Han Feizi

韓非子
The Other Main Philosopher of Chinese Politics

Geor Hintzen
2018
 Han Feizi’s Biography

• Lived from c. 280 to 233 BCE

• Member of the royal family of Han
• Pupil of Confucian philosopher Xunzi
• Combined all the strands of Legalist thought into one theory
• Unheard in Han, went to Qin
• Imprisoned through Li Si’s intrigues
• Poisoned in prison before the Qin king’s pardon reached him
 Warring States Period (475-221 BCE)
• Demise of Zhou Dynasty’s power (though moral power until 256 BCE)
• Incessant warring between states
Armies of 100,000s, crossbows, cavalry, massive infantry
Process of elimination: fewer & fewer states
• Breakdown of old moral order: court intrigues & treason
Search for political solutions: 100 schools
Restoration of the past? (Confucianism, Taoism, Mohism)
Renewal of politics? (Legalism)
 The Old Moral Order
• There is a Heaven or Way of Harmonious Moral Order

• Different views of what that order was (Confucianism, Taoism, Mohism)

• Sage rulers received virtue from Heaven and formed society after it

• Ruler – subject relations as a family, anarchism or universal love

• Restore moral order and harmony will be reasserted

 Han Feizi’s Criticisms
• Of old, there were few people and abundant land & food, this has changed:
many people fight over power & scarce materials

• Of old, rule was moral, later on wise, now through power/interests

• Sage kings usurped power and justified it through moral lies: old out-dated
texts and debates only increase chaos

• Politics is for the average, practical person: no extreme, theoretical examples

of wise/wicked
 In Search of Wealth and Power 1
1 Strong/wealthy state: centralise all power in the ruler

2 Terminology, policies and results are based on facts

3 Ruler rules through statecraft and laws

4 System of rewards/honour and punishments/shame

 In Search of Wealth and Power 2
5 Official functions based on merit alone

6 Wealth comes from farmers, strength through the army

7 System of mutual liability

8 System of permanent control

 1a- Chinese Absolutism
• The interests of the ruler are different from those of his subjects
A family loves and protects (Love is listened to)
The ruler sends people to die (Authority is obeyed)

• All power and wealth belong to the ruler

• Ruler empties his spirit to let the virtue of the Way take possession
 1b- Chinese Absolutism
• Ruler is secretive: no sympathies or intentions shown

• Ruler alone has status, decides and has power of punishment/reward

He is to be treated with absolute deference
Officials propose laws & policies, the ruler only decides
The results of laws & policies are rewarded or punished
 2- Rectification of Names
• Names or terms are chosen to conform to nature (=the Way)

• Forms (actual things, tasks, policies) agree with names

• Results of tasks are to be measured against proposals: appropriate

punishments/shame and rewards/honours

• Terminological rigidity avoids needless/dangerous debates (power

and wisdom are not the same!)
 3a- Statecraft
• Ruler speaks to each official in private first, then collectively in public
• Public deliberations are published (use wisdom of entire country)
• Each official may offer one proposal, he is responsible
• Each proposal contains concrete, attainable results
• Ruler thinks the proposals through, taking into account:
Principles of Heaven
Principles of the earth
Current events
Personal relationships
• Ruler decides, follows execution, measures results & rewards or punishes
 3b- Law
• Law is constitutional, administrative & criminal law (not civil!)

• Law not personal relations determine what is done in society

• Law is to be known throughout the country

• Law is made through proposals by competent officials

• Law is to be applied to the letter (no case law, mitigation or exceptions)

 4- System of Punishments & Rewards
• Human nature is based on selfish interests (hate/love, money)

• Punishments/rewards are commensurate to results of actions

• Punishments should be severe (mountain vs ant-hill)

• Hence: punish to abolish punishments

 5- Bureaucratic Meritocracy
• Officials have to rise through the ranks & prove themselves

• Who proposes or leads an official is co-responsible

• Officials have to adhere to law & policies (no trust needed)

• One official per function, clear responsibilities

• Rewards/punishments determine career

 6- A Land of Farmers and Soldiers
• Farmers are the basis of a country’s wealth: famines ensue thru
laziness & should not be relieved

• Soldiers are the guarantee of a country’s strength: punishments

should stamp out desertion & cowardice

• Artisans and traders are viewed negatively

• No place for the old noble families or (roaming) scholars in this state!
 7- Mutual Liability
• Officials are mutually liable for proposals they jointly bring forward

• Superior officials liable for inferior officials

• Groups of 5 families, in villages up to 25, in counties up to 250, in

districts up to 2500 are mutually liable: rewards for denunciations,
punishments for those who fail to report

• Similar system in the army

 8- Big Brother is Watching You
• A censorship is established to draw up guidelines for uniform ways to
go about things

• Spies are in court, society at large & in foreign countries to inform the
ruler about the real current of events

• Officials and other subjects are encouraged to inform on others

• Ruler is informed on past events & results of laws & policies

 The Impact of Han Feizi
• Adoption of his policies by the Qin resulted in the unification of China

• Great book burning, unification of writing, law, measures & weights

• Bureaucratic government, old noble houses exterminated

• Qin Shi Huangdi became China’s first emperor, Qin = China

• Harsh punishments led to a swift downfall after his death

 Enduring Value of Han Feizi
• Han Dynasty after Qin established classic Imperial rule:
First 1000 years Confucianism for elite, Legalism for people (Tang Code)
Later: popular Confucianism (Fan Chongyan & Zhu Xi)
Bureaucratic state based on agriculture
Meritocracy (but Confucian exams)
Search for wealth and power since Yan Fu (19th century)

• Law in China: administrative/criminal law (no civil law tradition)

 Legalism under Xi Jinping
• 19th CCP Congress: Decision on Deepening Reform of Party/State Organs

• Centralisation of power: no terms for leader

• Clear Party leadership over governance
• Rationalising bureaucracy: one man for each function
• Streamlining organs, clear responsibilities: rectification of names
• Law as the way to order society
• Anti-corruption drive: harsh punishments
• Strong and wealthy China
 Question 1
•
Upright Kong’s father stole some sheep from a neighbour. The father
was arrested and brought before court. Kong bore witness against his
father for appropriating the sheep.

•
Both Han Feizi and Confucius used this story. Who would agree with
Kong and who would disagree, and why?
 Question 2
A farmer was working on his land when he saw a hare running across
his field and hitting a tree stump with such great force that he was
killed on impact. For the next year the farmer sat on the outlook to
await another hare meet the same fate.

Why do you think Han Feizi used this story as a rebuke towards the
moral theories that were popular in his day?
 Question 3

According to Han Feizi, a famine is the result of laziness and dereliction

by the farmers and should not be relieved.

How can he come to such a conclusion and why do you think it could be
wrong on Legalist terms?
Thank you for your attention!

g.h.hintzen@hhs.nl