The way of listening to ministers’ words is to take what they outwardly state and use it to examine their inward deeds. Therefore, verify titles to define official positions, and clarify duties to classify affairs.
When listening to speech, one should be as calm and muddled as one who is heavily drunk. Lips and teeth chatter, yet I take no initiative. Lips and teeth dispute, yet I grow more obscure and tranquil. Let them expose themselves, and I thereby perceive the truth. When judgments of right and wrong converge, the ruler does not engage in argument.
Emptiness, tranquility and non‑action are the essence of the Dao; cross‑examination and comparison of facts are the form of handling affairs. Compare things for verification, and synthesize them to match emptiness and tranquility.
If the fundamental governing principles remain unchanged, actions and intelligence will not go astray. Act gently and adjust through non‑action. Showing favor multiplies troubles; showing dislike breeds resentment. Therefore abandon likes and dislikes, empty the mind as a dwelling place for the Dao.
If the ruler does not meddle in trivial affairs together with subordinates, the people will cherish him. If he does not debate justice with them, he lets them perform duties independently.
The ruler firmly shuts his inner mind. Like viewing a courtyard from inside a room, he grasps nearby details and assigns all things to their proper places. Reward those who deserve reward; punish those who deserve punishment. Let each bear consequences according to their deeds. When good and evil receive inevitable retribution, who dares be dishonest? Once rules and standards are established, all other aspects fall into order.
Note
This passage teaches the hidden sovereign technique: stay silent, neutral and emotionless, verify subordinates objectively, enforce impartial rewards and punishments, and govern through institutional standards rather than personal will.
Representative Legalist thinker of the late Warring‑States Period. This passage is excerpted from Upholding Authority (Yang Quan), focusing on the ruler’s secret listening and inspection techniques.
Way of Listening
A core Legalist statecraft: the ruler stays silent and calm, never arguing or taking sides, so ministers reveal their true intentions voluntarily.
Emptiness‑Tranquility‑Non‑action (Xu‑Jing‑Wu‑wei)
Absorbed from Taoism: the ruler keeps an empty mind without personal emotion, avoiding manipulation by subordinates.
Cross‑Examination and Comparison
The ruler verifies ministers’ words and deeds through multiple checks, matching titles with actual performance.
Hide Personal Likes and Dislikes
A recurring Han Fei principle: showing preferences gives subordinates leverage to flatter or deceive the ruler.
Rule by Fixed Standards
Once laws and rewards‑punishment systems are set, order naturally forms without personal intervention.
凡聽之道，以其所出，反以為之入。故審名以定位，明分以辯類。聽言之道，溶若甚醉。脣乎齒乎，吾不為始乎，齒乎脣乎，愈惛惛乎。彼自離之，吾因以知之。是非輻湊，上不與構。虛靜無為，道之情也；參伍比物，事之形也。參之以比物，伍之以合虛。根幹不革，則動泄不失矣。動之溶之，無為而改之。喜之則多事，惡之則生怨。故去喜去惡，虛心以為道舍。上不與共之，民乃寵之。上不與義之，使獨為之。上固閉內扃，從室視庭，參咫尺已具，皆之其處。以賞者賞，以刑者刑。因其所為，各以自成。善惡必及，孰敢不信！規矩既設，三隅乃列。
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