Han Feizi 韓非子 (d. 233 BC) was a philosopher who, with Li Si (d. 208 BC), developed the unsentimental and authoritarian inclinations of Xun Zi into the doctrine embodied in the School of Law or Legalism.
Himself part of the aristocracy, he was born into the ruling family of Han during the end phase of the Warring States Period (戰國, zhan guo). He put the ruler at the centre of his philosophy. It is him that firmly controls the state with the help of three concepts: his position of power (勢, Shi); certain techniques (術, Shu), and the laws (法, Fa). Han Feizi's philosophy assumes that all people act according to one principle: avoiding punishment, while at the same time trying to achieve gains. Thus the law must severely punish any unwanted action, while at the same time reward those who follow it. (compare: Legalism)
Apart from the ConfucianistXun Zi, who was his and Li Si's teacher, the other main source for his political theories was Lao Zi's Taoist 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, named after him Han Feizi). He saw the Tao as a natural law that everyone and everything had to follow. Parallel to this, his ideal ruler's laws should be to the people like a natural phenomenon that they cannot resist.
His philosophy was very influential on the King of Qin, the later first emperor of China Qin Shi Huangdi, and became one of the guiding principles of his policies. After its inherent failure to admit for differences in personalities contributed to the early demise of the Qin Dynasty, it was officially despised by the following Han Dynasty. Yet despite its outcast status throughout the history of imperial China, Han Feizi's political theory continued to heavily influence every dynasty afterwards, and the Confucian ideal of a rule without laws was never again realized.
Han Feizi's philosophy experienced a renewed interest under the rule of the Communist Party during the leadership of Mao Zedong, who personally admired some of the principles laid out in it.
Han Feizi's whole recorded work is collected in one book of 55 chapters, the Han Feizi. It is important also as the only source for a magnitude of anecdotes of the Warring States Period.
