli Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli (3 May 1469 – 21 June 1527) was a Florentine diplomat, author, philosopher, and historian who lived during the Italian Renaissance. He is best known for his political treatise '' The Prince'' (), writte ...

, author of ''

The Prince ''The Prince'' ( ; ) is a 16th-century political treatise written by the Italian diplomat, philosopher, and Political philosophy, political theorist Niccolò Machiavelli in the form of a realistic instruction guide for new Prince#Prince as gener ...

''.

Zhuge Liang Zhuge Liang () (181September or October 234), also commonly known by his courtesy name Kongming, was a Chinese statesman, strategist, and inventor who lived through the End of the Han dynasty, end of the Eastern Han dynasty ( 184–220) and t ...

is said to have attached great importance to the Han Feizi.

Sima Qian Sima Qian () was a Chinese historian during the early Han dynasty. He is considered the father of Chinese historiography for the ''Shiji'' (sometimes translated into English as ''Records of the Grand Historian''), a general history of China cov ...

recounts that

Qin Shi Huang Qin Shi Huang (, ; February 25912 July 210 BC), born Ying Zheng () or Zhao Zheng (), was the founder of the Qin dynasty and the first emperor of China. He is widely regarded as the first ever supreme leader of a unitary state, unitary d ...

went to war with the state of Han to obtain an audience with Han Fei, but was ultimately convinced to imprison him, whereupon he commits suicide. After the early demise of the

Qin dynasty The Qin dynasty ( ) was the first Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China. It is named for its progenitor state of Qin, a fief of the confederal Zhou dynasty (256 BC). Beginning in 230 BC, the Qin under King Ying Zheng enga ...

, the school was officially vilified by the

Han dynasty The Han dynasty was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC9 AD, 25–220 AD) established by Liu Bang and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–206 BC ...

that succeeded it. Despite its outcast status throughout the history of imperial China, Han Fei's political theory and the Legalist school continued to heavily influence every dynasty thereafter, and the

Confucian Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China, and is variously described as a tradition, philosophy, religion, theory of government, or way of life. Founded by Confucius ...

ideal of rule without laws was never to be realized. Han Fei borrowed

Shang Yang Shang Yang (; c. 390 – 338 BC), also known as Wei Yang () and originally surnamed Gongsun, was a Politician, statesman, chancellor and reformer of the Qin (state), State of Qin. Arguably the "most famous and most influential statesman of the ...

's emphasis on laws,

Shen Buhai Shen Buhai (; ) was a Chinese statesman, reformer and diplomat. According to the Shiji, Shen Buhai served as Chancellor of the Han state under Marquis Zhao of Han, for around fifteen years to his natural death in office in 337 BC, ordering it ...

's emphasis on administrative technique, and

Shen Dao Shen Dao () was an early to mid Warring states period Chinese philosopher and writer. Noteworthy as a predecessor influencing both Han Fei and Daoism, his remaining fragments are the most substantial of any Jixia Academy scholar, and may have ...

's ideas on authority and prophecy, emphasizing that the autocrat will be able to achieve firm control over the state with the mastering of his predecessors' methodologies: his position of 'power' ( ), 'technique' ( ), and 'law' ('' fa''). He stressed the importance of the concept of holding actual outcome accountable to speech ( ''

xingming ''Fajia'' ( zh, s=法家, p=fǎjiā), or the School of ''fa'' (laws, methods), early translated ''Legalism'' for Shang Yang, is a school of thought representing a broader collection of primarily Warring States period classical Chinese philos ...

''), coupled with the "two handles" system of punishment and reward, as well as ''

wu wei ''Wu wei'' () is a polysemous, ancient Chinese concept expressing an ideal dao, practice of "inaction", "inexertion" or "effortless action", as a state of personal harmony and free-flowing, spontaneous Improvisation, creative manifestation. In a ...

'' ('non-exertion').

Names

Han Fei is also known respectfully as Hanzi ('Master Han') or as Han Feizi ('Master Han Fei'). In

Wade–Giles Wade–Giles ( ) is a romanization system for Mandarin Chinese. It developed from the system produced by Thomas Francis Wade during the mid-19th century, and was given completed form with Herbert Giles's '' A Chinese–English Dictionary'' ...

transcription, his same name is written Han Tzu, Han-tzu, Han Fei Tzu, or Han Fei-tzu. The same name—sometimes as "Hanfeizi" or "Han-fei-tzu"—is used to denote the later anthology traditionally attributed to him.

Life

The exact year of Han Fei's birth remains unknown, however, scholars have placed it at . Unlike the other famed philosophers of the time, Han Fei was a member of the ruling aristocracy, having been born into the ruling family of Han during the end phase of the

. In this context, his works have been interpreted by some scholars as being directed to his cousin, the King of Han. The ''

Records of the Grand Historian The ''Shiji'', also known as ''Records of the Grand Historian'' or ''The Grand Scribe's Records'', is a Chinese historical text that is the first of the Twenty-Four Histories of imperial China. It was written during the late 2nd and early 1st ce ...

'' say that Han Fei studied together with future Qin chancellor

Li Si Li Si (; 208 BC) was a Chinese calligrapher, philosopher, and politician of the Qin dynasty. He served as Chancellor from 246 to 208 BC, first under King Zheng of the state of Qin—who later became Qin Shi Huang, the "First Emperor" o ...

under the Confucian philosopher

Xun Kuang Xunzi (荀子, ''Xúnzǐ'', ; ), born Xun Kuang, was a Chinese philosopher of Confucianism during the late Warring States period. After his predecessors Confucius and Mencius, Xunzi is often ranked as the third great Confucian philosopher of a ...

. It is said that because of his stutter, Han Fei could not properly present his ideas in court, but Sima regards him as having been very intelligent. His advice otherwise being ignored, but observing the slow decline of his Han state, he developed "one of the most brilliant (writing) styles in ancient China." Sima Qian's biography of Han Fei is as follows: His works ultimately ended up in the hands of King Ying Zheng of Qin, who commented, "If I can make friends with this person an Fei I may die without regrets." and invited Han Fei to the Qin court. Han Fei presented the essay "Preserving the Han" to ask the king not to attack his homeland, but his ex-friend and rival Li Si used that essay to have Han Fei imprisoned on account of his likely loyalty to Han. Han Fei responded by writing another essay named "In the first time of meeting Qin king", hoping to use his writing talent to win the king's heart. Han Fei did win the king's heart, but not before Li Si forced him to commit suicide by drinking poison. The Qin king afterward regretted Han Fei's death.

Summary of his legalism

Xunzi formed the hypothesis that human nature is evil and virtueless, therefore suggesting that human infants must be brought to their virtuous form through social-class-oriented Confucian moral education. Without such, Xunzi argued, man would act virtueless and be steered by his own human nature to commit immoral acts. Han Fei's education and life experience during the Warring States period, and in his own Han state, contributed his synthesis of a philosophy for the management of an amoral and interest-driven administration, to which morality seemed a loose and inefficient tool. Han agreed with his teacher's theory of "virtueless by birth", but as in previous Legalist philosophy, pragmatically proposed to steer people by their own interest-driven nature.Hanfeizi By: Luo, Wei, World Philosophers & Their Works, ''Hàn Phi Tử'', Vietnamese translation by Phan Ngọc, Nhà xuất bản Văn học, HCMC 2011

Notes

# Watson, Burton, Han Fei Tzu: Basic Writings. 1964, p. 2. The king in question is believed to be either King An of Han (238–230 BC) or his predecessor, King Huanhui (272–239 BC).

References

Sources

External links

The complete works of Han Fei Tzu, A classic of Chinese political science. Translator, Wenkui Liao.
* * * Li, Guangcan, "Han Fei Quotes". ''

Encyclopedia of China The ''Encyclopedia of China'' () is the first large-entry modern encyclopedia in the Chinese language. The compilation began in 1978. Published by the Encyclopedia of China Publishing House, the encyclopedia was issued one volume at a time, be ...

'' (Law Edition), 1st ed. * Gu, Fang, "Han Fei Life Quotes". ''

'' (Philosophy Edition), 1st ed.
Full text of Han Feizi
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Han, Feizi 280s BC births 233 BC deaths 3rd-century BC Chinese philosophers Chinese reformers People of Han (Warring States) Legalism (Chinese philosophy) Philosophers from Henan Philosophers of law Chinese political philosophers Social philosophers Writers from Henan Zhou dynasty essayists Zhou dynasty philosophers Critics of Confucianism Qin state people