Section 2
Order and strength arise from law; weakness and disorder arise from favoritism. If the ruler understands this, he will make rewards and punishments impartial and will not rely on personal kindness toward his subjects. Rank and salary should arise from merit; punishment and execution should arise from crime. If ministers understand this, they will exert themselves to the death in service, not out of personal loyalty to the ruler. When the ruler grasps the need to refrain from private benevolence, and the minister grasps the need to refrain from private loyalty, the ruler can achieve hegemony.
King Zhaoxiang of Qin understood the ruler’s principle and therefore did not open the Five Gardens for indiscriminate relief. Tian Wei understood the minister’s principle and therefore instructed his son Tian Zhang. Gongyi Xiu understood the official’s principle and therefore refused gifts of fish.
Note
This Legalist excerpt from Han Feizi‑Chapter 35.2 holds that order stems from law rather than favoritism. It urges impartial rewards‑punishments based on merit and crime, citing three figures to oppose private benevolence and blind personal loyalty.
Han Feizi / Legalism:
Han Fei was a major Legalist thinker of the Warring States period. Legalists believed that a state should be governed through clear laws, reliable rewards and punishments, and the ruler’s firm control of power.
In Legalist thought, these are the ruler’s two essential instruments of governance. They must follow objective rules, not the ruler’s personal feelings.
A powerful ruler of the Qin state during the Warring States period. He is cited here for refusing to open the royal “Five Gardens” during a famine, because doing so would reward people without merit and weaken the law.
Five Gardens:
Royal parks or estates where plants, fruits, and animals were kept for the ruler’s use. Opening them freely would turn state resources into indiscriminate gifts.
Tian Wei and Tian Zhang:
Figures mentioned in Han Feizi to illustrate the minister’s perspective. Tian Wei teaches his son that a minister’s security depends on serving the ruler and strengthening the state, not on personal attachment alone.
Gongyi Xiu:
A prime minister of the state of Lu. The famous story says he loved fish but refused gifts of fish, because accepting them would create obligations, lead to bending the law, and eventually cost him his position.
“The ruler understands not being benevolent”:
This does not mean cruelty. It means the ruler should not replace law with private kindness or personal favors.
“The minister understands not being loyal”:
This does not mean disloyalty to the state. It means the minister serves according to duty, merit, and law, not through blind personal devotion.
经二
治强生于法，弱乱生于阿，君明于此，则正赏罚而非仁下也。爵禄生于功，诛罚生于罪，臣明于此，则尽死力而非忠君也。君通于不仁，臣通于不忠，则可以王矣。昭襄知主情而不发五苑，田鲔知臣情故教田章，而公仪辞鱼。
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