To govern a state well, one must eradicate ministerial cliques. If cliques are not eliminated, they will gather followers. To manage land rewards properly, one must moderate grants. Without moderation, trouble‑makers will seek endless gains.
If you give whatever they demand, you lend an axe to an enemy. Never do so, or they will use it to attack you.
The Yellow Emperor said: “Ruler and ministers struggle a hundred times a day.” Subordinates hide private motives to test their superior; the ruler holds laws and standards to restrain them.
Thus the establishment of laws is the ruler’s treasure; complete cliques are ministers’ treasure. Ministers dare not kill their ruler only because their factions are not fully formed. Hence if the ruler loses an inch of power, subordinates seize several feet.
A state‑owning ruler never lets ministers’ fief cities grow too large. A righteous minister never exalts his own clan. A righteous ruler never exalts single ministers. Exalting and enriching them lets them plan usurpation.
Fearing peril, the ruler must appoint the crown prince early so disasters do not arise. To purge internal evil and resist external threats, the ruler must personally wield legal standards.
Weaken powerful ministers and diminish weaker ones, doing so by fixed rules. Never let people collude to deceive the ruler. Weaken them like the waning moon, diminish them like fading heat. Issue simple decrees and enforce strict punishment fully.
Never relax vigilance: one nest cannot hold two male beasts. Two males in one nest will fight fiercely. If jackals and wolves stay in a sheepfold, sheep cannot multiply. If two people hold power in one household, tasks fail. If husband and wife rule together, children are confused.
As a ruler, constantly prune the branches of your state‑tree and prevent them from overgrowing. Overgrown branches block official gates, fill private mansions with followers, empty the court, and isolate the ruler.
Prune them often to stop outward expansion, which threatens the ruler’s position. Prune them to avoid thick branches and a thin trunk. A thin trunk cannot bear spring winds, and thick branches will harm the trunk.
When royal princes multiply, the royal clan lives in anxiety. The solution is constant pruning to stop branch overgrowth. Frequent pruning dissolves cliques. Uproot their foundations to stop rebellion. Fill deep abysses to hide sources of chaos. Pierce ministers’ inner intentions and strip their power. The ruler must act with the speed and might of thunder and lightning.
Note
This passage provides radical autocratic strategies: actively cut down ministerial cliques, limit noble power, avoid dual power centers, and enforce swift, thunder‑like suppression to maintain supreme monarchical control.
The most influential Legalist political thinker of the late Warring‑States Period. This passage is excerpted from Upholding Authority (Yang Quan), focusing on suppressing ministerial factions and consolidating monarchical power.
Legendary ancient Chinese sage‑king, cited by Han Fei to prove that power struggle between ruler and ministers has existed since antiquity.
Tree‑Pruning Metaphor
The core political analogy: the ruler is the trunk of a tree, ministers and princes are branches. Constant pruning means weakening cliques and powerful subordinates to protect the central power.
Lending Axe to the Enemy
Classic warning: satisfying ministers’ excessive demands grants them weapons to overthrow the ruler.
One Nest Two Males
Symbolizes power division and internal conflict. Dual centers of power (two nobles, husband‑wife governance, rival princes) destroy political stability.
Ruler‑Minister Daily Struggle
Legalist view that politics is an eternal power game. Ministers test the ruler; the ruler suppresses them through laws and tactics.
Early Appointment of Crown Prince
A practical monarchical strategy to prevent succession conflicts among princes and royal clans.
欲為其國，必伐其聚，不伐其聚，彼將聚眾。欲為其地，必適其賜，不適其賜，亂人求益。彼求我予，假仇人斧，假之不可，彼將用之以伐我。黃帝有言曰：「上下一日百戰。」下匿其私，用試其上；上操度量，以割其下。故度量之立，主之寶也；黨與之具，臣之寶也。臣之所不弒其君者，黨與不具也。故上失扶寸，下得尋常。有國之君，不大其都。有道之臣，不貴其家。有道之君，不貴其臣。貴之富之，備將代之。備危恐殆，急置太子，禍乃無從起。內索出圉，必身自執其度量。厚者虧之，薄者靡之。虧靡有量，毋使民比周，同欺其上。虧之若月，靡之若熱。簡令謹誅，必盡其罰。毋弛而弓，一棲兩雄。一棲兩雄，其鬬㘖㘖。豺狼在牢，其羊不繁。一家二貴，事乃無功。夫妻持政，子無適從。為人君者，數披其木，毋使木枝扶疏；木枝扶疏，將塞公閭，私門將實，公庭將虛，主將壅圍。數披其木，無使木枝外拒；木枝外拒，將逼主處。數披其木，毋使枝大本小，枝大本小，將不勝春風，不勝春風，枝將害心。公子既眾，宗室憂吟。止之之道，數披其木，毋使枝茂。木數披，黨與乃離。掘其根本，木乃不神。填其洶淵，毋使水清。探其懷，奪之威。主上用之，若電若雷。
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