Han Feizi
Han Feizi
Master Han Fei
Also known as Han Fei.
I am Han Feizi, or Han Fei Tzu, Tzu (子, meaning "Master"). They called me Master Han Fei. I am the last of the great Legalist philosophers that heavily influenced China between 551 and 233 B.C. Some call me the only "nobleman" among the early Chinese Legalist philosophers. I am more noble than Confucius. I am more noble than Mencius. I am more noble than all. I was a prince of the royal family of the state of Han.
I was born about 280 B.C. according to your primitive Gregorian calendar. I tended to have a stuttering problem, so they told me, though I don't really remember ever being imperfect. In fact, I was so perfect that I never felt the need to keep a journal. The records of my existence were recorded by the historian Ssu-ma Ch'ien. I never met Ssu-ma Chi'en, but I see he too liked the duck face profile pic. He was born after I died. But I like the way he told my story. Although, I wish he described me as taller, and more studly, more like Dwayne Johnson, maybe.
I studied around southern Shantung around 250 B.C. I studied under the Confucian philosopher Hsun Tzu. I'm more noble than him. He taught me about Confucius, who I am also more noble than. But he also taught me that men are wild and evil, until they are educated not to be. I had a friend who was also a classmate named Li Si. He was not nearly as smart as me. But I befriended him, and helped him become wise. Then he was not not nearly as smart as me. After I helped Li Si become not not nearly as smart as me, he went on to become a prime minister to King Zhang of Ch'in, and all because of my help.
The Ch'ins were an upcoming gang. They started to be pretty powerful. But I stuck with my homies, the Hans. I served under King An of the Hans. I was a Han for life. Being a noble philosopher, as I am, I couldn't help noticing that my king was not nearly as smart as me. So naturally, I tried to persuade him to be not not nearly as smart as me, but he just kept saying that I can't speak well. It seemed like no one wanted to listen to my perfect advice. So I finally decided to write books.
I am the founder of the Chinese school of Legalism. Legalism is also regarded as realism. I studied under Xunzi, but rejected the Confucian way of thinking. In fact, Legalism is regarded as the anti thesis of Confucianism. I valued practicality and ruthlessness over humanity and ritual. I was a great influencer of the Qin dynasty, and the ruthless way it ruled. I died a violent death by the mechanizations of the prime minister of the Qin state in 233 BC.
Legalism
My Anti-intellectual tendencies and anti-humaneness
Though it does not call for a complete ban on all scholars, legalism is an anti intellectual school of thought. The Emperor, under legalism, has the right to ban any philosophies that do not have the emperor's approval, thus the scholars that stay around will only think of things that will benefit the kingdom as a whole. Any speech should not contradict the law, the only useful books should be the law, and officials are the only teachers of the people. Humaneness causes inefficiencies and confusion in society, as two stories below will illustrate. According to legalism, people only change when threatened by authority, not love. Han Feizi gives an example of a man who all his life has been loved and worried over by his village and family whenever he makes mistakes, but this does not change his actions until the police come by and threaten to enforce the law.
My Strong central government
Collectivism and loyalty to the king A ruler should not rely on the people, or listen to popular opinion. I considered the common people as having minds like little children. I would give an example of a child who would have a very painful boil that needed to be lanced. The parents, knowing what is best for the child will lance the boil, even though the child does not want to go through the little pain it will cause. Because the boil was lanced, the child is free from the pain, and is now better off. I considered this perspective to be the same for all people below the Emperor, and legitimized the harsh actions of emperors like Qin Shihuangdi. I also taught that the ways of ancient kings are not applicable to the present times, and that the current emperor should be adaptable and able to rule in new ways.
4 ways to ensure order and profit for kingdom:
- Till the land
- The thing thing that will bring profit to a kingdom is not the arts or scholarly pursuits, but the farming and tilling of the land.
- Penal code
- I relate a story criticising the Confucian way of familial piety. There was a son who a father who stole from a local shop. The son finds out what his father has done and reports the deed to the local magistrate. Instead of punishing the father for stealing, the son is executed for turning in his father. I saw this way of law and order as inefficient and chaotic. Instead of filial piety, punishment for breaking the law should be severe and inescapable. Common punishments would be the loss of a hand or a foot, this would ensure that others would not attempt to break the law. In addition to harsh punishments, rewards should be given to those profit the emperor and the people. If the the law is strong enough, those who are innocent have nothing to fear and only the guilty will need to be worried.
- Levy taxes
- Though taxes are necessary for a society to survive, I did not like the idea of redistribution of wealth as this would cause those who worked hard for their money and livelihood to become discouraged and those who are lazy already to not work at all, creating chaos in a society.
- Warfare
- There is another story I tell about a son who ran away from battle to be at his sick father's side. This son was praised by Confucius himself. This type of behaviour could create chaos, and would result in an Emperor losing his kingdom. The subjects of an emperor were expected to be loyal to the emperor at all costs.
My theory was that rulers could firmly control their state by using these three things: -Shi, their position of power (勢, Shì), -Shu, persuasive techniques (術, Shù), -Fa, strict laws (法, Fǎ). See, people are naturally evil and always try to avoid punishment, while trying to gain as much as possible to benefit themselves. Because men are so stupid and evil, naturally, it's best if the law severely punishes them for their mistakes, like, for example: 1. The punishment for stealing another man's mule... should be death. 2. The punishment for breaking another man's wheel barrow... should be death. 3. The punishment for residential solicitation... should be death. I mean, doesn't that make perfect sense? I just can't see why the kings wouldn't institute my laws the very minute they heard it.
My Books:
I wrote a series of books so that everyone could hear my perfect advice. I wrote "The Five Vermin," and "The Difficulties of Persuasion." But most importantly, my most noteworthy book had the most important and best title I could ever possibly think of, "The Han Feizi." I mean, who wouldn't want to read a book with my name on the cover, right? My books were about Legalism.
My Most Notable Work: Five Vermin
- Scholars who cause doubt in the emperor about the law, and causes the emperor "to be of two minds"
- Speechmakers who borrow influence, create false schemes, and put private interest over state welfare
- Swordsmen who form bands outside the government
- People escaping battle through private means
- Merchants and artisans who make things of little practical use, live in luxury and exploit farmers.
My Diplomacy
Anyway, one day the King of Ch'in launched a declaration of war on my people, the Han dynasty. My King, King An of Han sent me, the wise Han Fei, to the King Zheng of Ch'in, to perhaps negotiate. Now, my King, King An may have been not nearly as smart as me, but at least he knew that I, Han Fei, would be a good negotiator. So I went to King Zheng of Ch'in, and he liked me a lot. He even invited me to play Chinese checkers and drink sawkeh. But then Li Si came.
My New Frenemy
Remember Li Ssu, my classmate? He became my frenemy. He encouraged King Zheng of Ch'in not to listen to me. Can you believe that? So King Zheng of Ch'in decided to go ahead and attack my people in the Han dynasty anyway, in 234 B.C. And no, we did not drink sawkeh and play Chinese Checkers. But I would have won. My Return Visit to my Han King
So I went back to my King. My King An of Han said, "What news from Ch'in?" And I told him, "The King Zheng of Ch'in intends to attack us no matter what I say." And King An of Han said, "What? This is terrible. Go back to him and try to persuade him against attacking us. We will otherwise perish." So, in the following year, 233 B.C. I followed the council of my King, and went back to King Zheng of Ch'in. My Return to the Ch'in
Believe it or not, King Zheng of Ch'in was glad to see me! He said, "My homie! Han Fei! What's up?! We still haven't played Chinese Checkers and drank sawkeh yet!" But then my frenemy, Li Si, came up to King Zheng of Ch'in and said to him, "Han Fei Tzu's allegiance lies with the Han Dynasty. He will try to deter you from taking your rightful place as King over all the land." And then before I had a chance to respond, King Zheng of Ch'in put me in jail.
MY DEATH!
Before King Zheng had a chance to consider my freedom, my frienemy Li Si delivered poison to my cell, and I was instructed to drink it. I supposed it was an order from King Zheng. And I'm Chinese, so I always follow orders. It's the principle of the matter. So I drank the poison. And I died. After that, I heard that King Zheng of Ch'ien became ruler of all the land. In the year 221 B.C., just about 12 years after I died, he became the first Emperor of the Ch'in Dynasty, over all of China. But ever since the day I died by poison, I raise my fist in the air and I curse the name of my frenemy Li Si for eternally damning me from that pleasant game of Chinese checkers and sawkeh.
References
de Bary, WM. Theodore & Bloom, Irene. Sources of Chinese tradition, vol 1, 2nd ed. Columbia University Press, 1999 New York. Pages 190-206
"Han Fei Tzu: Basic Writings." Burton Watson. New York. Columbia University Press. 1964