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'{{Redirect|Han Feizi|the book|Han Feizi (book)}} {{chinese name|[[Han (surname)|Han]]}} {{Infobox person |name=Han Fei 韓非 |birth_date=281 BC |birth_place=[[Han (state)|State of Han]] |death_date=233 BC (aged 47-48) |death_place=[[Qin (state)|State of Qin]] |death_cause=Suicide by poisoning |occupation=philosopher |influences=[[Xun Zi]], [[Shang Yang]], [[Shen Buhai]], [[Shen Dao]] |notable works=[[Han Feizi (book)|Han Feizi]] |movement=[[Legalism (Chinese philosophy)|Legalism]] }} '''Han Fei''' ({{zh|c=[[wikt:韓|韓]][[wikt:非|非]]|p=Hán Fēi|w=Han Fei}}; ca. 280–233 BC), also known as '''Han Feizi''', was a [[Chinese people|Chinese]] [[Chinese philosophy|philosopher]] who, along with [[Li Si]], [[Gongsun Yang]], [[Shen Dao]] and [[Shen Buhai]], developed the doctrine of [[Legalism (philosophy)|Legalism]]. Unlike the other famed philosophers of the time, Han Fei was a member of the ruling aristocracy, having been born into the ruling family of [[Han (state)|the state of Han]] during the end phase of the [[Warring States Period]]. In this context, his works have been interpreted by some scholars as being directed to his cousin, the King of Han.{{ref|nobility}} ==Name== ''Han Fei'' is his name, while ''zi'' ({{lang|zh|子}}, meaning "Master") was often added to philosophers' names as an [[Chinese honorifics|honorific]]—such as ''Kong Fuzi'' ({{lang|zh|孔夫子}}) for [[Confucius]]—thus ''Han Feizi'' ({{lang|zh|韓非子}}) can denote the [[Han Feizi (book)|book written by him]], but is also used in reference to the person himself. ==Legalism== {{Main|Legalism (Chinese philosophy)}} Han Fei belonged to the school of Ancient Chinese Philosophy called [[Legalism (Chinese philosophy)|Legalism]]. Legalism assumed that people were naturally evil and always acted to avoid punishment while simultaneously trying to achieve gains; Thus, the law must severely punish any unwanted action, while at the same time reward those who follow it. Han Fei Synthesized the ideas of [[Shang Yang]], [[Shen Buhai]], and [[Shen Dao]], while borrowing Shang Yang's emphasis on laws, Shen Buhai's emphasis on techniques, and Shen Dao's ideas on authority and prophecy. Han Fei's interpretation of Legalism stressed that the autocrat will be able to achieve the ultimate ends of Legalist philosophy of firmly control the state with the mastering of three concepts: his position of power (勢, ''Shì''); certain techniques (術, ''Shù''), and laws (法, ''[[Fa (concept)|Fǎ]]'') as described in his classic work, the [[Han Feizi (book)]]. ==Comparison with Confucianism and Taoism== Apart from the [[Confucianism|Confucianist]] [[Xun Zi]], who was his and [[Li Si]]'s teacher, the other main source for his political theories was [[Lao Zi]]'s [[Daoism|Daoist]] work, the [[Tao Te Ching]], which he interpreted as a political text, and on which he wrote a commentary (chapters 20 and 21 in his book, ''[[Han Feizi (book)|Han Feizi]]''). He saw the [[Taoism|Tao]] as a natural law that everyone and everything was forced to follow. Parallel to this, he believed that an ideal ruler made laws, like an inevitable force of nature, that the people could not resist. His philosophy was very influential on the first King of [[Qin (state)|Qin]] and the first emperor of China, [[Qin Shi Huang]], becoming one of the guiding principles of the ruler's policies. After the early demise of the [[Qin Dynasty]], Han Fei's philosophy was officially vilified by the following [[Han Dynasty]]. Despite its outcast status throughout the history of imperial China, Han Fei's political theory continued to heavily influence every dynasty afterwards, and the [[Confucianism|Confucian]] ideal of a rule without laws was never again realized. Han Fei's entire recorded work is collected in the ''[[Han Feizi (book)|Han Feizi]]'', a book containing 55 chapters. ==Notes== <div class="references-small"> #{{note|nobility}} Watson, Burton, Han Fei Tzu: Basic Writings. 1964, p.&nbsp;2. The king in question is believed to be either [[King An of Han|King An]] (238&ndash;230 BC) or his predecessor, [[King Huanhui of Han|King Huanhui]] (272&ndash;239 BC). </div> ==Further reading== * Burton Watson (1964). ''Han Fei Tzu: Basic Writings''. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0-231-08609-7. ==External links== * Li, Guangcan, [http://203.72.198.245/web/Content.asp?ID=10066&Query=1 "Han Fei"].{{dead link|date=November 2012}} ''[[Encyclopedia of China]]'' (Law Edition), 1st ed. * {{gutenberg author|id=Fei_Han|name=Fei Han}} in Chinese. * Gu, Fang, [http://203.72.198.245/web/Content.asp?ID=56518&Query=1 "Han Fei"].{{dead link|date=November 2012}} ''[[Encyclopedia of China]]'' (Philosophy Edition), 1st ed. * [http://www2.iath.virginia.edu/saxon/servlet/SaxonServlet?source=xwomen/texts/hanfei.xml&style=xwomen/xsl/dynaxml.xsl&chunk.id=tpage&doc.view=tocc&doc.lang=bilingual The complete works of Han Fei Tzu, A classic of Chinese political science. Translator, Wenkui Liao.] * [http://ctext.org/hanfeizi Full text of Han Feizi] * {{PhilPapers|category|Hanfeizi}} {{Persondata <!-- Metadata: see [[Wikipedia:Persondata]]. --> | NAME =Han, Feizi | ALTERNATIVE NAMES = | SHORT DESCRIPTION = | DATE OF BIRTH = | PLACE OF BIRTH = [[Han (state)]] | DATE OF DEATH = | PLACE OF DEATH = [[Qin (state)]] }} {{Chinese philosophy}} {{Jurisprudence}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Han, Feizi}} [[Category:280 BC births]] [[Category:233 BC deaths]] [[Category:Chinese philosophy]] [[Category:Zhou Dynasty philosophers]] [[Category:3rd-century BC philosophers]] [[Category:Han (state)]] [[Category:Legalism (Chinese philosophy)]] [[Category:Philosophers of law]] [[bo:ཧན་ཧྥེ།]] [[ca:Han Fei]] [[cs:Chan Fej]] [[de:Han Fei]] [[et:Han Feizi]] [[es:Han Feizi]] [[eo:Han Fei]] [[fa:هان فی زی]] [[fr:Han Fei Zi]] [[gan:韓非]] [[ko:한비]] [[he:חאן פיידזה]] [[kk:Хань Фэй Цзы]] [[lb:Han Fei]] [[hu:Han Feizi]] [[nl:Han Fei]] [[ja:韓非]] [[no:Han Feizi]] [[pl:Han Fei]] [[ru:Хань Фэй]] [[simple:Han Fei Zi]] [[sh:Han Fei]] [[fi:Han Fei]] [[sv:Han Feizi]] [[th:หาน เฟยจื่อ]] [[uk:Хань Фей]] [[vi:Hàn Phi]] [[zh-classical:韓非子]] [[zh:韩非]] [[ar:هان فاي]]'