Han Fei (d. 233 BCE), a prince from China’s tumultuous Warring States period, is thought to have influenced the governing philosophies of rulers from the First Emperor (d. 210 BCE) to Xi Jinping. This dissertation challenges our prevailing scholarly understanding of Han Fei as the “great synthesizer” of the Legalist intellectual tradition and its supposed core ideas:

(1) laws that govern the reward and punishment of all subjects, championed by Shang Yang (d. 338 BCE), Chancellor of the state of Qin,
(2) governing techniques with which the ruler manoeuvres his subjects, espoused by Shen Buhai (d. 337 BCE), Chancellor of the state of Han, and
(3) a position of leverage which the ruler enjoys over his subjects and rival states, advocated by Shen Dao (d. c. 275 BCE), the prominent Jixia Academy thinker.

Neither Han Fei nor his predecessors identified themselves as members of a Legalist school, an anachronistic label that misidentifies their central concerns. Han Fei was not attempting to build a grand Legalist theory, but to redress what he saw as grave injustices in his home state and abroad. Shang Yang’s central concern was not laws, but strength, which entails channelling the people’s energies into agriculture and warfare, with the goal of building a wealthy and mighty state. Shen Buhai’s core idea was not techniques of manipulation, but a bureaucratic system which measures officials’ performance against their stated duties. Shen Dao’s primary focus was not on the ruler’s insurmountable position, but on laws governing both the natural and human realms.

Finally, I argue that the Qin empire (221–206 BCE), often blamed for tyranny due to its supposed Legalist influences, was not as Legalist as conventionally portrayed, having failed to fully implement the central ideas attributed to the Legalist school. By re-examining Han Fei and his predecessors in their historical context, we gain fresh insights into the intellectual landscape that birthed China’s first empire, and the tragic flaws that led to its rapid collapse. More than just a historical study, this exploration of Han Fei and his world raises timeless questions about power, laws, human nature, and the search for social order.