An enlightened ruler, when dealing with his inner‑palace women, enjoys their beauty yet rejects their pleas and forbids private requests.
Toward his personal attendants, he holds them accountable for their words once employed and prohibits exaggerated speeches.
Toward royal kinsmen and senior ministers, he accepts their advice yet makes them bear corresponding penalties afterward, forbidding reckless recommendations.
Toward entertainments, curios and treasures, he defines their sources and destinations strictly, forbidding ministers to present or remove them arbitrarily or to cater to him by guessing his intentions.
Toward bestowing favors, even when releasing restricted wealth and opening granaries to benefit people, all kindness must originate from the ruler himself. He never lets ministers monopolize private benevolence to win popular support.
Toward speeches and discussions, for those who praise or slander others, he verifies the praised person’s abilities and investigates the criticized one’s faults, forbidding ministers to collude in mutual remarks.
Toward brave warriors, rewards for military achievements never exceed legal limits; crimes from private brawls are never pardoned. He forbids ministers from buying warriors with private wealth.
Toward demands from other feudal states, he accepts them if lawful and rejects them if unlawful.
Note
This passage presents a complete Legalist self‑protection system for rulers: control inner‑court and kinship groups, monopolize all public favors, verify speech strictly, regulate warriors legally, and conduct foreign affairs by law, so as to eliminate ministerial treachery completely.
The representative Legalist thinker of the late Warring‑States Period. This passage is excerpted from The Eight Treacheries (Ba Jian), offering targeted counter‑strategies against eight ministerial power‑usurpation tactics summarized earlier.
Checks on Inner‑Court Influence
Han Fei emphasizes restraining royal concubines, attendants and royal clansmen, who are listed as top threats in the Eight Treacheries, from interfering in state affairs through private requests.
Monopoly of Benevolence and Reward
A core Legalist principle: all favors, relief and public benefits must be credited solely to the ruler, preventing ministers from gaining popular loyalty through private charity.
Legal Boundaries for Bravery and Speech
Private fighting is severely punished while military merit is legally rewarded; public opinion and evaluations are strictly verified to stop ministerial collusion.
Law‑based Foreign Policy
Diplomatic responses to other states are decided only by law, not by ministerial manipulation or foreign pressure.
Anti‑clique Governance
Every field of state affairs is regulated to block ministers from building private power bases through kinship, wealth, warriors or rhetoric.
明君之於內也，娛其色而不行其謁，不使私請。其於左右也，使其身必責其言，不使益辭。其於父兄大臣也，聽其言也必使以罰任於後，不令妄舉。其於觀樂玩好也，必令之有所出，不使擅進不使擅退，群臣虞其意。其於德施也，縱禁財，發墳倉，利於民者，必出於君，不使人臣私其德。其於說議也，稱譽者所善，毀疵者所惡，必實其能、察其過，不使群臣相為語。其於勇力之士也，軍旅之功無踰賞，邑鬥之勇無赦罪，不使群臣行私財。其於諸侯之求索也，法則聽之，不法則距之。
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