In ancient times, those who fully grasped the Great Whole looked to Heaven and Earth, observed the rivers and seas, followed the contours of the valleys, and adhered to the natural laws of the sun and moon’s illumination, the progression of the four seasons, and the movement of clouds and winds. They did not burden their minds with cleverness, nor did they encumber themselves with private interests. They entrusted order and chaos to laws and methods, delegated right and wrong to rewards and punishments, and assigned weight and measure to objective scales.
They did not defy the principles of nature, nor did they harm human dispositions. They did not blow apart hair to find tiny flaws, nor wash away dirt to discover hidden faults. They did not pull the guideline outward, nor push it inward; they were not harsh beyond the law, nor lenient within it. They upheld established principles and followed the natural order. Fortune and misfortune arose from the Way and the law, not from personal love or hate; the responsibility for honor and disgrace lay with oneself, not with others.
Therefore, in an age of ultimate peace, the law was as pure and unscattered as the morning dew. There were no knotted resentments in people’s hearts, and no bitter words in their mouths. Carriages and horses were not exhausted on distant roads, and banners were not thrown into chaos in the great marshes. The people did not lose their lives to invading enemies, and brave warriors did not die young beneath the general’s flags. Heroes did not have their names recorded in books, nor were their merits inscribed on bronze vessels; the annals of the state remained empty. Thus it is said: No profit is greater than simplicity, and no blessing is more enduring than peace.
If the master craftsman Shi were granted a thousand years of life to wield his tools, observe his compass and square, and use his ink line to straighten Mount Tai; or if Meng Ben and Xia Yu were armed with the legendary sword Ganjiang to bring order to the people – even if they exhausted their skills and reached the peak of longevity, Mount Tai could not be straightened, and the people could not be brought to order.
Thus it is said: In ancient times, those who shepherded the world did not let the craftsman Shi exhaust his ingenuity to destroy the natural form of Mount Tai, nor did they let Meng Ben and Xia Yu exhaust their might to harm the nature of the people. By following the Way and perfecting the law, the noble rejoiced and great treachery ceased. Remaining tranquil and serene, they followed the mandate of Heaven and held fast to the Great Whole. Therefore, people committed no crimes that violated the law, just as fish suffered no disaster of losing their water. When this is achieved, there is little in the world that cannot be accomplished.
Note
This excerpt is from Han Feizi · The Grand Outline. It discusses how rulers follow natural laws and grasp state‑governing fundamentals. Drawing on grand imagery, Han Fei argues a wise sovereign avoids arbitrary meddling driven by wit and desire. Instead, he establishes objective laws conforming to nature. Optimal governance brings peaceful order with no sensational events recorded in histories.
Master Craftsman Shi:
A legendary divine carpenter from ancient Chinese mythology, renowned for his unparalleled precision. He is famously associated with the story of removing a speck of plaster from a man’s nose without harming him. Han Fei uses him as the archetype of supreme human skill, arguing that even divine craftsmanship is useless when applied to something as massive and natural as Mount Tai.
Meng Ben (孟贲) and Xia Yu (夏育):
Two legendary warriors of the Warring States period, symbols of ultimate physical strength and courage. For example, Meng Ben was said to be able to tackle fierce beasts and wrestle bulls bare‑handed. He served King Wu of Qin. When the king attempted to lift a heavy bronze tripod and suffered fatal injury, Meng Ben was executed for complicity. Han Fei uses them to illustrate that brute force and intimidation cannot bring order to human society.
Ganjiang (干将):
One of the most famous legendary swords in Chinese history, forged by the master blacksmith Ganjiang and his wife Moye. It represents the pinnacle of martial power and weaponry.
Grasping the Great Whole / Big Picture:
This is the core concept of the passage. “大体” refers to the fundamental, holistic principles of the universe and governance. A ruler who “fully grasps the Great Whole” does not micromanage or rely on personal cleverness, but instead aligns with macro-level natural and systemic laws.
The law is like the morning dew:
One of Han Fei’s most beautiful metaphors. Morning dew is pure, transparent, and covers everything evenly without discrimination. This represents the ideal legal system: objective, impartial, uncorrupted by personal bias, and naturally accepted by the people.
Not pulling the guideline outward, nor pushing it inward:
The “guideline” is the carpenter’s ink line, representing the absolute standard of law. This phrase means that justice must be strictly and precisely applied exactly as the law dictates-never stretched to let the guilty escape (pulling outward), never tightened to punish the innocent (pushing inward).
The annals of the state remained empty:
A profound Legalist vision of peace. In Han Fei’s ideal world, there are no great wars, no heroic rebellions, and no monumental crises. True peace is so complete that history has nothing dramatic to record. This contrasts sharply with the Confucian ideal of a society filled with moral heroes and grand rituals.
No profit is greater than simplicity; no blessing is more enduring than peace:
Han Fei’s ultimate political maxim. Complex, interventionist governance breeds exhaustion and resentment. The greatest benefit a ruler can provide is a simple, unobtrusive legal framework that guarantees lasting peace.
Following the Way and perfecting the law; remaining tranquil and serene:
This shows the intersection of Legalism and Daoism. The ruler achieves supreme governance not through active, exhausting intervention, but through “tranquility and serenity”, allowing the objective legal system to operate automatically in harmony with the natural order.
古之全大体者：望天地，观江海，因山谷，日月所照，四时所行，云布风动；不以智累心，不以私累己；寄治乱于法术，托是非于赏罚，属轻重于权衡；不逆天理，不伤情性；不吹毛而求小疵，不洗垢而察难知；不引绳之外，不推绳之内；不急法之外，不缓法之内；守成理，因自然；祸福生乎道法，而不出乎爱恶；荣辱之责在乎己，而不在乎人。故至安之世，法如朝露，纯朴不散，心无结怨，口无烦言。故车马不疲弊于远路，旌旗不乱乎大泽，万民不失命于寇戎，雄骏不创寿于旗幢；豪杰不著名于图书，不录功于盘盂，记年之牒空虚。故曰：利莫长乎简，福莫久于安。使匠石以千岁之寿，操钩，视规矩，举绳墨，而正太山；使贲、育带干将而齐万民；虽尽力于巧，极盛于寿，太山不正，民不能齐。故曰：古之牧天下者，不使匠石极巧以败太山之体，不使贲、育尽威以伤万民之性。因道全法，君子乐而大奸止。澹然闲静，因天命，持大体。故使人无离法之罪，鱼无失水之祸。如此，故天下少不可。
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