Zichan of Zheng went out early one morning. Passing through the lane of the Eastern Artisans, he heard a woman weeping. He took his driver’s hand, listened, and after a while sent an officer to arrest and question her. It turned out that she had strangled her husband with her own hands. On another day, his driver asked, “How did you know?” Zichan said, “Her voice was fearful. When people feel affection for those dear to them, they are anxious at the onset of illness, fearful as death approaches, and sorrowful after death. Now she was weeping for someone already dead, yet her cry was not sorrowful but fearful. That is how I knew there was treachery.”
Someone says: Was Zichan’s way of governing not excessively meddlesome? If treachery can be discovered only when the ruler’s own ears and eyes reach it, then the treachery uncovered in Zheng will be few. Not entrusting matters to regular officials, not examining affairs through cross-checking, not clarifying laws and measures, but relying instead on exhausting one’s intelligence and straining one’s thoughts to detect treachery – is this not a lack of method? Moreover, things are many while wisdom is few; the few cannot overcome the many. One’s wisdom is insufficient to know all things, so one should govern things by means of things themselves. Those below are many, while the ruler is few; the ruler cannot know all his ministers, so he should use people to understand people. Thus the body is not wearied, yet affairs are ordered; thought is not strained, yet treachery is detected.
Hence a saying in Song goes: “If a single sparrow flies past and Hou Yi is sure to hit it, then Hou Yi is being credited with more than he can do. But if the whole world is made into a net, no sparrow will be lost.” There is likewise a great net for detecting treachery, so that none escapes. If one does not cultivate proper order, but makes one’s private discernment into a bow and arrows, then Zichan is being credited with more than he can do. Laozi said, “To govern the state by cleverness is to rob the state.” This may well describe Zichan.
Note
This Han Feizi ‑ Chapter 38.5 criticizes Zichan’s detecting murder from a woman’s weeping. It argues rulers should rely on institutional systems, not personal cleverness, to uncover wrongdoing, citing the “great net” metaphor of governance.
Zichan of Zheng:
A famous statesman of the state of Zheng during the Spring and Autumn period. Zichan is often praised in early texts for practical administration, though Han Fei here criticizes his reliance on personal discernment.
Lane of the Eastern Artisans:
A neighborhood name, indicating that Zichan encountered the case while traveling through an ordinary urban area.
The weeping woman case:
This story shows Zichan detecting guilt from the emotional quality of the woman’s cry. Han Fei does not deny that he was clever; he argues that such cleverness is not a reliable system of government.
A legendary archer in early Chinese tradition. He is used here as an example of individual skill. Han Fei argues that even a great archer cannot be relied upon to catch every bird; a net is more dependable.
The great net:
Han Fei’s metaphor for institutions, laws, and administrative methods that catch wrongdoing without depending on the ruler’s personal attention.
Laozi’s saying:
The line “to govern the state by cleverness is to rob the state” comes from the Daodejing. Legalists sometimes quote Daoist ideas to argue that rulers should not rely on clever tricks, personal scrutiny, or intrusive intelligence, but on stable systems.
Legalist “shu”:
“Shu” means the ruler’s methods of administration: assigning offices, checking reports, comparing claims, and applying rewards and punishments. Han Fei believes these methods are more reliable than the ruler’s own sharp ears and eyes.
五
郑子产晨出，过东匠之闾，闻妇人之哭，抚其御之手而听之。有间，遣吏执而问之，则手绞其夫者也。异日，其御问曰：“夫子何以知之？”子产曰：“其声惧。凡人于其亲爱也，始病而忧，临死而惧，已死而哀。今哭已死，不哀而惧，是以知其有奸也。”
或曰：子产之治，不亦多事乎？奸必待耳目之所及而后知之，则郑国之得奸者寡矣。不任典成之吏，不察参伍之政，不明度量，恃尽聪明劳智虑而以知奸，不亦无术乎？且夫物众而智寡，寡不胜众，智不足以遍知物，故则因物以治物。下众而上寡，寡不胜众者，言君不足以遍知臣也，故因人以知人。是以形体不劳而事治，智虑不用而奸得。故宋人语曰：“一雀过羿，必得之，则羿诬矣。以天下为之罗，则雀不失矣。”夫知奸亦有大罗，不失其一而已矣。不修其理，而以己之胸察为之弓矢，则子产诬矣。老子曰：“以智治国，国之贼也。”其子产之谓矣。
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