In ancient times, Mi Zixia was favored by Duke Ling of Wei. According to Wei’s law, anyone who secretly drove the ruler’s chariot would have his feet cut off.
When Mi Zixia’s mother fell ill, someone secretly informed him at night. He falsely ordered the ruler’s chariot and drove out. Hearing this, Duke Ling praised him: “How filial! For his mother’s sake, he forgot the punishment of foot amputation.”
On another day, he roamed an orchard with the duke. Tasting a sweet peach, he did not finish it and offered the leftover half to the duke. The duke said: “How he loves me! He sets aside his own enjoyment to share the peach with me.”
When Mi Zixia’s beauty faded and favor waned, he offended the duke. The duke then said: “This man once drove my chariot without permission and even fed me his leftover peach.”
Mi Zixia’s conduct remained unchanged, yet he was once praised and later condemned – only because the ruler’s love and hatred shifted.
When favored by the ruler, one is deemed wise and draws closer; when hated, one is judged faulty and pushed away even for proper deeds. Thus advisors and persuaders must observe the ruler’s likes and dislikes before speaking.
The dragon, as a creature, may be tamed and ridden when gentle. Yet beneath its throat lies an upward‑growing scale a foot long; anyone who touches it will be killed. Rulers likewise have such a forbidden scale. If a persuader never touches the ruler’s forbidden scale, he will nearly succeed.
Note
This closing section delivers the ultimate lesson of persuasion: ruler judgment is emotional and changeable. The highest skill of persuasion is avoiding the ruler’s hidden taboos – his forbidden scale.
Late Warring‑States Legalist thinker. This passage concludes On the Difficulty of Persuasion (Shuo Nan), his most famous essay on political risk.
Duke Ling of Wei
Ruler of Wei State, known for fickle favoritism toward his courtier Mi Zixia.
Mi Zixia: A court favorite; his story gave birth to the idiom leftover peach (Yu Tao), symbolizing homosexual affection in ancient China.
Love‑Hatred Instability of Rulers
Han Fei’s core observation: a ruler’s judgment depends not on objective conduct, but on personal emotional favor or dislike.
Forbidden Scale (Ni‑lin)
A world‑famous metaphor created by Han Fei: every ruler has untouchable taboos, pride, and private grievances; advisors must never provoke them.
Leftover Peach Idiom (Yu Tao)
Derived from this story, referring to male‑male romantic bonds, widely recorded in Chinese historical texts.
Autocratic Political Reality
Under absolute monarchy, truth and rightness are secondary to the ruler’s personal mood and preference.
昔者彌子瑕有寵於衛君。衛國之法，竊駕君車者罪刖。彌子瑕母病，人閒往夜告彌子，彌子矯駕君車以出，君聞而賢之曰：「孝哉，為母之故，忘其刖罪。」異日，與君遊於果園，食桃而甘，不盡，以其半啗君，君曰：「愛我哉，忘其口味，以啗寡人。」及彌子色衰愛弛，得罪於君，君曰：「是固嘗矯駕吾車，又嘗啗我以餘桃。」故彌子之行未變於初也，而以前之所以見賢，而後獲罪者，愛憎之變也。故有愛於主則智當而加親，有憎於主則智不當見罪而加疏。故諫說談論之士，不可不察愛憎之主而後說焉。夫龍之為蟲也，柔可狎而騎也，然其喉下有逆鱗徑尺，若人有嬰之者則必殺人。人主亦有逆鱗，說者能無嬰人主之逆鱗，則幾矣。
Leave a Reply