Han Feizi recounts Duke Huan sent a scout to watch rebellious Prince Jiu. The envoy spotted his unnatural forced smile and blank gaze, proving his plot. The duke pressured Lu to execute the prince, showing inner schemes reveal themselves via odd behaviors.
Han Feizi uses dusty palace pottery as a metaphor: dirty earthenware turns clean after washing. Likewise, regular self-examination and correcting personal flaws help people reduce mistakes in daily conduct and official work.
Han Feizi uses the two-mouthed hui worm fable: its two mouths fight over food, bite each other and die together. The tale warns power-hungry ministers’ vicious infighting will ruin their shared kingdom just like the worm.
Han Feizi’s fable tells three lice fought over plump spots on a pig until another warned of sacrificial slaughter. They united to drain its blood, thinning the pig and saving all from death, warning against petty infighting endangering shared survival.
Han Feizi tells Yao offered his throne to Xu You, who fled and lodged with a commoner. The householder hid his leather cap fearing theft, failing to grasp Xu You scorned supreme power and cared nothing for trivial belongings.
Han Feizi tells an elder chides a conceited Chu prince bent on attacking Chen. Citing Goujian’s decade-long grueling preparation to revive Yue, the elder mocks his blind overconfidence; great conquests demand persistent hard work instead of rash optimism.
Han Feizi tells a skilled charioteer faced slander from jealous royal grooms. He outdrove the king in a deer hunt, proving his talent and exposing the rivals’ malicious envy through real performance.
Han Feizi tells a Song merchant pretended to ruin pricey raw jade to outbid rivals. After paying compensation, he refined the stone and earned far more. The story highlights valuing long-term gains over temporary losses.
Han Feizi records Duke Huan’s question about wealth’s limit. Guan Zhong compares wealth’s boundary to a riverbank: satisfaction sets wealth’s end, yet endless greed leaves people chasing riches without any natural cutoff.