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Literature & Language
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Book Review
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English (U.S.)
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Topic:

The Five Vermin Analysis

Book Review Instructions:

Han Fei (d. 233 BCE) was a student of the philosopher Xunzi (c. 310-c. 219 BCE), but abandoned Confucian philosophy in favor of the more pragmatic and hardheaded approach of men like Lord Shang (Shang Yang or Gongsun Yang, d. 338 BCE), whom we collectively label as “Legalists.” Han Fei worked as an official for the state of Qin until he was executed in 233 BCE, allegedly on charges manipulated by a fellow official, Li Si (d. 208 BCE), who was also formerly a fellow student under Xunzi. Han Fei is most famous, however, for having developed a thorough and systematic synthesis of Legalist and Daoist philosophy, which we see in the book which bears his name -- a book of which he is possibly the real author, but which at any rate is accepted as a reasonably accurate representation of his thinking.

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Selections from the Han Feizi: Chapter 49, “The Five Vermin” Review
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Selections from the Han Feizi: Chapter 49, “The Five Vermin” Review
‘The Five Vermin’ is one of the most popular works by Han Feizi, the essay blames what he calls ‘vermin', a term he used to reference scholars, sophists, knights-errant, sycophants and merchants and artisans, for the disorder and bad government in the state.
Fei’s attitudes towards the past are, they do not set the right standards of leadership and judgements of the past are based on humanness. Feizi has a different perspective on what leadership should be; his views even though do not agree with the Confucian school of thought, he expresses his opinions with wit and naught to exhaust the points he is putting in the article entirely. He recognises that circumstances do change with time, ‘‘Circumstances change according
to the age, and ways of
dealing
with them change with the circumstances. Past and present have different customs; new and old adopt various measures. To try
to use the ways of
a generous and lenient government to rule the people of
a critical age is like trying to drive a runaway
 horse without using
reins or whip. This is the misfortune that ignorance invites,''(Feizi, 3). He also argues that leadership should be firm and traits of humanness must never service in government, considering it strictly adheres to and follow laws of the land.
Humanness cannot be used to achieve any order in the state, it is a weakness point, according to his arguments saying humaneness may make one shed tears and be reluctant to apply penalties, but the law makes it clear that such penalties must be applied. The ancient kings allowed the law to be supreme and did not give in to their tearful longings. Hence it is obvious that humaneness cannot be used to achieve order in the state (Feizi, 3)...
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