The book Shen Zi is a classical book written by Shen Buhai, the representative of the Legalism in the Warring States period which lasts from 475BC to 221BC. Shen Buhai was born in 395BC in Zhen state, Henan province in present China. After Han state took control of Zhen state, Han Wu put him in an important position, that is, the prime minister in ancient China. During the 15 years he took charge of the reform, Han state was getting stronger and stronger.
In accordance with the record in the Historical Records, he originally believed in Daoism and then became a member of the Legalism. When you attend to intensive Mandarin course in China to learn, teachers would tell you that Shen Buhai inherited the theories of Daoism, absorbing the power tactics that the monarchs control the minister from the theory of Daoism. In this way, it would have the function of strengthening the centralization of authority system in Legalist School.
He proposed the theory of Wu Wei, suggesting the emperors to let things take their own course. That is to say, there is no need for the monarch to do the specific things but just simply apply the power tactics to control the officials silently. When explaining the so-called “power tactics”, the book Han Fei Zi mentions that it means the emperor should award the official positions according to the talents of the ministers and officials. In addition, the regular or irregular supervising and assessment should be processed. The rewards and punishments should on the basis of the achievements in their official career.
Shen Buhai also stressed that the wise monarch is the main body and the ministers with talents are the hands. As a result, the emperor should have the power and the authority to let the ministers to process the specific issues. Teachers would tell you that it is also important for the monarch to avoid being deceived by the ministers so that make the wrong choices when they teach Mandarin language. Otherwise, it will result in the ministers kill the emperor and make themselves the king.
What‘s more, Shen Buhai proposed the monarch to pretend to not hear and hear the truth of something in order to avoid exposing himself. In this way, the ministers will fail to understand the emperor, thus failing to hide their drawbacks. However, the monarch can see all things clearly to tell apart the loyal officials or the crafty ones.