Work · East Asian Philosophy
Han Feizi
A handbook of Legalist statecraft – with commentaries on the Laozi.
Introduction
The book collects 55 chapters of essays, anecdotes and political memoranda under Han Fei’s name; scholars agree that some of them are by other hands. It sets out the Legalist programme for a strong state: fixed public laws (fa), techniques for controlling officials (shu) and the positional power of the ruler (shi). In “The Five Vermin” Han Fei mocks those who cling to ancient models with the story of a farmer who waits by a tree stump for another hare to run into it. The two chapters “Explaining Laozi” and “Illustrating Laozi” are among the earliest surviving commentaries on the Daodejing.
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- Balanced Inquiries (Lunheng)c. 80 · Wang Chong
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