If the foreign students are interested in the ancient Chinese culture, they must have heard about the book named Han Fei Zi which was written by Han Fei, the famous legalist in the Warring States. When foreigners learn Chinese in China, it is important to know that Han Fei was a person of noble birth in Han state. He and Li Si were all the students of Xun Zi. When feeling Han state was gradually weakening in national power, Han Fei provided advice to the king of the state for several times to consolidate the state but the king didn’t adopt the advice.
As early as when Han Fei was alive, the book he wrote has been really popular. At that time, the king of Qin state loved the book very much when he read the articles like Gu Fen and Wu Du. After that, the king of Qin state was eager to see Han Fei. However, just as some of students who study Chinese in China know, in the year of 234BC, Han Fei received the order to do diplomatic mission to Qin state but set up by Li SI and was put into prison. Later, Han Fei killed himself in the prison.
When it came to the Western Han Dynasty, Liu Xiang added some articles like Chu Jian Qin, You Du and Cun Han written by other persons when he collated the book. One thing the students should know when they study Mandarin in China is that the thoughts achievements of Han Fei exceeded anyone else among the legalists. He put forward the mature theories of governing by law on the basis of concluding the theories of Shang Yang, Shen Buhai and Shen Dao.
According to Han Fei, the monarchy must pay attention to the power, the influence and the skill and ability of taking control of the power. Only the monarchies were able to do that could they ensure the implement of the laws so that consolidate the centralization of monarch. With the inheritance of Xun Zi’s thoughts, Han Fei proposed to govern the state with punishment and also reward, which can be reflected in the articles such as Jie Lao and Yu Lao. He also believed that the society and politics would have some change because the times are changing.