What an enlightened ruler uses to guide and control his ministers consists of only two handles: punishment and reward. What are punishment and reward? Killing and penalizing mean punishment; praise and granting mean reward.
Ministers fear punishment and seek reward. Therefore, if the ruler alone controls punishment and reward, all ministers will fear his authority and pursue the benefits he bestows.
Treacherous ministers of the world act differently. For those they dislike, they obtain the ruler’s power to punish them; for those they favor, they obtain the ruler’s power to reward them.
If a ruler does not let the authority of reward and punishment come from himself, but allows his ministers to enforce them, all people in the state will fear the ministers, slight the ruler, attach themselves to ministers and abandon the ruler. This is the disaster when a ruler loses the two handles.
A tiger subdues dogs by its claws and fangs. If a tiger abandons its claws and fangs and lets dogs use them, the tiger will instead be subdued by dogs.
A ruler controls ministers through punishment and reward. If a ruler abandons these two handles and lets ministers use them, the ruler will instead be controlled by ministers.
Tian Chang requested ranks and salaries from Duke Jian of Qi to grant to ministers above, and distributed grain generously to common people below using larger measuring tools. Duke Jian lost the handle of reward while Tian Chang seized it, so Duke Jian was killed.
Zi Han said to the Duke of Song: “Rewards and gifts please the people. Your Majesty may bestow them personally. Killings and punishments displease the people; please let me take charge of them.”
Thus the Duke of Song lost the handle of punishment while Zi Han seized it, so the Duke of Song was kidnapped and imprisoned.
Tian Chang only held reward, yet Duke Jian was killed; Zi Han only held punishment, yet the Duke of Song was kidnapped.
If modern ministers control both punishment and reward, present‑day rulers face greater danger than Duke Jian and the Duke of Song.
No ruler who was kidnapped, killed or deceived survived without peril after losing the two handles and letting ministers wield them.
Note
This passage lays out the fundamental Legalist principle: reward and punishment are the ruler’s exclusive weapons. Never delegate them, or ministers will usurp power and overthrow the sovereign.
Han Fei
Core Legalist thinker of the late Warring States Period. This passage is from The Two Handles, his famous essay on monarchical power‑controlling techniques.
Duke Jian of Qi & Tian Chang
Tian Chang, a powerful minister of Qi, seized reward power by winning popular support. He assassinated Duke Jian of Qi and seized state power, a classic case of ministerial usurpation.
Zi Han & Duke of Song
Zi Han tricked the Duke of Song into giving him all punitive power. He later seized control of the state and held the ruler hostage.
The Two Handles (Xing‑De)
The most famous Legalist statecraft: punishment (xing) and reward (de) are the two absolute powers a ruler must monopolize. Losing either leads to loss of sovereignty.
Tiger‑Claw Metaphor
Tiger’s claws symbolize the ruler’s exclusive power of reward and punishment. Giving them away means self‑subjugation.
Ministerial Usurpation
Han Fei uses two well‑known Spring and Autumn Period cases to warn rulers: partial loss of reward or punishment power leads to regicide or kidnapping.
Absolute Monopoly of Power
Legalism insists all decisive political power must rest solely with the ruler; no minister may share reward‑punishment authority.
明主之所導制其臣者，二柄而已矣。二柄者，刑、德也。何謂刑德？曰：殺戮之謂刑，慶賞之謂德。為人臣者畏誅罰而利慶賞，故人主自用其刑德，則群臣畏其威而歸其利矣。故世之姦臣則不然，所惡則能得之其主而罪之，所愛則能得之其主而賞之。今人主非使賞罰之威利出於己也，聽其臣而行其賞罰，則一國之人皆畏其臣而易其君，歸其臣而去其君矣，此人主失刑德之患也。夫虎之所以能服狗者、爪牙也，使虎釋其爪牙而使狗用之，則虎反服於狗矣。人主者、以刑德制臣者也，今君人者、釋其刑德而使臣用之，則君反制於臣矣。故田常上請爵祿而行之群臣，下大斗斛而施於百姓，此簡公失德而田常用之也，故簡公見弒。子罕謂宋君曰：「夫慶賞賜予者，民之所喜也，君自行之；殺戮刑罰者，民之所惡也，臣請當之。」於是宋君失刑而子罕用之，故宋君見劫。田常徒用德而簡公弒，子罕徒用刑而宋君劫。故今世為人臣者兼刑德而用之，則是世主之危甚於簡公、宋君也。故劫殺擁蔽之主，非失刑德而使臣用之而不危亡者，則未嘗有也。
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