Han Feizi c. 280 BC – 233 BC
Han Feizi was a 3rd-century BC Chinese political philosopher and one of the principal founding figures of the Legalist school of philosophy. Drawing on earlier Legalist thinkers including Shang Yang and Shen Buhai, he produced the most systematic statement of Legalist political thought in the book that bears his name. His political philosophy held that human nature is fundamentally self-interested and that effective rule depends on clear laws strictly enforced, the distribution of power through bureaucratic technique, and the cultivation of the ruler's authority. His thought decisively shaped the Qin state's unification of China in 221 BC and the subsequent administrative practice of every later Chinese dynasty. He died as a political prisoner of the Qin state, despite the king's admiration for his writings, after the intrigues of his former classmate Li Si. His thought has been compared with that of Machiavelli and Hobbes.
Key facts
- Nationality
- Chinese
- Era
- Ancient
- Movements
- Legalism
Selected quotes
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Attributed to Han Feizi:
“When the ruler relies on his own intelligence and discards laws, even his ablest ministers will fail him.”
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Attributed to Han Feizi:
“The enlightened ruler does not need the worthy or the wise; he relies on law.”
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Attributed to Han Feizi:
“If laws and orders are clear, no one need rely on the wisdom of others.”
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Attributed to Han Feizi:
“When men are most numerous and goods are scarce, when men labour painfully and yet have little to live on, then naturally they will quarrel.”
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Attributed to Han Feizi:
“The carpenter does not throw away the line because the wood is crooked; the ruler does not abandon the law because the people are unruly.”