Han Fei

Han Fei (233 BC), also known as Han Feizi or Han Fei Tzu, was a Chinese Legalist philosopher and statesman during the Warring States period. He was a prince of the state of Han.

Han Fei is often considered the greatest representative of Legalism for the Han Feizi, a later anthology of writings traditionally attributed to him, which synthesized the methods of his predecessors. author of The Prince. Zhuge Liang is said to have attached great importance to the Han Feizi.

After the early demise of the Qin dynasty, the Legalist school was officially vilified by the Han dynasty that succeeded it. Despite its outcast status throughout the history of imperial China, Han Fei's political theory and Legalist ideas continued to heavily influence every dynasty thereafter, and the Confucian ideal of rule without laws was never to be realized. In the Stratagems of the Warring States, Han Fei supposedly slanders Qin diplomat Yao Jia, and the Qin king orders Han Fei's execution after Yao Jia successfully defends himself.

Life The exact year of Han Fei's birth remains unknown, however, scholars have placed it at .

His works ultimately ended up in the hands of King Ying Zheng of Qin, who commented, "If I can make friends with this person [Han Fei], I may die without regrets." and invited Han Fei to the Qin court. Han Fei presented the essay "Preserving the Han" to ask the king not to attack his homeland, but his ex-friend and rival Li Si used that essay to have Han Fei imprisoned on account of his likely loyalty to Han. Han Fei responded by writing another essay named "In the first time of meeting Qin king", hoping to use his writing talent to win the king's heart. Han Fei did win the king's heart, but not before Li Si forced him to commit suicide by drinking poison. The Qin king afterward regretted Han Fei's death.

Summary of his legalism Xunzi formed the hypothesis that human nature is evil and virtueless, therefore suggesting that human infants must be brought to their virtuous form through social-class-oriented Confucian moral education. Without such, Xunzi argued, man would act virtueless and be steered by his own human nature to commit immoral acts. Han Fei's education and life experience during the Warring States period, and in his own Han state, contributed his synthesis of a philosophy for the management of an amoral and interest-driven administration, to which morality seemed a loose and inefficient tool. Han agreed with his teacher's theory of "virtueless by birth", but as in previous Legalist philosophy, pragmatically proposed to steer people by their own interest-driven nature.