Status
Available
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Genres
Collection
Publication
Columbia University Press (1983), Paperback, 134 pages
Description
Trenchant, sophisticated, and cynical, Han Feizi has been read in every age and is still of interest today when people are more than ever concerned with the nature and use of power. Han Feizi (280?-233 B.C.), a prince of Han, was a representative of the Fa-chia, or Legalist, school of philosophy and produced the final and most readable exposition of its theories. His handbook for the ruler deals with the problems of strengthening and preserving the state, the way of the ruler, the use of power, and punishment and favor. Ironically, the ruler most influenced by Han Feizi, the king of Qin, eventually sent Han Feizi to prison, where he later committed suicide.
User reviews
LibraryThing member antiquary
Interesting as representing the Legalist school which united China under the Qin (Ch'in) but then was discredited, though its harsh methods often remained in use.
LibraryThing member xuebi
Burton Watson, one of the premier scholars of Classical Chinese, once again brings a lesser-known Chinese philosopher to public knowledge, this time the austere legalist Han Fei Zi.
Watson provides not only well-translated excerpts, which give a representative portrayal of Master Han Fei and his
Watson provides not only well-translated excerpts, which give a representative portrayal of Master Han Fei and his
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school of Legalism (which was the state ideology of the first Chinese dynasty), but also historical and philosophical background. Show Less
Language
Original language
Chinese
Physical description
134 p.; 7.7 inches
ISBN
0231086091 / 9780231086097
Local notes
Updated title: Han Feizi