Han Fei · Politics
Han Fei’s great synthesis: effective rule needs three tools working together - <em>fa</em>, impartial law openly published for all; <em>shu</em>, the hidden administrative techniques by which the ruler tests and controls his ministers; and <em>shi</em>, the positional power of the office itself, which commands obedience regardless of the personal worth of the man who holds it.
You learned that Han Fei synthesized three Legalist tools: fa (public, uniform law, from Shang Yang), shu (hidden administrative technique for controlling ministers, from Shen Buhai), and shi (positional power/authority, from Shen Dao) - and argued that a ruler needs all three, because any one alone fails. Explain eac…
Leads to Niccolo Machiavelli.
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