Chapter 6 6. Han Fei: To govern a country requires the common people's sword

Like Zhuangzi and Mozi, Han Fei was against both benevolence and ritual music.However, Zhuangzi likes to tell stories, Mozi likes to tell logic, and Han Fei tells both stories and logic. The most famous story Han Fei told was "Contradiction". According to the story, there was a man from the state of Chu who sold spears and shields.He first said that his shield can stop any spear, and then that his spear can pierce through any shield.Someone asked: How about using the spear of the son to attack the shield of the son?The man was dumbfounded. This is where the term "contradiction" comes from.

Han Fei is a paradoxist. But, what does this have to do with benevolence, etiquette and music? There are also two stories, one is called "Uncle Qin Marries a Daughter" and the other is called "Buying a Box and Returning the Pearl".The first story says that when the monarch of Qin State married his daughter, he gave seventy maids dressed in costumes as dowry.As a result, Mr. Jin likes the maid, not the princess.The second story says that merchants in the state of Chu sold pearls and made boxes out of fragrant wood. They also wanted to "smoke cinnamon peppers, garnish pearls and jade, decorate roses, and assemble jade jade". As a result, the people of Zheng State bought the box and returned the pearls. .

The conclusion is simple: content and form are a pair of contradictions. This is the relationship between benevolence and ritual music.Benevolence is the foundation of propriety, so benevolence is the content, and ritual and music are the form.A person cannot sell spears and shields.Therefore, it is not possible to have benevolence and ritual and music at the same time. So, which is better, benevolence or ritual and music? Neither is good. Han Fei said, "The jade of the He family is not decorated with five colors, and the pearls of the Marquis of the Sui Dynasty are not decorated with silver and yellow."Why?no need!This is called "the quality is so beautiful that things are not enough to decorate it".On the contrary, if it must be decorated, it shows that there is something wrong with it.Makeup is needed only when a person is ugly; seasoning is used only when fish and shrimp are not fresh.This is called "the quality of things is not beautiful if they wait for decoration and then move on."

The conclusion is very simple: if benevolence is good, why should there be etiquette and music? Therefore, benevolence is not a good thing. If benevolence is bad, rites and music are even more undesirable, because rites and music are used to cover up the ugliness of benevolence.How can such a false and deceptive thing be a good thing?What's more, the more benevolence needs rituals and music to decorate, the more it proves that benevolence has problems?The more beautiful the rites and music are, the more ugly benevolence and love will be? The false beauty conceals the real ugliness, which is the etiquette, music and benevolence in Han Fei's eyes.Therefore, Han Fei used his theory of contradiction between content and form to logically deny benevolence and ritual music at the same time.

Unfortunately, this logical premise belongs to Han Fei, not Confucius.Confucius was the unification of content and form.In his view, without content, form is unnecessary; without form, content cannot be expressed.Zigong said, the content is like leather, and the form is like hair, which one can we not?If the fur is removed, what is the difference between tiger skin, leopard skin and dog skin? Confucianism and Legalism are like chickens talking to ducks. However, if Mo Zi was reborn, he would agree with Han Fei.In fact, although the two schools of ink and law are fundamentally opposed, they sympathize with each other because they are both utilitarians and pragmatists.However, Mozi talked about "the benefits of the world", Han Fei talked about "the benefits of the military and the country"; Mozi talked about "the benefits of the common people", and Han Fei talked about "the benefits of the monarch".However, it is the same to advocate utilitarianism and practicality.

So, why does Mozi advocate universal love? Because Mozi thinks that the combination of love and love works.Mozi said that as long as "love each other and benefit each other", there will be no war among princes, no plunder among high officials, no harm among common people, and the world will be peaceful. Therefore, universal love is necessary, but ritual and music are useless. Han Fei believes that universal love, benevolence, ritual and music are useless.Han Fei said that both Confucianism and Mohism advocated that the former kings loved the people like sons.But how?The people still sin, and the kings still kill.That's weird.Haven't those people already received the love of a loving father and mother?Why do you still commit crimes?It can be seen that love does not work.Whether you love him or not, he should have sinned and sinned again.If so, why do you love him?

Love is not only useless, but also harmful to the country. Han Fei said that there was a good man in Chu State. His father stole a sheep. He went to the government to report it, but was killed by the officials. He was charged with "unfilial piety".There was a dutiful son in the state of Lu. Because he had an old father at home, he was greedy for life and afraid of death every time he went to war. As a result, Confucius recommended him to be an official because of "benevolence and filial piety".The man in Chu State was loyal to the country, but betrayed his father.The man in Lu State was filial to his father, but betrayed the country.What is this indicating?It shows that a loyal minister of the country is a rebellious son of the father; a filial son of the father is a traitor to the country.Kindness, love, filial piety, can I have it?cannot!

What's more, benevolence and love may not be able to cultivate filial sons.Han Fei said that a prodigal son is useless, and whether his parents, fellow villagers, and teachers love him or scold him, he will turn a deaf ear to him.Only when the government came to arrest him would he behave.Why?Fear.It's scary, and it works better than Jian Ai and Ren Ai. There is another story that can also prove this point. According to the story, Wu Zixu escaped from the state of Chu and was captured by officials guarding the pass.Zixu said, the king wanted me because he wanted a precious pearl from me, but it has been lost now.If you send me back to the country, the king asks, I can only say that the pearl was stolen by you, you can figure it out!

As a result, the official who guarded the gate released Wu Zixu. It can be seen from this that it is not love that works, but threats, temptations, and severe punishments.This is Han Fei's sword. There is no doubt that this is the common people's sword. It's not surprising that Han Fei raised the Common Sword.Because Han Fei was in the late Warring States period.At this time, history has changed from the era of nobles and gentlemen to the era of commoners and villains.Idealism has become the last word, and utilitarianism and pragmatism are the main theme.From Shang Yang to Han Fei, the Legalists came from behind and became the spokespersons of the new era, which was the result of the spirit of the times.

However, idealism has never been indispensable.In fact, it is these ideals that may not be realized that ensure that Chinese civilization will not die with the collapse of the empire like Assyrian civilization and Roman civilization.What's more interesting is that Confucianism represented by Confucius and Mencius, Mohism represented by Mozi, and Taoism represented by Yang Zhu, Laozi, and Zhuangzi all have different social ideals.It is also these different ideals, including the legalist ideas represented by Han Fei, that condense the collective wisdom of the Chinese nation and embody the common values ​​in Chinese civilization.This is an extremely precious ideological and cultural heritage, and it is very worthy of our pursuit and exploration.

So, what kind of society is good?

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