A Study On Han Fei’s Monarchical Theory

Most of pre-Qin scholars placed their reliance on the wise monarch to rebuild order and realize the rule of the world,and their political ideals were often ultimately implemented in the monarchy.Unlike other scholars,Han Fei tried to design a set of ways for a mediocre monarch,in order to enable a mediocre monarch to achieve efficient rule.How to ensure the permanent and stable sovereignty,how to effectively use absolute power and how to make the state machinery operate efficiently are the core issues of Han Fei’s monarchy theory.Han Fei holds that virtuous rule and rule of power are totally opposed,opposes waiting for the virtuous to govern the world.This not only justifies the centralization of power by mediocre monarchs,but also weakens the possibility that mediocre monarchs can easily degenerate into tyrants.He agreed with the rationality of the tyrant’s reign and opposed all revolutions.In fact,he regarded the centralized rule of the monarch as a matter of course.Han Fei opposed the idea of “governing by virtue”and deliberately concealed the problem that mediocre monarchs were easily degenerated into tyrants,which provided a reasonable explanation for the centralization of power by mediocre monarchs;on the other hand,he opposed any form of monarch-minister transposition and regarded the monarch’s permanent enjoyment of the country as a matter of course of nature and righteousness.Han Fei’s theory of rule of law has the characteristics of “absoluteness”.The monarch absolutely controls the subjects,on the other hand,the subjects absolutely obey the monarch.The theory of bureaucratic control is the most unique part of Han Fei’s theory of monarchy,which includes two levels: the overall control of the monarch over the bureaucratic system,and the key control of the monarch over the important ministers in the bureaucratic system.Integral control means that the monarch takes the bureaucratic system as a whole and makes the bureaucratic system run automatically according to the order,thus becoming a ruling tool to faithfully implement the monarch’s will.The key control means that the monarch regards the important minister as the key control object,controls all information of the important minister,and eliminates its direct or potential threat to the monarchy.The monarch’s social control and bureaucratic control must be implemented in the control of man.human feelings is the resource that the monarch needs to make use of in order to implement efficient rule.Han Fei’s human feelings are mainly embodied in his instinctive response to seeking benefits and avoiding disadvantages,lacking the connotation of human being.Han Fei’s theory of monarchy contains profound contradictions.It shows the evolution of the monarch from self-control to self-expansion.This evolution path reflects the trend of autocratic monarchs from self-confidence and self-discipline to self-sacred and self-conceited from one side.Han Fei pursues the mediocre monarch to become a wise monarch on the basis of the practice of monarchy theory,but the mediocre monarch with absolute power will inevitably follow Tao,play with the law,have extravagant desire,and eventually become a mediocre monarch,but the mediocre monarch is clearly opposed by Han Fei.His TiTao,Law-abiding,Emptiness-and-Quietness,Non-action will inevitably evolve into playing with the law and being extravagant.In this way,following human feelings will eventually become oppositing human feelings.The gist of Han Fei’s theory of monarchy is that the monarch controls the bureaucracy efficiently and thus controls society,to build a powerful monarchy and a shrinking society.In order to maintain a more stable autocratic rule,the monarch exercised self-restraint while exercising absolute control over his subjects.This study not only helps to deepen the study of historical trend of the change of Zhou and Qin Dynasty,but also helps to understand the political thinking and theoretical dilemma of “Having a Brilliant Monarch” in ancient China.