Han Feizi Quotes on Politics
Han Fei (c. 280–233 BC) gave the Legalist tradition (fa-jia) its most rigorous philosophical statement in the corpus that bears his name. Against the Confucian conviction that the moral cultivation of the ruler and his ministers is the foundation of well-ordered government, Han Fei argues that human nature is dominated by self-interest and that the political community can therefore be ordered only through the coordinated operation of public laws (fa), the political techniques (shu) by which the ruler manages his ministers, and the formal authority (shi) that the position of the throne confers regardless of the personal qualities of its occupant. The framework supplied the philosophical foundation of the Qin unification of China in 221 BC, and remained influential as the suppressed but persistent counter-tradition against the Confucian orthodoxy of subsequent imperial governance.
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.”
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Attributed to Han Feizi:
“Past and present have different customs; new and old must be measured by different standards.”
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“Wielding Power", in Han Feizi: Basic Writings (2003)”
When all within the four seas have been put in their proper places, [the sage] sits in darkness to observe the light. When those to his left and right have taken their places, he opens the gate to face the world. He changes nothing, alters nothing, but acts with the two handles of reward and punishment, acts and never ceases: this is what is called walking the path of principle. -
“No state is forever strong or forever weak . If those who uphold the law are strong, the state will be strong; if they are weak, the state will be weak.”
國無常強，無常弱。奉法者強則國強，奉法者弱則國弱。 | On Having Standards", in Han Feizi: Basic Writings (2003) -
“A truly enlightened ruler uses the law to select men for him; he does not choose them himself. He uses the law to weigh their merits; he does not attempt to judge them for himself.”
On Having Standards", in Han Feizi: Basic Writings (2003) -
“Take hold of the handles of government carefully and grip them tightly. Destroy all hope , smash all intention of wresting them from you; allow no man to covet them.”
"The Way of the Ruler" | "The Way of the Ruler", in Han Feizi: Basic Writings (2003) -
“Be immeasurably great , be unfathomably deep; make certain that names and results tally, examine laws and customs, punish those who act willfully, and the state will be without traitors .”
"The Way of the Ruler" | "The Way of the Ruler", in Han Feizi: Basic Writings (2003) -
“To govern the state by law is to praise the right and blame the wrong.”
"Facing South" (《南面》) | from "Having Regulations—A Memorandum" in The Complete Works of Han Fei Tzu , Volume I, Arthur Probsthain, London. Translated by W.K. Liao. -
“"The Way of the Ruler", in Han Feizi: Basic Writings (2003)”
"The Way of the Ruler"