On the Internal Logic of Han Fei's Doctrine of Bureaucratic Governance
There are two levels in Han Fei's doctrine of bureaucratic governance:the first is for routine governance over bureaucracy system,while the second for governance over those important officials.The former provides principles for selection,assessment,reward,punishment,and supervision of the officials,laying the institutional foundation and setting the operational rules for bureaucratic governance;while the latter is designed to prevent important ministers from isolating or blinding the monarch and thus open up channels of information(about state policies and people's living).The routine level focuses on"norms":it holds up"stability"of legal system and takes"keeping the system in function"as its emphasis;while the focused level emphasizes"prevention","flexibility"of power-operation and takes"governance over people"as its emphasis.The monarch,as an ideal ruler,should be able to switch timely from one to the other,i.e.through governing bureaucrats,he not only can manage affairs with high efficiency,but also can maintain absolute political order."Enlightened ruler→governing officials and people→a world with utmost peace"is an important logic embedded in Han Fei's doctrine of bureaucratic governance,which also reflects the thinking paradigm of"getting a ruler to practice the right way"in ancient China.
LegalistsHan Feibureaucratic governanceenlightened rulera world of utmost peace
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