中英雙語話中國歷史名人 第35期:韓非子

Han Fei(280 B. C.~233 B. C.), a native of the State of Han and a former student of Xun Zi, synthesized the thoughts of the Legalist School of the pre-Qin period.

韓非(約公元前280年~公元前233年)，韓國人，曾受學於荀況，是先秦法家思想的集大成者。

His doctrines served as the theoretical basis for the State of Qin's unification of China and the establishment of a feudal and autocratic empire. Han Fei's entire work is collected in Han Feizi, a book containing 55 chapters.

他的學說，爲秦的統一和封建專制帝國的建立做了重要的思想準備，現存《韓非子》一書，共55篇。

Han Fei adopted and developed a progressive social and historical view put forward by earlier legalists (Shang Yang, for instance) and further proposed his notions of social development and historical evolution. He pointed out that "one does not have to follow ancient practices in order to govern" and "as conditions in the world change, different principles should be applied accordingly." He also held that the impetus of social development lies in the material foundation and inner conflicts of the society.

韓非繼承並發展了商鞍等前期法家進步的社會歷史觀，提出“治世不法古”的社會發展觀和“世異則事異，事異則備變”的歷史進化論，主張從社會的物質基礎，從社會內部的矛盾現象來探求社會發展變化的原因。

Han Fei's idea of ruling a state involves three concepts: fa (the laws), shu (techniques) and shi (power). An intelligent ruler must have shu(techniques) to carry out fa (laws), and he must have shi (power) to use the techniques and enforce the laws.

韓非的法治思想是“法、術、勢”相結合，“行術”是“抱法”的必要方法，而“行術”、“抱法”必須以“處勢”爲基本前提，但又是“處勢”的重要手段。

Fa, above all, is the most fundamental concept of the three, though they are complementary in function.

三者之中，“法”是最根本的，但必須三者結合，相輔爲用。

Like Xun Zi, Han Fei denied the correspondence between human and the universe and believed that the change of natural world is rule-governed. He also argued that one should “deal with everything by following their generic and specific rules", with which one could actively exert their talents and abilities.

在天道觀方面，他繼承了荀況“天人相分”、“天行有常”的思想，提出“道理相應”的自然觀，主張“緣道理以從事”。用“道”和“理”來說明事物發展的普遍規律和特殊規律之間的關係，要求人要遵循客觀規律辦事，充分發揮主觀能動性。

Epistemologically, Han Fei adopted the method of "investigation and verification" and objected to idealist apriorism. Right and wrong can only be distinguished by abiding by the doctrine of “holding the actualities responsible for their names".

在認識論方面，韓非注重“參驗”，反對唯心主義先驗論的“前識”，以名實是否相合爲確定是非的標誌。

In debates with people from other schools, Han Fei tended to use the law of contradiction and law of excluded middle to expose the contradictions in their arguments.

韓非在辯論中經常用矛盾律和排中律來揭露其他學派自身的矛盾。

He believed that contradictory ideas and things cannot coexist, but the contradictory parties are interchangeable.

他認爲對立的思想或事物不能同時存在，但矛盾的雙方可以相互轉化。

Thus Han Fei attached importance to the conflict between the contradictory parties and further exaggerated this conflict, resulting in his belief that violence and power are the panacea of everything.

在矛盾觀中，韓非較多地強調對立面的鬥爭，把對立性絕對化爲勢不兩立，導致他在政治上主張唯暴力論，認爲只要依靠暴力和權勢就可解決一切問題。