Hanfeizi

Chinese philosopher

• Born: 280 b.c.e.
• Birthplace: State of Han, China
• Died: 233 b.c.e.
• Place of death: The state of Qin, China

Hanfeizi wrote a Legalist work of twenty volumes and fifty-five chapters that had a profound influence on Chinese methods of organization and management.

Early Life

According to his biography in Sima Qian’s Shiji (first century b.c.e.; Records of the Grand Historian of China, 1960, rev. ed. 1993), Hanfeizi (hahn-fay-dzu) was one of several sons from a noble family in the small state of Han. The ruling family of Han had formerly been high ministers in the state of Jin, but they gradually usurped power, divided the territory of Jin with two other noble families, and created three new states, Han, Zhao, and Wei. This event initiated a new era in ancient China called the Warring States Period (475-221 b.c.e.).

Among the seven states that existed during this period, the domain of Han was relatively small and its territory located in a mountainous area, so it was constantly threatened by strong neighbors, especially the powerful state of Qin. Worried about the dangerous condition of his own native state, Hanfeizi devoted himself to studying how to rule a state. Because he stuttered, he was unable to articulate his ideas with eloquence. He repeatedly submitted his suggestions for political reform to the ruler, but they were ignored. He therefore decided to write them into chapters, creating the Hanfeizi (latter half of third century b.c.e.; The Complete Works of Han Fei Tzu: A Classic of Chinese Legalism, 1939-1959, 2 vols.; commonly known as Hanfeizi), which became a part of the Legalist (fa-jia) tradition.

Life’s Work

Fa-jia, a major school of Chinese philosophy, emerged in a chaotic and tumultuous age of ancient China. In the earlier Zhou Dynasty (Chou; 1066-771 b.c.e.), the nation had been ruled by the king of Zhou and his vassals. Their rights and duties were clearly defined by a system of feudalism. The sovereign not only commanded universal allegiance and tribute among his vassals but also exercised considerable control over their social affairs. He could even punish an offending vassal with force of arms.

When the Zhou capital was invaded by barbarians in 771 b.c.e., the ruler fled and re-established his court at Luoyang (Lo-yang) in the East. The power of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty declined rapidly, and the rulers of the feudal states were left with increasing freedom to ignore their customary duties to the sovereign and to expand their territories through military force. After a series of battles, five powerful feudal leaders emerged. They not only had to deal with the threat of influential noble families within their states but also vied for influence or even control of the Zhou king and tried to impose their power on the other feudal lords.

This historical context fostered the formation of the Legalist school. In order to acquire official positions for themselves, scholars offered various suggestions, on the basis of different philosophical grounds, on how to rule a state. Unlike the Confucians, the Legalists had no interest in preserving moral values or restoring traditional customs. Their only goal was to teach the ruler how to survive and prosper in a highly competitive world through various measures of administrative reform, such as strengthening the sovereign’s power, increasing food production, enforcing military training, and establishing a merit system to replace the old aristocracy with a team of bureaucrats.

Disappointed with his own political career, Hanfeizi concentrated on studying the works of previous Legalists, including Guan Zhong, Shang Yang, Shen Buhai, and Shen Dao. Guan Zhong (Kuan Chung) was a minister of Duke Huan of Qi (685-643 b.c.e.). He suggested the ruler should carry out a series of reform programs that enriched the state, strengthened the army, and made Qi one of the five hegemonies. From Guan Zhong’s chapter on xin-shu (literally, “art of mind”) in his book Guanzi (fourth century b.c.e.; selections translated in Economic Dialogues in Ancient China, 1954; complete translation Guanzi, 1985), Hanfeizi adopted the doctrine of xu-yi-er-jin (“concentrate on one thing with a calm and serene mind”) and argued that it is necessary for an enlightened ruler to cultivate his mental capability for recognizing the objective facts of an event by concentrating on them with a calm and peaceful mind.

Shang Yang (d. 388 b.c.e.) was originally from Wei. He went to serve Duke Xiao of Qin as a high minister and helped Qin to carry out a series of administrative reforms. Hanfeizi adopted many fundamental concepts of fa (law) from the Shangjun shu (also known as Shangzi; compiled 359-338 b.c.e.; The Book of Lord Shang, 1928) but noted a weakness in Shang’s works. In ruling the state, Shang Yang strongly emphasized strict control of people with harsh laws as well as the encouragement of agricultural production and aggressive warfare. These policies enriched the state within a short period of time. Shang paid less attention to shu (the art of manipulation) and was unable to discriminate the cunning ministers from the loyal ones. Thus, Qin’s reform program enhanced the ministers’ power, but it brought few benefits to the ruler of the state.

Shen Buhai (Shen Pu-hai; d. 377 b.c.e.) was a Legalist who served at the court of Hanfeizi’s native state and taught the ruler how to manipulate subordinates with shu. Hanfeizi also criticized him for carelessness about the consistency of the law. Eventually there were many contradictions between newly issued rules and old laws, and many people took advantage of the confusion and used it to defend their own misconduct. Hanfeizi, therefore, paid great attention to these aspects in proposing his theory for constructing a legal system as well as its application.

From Shen Dao (Shen Tao; 350-275 b.c.e.), a Daoist-Legalist philosopher, Hanfeizi recognized the importance of shih (power). He agreed with Shen’s argument that power for a ruler is like claws and teeth for a tiger. A tiger without claws or teeth can catch no animals, while a ruler without position and power cannot control his subjects.

In addition to these Legalists, Hanfeizi followed his teacher Xunzi (Hsün-tzu; c. 298-c. 230 b.c.e.), an eminent Confucian scholar who served as magistrate of Lanling, in adopting the idea that human beings are born evil, in direct opposition to the theory promoted by Mencius (Mengzi; Wade-Giles Meng-tzu; c. 327-c. 289 b.c.e.) that people are born good. However, unlike his teacher, he made no attempt to preserve the moral values or traditional ceremonies, and he looked on the fondness for such ceremonies as an omen of a doomed state.

Hanfeizi’s theory of leadership was constructed on the basis of three core concepts, namely, shih (power), fa (law), and shu (technique of management). He argued that a ruler has to hold the two handles of punishment and favor tightly while situated in a ruling position, and then manipulate subordinates with fa and shu. Although Hanfeizi advocated that fa should be initiated by the ruler, he also insisted that it should be constructed on the basis of dao (the way), which is the origin and fundamental principle of operation for everything in the universe. The legal system thus constructed must be publicized and made known to everybody; it should be objective and fair to everybody; furthermore, it must be practical, compulsory, and feasible for everyone to carry out. One it was announced, it should be applicable to everyone in the state without exception.

Based on his concept of fa, Hanfeizi proposed several techniques (shu) for a ruler to manipulate subordinates. For example, he suggested that an enlightened ruler should assign competent talent to the right position, ask subordinates to propose projects for pursuing organizational goals, and follow up on the projects and check their effectiveness. Finally, the ruler should evaluate subordinates’ contributions and grant rewards accordingly.

Some of Hanfeizi’s works were sent to the king of Qin, a young ruler with ambitions to conquer the whole country. The king read the chapters and told his minister Li Si (Li Ssu; 280?-208 b.c.e.), a former classmate of Hanfeizi under Xunzi’s tutelage, “If I have a chance to make acquaintance with this author, I would die without any regrets!”

Li Si identified the author and persuaded the king to send troops to launch a fierce attack on Han. At the moment of crisis, the ruler of Han dispatched Hanfeizi as peace envoy to the king of Qin.

The king received Hanfeizi with great delight, but before Hanfeizi could earn the full confidence of the king, Li Si incriminated him by warning the ruler that, since Hanfeizi was a son of a noble family of Han, he would always be loyal to Han against Qin. If Hanfeizi were allowed to return home, he might become a barrier to Qin’s plan of annexing other states, including Han. The king was persuaded. He ordered officials to arrest Hanfeizi for investigation. Before the ruler had a chance to regret his decision, Li Si sent poison to Hanfeizi, who was confined in prison and unable to communicate with the ruler to defend himself against the accusation of duplicity. Eventually, Hanfeizi was forced to commit suicide.

Significance

Legalism is one of the major philosophies of the Chinese cultural tradition. Hanfeizi is a representative figure of Legalism who reviewed previous Legalist works and integrated them into a comprehensive theory of leadership. He used many idioms and metaphors to explain his ideas, which were widely circulated in Chinese society and frequently cited by Chinese scholars. Before the end of the nineteenth century, when China began to come in contact with Western culture, the philosophy of Legalism formed the worldview with which Chinese people understood the meaning of the legal system and how a legal system should operate. The influence of Legalist thoughts on Chinese social life is second only to Confucianism, although its contents are in direct opposition to Confucianism in many respects.

During the Han Dynasty, Dong Zhongshu (Tung Chung-shu; 179-104 b.c.e.) proposed the idea of “making judicial sentence by the Confucian classic of Spring and Autumn” and “utilizing Legalism as an instrument to consolidate the Confucian social system.” Rulers of China began to use Legalist methods to defend their power and position and to control people, but retained Confucian doctrine to educate and discipline people. The two systems were merged to constitute the philosophical foundation of Asian despotism, and Chinese society became characterized by following Confucianism in public and Legalism in private.

Bibliography

Chü, T’ung-Tsu. Law and Society in Traditional China. Paris: Monton, 1961. Chü explains the structure and functioning of traditional Chinese society, including family and zu, marriage, and social classes, in terms of the interplay between Confucian li and Legalist law. Bibliography and index.

Lundahl, Bertil. Han Fei Zi: The Man and the Work. Stockholm: Institute of Oriental Languages, Stockholm University, 1992. Lundahl presents an account of the historical and philosophical background of Hanfeizi’s work, discusses the problems with the work, and analyzes its authenticity chapter by chapter. Bibliography, appendix, and index.

Waley, Arthur. Three Ways of Thought in Ancient China. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1956. Waley presents three distinctive ways of thought representing Daoism, Confucianism, and Legalism in ancient China. In the third part of the book, the extracts from Hanfeizi’s works are arranged in such a way, under the label of “Realism,” that they appear to have a close parallel in modern totalitarianism. Appendices and index.

Wang, Hsiao-po, and Leo S. Chang. The Philosophical Foundations of Han Fei’s Political Theory. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1986. Wang and Chang analyze and evaluate five chapters of Hanfeizi’s works in an attempt to demonstrate that Hanfeizi adopted the salient strains of classical Chinese thought stretching back to Daoism and Yijing (eighth to third century b.c.e.; English translation, 1876; also known as Book of Changes, 1986). Appendix, footnotes, bibliography, and index.

Watson, Burton, trans. Basic Writing of Mo Tzu, Hsun Tzu, and Han Fei Tzu. New York: Columbia University Press, 1967. Watson translates twelve sections of Hanfeizi’s works and also discusses his life, his thoughts, and the historical context in the introduction. Index.