Han Fei · Politics

The Two Handles

Han Fei’s theory of power in its rawest form: a ruler controls his ministers by exactly two levers - punishment and reward, the ‘two handles.’ He must keep both firmly in his own grip, make punishment heavy and certain, grant praise only when word and deed exactly match, and punish even a helpful minister who oversteps his office.

What you'll be able to recall

You learned that Han Fei reduced the ruler’s power to two handles - punishment ( xing ) and reward ( de ) - which the ruler must keep entirely in his own hands, wielding them by the strict matching of ‘name and form’ (word and deed), so that a minister is punished even for a good result if it means o…

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