Compare And Contrast The Philosophies Of Han Feii Tzu

Han Fei Tzu says, “If conformers to law are strong, the country is strong; if conformers to law are weak, the country is weak…” This political philosophy held by Han Fei Tzu is not solely held to him, but it is also similar to that held by the philosopher Lao Tzu. Both philosophers strongly emphasized the importance and need of leaders to conform their society with regard to governance and leadership. Despite having similar views with regard to leadership and governance, each philosopher has a slightly different stance as to how a “successful” society is to be created. Throughout this discussion, one will analyze the philosophies of Lao Tzu and Han Fei Tzu through their respective documents known as Legalism and Taoism.
Han Fei Tzu, believes
that a country or state will not remain strong or weak forever. The reasoning is attributed to the “conformers of the law”. While this may have been true during 230 BCE, it is rather difficult to attribute this to many countries in the modern day society. Countries such as the United States “have a strong influence” on the world’s everyday operation without real regard to their society’s conformance. Lao Tzu carries a slightly different philosophy, as he believes that the leadership determines a country’s success. Rather than the philosophy upheld by Han Fei Tzu that embraces the idea that the country’s success is determined by society, Lao Tzu believes that the leadership conforms the society into its ultimate fate of being weak or strong. Both philosophers emphasize the importance of what the ruler’s responsibilities are for his society in order to be successful. Han Fei Tzu believes that a society’s success is based upon the leader’s ability to get rid of “crookedness” and enforce the law. Additionally, the ruler must rid his society of those people who do not have a goal of positively impacting the overall well good and betterment of society. Lao Tzu believes that the more restrictions and negativity that people bring within society, the more difficult it will be for society to function successfully concurrently bringing trouble. In order to counter the possibility of the aforementioned, Lao Tzu believes that everything in society should be mentally and emotionally controlled by the leader therefore reducing the potential for negativity and undesirable occurrences from being implemented into society. Lao Tzu justification resides in his statement, “He strives always to keep the people innocent of knowledge and desires and to keep the knowing ones from meddling.” Oppositely, Han Fei Tzu believes that the ruler’s control is centered on the basic principles of chastisement and commendation. As those in society who do wrong should face death or torture and those who do as they should, shall be rewarded. Han Fei Tzu’s standpoint on governance is to reward those who do right and punish those who do wrong.
Many rulers have adopted this philosophy as it provides the most logical solution for a society to be successful over the long term. Lao Tzu does not directly address the subject of governance, directly but rather address the issue of a society needing to be flexible. If a society is not flexible, then it is subject to experiencing a continuous downfall, which ultimately will result in failure. If a society is willing to be flexible,, then it will adapt to the changes that the progression of the human races brings along with
it.
Han Fei Tzu enforces the idea of upholding the law without regard to class status.
Those that are noble are subject to the law just as those who are common folk such as peasants. The same concept applies to rewards. A nobleman is no more deserving of a reward because of his class status than any other common man in society. In essence, his philosophy is that the law of the land is the law for every man in society no matter if he has an elite title or not. This differs from Lao Tzu ‘s philosophy where he seeks to control the mind of his people. One could conclude that such a leader could theoretically create laws for the noble and laws for the common folk depending on how he wishes for his society to be structured. A modern day example of this philosophy can be found in North Korea. North Korean society is portrayed by the media to be controlled by the ruler(s). The rest of the world can only speculate on this because of the tightness that is maintained in North Korean society. Furthermore, Lao Tzu’s philosophy is exemplified in North Korean society as their society is heavily regulated consequently creating a poor economy. Tzu also says, “ The more ingenious and clever men are, the more strange things happen”. This concept can be found in many modern day Eastern societies that are ruled by a single person or a select few. While many of these rulers are “ mad men”, their thought processes are rather clever but nevertheless their societies are
strange.
The two aforementioned philosophers provide a unique vantage point into leadership and governance that would later find itself into modern day society. Both Lao Tzu and Han Fei Tzu believe that the actions and display of character by society will ultimately determine the country’s ability to be strong or weak. Despite their similarities, the methodology enacted by the ruler of a society/country to govern and lead his society will have key fundamentals drawn from their philosophies that are adapted to the time and conditions. Regardless of the leader’s ultimate governance method, the philosophies of Han Fei Tzu and Lao Tzu provide proper insight with regard to how a leader should partake on the governance and leadership of their society.