This article adapts Han Feizi’s Omens of Ruin, originally for state collapse, into thirteen modern warning‑signs of personal decline. It stresses early detection and course‑correction before small flaws escalate into disaster.
Since the reign of Emperor He of the Eastern Han Dynasty, a vicious cycle of alternating dominance between maternal relatives and eunuchs had taken shape. By the time of Emperors Huan and Ling, the eunuch faction led by Cao Jie and Wang Fu (precursors to the Ten Regular Attendants) monopolized court affairs, sold official…