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(approximately 280 BC - 233 BC)
A Korean in the late Warring States Period (today's Xinzheng, Henan Province, Xinzheng is the ancient city of Zhenghan), one of the princes of the Korean royal family, and a member of the Warring States Law The master of family thought. "Historical Records" records that Han Fei was proficient in the "study of criminal names", and he and Qin Prime Minister Li Si were both students of Xunzi. Han Fei was not good at speaking because of his stutter, but his writing was so outstanding that even Li Si felt inferior to him. He has many works, mainly collected in the book "Han Feizi". Han Fei was a materialist philosopher at the end of the Warring States Period and the master of Legalist thought. However, the ancients considered him a conspiracy scholar. Most of Han Fei's works were about conspiracies. Han Fei witnessed the poverty and weakness of Korea in the late Warring States Period, and wrote to the King of Korea many times, hoping to change the situation of governing the country without respecting the rule of law, supporting people beyond their needs, and using people beyond their needs. However, his ideas were never adopted. Han Fei believed that this was "Integrity will not tolerate evil ministers." So he retired and wrote books, including "Gu Anger", "Five Beetles", "Inner and Outer Storage", "Shuo Lin", "Shuo Nan", etc. His writings contain more than 100,000 words.
Han Fei's book spread to the Qin State and was appreciated by the King of Qin. The King of Qin threatened to send troops to attack South Korea, forcing the King of Han to let Han Fei serve in the Qin State. Han Fei was highly valued in the Qin State, which aroused the jealousy of Li Si of the Qin Dynasty. Li Si and Yao Jia framed Han Fei in front of the King of Qin. In the end, because he was a member of the Korean clan and could not be trusted, they threw him into prison and finally forced him to commit suicide.
Han Fei committed suicide in Yunyang (now northwest of Chunhua County, Shaanxi Province).
According to historical data, Han Fei's hometown is Hantang Village on the north bank of Chushantang River in Xiping County. The Han family ancestral hall was built in Hantang Village, which was later moved to the southwest of Chushan Town. The name of Hantang Village remains to this day. The Han Ancestral Hall is the ancestral hall of the Han family. There is no evidence of the era when it was built. However, the descendants of the Han surname worship the ancestors of the Han family every Spring Festival and it has continued. The Han Ancestral Hall has been repaired through the ages, but was damaged in the early years of liberation. In 1958, a mountain auditorium was built here, with a stone tablet of "Specialization" , the villagers said that it was built at the mouth of the well on West Street, but its whereabouts were never found.
In the past, people had hierarchies and families. Officials and nobles all lived in cities. Generally, small cities were inside and big cities were outside. There were also official residences in between. The location of Hantang Village was named Hanzhai in ancient times. It was actually outside Tangxi City and was where small nobles like Han Fei lived. Korean swords were cast in the Furnace City, and Tangxi City had a wine and sword workshop, where iron officials were mainly inhabited, not to mention household officials and nobles. It was actually the political center.
Han Fei often visited Guxi Terrace when he was writing books. It was located on the bank of Lintang River. It was originally a highland with green pines, cypresses and ginkgo trees. After that, Guxin Terrace gradually became smaller and smaller, and the villagers usually called it "Gufentaner". Neither archeology nor theft found Mengji. Experts confirmed that it should be "Guxin" Terrace, which is exactly in line with Han Fei's "driving to persuade". The historical fact that Han Yu wrote books behind closed doors. An introduction to Han Fei's five books, "Gu Anger", "Five Beetles", "Shuo Nan", "Shuo Lin", and "Cong Neishu", with more than 100,000 words, lamenting the difficulties of the world and the difficulty of life, read All over the world, there are thousands of feelings. Han Fei died in the Qin Dynasty at the age of 47. There are records that Han Fei's body was transported back to South Korea and buried in his hometown, that is, at the solitary grave stall. It is also said that he was buried in the Jiunvshan ancient tombs.
Han Fei's Thoughts
Although Han Fei died, his thoughts were implemented by Qin Shihuang and Li Si. Han Fei's works absorbed some views from Confucianism, Mohism, and Taoism, with the rule of law as the centerpiece. He summed up the experience of early Legalism and formed a political ideological system that combined law, technique and momentum with law as the center. He is known as the master of Legalism.
Han Fei emphatically summarized the thoughts of Shang Yang, Shen Buhai and Shen Dao, and integrated Shang Yang's method, Shen Buhai's technique and Shen Dao's potential into one book. He praised Shang Yang and Shen Buhai, and at the same time pointed out that the biggest shortcoming of Shen Shang's theory was that it did not combine law and technique. Secondly, the second biggest shortcoming of Shen and Shang's theory was that it was "not exhausted", "Shen Zi did not exhaust the technique." , Lord Shang has not fulfilled the law.” ("Han Feizi Dingfa") Han Fei discussed the content of magic and the relationship between the two according to his own point of view. He believed that to govern the country, the monarch must make good use of power, and at the same time, his ministers must abide by the law. Compared with Shen Buhai, Han Fei's "skills" have developed mainly in the aspect of "skills to detect traitors". He believed that the monarch should not have too much trust in his ministers, and he should also "trial and combine the punishment names." In terms of law, Han Fei particularly emphasized the idea of ??"stopping punishment with punishment" and emphasized "harsh punishment" and "heavy punishment."
What is particularly commendable is that Han Fei clearly put forward the idea that "the law is not noble" for the first time, advocating that "the ministers should not be spared in punishment, and the good should not be spared in rewards." This is a major contribution to Chinese legal thought and has a positive impact on eliminating aristocratic privileges and safeguarding the dignity of the law.
Han Fei believes that it is not enough to have laws and techniques alone, but must be guaranteed by "power". "Shi" means power and political power. He appreciated what Shen Dao said: "Yao, as an ordinary man, could not rule three people, but Jie, as the emperor, could bring chaos to the world" ("The Difficult Person"), and proposed that "according to the law, the situation will be governed, and defying the law and castrating the power will lead to chaos" ("The Difficult Person") Difficult situation") argument.
All of Han Fei's theories are derived from Xunzi's "theory of evil nature" and the political purpose of establishing a feudal centralized authoritarian state. He believes that the relationship between people is all about interests, and people's psychology is all "afraid of punishment but benefit to reward" ("Er Handle"). The duty of the ruler is to use "punishment" and "virtue" to benefit the people. Fear power and return to profit.
Han Fei's rule of law thoughts adapted to the needs of a certain stage of China's historical development and played a certain theoretical guiding role in the establishment of China's feudal centralized system.
Reform to govern and change to strengthen are important contents in Han Fei’s thought. He inherited Shang Yang's ideological tradition of "ruling the world without following one's rules, and facilitating the country without following the ancient laws." He put forward the view that "if you do not seek to revise the ancients, you will always be able to violate the laws." He advocated that "if the world changes, things will change" and "if things change, prepare for changes." ("Five Mosquitoes")
Han Fei analyzed human history from an evolutionary historical perspective. He divided human history into ancient, medieval, modern and present stages, and then explained that different eras have different problems and methods of solving problems. Those who want to use the same old methods to govern the people of the world are "shouzhu" disciples.
Han Fei’s view of evolutionary history was progressive at the time. He saw the development of human history and used this developmental perspective to analyze the past, present and future of human society.
Han Fei connected social phenomena with economic conditions, which was rare at the time. Han Fei had a preliminary understanding of the relationship between economy and social governance, and noticed the relationship between population growth and wealth. He was the first thinker in Chinese history to propose that "people have a lot of people but few goods and wealth" will bring about social problems.
Han Fei opposed the idea of ??destiny and advocated the natural way of heaven. He believes that "Tao" is the source of the development of all things, and "Tao" exists innately. Only with "Tao" can all things exist. "The sky has it to be high, the earth has it to hide it, Wei Dou has it to achieve its majesty, the sun and moon have it to keep its light." "Things in the universe rely on it. "("Jie Lao") Han Fei also proposed the philosophical concept of "Li" for the first time in the history of Chinese philosophy, and discussed its relationship with "Tao". He believes that "Tao is what makes all things come into being, and reason is what makes things come true." ("Jie Lao") In Han Fei's view, "reason" means the special laws of things, and people should respect objective laws when doing things.
Han Fei’s epistemology inherited the materialist ideological tradition in pre-Qin philosophy. His views on opposing "previous knowledge" and "evaluating words based on experience" occupy an important page in the history of Chinese philosophy.
Han Fei opposes the view of "pre-knowledge". The so-called "foreknowledge" refers to transcendentalism. Han Fei advocates "emptiness followed by tranquility" and gaining understanding by observing things instead of making wild guesses.
Han Fei put forward the famous thesis of "determining right and wrong based on name and reality, and judging words based on verification" ("Regulation and Regicide"). "Participation" means comparative research, and "testing" means testing with action. Han Fei believes that insisting on how something is without "experimentation" is a sign of ignorance; following something that is uncertain is self-deception. Therefore, he advocated that "the officials of the Ming Dynasty, the prime minister must be from the state department, and the fierce generals must be from the soldiers." ("Xian Xue").
There are many elements of dialectics in Han Fei’s thought. Seeing that things are constantly changing, he pointed out that "the theorem has existence and death, life and death, and rise and fall." "Things exist and then die, die and then regenerate, flourish at first and then decline, this cannot be normal." ("Jie Lao") ) He proposed the concept of "contradiction" for the first time in the history of Chinese philosophy. The story of the spear and shield he told still has a profound inspiring effect on people's analysis of problems and expression of thoughts.
Han Fei's political thoughts played a positive role in promoting the cause of China's feudal unification. His philosophical thoughts included mutual materialism and dialectics, which opened up people's thinking. Han Fei deserves to be regarded as a major thinker in Chinese history.
"Han Feizi" is a collection of Han Fei's major works, with 55 articles totaling more than 100,000 words. The articles inside are severe and sharp in style. Introduction to Han Fei. It contains rich fables and stories, which are unique among the prose of pre-Qin scholars.