This Han Feizi passage stresses strict rewards and punishments. Petty loyalty harms state interests; law must prevail over personal affection.
Han Feizi tells the Yanling battle story: petty loyalty harms state loyalty. A servant’s favor led a minister to ruin.
This article recounts the diplomatic masterpiece of Zhu Zhiwu in 630 BCE, who single-handedly saved the State of Zheng from a joint siege by Qin and Jin. Facing the Qin army, the elderly minister was lowered by rope over the city walls to meet Duke Mu of Qin. Through masterful rhetoric, he argued that…