Chinese mythology, folktales, and literature
This Han Feizi ‑ Chapter55 (Defining Divisions) stresses sharp, impartial reward‑punishment distinctions. It advocates collective‑liability surveillance to uncover hidden deceit and prioritizes impersonal institutional systems over fallible individual judgment or hollow reputations.
This Legalist excerpt from Han Feizi‑Chapter 35.9 advocates “governing officials rather than people”. With tree‑shaking and chariot metaphors, it warns against ruler’s micromanagement and stresses mastering statecraft to avoid ministerial usurpation.
This Legalist excerpt from Han Feizi‑Chapter 35.4 advocates “governing officials instead of common people”. With vivid metaphors, it urges rulers to grasp core power, warning of catastrophic usurpation if statecraft is neglected.
This Legalist excerpt from Han Feizi‑Chapter 35.3 advises rulers to draw lessons from external and historical cases. It warns against power‑lending even to close kin and stresses upholding strict ranks to avoid political obstruction.
Han Fei (c. 280–233 BCE), often revered as Han Feizi or Master Han Fei, stands as one of ancient China’s most influential philosophers and political theorists. Emerging during the tumultuous Warring States Period (475–221 BCE), he hailed from Xinzheng, the capital of the state of Han (in modern-day Henan Province). As a royal descendant…
This article details the dramatic ascent of Cao Cao from a minor administrator to the de facto ruler of Northern China. It recounts the chaotic aftermath of Dong Zhuo’s death, where the Han Emperor Xian was left starving amidst ruins. Recognizing the opportunity, Cao Cao executed his famous strategy of “Holding the Emperor to…
The Yellow Scarves Uprising (184–185 AD) serves as the logical starting point and historical backdrop for the narrative of Romance of the Three Kingdoms. The specific event that shattered the “ordered world” of the late Eastern Han Dynasty and plunged it into “chaos” was the Yellow Turban Rebellion.